Impact of land-use changes on plant and insect communities

Species-elevation relationship 

Global change and biological invasions

Population dynamics of forest insects under climate change 

Climate change may have profound effects on insects that cause widespread tree mortality and have significant ecological and economic impacts on forest ecosystems. My goal is to improve our understanding of how climatic factors and density dependent feedbacks influence the risk of defoliating lepidopteran and bark beetle outbreaks.  

Peer-reviewed ISI papers
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Published and in press

• Marini L., Bruun H.H., Heikkinen R.K., Helm A., Honnay O., Krauss J., Kühn I., Lindborg R., Pärtel M., Bommarco R. (in press) Traits related to species persistence and dispersal explain changes in plant communities subjected to habitat loss. Diversity & Distributions 
• Bommarco R., Marini L., Vaissière B. (in press) Insect pollination enhances seed yield, quality and market value in oil seed rape. Oecologia
• Marini L., Battisti A., Bona E., Federici G., Martini F., Pautasso M., Hulme P.E. (2012) Alien and native plant life-forms respond differently to human and climate pressures. Global Ecology & Biogeography (pdf)
• Marini L., Öckinger E., Battisti A., Bommarco R. (2012) High mobility reduces beta-diversity among orthopteran communities – Implications for conservation. Insect Conservation & Diversity (pdf)
• Marini L.,  Nascimbene J., Nimis P.L. (2011) Large-scale patterns of epiphytic lichen species richness: photobiont-dependent response to climate and forest structure. Science of the Total Environment 409, 4381-4386 (pdf)
• Marini L., Haack R.A., Rabaglia R.J., Petrucco Toffolo E., Battisti A., Faccoli M. (2011) Exploring associations between international trade and environmental factors with establishment patterns of exotic Scolytinae. Biological Invasions 13, 2275-2288 (pdf)
• Marini L., Klimek S., Battisti A. (2011) Mitigating the impacts of the decline of traditional farming on mountain landscapes and biodiversity: A case study in the European Alps. Environmental Science & Policy 14, 258-267 (pdf)
• Marini L., Bona E., Kunin W.E., Gaston K.J. (2011) Exploring anthropogenic and natural processes shaping fern species richness along elevational gradients. Journal of Biogeography 38, 78-88 (pdf)
• Dallimer M., Marini L., Skinner A.M.J., Hanley N., Armsworth P.R., Gaston K.J. (2010) Agricultural land-use in the surrounding landscape affects moorland bird diversity. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment  139, 578-583
• Marini L., Bommarco R., Fontana P., Battisti A. (2010) Disentangling area and habitat diversity effects on orthopteran species with contrasting mobility. Biological Conservation 143, 2164-2171 (pdf)
• Nascimbene J.*, Marini L.* (2010) Oak forest exploitation and black locust invasion caused severe shifts in epiphytic lichen communities. Science of the Total Environment 408, 5506-5512 [*Contributed equally] (pdf)
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Nimis P.L. (2010) Epiphytic lichen diversity in old-growth and managed Picea abies stands in Alpine spruce forests. Forest Ecology & Management 260, 603-609
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Bacaro G., Nimis P.L. (2010) Effect of reduction in sampling effort for monitoring epiphytic lichen diversity in forests. Community Ecology 11, 250-256
• Pecher C., Fritz S., Marini L., Fontaneto D., Pautasso M. (2010) Scale-dependence of the correlation between human population and the species richness of stream macro-invertebrates. Basic & Applied Ecology 11, 272-280
• Barbosa A.M., Fontaneto D., Marini L., Pautasso M. (2010) Positive regional species–people correlations: a sampling artefact or a key issue for sustainable development? Animal Conservation 13, 446-447
• Barbosa A.M., Fontaneto D., Marini L., Pautasso M. (2010) Is human population a large-scale indicator of the species richness of ground beetles? Animal Conservation 13, 432-441 (feature paper)
• Smart S.M., Scott W.A., Whittaker J., Hill M.O., Roy D.B., Critchley C.N., Marini L., Evans C., Emmett B.A., Rowe E.C., Crowe A., Le Duc M., Marrs R.H. (2010) Empirical realized niche models for British higher and lower plants – Development and preliminary testing. Journal of Vegetation Science 21, 643-656
• Cantarello E., Steck C.E., Fontana P., Fontaneto D., Marini L., Pautasso M. (2010) A multi-scale study of Orthoptera species richness and human population size controlling for sampling effort. Naturwissenschaften 97, 265–271
• Marini L., Gaston K.J., Prosser F., Hulme P.E. (2009) Contrasting response of native and alien plant species richness to environmental energy and human impact along Alpine elevation gradients. Global Ecology & Biogeography 18, 652–661 (pdf)
• Marini L., Fontana P., Battisti A., Gaston K.J. (2009) Agricultural management, vegetation traits and landscape drive orthopteran and butterfly diversity in a grassland–forest mosaic: a multi-scale approach. Insect Conservation & Diversity 2, 213-220 (pdf)
• Marini L., Fontana P., Battisti A., Gaston K.J. (2009) Response of orthopteran diversity to abandonment of semi-natural meadows. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 132, 232-236 (pdf)
• Marini L., Fontana P., Klimek S., Battisti A., Gaston K.J. (2009) Impact of farm size and topography on plant and insect diversity of managed grasslands in the Alps. Biological Conservation 142, 394-403 (pdf)
• Braschler B.*, Marini L.*, Thommen G.H., Baur B. (2009) Effects of small-scale grassland fragmentation and frequent mowing on population density and species diversity of orthopterans – A long-term study. Ecological Entomology 34, 321-329 (pdf) [*Contributed equally]
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Motta R., Nimis P.L. (2009) Influence of tree age, tree size and crown structure on lichen communities in mature Alpine spruce forests. Biodiversity & Conservation 18, 1509-1522
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Nimis P.L. (2009) Influence of tree species on epiphytic lichens in mixed Abies alba-Fagus sylvatica forests in the Alps. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 39, 785-791
• Nascimbene J., Thüs H., Marini L., Nimis P.L. (2009) Early colonization of stone by freshwater lichens of restored habitats: a case study in northern Italy. Science of the Total Environment 407, 5001-5006
• Marini L., Prosser F., Klimek S., Marrs R.H. (2008) Water–energy, land-cover, and heterogeneity drivers of the distribution of plant species richness in a mountain region of the European Alps. Journal of Biogeography 35, 1826-1839 (pdf)
• Marini L., Scotton M., Klimek S., Pecile A. (2008) Patterns of plant species richness in Alpine hay meadows: Local vs. landscape controls. Basic & Applied Ecology 9, 365-372 (pdf)
• Marini L., Fontana P., Scotton M., Klimek S. (2008) Vascular plant and Orthoptera diversity in relation to grassland management and landscape composition in the European Alps. Journal of Applied Ecology 45, 361-370 (pdf)
• Marini L., Nascimbene J., Scotton M., Klimek S. (2008) Hydrochemistry, water table depth, and related distribution patterns of vascular plants in a mixed mire. Plant Biosystems 142, 79-86 (pdf)
• Klimek S., Marini L., Hofmann M., Isselstein J. (2008) Additive partitioning of plant diversity with respect to management regime, fertilisation, and abiotic factors. Basic & Applied Ecology 9, 626-634
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Carrer M., Motta R., Nimis P.L. (2008) Influences of tree age and crown structure on the macrolichen Letharia vulpina: a case study in the Italian Alps. Écoscience 15, 423-428
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Cester D., Caniglia G., Nimis P.L. (2008) Lichen diversity on stumps in relation to wood decay in subalpine forests. Biodiversity & Conservation 17, 2661-2670
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Motta R., Nimis P.L. (2008) Lichen diversity of coarse woody habitats in a Pinus-Larix stand in the Italian Alps. Lichenologist 40, 153-163
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Nimis P.L. (2008) Epiphytic lichens in a riparian Natural Reserve of Northern Italy: species richness, composition, and conservation. Plant Biosystems 142, 94-98
• Marini L., Scotton M., Klimek S., Isselstein J., Pecile A. (2007) Effects of local factors on plant species richness and composition of Alpine meadows. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 119, 281-288 (pdf)
• Nascimbene J., Marini L., Nimis P.L. (2007) Influence of forest management on epiphytic lichens in a temperate beech forest of the northern Italy. Forest Ecology & Management 247, 43-47
• Nascimbene, J., Nimis, P.L., Marini, L. (2007) Testing indicators of epiphytic lichen diversity: a case study in N Italy. Biodiversity & Conservation 16, 3377-3383
• Nascimbene J., Thüs H., Marini L., Nimis P.L. (2007) Freshwater lichens in springs of the eastern Italian Alps: floristics, ecology and potential for bioindication. Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology 43, 285-292 
• Nascimbene J., Isocrono D., Marini L., Caniglia G., Piervittori R. (2006) Epiphytic lichen vegetation on Larix in the Italian Alps. Plant Biosystems 140, 132-137

• Scotton M., Marini L., Pecile A., Rodaro P. Tipologia dei Prati Permanenti del Trentino Orientale. Istituto Agrario di San Michele, 130 pp. (pdf)

SCALES (Securing the Conservation of bodiversity across Administrative Level, and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales) (2011-2012)

I am now involved in SCALES, an EU-funded project that will seek ways to build the issue of scale into policy and decision-making and biodiversity management. It will advance our knowledge of how anthropogenic and natural processes interact across scales and affect biodiversity.The general objective of SCALES is to provide the most appropriate assessment tools and policy instruments to foster our capacity for biodiversity conservation across spatial and temporal scales and to disseminate them to a wide range of users.

ACE-SAP (Alpine ecosystems in a Changing Environment: biodiversity Sensitivity and Adaptive Potential)  (2009-2011)

ACE-SAP is a collaborative project funded by the Autonomous Province of Trento involving three regional institutions (Edmund Mach Foundation, Natural History Museum of Trento, Civic Museum of Rovereto) and one external partner (University of Davis, California). It is intended to address four major aspects of biodiversity research: 1) The study and conservation of endangered/endemic taxa; 2) The direct consequences that biodiversity changes or loss may involve; 3) The study of selected ecological and genetic mechanisms implemented by living organisms to adapt to environmental drivers of stress.

BACCARA (Biodiversity And Climate Change: A Risk Analysis) (2009-2012)

I am partially involved also in BACCARA, an EU-funded project on the effects of biodiversty loss and climate change on ecosystem functioning in forest ecosystems. Our group (coordinated by Andrea Battisti) is leading the WP2 on the tree-associated species response to climate change. The objective of WP2 is to predict the impact of climate change on tree-associated species diversity and performance. WP2 will focus on species with a role in the functioning of forests in terms of net biomass production: antagonistic species, their natural enemies, and mutualistic species.

Lorenzo Marini (born in 1979)