Address book
Contacts
LEONARDO CONGIU
Position
Professore Ordinario
Structure
Address
VIALE G. COLOMBO, 3 - PADOVA
Telephone
0498276218
EDUCATION\n1997. PhD in Animal Biology (Univ. of Bologna).\n1993 Degree in Natural Sciences (Univ. of Padova)\n\nRESEARCH INTERESTS\nThe research activity is developed in the fields of molecular ecology and Conservation Genetics. The main lines of research are:\nManagement of protected species through planning of restocking/reintroduction actions and monitoring of their effects; \nAnalysis of biodiversity with classical genetic markers and eDNA metabarcoding.\nStudies of evolutionary relationships between populations and spatial distribution of biodiversity;\nIdentification of species and interspecific hybrids;\nSupport to ex situ conservation programs and establishment of breeding plans.\nDevelopment and application of molecular markers for species identification and monitoring of illegal trade of protected species;\n\n\nSELECTED ACTIVE INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS\nInstitute for zoo and wildlife research, Berlin, Germany (Dr. A. Ludwig);\nYangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (Prof. Qiwei Wei)\nInstitute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Berlin, Germany (Dr. Joern Gessner);\nVNIRO Russia Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography Moscow, Russia (Dr. Nikolai Mugue);\nInstitute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management BOKU, Vienna, Austria (Dr.Thomas Friedrich);\nWWF Central and Eastern Europe (Dr. Beate Striebel-Greiter).\nUniversity of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Wien, Austria (Dr. A. Zitek);\nDanube Delta National Institute, Tulcea, Romania (Dr. R. Suciu);\n\n\n\nMAIN LONG-TERM INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS\n\n- Since 2006, Member of the Sturgeon Specialists Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).\n- Since 2015 (third term): Member of the Board of Directors of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society.\n- Since 2017: Red List Authority for the IUCN Sturgeon Specialist Group.\n\nTEACHING\nSince 2006 he has held the following courses at the University of Padua, in various three-year or master's degree courses.\nEcology, Population Biology, Molecular methods for Environmental studies, Conservation Genetics, \nEcological methods for Environmental Sciences, General and Applied Ecology\n\nPublications\nhttps://scholar.google.it/citations?hl=it&user=kvjdynEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate\n\n
Notices
Orari di ricevimento
Dom--:----:--Dipartimento Di Biologia, Via Ugo Bassi 58/b Si riceve in qualsiasi giorno previo accordo telefonico chiamando il numero 049-8276218
Publications
https://scholar.google.it/citations?hl=it&user=kvjdynEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Research Area
The research activity is developed in the fields of molecular ecology and Conservation Genetics. The main lines of research are:\nManagement of protected species through planning of restocking/reintroduction actions and monitoring of their effects;\nAnalysis of biodiversity with classical genetic markers and eDNA metabarcoding.\nStudies of evolutionary relationships between populations and spatial distribution of biodiversity;\nIdentification of species and interspecific hybrids;\nSupport to ex situ conservation programs and establishment of breeding plans.\nDevelopment and application of molecular markers for species identification and monitoring of illegal trade of protected species;\nAnalysis of the connectivity between marine areas of Community interest.\nIn recent years he has worked mainly on fish but also on reptiles, mammals and invertebrates.\n
Thesis proposals
Master's thesis in Molecular Biology and Evolutionary Biology on various aspects related to the sturgeon evolution and conservation genetics. Other thesis topics concern the development of molecular markers for the identification of species and interspecific hybrids and, more generally, of genetic analysis tools applicable to different levels of diversity: species, populations, individuals.
Some currently active research lines:
- Management of captive breeding stock to support the restocking of different sturgeon species.
- Geographical differentiation patterns analysis for informed management of various protected species.
- Development of universal molecular markers for the analysis of diversity at different levels (species, populations, individuals).
- Environmental DNA analysis for the study of the colonization patterns of the Pelobate Toad (Pelobates fuscus).
- Development of protocols for the molecular identification of sex
- Analysis of the relationship between fitness and inbreeding in Cobice sturgeon as part of the ENDEMIXIT project. https://endemixit.com/
