PROJECT .
REFERENT
PhD student
The Biomonitorando project, which is part of the Area dedicated to research on climate change, pollution and anthropic impact on ecosystems in general, aims to:
-
investigate the effect that these aspects have on living species, the behavior and health status of animals
-
monitor environmental conditions using plants and animals as bioindicators of the content of mineral elements in an ecosystem.
There are numerous threats that increasingly endanger natural resources and contribute to the destruction of the ecosystems and biodiversity of the planet: pollution of the various environmental compartments, climate change, but also pathogens, the use of pesticides, 'increased urbanization, noise pollution, and the invasion of alien species.
Several studies (e.g., Ryan et al, 2018) have shown that different animal matrices, such as feathers, feces and eggs, are an efficient method for environmental biomonitoring and are excellent bioindicators for assessing the level of alteration in the state of health of the specimen. In particular, birds will be the most investigated species, since their feathers in particular are able to accumulate, over time, different types of pollutants, thus providing a historical "record" of the exposure. (Burger, 1993 - Abbasi et al., 2015).
Furthermore, different species accumulate pollutants in different ways (Rutkowskaa et al, 2018) according to their characteristics.
The species present in zoological parks can be excellent bioindicators for collecting data in different geographical areas: the use of the same species, the same sampling and analysis methods, could allow a comparison of the health status of the different regions and lead to the creation of an international study network.
The objective of the project is to search for data that can provide information on the different types of pollution that impact the animal species of the biopark, using non-invasive investigation methods, i.e. through the collection and analysis of different animal and plant matrices, as a substrate to evaluate the impact of contaminants in food and the environment and therefore on the health and behavior of animals
ACTIVITIES.
-
PhD scholarship activation in Sustainable Development and Cooperation (SUSTNET)
-
Study of the areas of the park to obtain a 360° monitoring (water-air-soil-vegetable and animal matrices)
-
The Biomonitorando strand and its projects are closely connected to the Animal Welfare strand and to the well-being of animals and their state of health
-
Characterization of animal and environmental matrices
PERFORMED ACTIVITIES.
-
Analysis of honey samples from ZOOM hives to determine the concentrations of various emerging contaminants, heavy metals and microplastics
-
Development of a method to quantify lead and cadmium concentrations with portable instruments and voltammetric techniques. We compared laboratory and field methods, highlighting the advantages of real-time data. This pioneering research increases the benefits of environmental monitoring.
-
Penguins: Study on moulting with the support of EAZA (European association of Zoo and Aquaria) and the Department of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology – Ornella Abollino, Agnese Giacomino
-
Lemurs: Zoo animals offer insights into the health of the environment. The study which used lemurs as bioindicators of the content of mineral elements in the area, revealed important connections between environmental elements, animal welfare and their behaviour, contributing to their protection.
PARTNER.
