Growing up on the beautiful Italian island of Ischia 19 miles off the coast of Naples, Dr. Valerio Mazzella of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli grew to love the ecosystem's unique features and species. As a natural source of thermal and pH gradients due to the region's secondary volcanism, which gives rise to carbon dioxide vents, Ischia and the surrounding ocean waters have long been a natural laboratory for scientists to study the global effects of rising atmospheric carbon and the resulting ocean acidification. Dr. Mazzella's research fascination first with sea grasses and the countless species that depend upon them, and later with sea sponges and their microbiomes has implications for preserving the island's fragile balance in the face of mounting pressures from increasing tourism and boat traffic, overfishing, and pollution.
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