Bianchi Franco

Franco Bianchi is a biological oceanographer, with a special interest on phytoplankton ecology. His research is mainly dedicated to study the horizontal and vertical distributions of photosynthetic pigments, as well as their relationships with the biogeochemical properties of the water column and sediments, both in brackish and in marine waters. His recent interests are focused on: i) plankton as a proxy of the water quality of the lagoon of Venice; ii) seasonal dynamics of hydrology and plankton in some rocky outcrops of the Northern Adriatic Sea; iii) long-term ecological series in coastal and open-sea waters; as applied oceanography regards: iv) studies on ecological conditions, sediment textures and biological stress indicators during shellfish dredging; v) definition of the water quality of the commercial crustacean handling and holding environments; vi) characterization of the fishing areas to assess the quality, hygiene and food safety for some “minor” species of marine crustaceans for human consumption; vii) environmental conditions and plankton associations in some estuarine areas, in order to evaluate the presence of  Vibrio sp. pandemic strain. Training, education and scientific diffusion have been his active topics up to now.

• He took part to oceanographic cruises planned to measure environmental variables and to sample plankton on board of national and international ships in the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Sicily Channel, the Weddell Sea; on minor boats in the lagoon of Venice.
• Responsible of the joint scientific cooperation between the National Research Council (CNR, Italy) and the Polish Academy of Science (PAS, Poland), project “Climatic and hydrochemical considerations of biomarkers sensitivity to anthropogenic stress in the coastal marine environment” (2000).
• Scientific responsible CORILA Project “Quantity and quality of lagoon-sea exchanges: measurements of the biogeochemical parameters” - line 3.5 (2000-2004).
  
• Member of the Forwarder Group for the establishment of a national net of long-term ecological research (ILTER, Italian Long-Term Ecological Research), in the frame of the international project ALTER-Net (long-term research net on biodiversity) (2005-2006).
• Member of the Editorial Board for the revision of the manual about “Methods in Ecology of the Marine Plankton” of the Italian Society of Marine Biology (2008-2009).
• As training, supervisor of personnel of the Regional Environmental Protection Agencies (ARPA), for laboratory analyses of photosynthetic pigments (Regulation 2060) (2008-2009).
• As scientific diffusion, speaker in conferences, seminars and meetings in primary and secondary schools, cultural and sporting associations, social centres, Third Age Universities, Weeks of Science, etc.
• As education, responsible of scholastic projects on biological oceanography and charged professor at the Venice (1995-1999) and Padua Universities (2001-2007).
  

He wrote more than 20 scientific papers in ISI journals, 6 articles on international books, 10 on national books. He has produced more than 20 CD-ROMs, both for scientific diffusion and education.

• Bianchi F, Acri F, Bernardi Aubry F, Berton A, Boldrin A, Camatti E, Cassin D, Comaschi A. 2003. can plankton communities be considered as bio-indicators of water quality in the lagoon of Venice? Mar. Poll. Bull., 46: 964-971.
• Bianchi F, Acri F. 2003. The Island of Pantelleria (Sicily Strait, Italy): towards the establishment of a marine protected area. First oceanographic investigations. Boll. Geof. Teor. Appl., 44: 3-9.
• Bianchi F, Ravagnan E, Acri F, Boldrin A, Cassin D, Turchetto M. 2004. Variability and fluxes of hydrology, nutrients and particulate matter between the Venice lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. Preliminary results (years 2001-2002). J. Mar. Sys., 51: 49-64.
• Acri F, Bernardi Aubry F, Berton A, Bianchi F, Boldrin A, Camatti E, Comaschi A, Rabitti S, Socal G. 2004. Plankton communities and nutrients in the Venice lagoon. Comparison between current and old data . J. Mar. Sys., 51: 321-329.
• Acri F, Aubry F, Berton A, Bianchi F, Camatti E, Comaschi A, Rabitti S, Socal G. 2005. Changes in nutrients and plankton communities in the Venice lagoon. In: Flooding and environmental challenges for Venice and its lagoon: state of knowledge. Ed. C.A. Fletcher and T. Spencer, with J. Da Mosto and P. Campostrini, Cambridge University Press: 557-565.
• Bianchi F, Ravagnan E, Acri F, Antonini F, Bernardi Aubry F, Boldrin A, Bressan M, Camatti E, Campesan G, Cassin D, Cesca A, Comaschi A, Giani M, Onorini Moneta D, Penzo M, Pugnetti A, Turchetto M, Van Vleet E. 2005. Quality and quantity of exchanges between the lagoon and the sea: biogeochemical parameters. In: Scientific research and safeguarding of Venice. Research programme 2001-2003, Vol. III, 2003 results, CORILA Ed., Venice: 323-341.
• Bragato D, Bergamasco A, Bianchi F. 2006. Quantifying macro-aggregate distributions using a new index (MAI). J. Mar. Sys., 61: 1-12.
• Tedesco L, Socal G, Bianchi F, Acri F, Veneri D, Vichi M. 2007. NW Adriatic Sea biogeochemical variability in the last 20 years (1986–2005). Biogeosciences, 4: 673-687.
• Socal G, Acri F, Bastianini M, Bernardi Aubry F, Bianchi F, Cassin D, Coppola J, De Lazzari A, Bandelj V, Cossarini G, Solidoro C. 2008. Hydrological and biogeochemical features of the Northern Adriatic Sea in the period 2003–2006. Mar. Ecol. 29: 449–468.
• Mozetič P, Solidoro C, Cossarini G, Socal G, Precali R, Francé J, Bianchi F, De Vittor C, Smodlaka N, Fonda Umani S. 2009. Recent trends towards oligotrophication of the Northern Adriatic: evidence from chlorophyll a time series. Estuaries and Coasts.