Gionata Bocci - Scuola Superiore Sant`Anna

Gionata Bocci
Personal data
First name
Family name
Birth date
Citizenship
Gender
Gionata
Bocci
07/05/1978
Italian
Male
Contact information
Institute Institute of Life Sciences
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
Via Santa Cecilia, 3
56127, Pisa (Italy)
email [email protected]
tel. +39050883567
fax +39050883526
Research interests
Agroecology, Agrobiodiversity, Weed Ecology and Management, Semi-natural habitats, vegetation analysis, agro-ecosystems services, Geographic Information Systems.
Education
2004–2006 PhD, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Pisa.
2003 Certified in the profession of Agronomist, Ordine dei Dottori Agronomi e Dottori
Forestali di Pisa Lucca e Massa Carrara, Pisa.
1997–2003 M.A., Università degli Studi di Pisa, Agraria Faculty, Pisa.
Final exam score: 110/110 cum laude.
1992–1997 High School Diploma, Liceo Scientifico Ulisse Dini, Pisa.
Final exam score: 56/60.
1996 First Certificate English, British School, Florence.
PhD thesis
title Valutazione della biodiversità della vegetazione ripariale in contesti agricoli. Un caso
di studio: la Tenuta di Coltano (PI) [Biodiversity assessment of riparian vegetation
in agricultural landscapes. A case study: the Coltano estate.]
supervisors Bonari E. and Bertacchi A.
description Drainage ditches are a major component of any agricultural landscape and the plant communities that they host provide several important ecosystems functions such as connections
among habitats, shelters for animals, buffers between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
The aim of the thesis was to analyze the biodiversity levels of plant communities along
drainage ditches and relate them to several environmental parameters depicting agricultural
activities (eg. management), soil properties and presence of natural areas.
Master thesis
title L’indagine geobotanica nella pianificazione territoriale: il bacino imbrifero del fiume
Fine (Toscana nord-occidentale) [Geobotanical analysis in landscape planning: Fine
river’s basin (north-west Tuscany)]
supervisors Bertacchi A.
description Object of the thesis was to analyze and map riparian plant communities along a small river
in central Tuscany.
Experience
02/2008– Research fellow, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa.
present Research activities on functional biodiversity in agroecosistems and Integrated Weed
Management strategies.
My research activity as a research fellow at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna has been
aimed at testing whether increased levels of diversity in agroecosystems - both at the field
and at the landscape scale - can provide ecosystem services which could potentially support
stability in crop production (e.g. through weed or pest control).
Having participated in four EU-founded projects, I have a solid knowledge of all the
activities that these projects require, such as periodical reporting (deliverables, milestones),
participation in Executive committees and annual meetings.
Main achievements:
{ I am the author and the maintainer of the TR8 package for the R software (http:
//cran.r-project.org/web/packages/TR8/index.html) which helps researchers in automatically retrieving plant functional traits data from various
web-based sources.
{ Manipulative field experiments aimed at assessing whether sown flower strips with
increasing diversity of floral morphology characteristics could support pest control
and yield production in nearby tomato plots (also depending on the composition
of the surrounding landscapes).
{ Functional biodiversity assessments in maize field-trials: the aim was to test
whether high levels of diversity at both the genetic (adopting genotypes with
increasing diversity, from hybrids to composite crosses) and the management
level (using different types of cover crops) could stabilize cropping system’s yield
and quality.
{ Field experiment on processing AMF-inoculated tomato plants, aimed at testing
if increased levels of genetic (using different tomato cultivars) and management
levels (using different cover crops, and inoculating tomato plantlets with different
AMF strains) could stabilize the cropping system’s yield and quality parameters.
{ Contributed to the creation of a database of traits of 27 common weeds (http:
//www.weedml.org/home/intro.html).
{ Established a field trial (which was part of an international research) aimed at
collecting phenological data on Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. e Polygonum
persicaria L. (http://www.weedml.org/wtdb/experiments.html).
{ Functional biodiversity assessments in olive groves: the aim was to test whether
semi-natural vegetation affects the relationships among the main pest (Bactrocera
oleae Gmelin) and its parasitoids.
{ Organization of four international summer schools for PhD students working on topics related to biodiversity and crop protection
(http://www.endure-network.eu/about_endure/all_the_news/sign_
up_endure_summer_school_on_agroecology).
{ Co-supervision of PhD students.
02/2010– Visiting researcher, Department of Integrated Pest Management -Aarhus Univer03/2010 sity, Slagelse (DK).
I received a grant from the ENDURE EU project for a two-months visit to the Department of
Integrated Pest Management - Aarhus University in order to collaborate with Niels Holst, PhD
to the development (writing and debugging) of the Conductance model-plug-in for the Unisim
software (https://github.com/NielsHolst/UniSim/blob/master/authors.xml)
05/2007– Research Grant, Università degli studi di Pisa - Dipartimento di Agronomia e
12/2007 Gestione dell’Agroecosistema, Pisa.
Vegetation analysis and mapping of two protected areas located along the Magra river (Italy).
Research skills
Having developed a solid background in both agronomy and geobotany, I am able to
plan and set up agronomic field experiments and carry on vegetation surveys in both
cropped and semi-natural areas; I have a good knowledge of the main statistical
techniques for the analysis of ecological data (eg. using multivariate techniques,
generalized linear models, mixed effects models, etc..) and of the main techniques
and softwares (eg. GIS, remote sensing techniques) for displaying and analyzing
spatial data.
Projects
During my experience as a Research Assistant at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna I’ve
been actively involved in the following international projects:
{ QUESSA (Quantification of ecological services for sustainable agriculture EU
FP7 Project www.quessa.eu): I mainly follow the research on potential pestcontrol ecosystem-service provided by vegetation of semi-natural habitats in olive
groves areas,
{ TILMAN-ORG Reduced tillage and green manures for sustainable organic cropping systems EU Core Organic II Project (www.tilman-org.net): I contributed
to the set-up of a database of traits of weed species (related publications are in
preparation),
{ SOLIBAM (Strategies for Organic and Low-input Integrated Breeding and Management) FP7 Collaborative Project (http://www.solibam.eu/) : I mainly
followed on-field research activities on maize and processing tomato aimed at
assessing whether increased levels of diversity at the management and at the
species level can support stability in yield and quality of crop production,
{ ENDURE (European Network for the Durable Exploitation of Crop Protection
Strategies) FP6 Network of Excellence (http://www.endure-network.eu/):
I was involved in research activities related to the collection of data regarding
ecological traits of weed species and in the organization of 4 Summer Schools for
PhD students.
Teaching activity
11-12/2014 An introduction to R : a course on the R software aimed at PhD students in Agriculture, held at at Scuola Superiore Sant’Annna (Pisa). The aim of the course
was to provide students with a basic knowledge of the R environment (e.g. how to
read, manipulate and plot data, use of model formulas) and to teach them how to
perform simple statistical analysis (regression, ANOVA, ANCOVA).
12- An intensive 3-days course on the use of the R software held at Centro di Formazione
14/02/2012 Professionale per il Commercio Turismo e Servizi (Bolzano) (corso di formazione
continua).
04-05/2011 An introduction to R : a course on the R software aimed at PhD students in Agriculture, held at at Scuola Superiore Sant’Annna (Pisa). The aim of the course
was to provide students with a basic knowledge of the R environment (e.g. how to
read, manipulate and plot data, use of model formulas) and to teach them how to
perform simple statistical analysis (regression, ANOVA, ANCOVA).
Relevant attended courses
title Measuring Biodiversity, held by Prof. Anne Magurran (University of St. Andrews,
Scotland) at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (25-29 September 2006)
title Geostatistica applicata in ambito agronomico e agrometereologico (Applied geostatistic in Agronomy and Agrometeorology, held by Prof. Stefano Bocchi, Prof.
Luigi Mariani and Gabriele Cola (Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale, Università
di Milano) at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (October 2007)
Languages
English Understanding: advanced;
Speaking: advanced;
Writing: advanced;
Computer skills
Operating GNU/Linux (Debian, Ubuntu), Windows
Systems
Statistical R
Software
GIS GRASS GIS, Qgis
Text Editor Emacs
RDBMS SQLite/SpatiaLite, PostgreSQL/PostGIS(basic)
Languages Python (good), bash scripting (good), C/C++ (basic), PHP (basic), XHTML/CSS
(basic), elisp (sufficient), UNIX tools (sed, awk, etc..), LaTeX.
Peer-reviewed journal articles
2016
Turrini, A., Sbrana, C., Avio, L., Njeru, E. M., Bocci, G., Bàrberi, P., and Giovannetti,
M. (2016). Changes in the composition of native root arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal
communities during a short-term cover crop-maize succession. Biology and Fertility of
Soils, pages 1–11
Picchi, M. S., Bocci, G., Petacchi, R., and Entling, M. H. (2016). Effects of local
and landscape factors on spiders versus olive fruit flies. Agriculture, Ecosystems &
Environment, 222:138–147
Xavier Sans, F., Armengot, L., Blanco-Moreno, J., Bàrberi, P., Bocci, G., Carlesi, S.,
Aenderkerk, R., Berner, A., Celette, F., Grosse, M., Huiting, H., Kranzler, A., A., L.,
Mäder, P., Peigné, J., Stoll, E., Delfosse, P., Sukkel, W., Surböck, A., and Westaway,
S. (2016). Tillage as a driver of change in weed communities: a functional perspective.
Submitted to: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment., 222:276–285
Balzan, M. V., Bocci, G., and Moonen, A.-C. (2016). Plant functional diversity to promote
multiple agroecosystem services: wildflower strips enhance natural enemy conservation
and crop productivity. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 158(3):304–319
2015
Balzan, M., Bocci, G., and Moonen, A.-C. (2015). Landscape complexity and field
margin vegetation diversity enhance natural enemies and reduce herbivory by lepidoptera
pests on tomato crop. BioControl, pages 1–14
Bocci, G. (2015). TR8: a package for easily retrieving plant species traits. Methods in
Ecology and Evolution, 6:347–350
Storkey, J., Holst, N., Bojer, O., Bigongiali, F., Bocci, G., Colbach, N., Dorner, Z.,
Riemens, M., Sartorato, I., Sønderskov, M., and Verschwele, A. (2015). Combining a weed
traits database with a population dynamics model predicts shifts in weed communities.
Weed research, 55(2):206–218
2014
Njeru, E. M., Avio, L., Bocci, G., Sbrana, C., Turrini, A., Bàrberi, P., Giovannetti, M., and
Oehl, F. (2014). Contrasting effects of cover crops on ‘hot spot’arbuscular mycorrhizal
fungal communities in organic tomato. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 51(2):151–166
Balzan, M., Bocci, G., and Moonen, A.-C. (2014). Augmenting flower trait diversity in
wildflower strips to optimise the conservation of arthropod functional groups for multiple
agroecosystem services. Journal of Insect Conservation, pages 1–16
2013
Njeru, E., Avio, L., Sbrana, C., Turrini, A., Bocci, G., Bàrberi, P., and Giovannetti, M.
(2013). First evidence for a major cover crop effect on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and
organic maize growth. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, pages 1–8
Carlesi, S., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., Frumento, P., and Bàrberi, P. (2013). Urban sprawl
and land abandonment affect the functional response traits of maize weed communities
in a heterogeneous landscape. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 166:76 – 85
Accepted - in press
In preparation - under revision
Njeru, E. M., Bocci, Gionata nad Avio, L., Sbrana, C., Turrini, A., Giovannetti, M., and
Bàrberi, P. (2015). Deciphering the role of crop and management diversity on mychorrhizal
symbiosis and productivity of organic tomato. To be submitted to: Agronomy for
Sustainable Development
Other publications
2014
Sans, F. X., Armengot, L., Blanco-Moreno, J. M., Bocci, G., Carlesi, S., and Bàrberi, P.
(2014). Effect of conservation practices on functional diversity and assembly of weed
communities: a database of functional traits. Building Organic Bridges, 3:977–978
Moonen, A.-C., Molina, G.A.R, Bocci, G., and Poggio, S. (2014). Farming intensity and
field margin complexity affected post-dispersal weed seed predation by arthropods in
sunflower crops. IOBC wprs Bullettin, 100:95–99
2011
Bocci, G., Bigongiali, F., Bàrberi, P., and Moonen, A. (2011a). Comparison between digital
analysis methods for the estimation of vegetation cover in weed research. Herbologia,
12(3):23–32
2010
Carlesi, S., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., Frumento, P., and Bàrberi, P. (2010b). Maize
weed communities composition in a highly anthropized landscape: which vegetation
response variables and landscape descriptors? IOBC wprs Bullettin, 56:29–32. ISBN:
978-92-9067-230-2
Petit, S., Lavigne, C., Ferguson, A., Tixier, P., Bohan, D., Denholm, I., Otto, S.,
Alomar, O., Veres, A., Eggenschwiler, L., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., and Golla, B. (2010).
Conservation biological control at the landscape level: measuring and modelling. IOBC
wprs Bulletin, 56:87–93
2009
Bertacchi, A., Lombardi, T., and Bocci, G. (2009b). Il paesaggio vegetale dell’ambiente
dunale di Calambrone nel litorale pisano (Toscana settentrionale). Informatore Botanico
Italiano, 41(2):281–293
2005
Bertacchi, A., Sani, A., and Bocci, G. (2005b). Vegetazione naturale e modificazioni
antropiche. un caso di studio in Lunigiana: l’area di Filattiera (Massa-Carrara). Informatore Botanico Italiano, 37(1b):760–761
Software
Bocci, G. (https://github.com/GioBo/TR8). TR8: A tool for downloading functional
traits data for plant species
Holst, N., Nielsen, A., Malawska, A. K., Agüera, A., Mweya, C., Driessen,
D., Zhaowei, D., Bocci, G., Ozturk, I., Storkey, J., Yun-Feng Duan, K.,
Riemens, M., Sønderskov, M., Körner, O., Masin, R., Thapa, S., and Meikle, W.
(https://github.com/NielsHolst/UniSim). Universal Simulator Software
Proceedings
2014
Turrini, A., Sbrana, C., Avio, L., Njeru, E. M., Bocci, G., Bàrberi, P., and Giovannetti, M.
(2014). Molecular diversity of native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonizing the roots
of diverse cover crops and subsequent organic maize. In First Global Soil Biodiversity
Conference. Dijon - France
Silvestri, N., Giannini, V., Pistocchi, C., Bocci, G., Sabbatini, T., and Bonari, E. (2014).
Effects of perennial crops cultivation on weed communities in a mediterranean peatland. In Wetlands Biodiversity and Services: Tools for Socio-Ecological Development, IX
European Wetland Congress
Bàrberi, P., Armengot, L., Blanco-Moreno, J., Bocci, G., Carlesi, S., and Sans, F. (2014).
Functional diversity of weed communities: a database of functional traits. In Proceedings
5th Workshop of the EWRS Working Group ‘Weeds & Biodiversity’, pages 18–18. Scuola
Superiore Sant’Anna
Nol, N., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., and Bàrberi, P. (2014b). Exploitation of diversity in
grain maize. effects of increased genetic and species diversity on weed suppression, yield
and yield stability. In Proceedings of the International Congress ‘Diversity strategies
for organic and low-input agricultures and their food systems’, pages 35–36, Nantes
(France). SOLIBAM
Nol, N., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., and Bàrberi, P. (2014a). Effect of poplar wood chips
mulch on maize performance and the weed community. In Proceedings 5th Workshop
of the EWRS Working Group ‘Weeds & Biodiversity’, pages 10–10. Scuola Superiore
Sant’Anna
2013
Nol, N., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., and Bàrberi, P. (2013). Effects of cover crops and
their residues on weed suppression and subsequent composite cross populations of maize
in organic cropping system. In Joint Workhop of the EWRS Working Groups: Novel
and Susutainable Weed Management in Arid and Semi-arid Agro-ecosystems and Weed
Mapping. Chania, Greece
Mugendi, E., Avio, L., Sbrana, C., Turrini, A., Bocci, G., Bàrberi, P., and Giovannetti, M.
(2013). Enhancing mycorrhizal symbiosis and productivity of field grown organic tomato
through crop and management diversification. In International Conference on Organic
Agriculture Sciences, page 42, Budapest, Eger
2012
Mugendi, E., Avio, L., Sbrana, C., Giovannetti, M., Bocci, G., and Bàrberi, P. (2012).
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal symbioses in organic systems: the role of crop breeding and
management diversity. In Proceedings 1st SOLIBAM Stakeholder Congress ‘Shaping the
future of agriculture: The role of diversity in low input and organic cropping systems’,
San Nilo Abbey, Grottaferrata RM, Italy
2011
Balzan, M., Rouphael, S., Bocci, G., and Moonen, A.-C. (2011b). Providing resources for
diverging ecological needs of natural enemies: biological control in tomato cultivations.
In 12th European Ecological Federation Congress, page 166, Avila, Spain
Carlesi, S., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., Frumento, P., and Bàrberi, P. (2011). May ’cross
functional groups’ help explaining landscape effects on weed community composition? In
Proceedings 4th Workshop of the EWRS Working Group Weeds & Biodiversity, page 24.
Dijon (FR)
Bocci, G., Carlesi, S., and Bàrberi, P. (2011b). Vegetation mapping in italy: an overview.
In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop of the EWRS Working group: Weed Mapping,
page 8, Jokioinen, Finland
Balzan, M., Rouphael, S., Bocci, G., and Moonen, A. (2011a). Providing resources for
diverging ecological needs of natural enemies: biological control in tomato cultivations.
In 12th EEF Congress, Avila, Spain
Antichi, D., Bigongiali, F., Bocci, G., Fontanelli, M., Frasconi, C., Ginanni, M., Peruzzi,
A., Raffaelli, M., and Bàrberi, P. (2011). Crop yield and weed suppression in three
different vegetable management systems in Central Italy. In Proceedings 9th Workshop
of the EWRS Working Group on Physical and Cultural Weed Control, page 17. Samsun
2010
Carlesi, S., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., Frumento, P., and Bàrberi, P. (2010a). Composizione
e diversità della flora spontanea del mais in un territorio fortemente antropizzato (composition and diversity of maize weed flora in a highly anthropised landscape). In Atti del
Convegno BIOD-Coltivare la biodiversità
2009
Rouphael, S., Bocci, G., Moonen, A., and Bàrberi, P. (2009). Does the vegetation affect
the activity/density of generalist predators of the pupae of the olive fruit fly [Bactrocera
oleae (Gmelin)]? In Proceedings 3rd Workshop of the EWRS Working Group Weeds &
Biodiversity, page 46, Lleida
2007
Bertacchi, A., Bocci, G., and Lombardi, T. (2007). Carta sperimentale degli ambienti
dunali del Calambrone, nel litorale Pisano. In Atti del 102 Congresso della Società
Botanica Italiana, page 152, Palermo
Books
2009
Bertacchi, A., Bocci, G., Lombardi, T., and Bacci, S. (2009a). Il paesaggio vegetale
delle ANPIL del Fiume Magra. Mori Editore, Aulla (MS)
2005
Bertacchi, A., Bocci, G., Lombardi, T., and Tomei, P. (2005a). Le fitocenosi riparie della
Toscana nord-occidentale. Il fiume Fine. Edizioni ETS, Pisa