Mobirise
Mobirise

I am a community ecologist with a strong interest in data analysis and computational ecology. I use and develop tools and methods rooted in network theory to understand how different layers of information could contribute to the observed pattern of diversity.
I believe in a modern, open ecological science based on cooperation and the free use of data and methods.


Half Data Scientist Half Data Analyst, 100% ecologist!
Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences (DEB), Tuscia University of Viterbo, Italy.
email: bruno.bellisario@unitus.it

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News

15 April 2025

Brand new papers accepted!

In this month of April two new publications in journals of the British Ecological Society. Journal of Animal Ecology and Functional Ecology will host, respectively, the study of co-occurrence patterns in tropical bird communities in unlogged and logged forests and the functional structure of fish species associated with Mediterranean seagrasses.

Data science with a specific focus

An ecological niche for data science

Data science is the art of programming code and combines it with statistical knowledge to create insights from data.
However, one of the biggest problem in data science is that it often replaces understanding of the mechanisms underlying a specific phenomenon we are studying.
Applying a tool is not the hardest part, but deciding which to apply based on specific hypotheses rooted in the deep knowledge of what we are managing surely it is.
That's why we need algorithmically-trained ecologists rather than ecologically-trained data scientists.
Focusing on a specific area doesn’t mean you can only do that one thing, but simply that you are best at doing it.

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Networks

Networks are powerful tools for visualizing and analyzing complex relationships in ecological and evolutionary systems. They help uncover patterns of species associations, being real interactions (food webs) or shared environmental preferences (species co-occurrence networks), as well as shared traits, gene flow, or phylogenetic relationships. By representing systems as interconnected nodes and links, networks provide insights into the structure, stability, and function across scales, from genes to ecosystems.

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Functional ecology and community assembly rules

Functional ecology explores how the traits of organisms influence their performance, interactions, and roles within ecosystems, offering key insights for conservation and ecosystem management. I study forms and functions in birds and fish to understand the extent to which measurable characteristics—such as size, growth rate, or behavior—help explain how species respond to environmental change, contribute to ecosystem processes, and shape community dynamics.

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Data analysis

Data analysis is essential in ecology for uncovering patterns, testing hypotheses, and making informed decisions about biodiversity and ecosystem health. I use and develop statistical and computational tools to ecological data to model species distributions and understand patterns of complex ecological interactions.

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Interactive Web Apps in Ecology

Interactive web apps are transforming how ecological data is explored, shared, and understood. These tools allow users to visualize complex datasets, run models, and test scenarios in real time—making ecological research more accessible and engaging. From biodiversity mapping to ecosystem monitoring, web apps enhance communication between scientists, policymakers, and the public, supporting data-driven decisions and collaborative conservation efforts. I use R and Shiny to create standalone web applications to disseminate the results of my research.

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MedSeaFishE

Navigate and download decades of literature about the presence of fish species reported on Mediterranean seagrasses.

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Fish4Fun

Interactive figure showing the functional space of fish fauna associated with three main seagrasses in the Mediterranean Sea.

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CoOccVisNet

Co-occurrence network visualization of tropical birds in unlogged and logged forests of Borneo over the years.

Click on the images to be redirected to the publication

The fingerprint of functional strategies in Mediterranean seagrass fish assemblages

Bruno Bellisario, Azzurra Lattanzi, Roberta Cimmaruta (2025)

Selective logging weakly influences species co-occurrence in a community of tropical understorey birds

David Costantini, Simone Messina, Julia Weiss, Suzanne Tomassi, Cindy Cosset, Suzan Benedick, Bruno Bellisario, David P. Edwards (2025)

The fingerprint of functional strategies in Mediterranean seagrass fish assemblages

Bruno Bellisario, Azzurra Lattanzi, Roberta Cimmaruta (2025)

A review of fish diversity in Mediterranean seagrass habitats, with a focus on functional traits

Azzurra Lattanzi, Bruno Bellisario, Roberta Cimmaruta (2024)

Co-migration fidelity at a stopover site increases over time in African-European migratory landbirds

Bruno Bellisario, Massimiliano Cardinale, Ivan Maggini, Leonida Fusani, Claudio Carere (2023)

Microbial activity and habitat heterogeneity in surface soil in a high-mountain grassland landscape (Central Apennines, Italy)

Luisa Massaccesi, Sara Marinari, Bruno Bellisario, Laura Cancellieri, Rosita Marabottini, Goffredo Filibeck (2023)

Parasites and prey of the nursehound shark Scyliorhinus stellaris (Linnaeus, 1758): insights into hidden trophic web interactions in the Mediterranean Sea

Mario Santoro, Bruno Bellisario, Fernando Ángel Fernández‐Álvarez, Fabio Crocetta, Marialetizia Palomba (2023)

Modularity in temporal co-occurrence networks at a stopover site reveals strong co-migration fidelity in African-European migratory landbirds over time

Bruno Bellisario, Massimiliano Cardinale, Ivan Maggini, Leonida Fusani, Claudio Carere (2022)

Drivers of parasite communities in three sympatric benthic sharks in the Gulf of Naples (central Mediterranean Sea)

Mario Santoro, Bruno Bellisario, Valentina Tanduo, Fabio Crocetta, Marialetizia Palomba (2022)

Microplastics occurrence in fish with different habits from the central Tyrrhenian Sea

Roberta Cimmaruta, Silvia Giovannini, Jessica Bianchi, Marco Matiddi, Bruno Bellisario, Giuseppe Nascetti (2022)

A molecular and ecological study of Grillotia (Cestoda: Trypanorhyncha) larval infection in small to mid-sized benthonic sharks in the Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea

Mario Santoro, Bruno Bellisario, Fabio Crocetta, Barbara Uberti, Marialetizia Palomba (2021)

Determinants of different facets of beta diversity in Mediterranean marine amphipods

Bruno Bellisario, Federica Camisa, Chiara Abbattista, Roberta Cimmaruta (2021)

The network structure of intertidal meiofaunal communities
from environmental DNA metabarcoding surveys in Northwest Iberia

Bruno Bellisario, Maria Fais, Sofia Duarte, Pedro Vieira, Carlos Canchaya, Filipe Costa (2021)

The spatial network structure of intertidal meiofaunal communities derived from environmental DNA metabarcoding surveys in Northwest Iberia

Bruno Bellisario, Maria Fais, Sofia Duarte, Pedro Vieira, Carlos Canchaya, Filipe Costa (2021)

Parallel assemblage structures in Mediterranean marine amphipods revealed by beta diversity partitioning

Bruno Bellisario, Federica Camisa, Chiara Abbattista, Roberta Cimmaruta (2021)

Host biological factors and geographic locality influence predictors of parasite communities in sympatric sparid fishes off the southern Italian coast

Mario Santoro, Doriana Iaccarino, Bruno Bellisario (2020)

Meiofauna metabarcoding in Lima estuary (Portugal) suggests high taxon replacement within a background of network stability

Maria Fais, Bruno Bellisario, Sofia Duarte, Pedro Emanuel Vieira, Ronaldo Sousa, Carlos Alberto Canchaya, Filipe Oliveira Costa (2020)

A network approach to identify bioregions in the distribution of Mediterranean amphipods associated with Posidonia oceanica meadows

Bruno Bellisario, Federica Camisa, Chiara Abbattista and Roberta Cimmaruta (2019)

Conserving migration in a changing climate, a case study: The Eurasian spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia leucorodia

Bruno Bellisario (2018)

The Mediterranean European hake, Merluccius merluccius: Detecting drivers
influencing the Anisakis spp. larvae distribution

Paolo Cipriani, Gian Luca Sbaraglia, Michela Paoletti, Lucilla Giulietti, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2018)

Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus from the Mediterranean Sea: Fishing ground as a predictor of parasite distribution

Paolo Cipriania, Gian Luca Sbaraglia, Marialetizia Palomba, Lucilla Giulietti, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2018)

Seasonal variations of amphipod assemblages in a Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile, 1813 meadow from the central Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy)

Federica Camisa, Chiara Abbattista, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2017)

Environmental heterogeneity promotes microgeographic genetic divergence in the Mediterranean killifish Aphanius fasciatus (Cyprinodontidae)

Dario Angeletti, Roberta Cimmaruta, Claudia Sebbio, Bruno Bellisario, Claudio Carere & Giuseppe Nascetti (2017)

Habitat overlap between bottlenose dolphins
and seabirds: a pilot study to identify
high-presence coastal areas in the
Tyrrhenian Sea

Valentina Cafaro, Dario Angeletti, Bruno Bellisario, Armando Macali, Claudio Carere & Jessica Alessi (2016)

Spatial and temporal variation of coastal mainland vs. insular amphipod assemblages on Posidonia oceanica meadows

Bruno Bellisario, Federica Camisa, Giuseppe Nascetti, Loretta Lattanzi & Roberta Cimmaruta (2016)

Larval migration of the zoonotic parasite Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda: Anisakidae) in European anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus: Implications to seafood safety

Paolo Cipriani, Virginia Acerra, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2016)

Temporal stability of parasite distribution and genetic variability values of Contracaecum osculatum sp. D and C. osculatum sp. E (Nematoda: Anisakidae) from fish of the Ross Sea (Antarctica)

Simonetta Mattiucci, Paolo Cipriani, Michela Paoletti, Valentina Nardi, Mario Santoro, Bruno Bellisario, Giuseppe Nascetti (2015)

Relationship between phylogenetic and nutritional diversity in Arctic (Kandalaksha Bay) seawater planktonic bacteria

Chiara Pesciaroli, Paolo Barghini, Fulvio Cerfolli, Bruno Bellisario, Massimiliano Fenice (2015)

Genetic identification and distribution of the parasitic larvae of
Anisakis pegreffii and Anisakis simplex (s. s.) in European hake Merluccius merluccius from the Tyrrhenian Sea and Spanish Atlantic coast: Implications for food safety

Paolo Cipriani, Giorgio Smaldone, Virginia Acerra, Luisa D'Angelo, Aniello Anastasio, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2015)

Integrating Anisakis spp. parasites data and host genetic structure in the frame of a holistic approach for stock identification of selected Mediterranean Sea fish species

Simonetta Mattiucci, Roberta Cimmaruta, Paolo Cipriani, Pablo Abaunza, Bruno Bellisario, Giuseppe Nascetti (2015)

Climate effects on the distribution of wetland habitats and connectivity in networks of migratory waterbirds

Bruno Bellisario, Fulvio Cerfolli, Giuseppe Nascetti (2014).

Genetic and morphological approaches distinguish the three sibling species of the Anisakis simplex species complex, with a species designation as Anisakis berlandi n. sp. for A. simplex sp. C (Nematoda: Anisakidae)

Simonetta Mattiucci, Paolo Cipriani, Stephen C. Webb, Michela Paoletti, Federica Marcer, Bruno Bellisario, David I. Gibson, Giuseppe Nascetti (2014)

Interspecies variation in DNA damage induced by pollution

Claudia Sebbio, Claudio Carere, Giuseppe Nascetti, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2014)

Parasite Communities of Icefish (Chionodraco hamatus) in the Ross Sea (Antarctica): Influence of the Host Sex on the Helminth Infracommunity Structure

Mario Santoro, Simonetta Mattiucci, Paolo Cipriani, Bruno Bellisario et al. (2014)

Infaunal macrobenthic community dynamics in a manipulated hyperhaline ecosystem: a long-term study

Bruno Bellisario, Claudio Carere, Fulvio Cerfolli, Dario Angeletti, Giuseppe Nascetti, Roberta Cimmaruta (2013)

Detritus-based assemblage responses under salinity stress conditions in a disused aquatic artificial ecosystem

Fulvio Cerfolli, Bruno Bellisario, Corrado Battisti (2013)

Parasitic infection by larval helminths in Antarctic fishes: pathological changes and impact on the host body condition index

Mario Santoro, Simonetta Mattiucci, Thierry Work, Roberta Cimmaruta, Valentina Nardi, Paolo Cipriani, Bruno Bellisario, Giuseppe Nascetti (2013)

The interplay between network structure and functioning of detritus-based communities in patchy aquatic environment

Bruno Bellisario, Fulvio Cerfolli, Giuseppe Nascetti (2012)

Pattern of species occurrence in detritus-based communities with variable connectivity

Bruno Bellisario, Fulvio Cerfolli, Giuseppe Nascetti (2011)

The Ecological Restoration of the Tarquinia
Salterns drives the temporal changes in the benthic
community structure

Bruno Bellisario, Claudia Novelli, Fulvio Cerfolli, Dario Angeletti, Roberta Cimmaruta, Giuseppe Nascetti (2010)

Evaluating nestedness in a spatially structured detritus-based systems

Bruno Bellisario, Fulvio Cerfolli, Giuseppe Nascetti (2011)

Spatial network structure and robustness of detritus-based communities
in a patchy environment

Bruno Bellisario, Fulvio Cerfolli, Giuseppe Nascetti (2010)

Macroinvertebrates assembly in a patchy environment: centrality measures for the spatial network of detritus-based communities

Bruno Bellisario, Fulvio Cerfolli, Giuseppe Nascetti (2009)

Address

Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences (DEB)

Tuscia University of Viterbo
Largo dell'Università Snc 01100 Viterbo (Italy)


Contacts

bruno.bellisario@unitus.it


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