Exploring the marine biodiversity of hydrothermal vents

(2024 - ongoing)

The project “Mapping and monitoring action to preserve marine ecosystem biodiversity”, funded by the PNRR within the National Biodiversity Future Center, specifically focuses on studying hydrothermal emissions in the submerged area of the Campi Flegrei caldera and their influence on geochemistry, microbiology, and ecology in the Gulf of Pozzuoli.
The research team, led by doctoral student Flavia Migliaccio, has conducted a series of field research campaigns, both by boat and through underwater dives, to collect a variety of samples and monitor the partial pressure of CO2 at different distances from the emission points.

In addition to expanding our understanding of these extreme environments, the goal is to identify an approach that uses the vents as a natural laboratory to investigate the influence of fluctuating stressors imposed by strong gradients of temperature and pH on the marine ecosystem.