The University of Catania (UNICT) is a public institution founded in 1434, consisting of 17 Departments, 28 research centers, school of excellence and accounting for more than 42.000 students. The university provides 182 multidisciplinary courses that cater to graduate, masters, postgraduate and Ph.D students, assuring high quality in offers and services.
The University of Catania has been involved in recent years, as leader or as partner, in numerous research projects funded by the EU including ordinary and strategic programs INTERREG EU-MED-ITALIA MALTA 2007-2013 and 2014-2020, as well as Horizon 2020 projects and more than 40 Framework programs.
Within UNICT, the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (Italian acronym DSBGA), established in January 2011 following the fusion of different structures, includes three sections: Earth Sciences, Plant Biology, Animal Biology with more than 50 researchers involved in Academic Didactics, Scientific Research and Environmental Education activities, together with administrative personnel and technicians.
The DSBGA has developed a solid scientific background in monitoring, census and evaluation of the health status of Sicilian ecosystems and has coordinated and directed study groups that have identified and elaborated the management plans of numerous sites of the Natura 2000 network in eastern Sicily.
Depth analysis were carried out in the areas covered by this project. They concerned botanical and faunal aspects from different point of view: taxonomic, systematic, phytosociological, ecological, behavioral and ecotoxicological one. All these activities are supported by several laboratories (floristic, faunal, molecular, etc.), and also by the Zoological Museum, the Botanical Garden, the Herbarium, and the Seed Bank, all included in the Museum network system of UNICT (SiMuA).
DSBGA has gained important experience in the identification of both plant and animal alien species and in the conservation of nature, with particular reference to the sites of the Natura 2000 network. Numerous studies have been conducted on alien plant species and various methods related to their containment or eradication have been tested.
With regard to wildlife surveys, numerous researches were conducted by specialists from various groups of arthropods which allowed to reported a large number of alien species new to the Sicilian fauna. Studies on the invasive species of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Auchenorrhyncha allowed to identify their impact on the biodiversity and the development of intervention methods for the containment of their populations.
The study of alien t pathogens of plant will be conducted by the Plant Pathology section of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), which has been carrying out research on plant pathogens and alien pathogens for years in collaboration with the Regional Phytosanitary Service (SFR).
The laboratories of the DSBGA and the DIA3 are equipped with almost all the equipment useful for the detection and even molecular characterization of alien species (flora, invertebrates and plant pathogens).
The knowledge acquired in recent years has resulted in numerous scientific publications in international journals and communications at international and national congresses, the elaboration of doctoral theses and the creation of a database including unpublished data, which will be very useful as a baseline for the project.
To achieve the objectives of the FAST project, the University of Catania and the DSBGA and DiA3 will make available teaching staff with experience in the thematic areas related to the project, and also technical-administrative staff, as well as all the structures, infrastructures and laboratories available to the Departments that are indispensable for conducting the investigations and activities envisaged in the project schedule.
The DSBGA has extensive experience in the participation and management of European projects, including on territorial cooperation programs, as well as on various international funding.
The depth knowledge of the issues related to the protection and management of Natura 2000 sites and their criticalities, including those of the impacts related to the presence of invasive alien species, the having already proposed in the Managements Plan actions of contrast, eradication or containment of the IAS, the availability of a still unpublished database on Sicilian alien species and having already started eco-ethological studies on some of them, makes the participation of the leader in the project extremely advantageous for his consolidated experience both in the field of Sicilian sites of the Natura 2000 Network and in the study of alien species.
The role of the University of Catania will consist in coordinating and implementing WP1, WP2 and WP4 and monitoring the eradication and renaturation activities in Sicily.
Furthermore, the DSBGA will support the authorization requests for the realization of interventions within the Natura 2000 sites.
The DSBGA will also take care of the elaboration of the database of Sicilian alien species and the drafting of the relative cards.
The training and involvement activities aimed at citizens and the training of operators will also be organized and coordinated by the DSBGA.