Research Director
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
Genoa Marine Centre (GMC)
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn–National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology
Villa del Principe, Piazza del Principe 4, 16126 Genoa, Italy
Tel.: +39 081 5833671
E-mail: paolo.guidetti(at)szn.it
Contatto Skype: guidettipaolo
Research Interests
Marine ecosystems are known to host a high biodiversity, which in turn guarantees functions and services supporting nature and people. Seas and oceans, on a local and global scale, are however threatened by multiple direct (overfishing) and indirect (global warming) anthropogenic impacts that are causing significant losses of biodiversity, together with the functions and services it delivers. From this perspective, the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most impacted areas in the world, threatened by anthropogenic impacts (e.g. fishing, coastal urbanization, navigation, pollution) and climate change (e.g., seawater warming, invasions of thermophilic alien species). In this framework, in order to preserve the biodiversity and Mediterranean marine ecosystems, together with the related goods and services, it is essential to develop tools and policies for better managing the marine environment, reconciling protection and economy, and increasing the sustainability of human activities. From this perspective, my research focuses on the following topics: i) evaluating marine biodiversity, with particular attention to the fish fauna; ii) increasing knowledge of marine ecosystems; iii) evaluating the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (sensu lato) and their networks, essential tools for the conservation and eco-sustainable development of coastal areas; iv) supporting the management of fishing chains for a more sustainable consumption of marine species. My research is carried out mainly in situ (experimentation and data collection at sea, on board or underwater; questionnaires to stakeholders), but also in the laboratory (e.g. preparation and reading of otoliths of bone fishes; analysis of stomach contents),
Selected Publications
Di Lorenzo M., Guidetti P., Di Franco A., Claudet J., 2020. Assessing spillover from marine protected areas and its drivers: A meta‐analytical approach. Fish and Fisheries, 21: 906-915. DOI: 10.1111/faf.12469
Mazzoldi C., Bearzi G., Brito C., Carvalho I., Desiderà E., Endrizzi L., Freitas L., Giacomello E., Giovos I., Guidetti P., Ressurreicão A., Tull M., MacDiarmid A., 2019. From sea monsters to charismatic megafauna: changes in perception and use of large marine animals. PLoS ONE 14(12): e0226810. https://doi.org/10.1371/
Bennett N.J., Cisneros-Montemayor A.M., Blythe J., Silver J.J., Singh G., Andrews N., Calò A., Christie P., Di Franco A., Finkbeiner E.M., Gelcich S., Guidetti P., Harper S., Hotte N., Kittinger J.N., Le Billon P., Lister J., Lopez de la Lama R., McKinley E., Scholtens J., Solås A.-M., Sowman M., Talloni-Álvarez N., Teh L.C.L, Voyer M., Sumaila U.R., 2019. Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy. Nature Sustainability, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0404-1
Bennett N.J., Di Franco A., Calò A., Nethery E., Niccolini F., Milazzo M., Guidetti P., 2019. Local support for conservation is associated with perceptions of good governance, social impacts, and ecological effectiveness. Conservation Letters 2019; 12:e12640. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12640
Guidetti P., Addis P., Atzori F., Bussotti S., Calò A., Cau Al., Culioli J.M., De Lucia G.A., Di Franco A., Di Lorenzo M., Follesa M.C., Gazale V., Massaro G., Mura F., Navone A., Pala D., Panzalis P.A., Pusceddu A., Ruiu A., Cau A., 2019. Assessing the potential of marine Natura 2000 sites to produce ecosystem‐wide effects in rocky reefs: a case study from Sardinia Island (Italy). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 29: 537–545.
Scianna C., Niccolini F., Giakoumi., Di Franco A., Gaines S.D., Bianchi C.N., Scaccia L., Bava S., Cappanera V., Charbonnel E., Culioli J.M., Di Carlo G., De Franco F., Dimitriadis C., Panzalis P.A., Santoro P., Guidetti P., 2019. Organization Science improves management effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas. Journal of Environmental Management, 240: 285-292.
Giakoumi S., Pey A., Di Franco A., Francour P., Kizilkaya Z., Arda Y., Raybaud V., Guidetti P., 2019. Exploring the relationships between Marine Protected Areas and invasive fish in the world’s most invaded sea. Ecological Applications, 29(1): e01809
Bussotti S., Di Franco A., Bianchi C.N., Chevaldonné P., Egea L., Fanelli E., Lejeusne C., Musco L., Navarro-Barranco C., Pey A., Planes S., Vieux-Ingrassia J.V., Guidetti P., 2018. Fish mitigate trophic depletion in marine cave ecosystems. Scientific Reports 8, 9193; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27491-1
O’Leary B.C., Ban N.C., Fernandez M., Friedlander A.M., García-Borboroglu P., Golbuu Y., Guidetti P., Harris J.M., Hawkins J.P., Langlois T., McCauley D.J., Pikitch E.K., Richmond R.H., Roberts C.M., 2018. Addressing criticisms of Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas. BioScience, 68: 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy021
Di Franco A., Plass-Johnson J.G., Di Lorenzo M., Meola B., Claudet J., Gaines S.D., García-Charton J.A., Giakoumi S., Grorud-Colvert K., Hackradt C.W., Micheli F., Guidetti P., 2018. Linking home ranges to protected area size: the case study of the Mediterranean Sea. Biological Conservation, 221: 175–181
Guidetti P, Danovaro R., 2018. Global ocean conservation under the magnifying glass. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 28: 259–260. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2854
Giakoumi S., Scianna C., Plass-Johnson J., Micheli F., Grorud-Colvert K., Thiriet P., Claudet J., Di Carlo G., Di Franco A., Gaines S.D., García-Charton J.A., Lubchenco J., Reimer J., Sala E., Guidetti P., 2017. Ecological effects of full and partial protection in the crowded Mediterranean Sea: a regional meta-analysis. Scientific Reports 7, 8940; doi:10.1038/s41598-017-08850-w
Di Franco A.,Thiriet P., Di Carlo G., Dimitriadis C., Francour P., Gutiérrez N.L., Jeudy de Grissac A., Koutsoubas D., Milazzo M., del Mar Otero M., Piante C., Plass-Johnson J., Sainz-Trapaga S., Santarossa L., Tudela S., Guidetti P., 2016. Five key attributes can increase marine protected areas performance for small-scale fisheries management. Scientific Reports 6, 38135; doi: 10.1038/srep38135.
Milazzo M., Quattrocchi F., Azzurro E., Palmeri A., Chemello R., Di Franco A., Guidetti P., Sala E., Sciandra M., Badalamenti F., García-Charton J.A., 2016. Warming-related shifts in the distribution of two competing coastal wrasses. Marine Environmental Research 120: 55-67.
Di Franco A., Calò A., Pennetta A., De Benedetto G., Planes S., Guidetti P., 2015. Dispersal of larval and juvenile seabream: Implications for Mediterranean marine protected areas. Biological Conservation 192: 361–368.
Guidetti P., Baiata P., Ballesteros E., Di Franco A., Hereu B., Macpherson E., Micheli F., Pais A., Panzalis P.A., Rosenberg A.A., Zabala M., Sala E., 2014. Large-scale assessment of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas effects on fish assemblages. PLoS ONE, 9(4): e91841. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091841.
Fenberg P.B., Ashworth J.S., Caselle J., Claudet J., Clemence M., Gaines S., García-Charton J.A., Gonçalves E., Grorud-Colvert K., Guidetti P., Jenkins S., Jones P., Lester S., McAllen R., Moland E., Planes S., Sørensen T.K., 2012. The science of European marine reserves: status, efficacy, and future needs. Marine Policy, 36: 1012-1021.
Sala E., Ballesteros E., Dendrinos E., Di Franco A., Ferretti F., Foley D., Fraschetti S., Friedlander A., Garrabou J., Güçlüsoy H., Guidetti P., Halpern B.S., Hereu B., Karamanlidis A., Kizilkaya K., Macpherson E., Mangialajo L., Mariani S., Micheli F., Riser K., Sales M., Starr R., Selkoe K.A., Tomas F., Zabala M., 2012. The structure of Mediterranean rocky reef ecosystems across environmental and human gradients. PlosONE, 7(2): e32742. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032742.
Guidetti P., Micheli F., 2011. Art serving marine conservation. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 9, 374-375.
Claudet J., Guidetti P., 2010. Fishermen contribute to protection of marine reserves. Nature 464: 673.
Book Chapters
1. Hyndes G.A., Francour P., Guidetti P., Heck Jr K.L., Jenkins G., 2018. The roles of seagrasses in structuring associated fish assemblages and fisheries. Larkum A.W.D. et al. (eds.), Seagrasses of Australia, Springer International Publishing AG, Chap. 18, pp: 589-627.
2. Claudet J., Guidetti P., Mouillot D., Shears N.T., Micheli F., 2011. Effects of marine protected areas. Ecology: ecological effects of marine protected areas: conservation, restoration, and functioning. In: Marine Protected Areas. A multidisciplinary approach (J. Claudet, ed.), Cambridge University Press: 37-71.
