Marco Ferrante, PhD
​​​During my PhD (2013-2017, Aarhus University), I worked within the framework of sustainable agriculture and contributed to developing the artificial caterpillar method to quantify invertebrate and vertebrate predation rates in different habitats, including agroecosystems. My research focuses on key ecological processes such as pollination, herbivory, seed predation, and scavenging, which can lead to ecosystem services and disservices. I am also interested in testing standardised approaches for simultaneously monitoring multiple ecological processes.
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My research background includes studying the effects of urbanisation on animal communities and investigating the impact of soil pollution on arthropod diversity and associated ecological processes. I have also undertaken long research stays as a visiting PhD student in Argentina (INTA Manfredi), and as a postdoctoral researcher in Israel (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) and Portugal (University of the Azores, Terceira Island).
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Since May 2022, I have been a postdoctoral researcher in the Functional Agrobiodiversity & Agroecology group (University of Göttingen). My current interests include investigating the influence of natural field margins on arthropod and plant communities, promoting non-lethal methods to study arthropods, and assessing how different stakeholders value biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Ultimately, I aim to contribute to farmland biodiversity conservation and design sustainable agricultural landscapes.
Ecosystem services & disservices
I contributed to developing the artificial caterpillar method. I now study several ecosystem services & disservices.
Insect communities
I study how human activities affect arthropod communities and the services they provide.
Biodiversity conservation
I wish to produce useful work for biodiversity conservation.
Additionally, I co-lead the Global Assessment of Predation Rates project (https://marcoferrante.wixsite.com/global-predation), where we employ a standardised approach to record predation rates in natural and cultivated habitats worldwide (over 40 collaborators and 120 study sites).
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In my spare time, I enjoy butterfly- and bird-watching, nature photography, visiting nature reserves, playing chess, writing, and reading good books. In 2022, I published my first chess book "Pensa come un pedone", in Italian. https://marcoferrante.wixsite.com/chess