Next‐generation phylogeography resolves post‐glacial colonization patterns in a widespread carnivore, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Europe (2021)
Journal Article

Carnivores tend to exhibit a lack of (or less pronounced) genetic structure at continental scales in both a geographic and temporal sense and this can confound the identification of post-glacial colonization patterns in this group. In this study we u... Read More about Next‐generation phylogeography resolves post‐glacial colonization patterns in a widespread carnivore, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), in Europe.

Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome (2021)
Journal Article

Interactions between hosts and their resident microbial communities are a fundamental component of fitness for both agents. Though recent research has highlighted the importance of interactions between animals and their bacterial communities, compara... Read More about Fungal microbiomes are determined by host phylogeny and exhibit widespread associations with the bacterial microbiome.

Evidence of stock connectivity, hybridization and misidentification in white anglerfish support the need of a genetics-informed fisheries management framework (2021)
Journal Article

Understanding population connectivity within a species as well as potential interactions with its close relatives is crucial to define management units and to derive efficient management actions. However, although genetics can reveal mismatches betwe... Read More about Evidence of stock connectivity, hybridization and misidentification in white anglerfish support the need of a genetics-informed fisheries management framework.

eDNA in a bottleneck : obstacles to fish metabarcoding studies in megadiverse freshwater systems (2021)
Journal Article
Jackman, J., Benvenuto, C., Coscia, I., Carvalho, C., Ready, J., Boubli, J., …Sales, N. (2021). eDNA in a bottleneck : obstacles to fish metabarcoding studies in megadiverse freshwater systems. Environmental DNA, 3(4), 837-849. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.191

The current capacity of environmental DNA (eDNA) to provide accurate insights into the biodiversity of megadiverse regions (e.g., the Neotropics) requires further evaluation to ensure its reliability for long‐term monitoring. In this study, we first... Read More about eDNA in a bottleneck : obstacles to fish metabarcoding studies in megadiverse freshwater systems.

Life in a drop : sampling environmental DNA for marine fishery management and ecosystem monitoring (2020)
Journal Article
Gilbey, J., Carvalho, G., Castilho, R., Coscia, I., Coulson, M., Dahle, G., …Volckaert, F. (2021). Life in a drop : sampling environmental DNA for marine fishery management and ecosystem monitoring. Marine Policy, 124, 104331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104331

Science-based management of marine fisheries and effective ecosystem monitoring both require the analysis of large amounts of often complex and difficult to collect information. Legislation also increasingly requires the attainment of good environmen... Read More about Life in a drop : sampling environmental DNA for marine fishery management and ecosystem monitoring.

Space-time dynamics in monitoring neotropical fish communities using eDNA metabarcoding (2020)
Journal Article
Sales, N., Wangensteen Fuentes, O., Carvalho, D., Deiner, K., Praebel, K., Coscia, I., …Mariani, S. (2021). Space-time dynamics in monitoring neotropical fish communities using eDNA metabarcoding. Science of the Total Environment, 754, 142096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142096

The biodiverse Neotropical ecoregion remains insufficiently assessed, poorly managed, and threatened by unregulated human activities. Novel, rapid and cost-effective DNA-based approaches are valuable to improve understanding of the biological communi... Read More about Space-time dynamics in monitoring neotropical fish communities using eDNA metabarcoding.

Fishing for mammals : landscape-level monitoring of terrestrial and semi-aquatic communities using eDNA from riverine systems (2020)
Journal Article
Sales, N., McKenzie, M., Drake, J., Harper, L., Browett, S., Coscia, I., …McDevitt, A. (2020). Fishing for mammals : landscape-level monitoring of terrestrial and semi-aquatic communities using eDNA from riverine systems. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57(4), 707-716. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13592

1. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has revolutionised biomonitoring in both marine and freshwater ecosystems. However, for semi-aquatic and terrestrial animals, the application of this technique remains relatively untested.

2. We first ass... Read More about Fishing for mammals : landscape-level monitoring of terrestrial and semi-aquatic communities using eDNA from riverine systems.

Fine-scale seascape genomics of an exploited marine species, the common cockle Cerastoderma edule, using a multi-modelling approach (2020)
Journal Article
Coscia, I., Wilmes, S., Ironside, J., Goward-Brown, A., O'Dea, E., Malham, S., …Robins, P. (2020). Fine-scale seascape genomics of an exploited marine species, the common cockle Cerastoderma edule, using a multi-modelling approach. Evolutionary Applications, 13(8), 1854-1867. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12932

Population dynamics of marine species that are sessile as adults are driven by oceanographic dispersal of larvae from spawning to nursery grounds. This is mediated by life-history traits such as the timing and frequency of spawning, larval behaviour... Read More about Fine-scale seascape genomics of an exploited marine species, the common cockle Cerastoderma edule, using a multi-modelling approach.

Assessing the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding for monitoring Neotropical mammals : a case study in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, Brazil (2020)
Journal Article
Sales, N., Da Cruz Kaizer, M., Coscia, I., Perkins, J., Highlands, A., Boubli, J., …McDevitt, A. (2020). Assessing the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding for monitoring Neotropical mammals : a case study in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Mammal Review, 50(3), 221-225. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12183

The application of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool has greatly increased in the last decade. However, most studies have focused on aquatic macro-organisms in temperate areas (e.g., fishes). We apply eDNA metabarcoding t... Read More about Assessing the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding for monitoring Neotropical mammals : a case study in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals (2019)
Journal Article
McDevitt, A., Sales, N., Browett, S., Sparnenn, A., Mariani, S., Wangensteen Fuentes, O., …Benvenuto, C. (2019). Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals. Journal of Fish Biology, 95(2), 679-682. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14053

We focus on a case study along an English canal comparing environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding with two types of electrofishing techniques (wade‐and‐reach and boom‐boat). In addition to corroborating data obtained by electrofishing, eDNA provided a... Read More about Environmental DNA metabarcoding as an effective and rapid tool for fish monitoring in canals.

Genetic variation in Irish Sea brown crab (Cancer pagurus L.) : implications for local and regional management (2018)
Journal Article
McKeown, N., Watson, H., Coscia, I., Wootton, E., & Ironside, J. (2019). Genetic variation in Irish Sea brown crab (Cancer pagurus L.) : implications for local and regional management. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, 99(4), 879-886. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315418000632

Understanding demographic processes over multiple spatial scales is vital for the optimization of conservation/management strategies, particularly for commercially harvested taxa such as the brown crab (Cancer pagurus L). Brown crab population geneti... Read More about Genetic variation in Irish Sea brown crab (Cancer pagurus L.) : implications for local and regional management.

Performance and precision of double digestion RAD (ddRAD) genotyping in large multiplexed datasets of marine fish species (2018)
Journal Article
Maroso, F., Hillen, J., Pardo, B., Gkagkavouzis, K., Coscia, I., Hermida, M., …Ogden, R. (2018). Performance and precision of double digestion RAD (ddRAD) genotyping in large multiplexed datasets of marine fish species. Marine Genomics, 39, 64-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margen.2018.02.002

The development of Genotyping-By-Sequencing (GBS) technologies enables cost-effective analysis of large numbers of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), especially in “non-model” species. Nevertheless, as such technologies enter a mature phase, bia... Read More about Performance and precision of double digestion RAD (ddRAD) genotyping in large multiplexed datasets of marine fish species.

Genetic homogeneity in the deep-sea grenadier Macrourus berglax across the North Atlantic Ocean (2018)
Journal Article
Coscia, I., Castilho, R., Massa-Gallucci, A., Sacchi, C., Cunha, R., Stefanni, S., …Mariani, S. (2018). Genetic homogeneity in the deep-sea grenadier Macrourus berglax across the North Atlantic Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 132, 60-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2017.12.001

Paucity of data on population structure and connectivity in deep sea species remains a major obstacle to their sustainable management and conservation in the face of ever increasing fisheries pressure and other forms of impacts on deep sea ecosystems... Read More about Genetic homogeneity in the deep-sea grenadier Macrourus berglax across the North Atlantic Ocean.

Ecological and evolutionary consequences of alternative sex-change pathways in fish (2017)
Journal Article
Benvenuto, C., Coscia, I., Chopelet, J., Sala-Bozano, M., & Mariani, S. (2017). Ecological and evolutionary consequences of alternative sex-change pathways in fish. Scientific reports, 7(9804), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-09298-8

Sequentially hermaphroditic fish change sex from male to female (protandry) or vice versa (protogyny), increasing their fitness by becoming highly fecund females or large dominant males, respectively. These life-history strategies present different s... Read More about Ecological and evolutionary consequences of alternative sex-change pathways in fish.

Estimates of genetic variability and inbreeding in experimentally selected populations of European sea bass (2017)
Journal Article
Hillen, J., Coscia, I., Vandeputte, M., Herten, K., Hellemans, B., Maroso, F., …Volckaert, F. (2017). Estimates of genetic variability and inbreeding in experimentally selected populations of European sea bass. Aquaculture, 479, 742-749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2017.07.012

The aquaculture industry has increasingly aimed at improving economically important traits like growth, feed efficiency and resistance to infections. Artificial selection represents an important window of opportunity to significantly improve producti... Read More about Estimates of genetic variability and inbreeding in experimentally selected populations of European sea bass.

Sex change and effective population size : implications for population genetic studies in marine fish (2016)
Journal Article
Coscia, I., Chopelet, J., Waples, R., Mann, B., & Mariani, S. (2016). Sex change and effective population size : implications for population genetic studies in marine fish. Heredity, 117, 251-258. https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2016.50

Large variance in reproductive success is the primary factor that reduces effective population size (Ne) in
natural populations. In sequentially hermaphroditic (‘sex-changing’) fish, the sex ratio is typically skewed
and biased toward the ‘first’... Read More about Sex change and effective population size : implications for population genetic studies in marine fish.

Population genetic structure of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in the Irish Sea and implications for the effectiveness of the first British marine protected area (2016)
Journal Article
Watson, H., McKeown, N., Coscia, I., Wootton, E., & Ironside, J. (2016). Population genetic structure of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in the Irish Sea and implications for the effectiveness of the first British marine protected area. Fisheries Research, 183, 287-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2016.06.015

Levels of self-recruitment within and connectivity among populations are key factors influencing marine population persistence and stock sustainability, as well as the effectiveness of spatially explicit management strategies such as Marine Protected... Read More about Population genetic structure of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) in the Irish Sea and implications for the effectiveness of the first British marine protected area.

Connectivity and dispersal patterns of protected biogenic reefs : implications for the conservation of Modiolus modiolus (L.) in the Irish Sea (2015)
Journal Article
Gormley, K., Mackenzie, C., Robins, P., Coscia, I., Cassidy, A., James, J., …Porter, J. (2015). Connectivity and dispersal patterns of protected biogenic reefs : implications for the conservation of Modiolus modiolus (L.) in the Irish Sea. PLoS ONE, 10(12), e0143337. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143337

Biogenic reefs created by Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) (horse mussel reefs) are marine habitats which support high levels of species biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem services. Currently, M. modiolus reefs are listed as a threatened a... Read More about Connectivity and dispersal patterns of protected biogenic reefs : implications for the conservation of Modiolus modiolus (L.) in the Irish Sea.

Spatio-temporal variability in the population structure in North-east Atlantic stocks of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) (2015)
Journal Article
Bozano, M., Mariani, S., Barratt, C., Sacchi, C., Boufana, B., & Coscia, I. (2015). Spatio-temporal variability in the population structure in North-east Atlantic stocks of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus). Biology and Environment, 115B(3), 211-220. https://doi.org/10.3318/BIOE.2015.20

The long-term sustainability of fish stocks is dependent upon the identification of biologically meaningful demographic boundaries and, subsequently, appropriate assessment figures and management strategies. In the case of the horse mackerel, Trachur... Read More about Spatio-temporal variability in the population structure in North-east Atlantic stocks of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus).

Modelled larval dispersal and measured gene flow : seascape genetics of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule in the southern Irish Sea (2012)
Journal Article
Coscia, I., Robins, P., Porter, J., Malham, S., & Ironside, J. (2013). Modelled larval dispersal and measured gene flow : seascape genetics of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule in the southern Irish Sea. Conservation Genetics, 14(2), 451-466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-012-0404-4

The role of marine currents in shaping population connectivity in the common cockle Cerastoderma edule was investigated in the southern Irish Sea. C. edule is one of the most valuable and exploited shellfish species in the area, yet very little is kn... Read More about Modelled larval dispersal and measured gene flow : seascape genetics of the common cockle Cerastoderma edule in the southern Irish Sea.