Projects
This project facilitates standardized study and monitoring of mammalian species and communities across Italian protected areas through AI-aided camera trapping and analytics. It is a collaborative effort with prof. Seidenari at MICC (Media Integration and Communication Center, Department of Information Engineering (University of Florence), and Wildlife Insights (Conservation International), and is funded by the University of Florence.
Ecology and trends of mammalian communities in Italian protected areas
We study mammals in collaboration with several partners and in various areas, particularly in the Parco Nazionale Foreste Casentinesi (through direct partnership with the park), in two areas in Trentino Province (through a partnership with MUSE), in the Apuan Alps (through a partnership with the University of Pisa), and, since 2022, in the Vallombrosa-Pratomagno forests located to the southeast of Florence. Since 2023 part of the project is funded through the National Biodiversity Future Centre.
Ecology and conservation of tropical forest mammals
Through our efforts in Tanzania in alliance with MUSE and other partners, in 2009 we established the first African site in the Tropical Ecology, Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) network, now an initiative within Wildlife Insights at Conservation International. We directly study mammals in two areas in the Udzungwa Mountains, and use data at pantropical scale to determine global patterns of occurrence and vulnerability to threats. This is a multi-institutional collaboration funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore foundation (until 2016), Fondazione Foresta Futura, Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation, and other donors.
We study the snow leopard and other mammals in the Altai and Gobi mountains of Mongolia to understand how livestock grazing influences the spatio-temporal occurrence and interactions of target wildlife. This project is a collaboration with MUSE, University of Lubjana, University of Lausanne, Wildlife Initiative, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, funded by Panthera, Parco Natura Viva, Fondazione A.R.C.A., and the participating institutions.
CONTAN - Developing curricula for biodiversity monitoring and conservation in Tanzania
Funded by the EU-Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education budget line, we coordinate a project implemented by a network of universities and natural science museums in the EU, in partnership with universities in Tanzania, to boost local biodiversity research and conservation capacities. Official web-site.
The Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre is the field station of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, a reserve in an area of outstanding importance for biodiversity. Founded in 2006, the station is managed collaboratively with MUSE and the Natural History Museum of Denmark, in partnership with Tanzania National Parks. Official web-site.
Udzungwa primate ecology and dynamics
As one of the key research programmes of the Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre (below), we study ecology and long-term dynamics of threatened primates in the Udzungwa Mountains. A key research line in this project, in collaboration with Fondazione E. Mach (FEM), is the interplay between habitat changes, host species and gut microorganisms in natural environments to identify possible biomarkers associated with primate conservation status, in the interest of improving wildlife management strategies.
Last update
19.05.2023