Our group develops this topic through three themes:

1) Distribution and status of crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes (autochthonous, indicator of good quality water) compared with the ones of Procambarus clarkii (allochthonous, 
indicator of altered environments) in Piedmont.

2) The marine benthonic ecosystems (particularly Posidonia oceanica beds, vital and increasing only in particular chemical and physical conditions) are monitored by means of checks in situ and the analysis of the associated populations, effective to describe their status.

3) In the marine environment, holo, mero, and ichthyoplankton represent effective sentinel of both superficial and deep waters status. Holoplankton (mainly Copepods and gelatinous organisms) is an indicator of trophic dynamics of pelagic ecosystems and biondicator of the environment status also on a micro-temporal scale. Mero (mainly Crustacean decapods and Echinoderms larval stages) and itchthyoplankton (fish larvae) give information on parental populations (benthonic and nectonic), on the capacity of superficial and bathymetric dispersion of the species, on the life histories. Monitoring of plankton in a given area is considered a suitable mean to describe the environment situation: relevant examples are monitorings requested and performed around the wreck of the Concordia cruise ship to help to evaluate the impact of the shipwreck in the surrounding waters.