Project Objectives
“Cold Case” is a project led by the University of Milano, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research in the frame of the PRIN call 2022. The project aims at describing at an unprecedented level of detail the biodiversity and the ecological webs of Forni Glacier (Stelvio National Park, Central Italian Alps), one of the largest Italian glaciers, hosting a large number of different microhabitats.
General description
The biodiversity will be investigated by an integrated set of morphological and molecular methods (including DNA barcoding, environmental DNA metabarcoding, and genetic analyses), while food webs will be investigated using stable isotope analysis (SIA) and the direct analysis of the gut content of large organisms. The research team includes glaciologists, microbiologists, botanists, zoologists and ecologists who are leading experts in glacier ecology in Italy, have long experience in working on glaciers, and have all the diverse skills necessary to successfully achieve the objectives of the project.
This research project balances almost certainly achieved results, like an inventory of the biodiversity of Forni Glacier, with more ambitious ones, like a quantitative estimate of the magnitude of the matter and energy fluxes through the glacier ecological networks. However, it has also a direct application for planning conservation actions for the imperilled and rapidly changing glacier ecosystems also included among those deserving urgent conservation attention according to the EU Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC – 1992).
Collaborators
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