Education:

• MSc in Ecobiology at Sapienza – University of Rome. Thesis title: Integrated structural connectivity model for Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) in central Apennines
• BSc in Biological Sciences at Sapienza – University of Rome. Thesis title: Description of dermatitis occurrence in the Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) population

Research and work experiences:

• Research assistant at WildCRU (Wildlife Conservation Research Unit), Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford
• Internship at United States Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, AZ, funded by a scholarship awarded by the Sapienza – University of Rome
• Scientific technical consultant for Italian Zoological Union, partnership with the Italian Ministry of Environment
• Training course at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Rome

DPhil title:

Evaluating scenarios of biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asia under future land-use and socio-economic changes

Supervisors:

Prof. David W. Macdonald, Dr. Samuel A. Cushman, Prof. Sarah Harper

Thesis research:

Southeast Asia’s unique biodiversity is one of the most endangered worldwide by a suite of anthropogenic threats, including deforestation and habitat conversion. Rates of deforestation in Southeast Asia are the highest in the world, and the consequent habitat loss and fragmentation reduce the amount, quality and accessibility of suitable habitat for a wide range of species. Moreover, human population in the region is expected to increase dramatically during the next decades. Population growth, associated with increasing urbanization and economic growth, will likely negatively affect biodiversity through habitat loss and degradation, as well as through direct species exploitation.

Given these threats to Southeast Asian biodiversity, the main goal of the project will be producing spatially-explicit models aimed at highlighting the most important and the most endangered areas for regional biodiversity in three year: 2030, 2050 and 2070. The cutting-edge contribution of the project toward an effective and proactive conservation strategy in the region, will be the development of future landscape change scenarios through the application of demographic and socio-economic factors, in addition to landscape ones, as predictors in spatial models. The development of accurate land-use models will allow to produce reliable suitability and connectivity models for Southeast Asian biodiversity.

Publications

Maiorano, L., Boitani, L., Chiaverini, L., Ciucci, P. 2017. Uncertainties in the identification of potential dispersal corridors: The importance of behaviour, sex, and algorithm. Basic and Applied Ecology, 21: 66-75, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2017.02.005

Ciucci, P., Altea, T., Antonucci, A., Chiaverini, L., Di Croce, A., Fabrizio, M., Forconi, P., Latini, R., Maiorano, L., Monaco, A., Morini, P., Ricci, F., Sammarone, L., Striglioni, F., Tosoni, E., Bear Monitoring Network Regione Lazio. 2017. Distribution of the brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) in the Central Apennines, Italy, 2005 – 2014. Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 28: 86-91, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-28.1-12049

Poster

Chiaverini, L., Ciucci, P., Maiorano, L.  Relevance of behavioural states for identifying potential dispersal corridors. (2016). Poster at the X Italian Theriological Congress – Acquapendente (VT), Italy. 20-23 April 2016.

Presentation

Maiorano, L., Boitani, L., Chiaverini, L., Ciucci, P. (2016). Combining species distribution models, spatial pattern analysis, and circuit theory to estimate species’ potential distribution: The case of Apennine brown bear. The International Society for Ecological Modelling Global Conference 2016 – Towson University, Baltimore, MD, USA, 8-12 May 2016.