Short Curriculum vitae Dr Marco Bartoli
Marco Bartoli PhD works at the Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology (LAE) of the Life Sciences Department of the
University of Parma.
The Laboratory has a 25 year experience in the study of inland and coastal aquatic environments. Currently
study areas include a wide variety of lotic and lentic ecosystems (e.g. Northern Apennine lakes, Po River
Basin), and temporary and permanent aquatic environments of transition (e.g. coastal areas and lagoons of
the northern Adriatic), characterized by marked differences in trophic status, conservation and
environmental value.
Research activities cover an ample range of themes of basic research, including:
- Biogeochemical cycles of O2, C, N, P, Si, S, Fe;
- Ecology of plankton, macroinvertebrates, macrophytes and macroalgae;
- Metabolism of ponds, lakes, wetlands, rivers and canals and of coastal lagoons;
- Regulation of sedimentary processes by benthic communities;
- Ecosystem services in aquatic environments;
- Nutrient mass balances at watershed scales;
as well as some applied studies, including:
- Analysis of community composition and structure for bioindication (macrofauna and macrophytes);
- Management of natural and artificial aquatic environments (quarry lakes, secondary drainage
channels, rivers);
- Evaluation of the impacts and sustainability of aquaculture activities;
- Assessment of minimum vital flow in impacted lotic environments;
Since 2006 the LAE began to study the Mincio River and the Mantua Lakes ecosystems with a fluvial
restoration project proposed by the Mincio Regional Park and the Mantua Province. The LAE worked in
strictly contact with numerous stakeholders and local authority and municipalities (e.g. Lombardy Region,
Regional Agency for Environmental protection, Po Basin Authority, Mantua and others municipalities,
Mincio Consortium, land reclamation authorities, industrial and agricultural associations).
Then the LAE studied the effects of mowing and removal of the biomass of Trapa natans and Nelumbo
nucifera islands and the effects on the lake system, and created management guidelines for local
authorities.
In the last ten years the LAE research activities on primary producers and aquatic metabolism were
integrated with products derived from remote sensing in different study areas, in lentic and transitional
environments (e.g. Mantua Lakes, Idro Lake, Garda Lake in Italy and Curonian Lagoon in Lithuania).
Bartoli’s research activities
Bartoli’s research activities deal with the biogeochemical cycles of oxygen, carbon and nutrients in shallow
aquatic bodies. Within this vast subject, Dr Bartoli is particularly interested in the sediment-water
exchange of solutes and water-atmosphere exchange of dissolved gas and their regulation by
environmental factors, primary producers and macrofauna. The main research areas are the Po River
Plain, the Oglio and Mincio Rivers watersheds, including agricultural and wetland areas, the lagoons of the
Po River Delta and the Adriatic Sea (Northern Italy). In the Mincio River and Mantua Lakes the research
group estimated dissolved gas and nutrient (N and P) mass balances. At the same the research group
investigated the relative role of phytoplankton and floating-leaved macrophytes in regulating the fluviallake metabolism, and the metabolic activity of the benthic compartment.