Short description: In a marine bioinvasion context, the implementation of monitoring programs of marine fouling communities is an important method to promptly record the presence of new non-indigenous species (NIS), as well as assess the level of establishment of already recorded NIS. The student will be involved in the creation of artificial substrates and in their settlement in five localities along the Gulf of La Spezia (N-W Mediterranean Sea, Italy). The preparation of the material will be done at the University of Pavia and 2 days will be dedicated to the settlement of the artificial substrates in the field. The student will be also trained on the major fouling species that can be observed in the Mediterranean Sea by analysing the samples collected with the same method in the previous year. The training should be at least 1 month long, preferably around May.
Field/Lab work: The intern will participate to the construction and installation of artificial substrates (PVC panels), following a standard protocol created by the Smithsonian Environment Research Center. Furthermore, the intern will work at the dissecting microscope, and will contribute to carry out the identification of the organisms settled on the artificial panels, such as: Tunicates, Cnidarians, Crustaceans, Molluscs, Bryozoans, Polychaetes, hence acquiring an improved knowledge on marine fouling communities.
All laboratory activities will be carried out at the Laboratory of Ecology, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. The research team of this institution has a long-term experience of studies on marine benthic invertebrates in the Mediterranean Sea.
