Luigi in March 2018 graduated with a Master's degree in Science and Technology for the Environment and the Territory with a thesis in Geobotany at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Caserta (Italy). Subsequently, in 2020 he started a Ph.D. course at Keele University and then moved to continue his research studies at the Department of Geography and Environment at Loughborough University where he is currently employed as a Doctoral Researcher.
Luigi's key research interests are:
Soil science and ecology, Fire ecology, Invasive alien species, Geoinformatics, Botany
Rising from the ashes: understanding the biological resilience and social significance of wildfires
Supervisors: Helen Glanville and Darren Smith
Soils are breathing and life-sustaining entities, however, global soils are facing increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities and climate-change induced events such as wildfires.
Nowadays, wildfires are becoming more frequent in the UK, with 2022 already having double the number of blazes of the whole of 2021. UK soils are not well adapted to fire and there is uncertainty surrounding their resilience to such events. Nevertheless, even in environments historically adapted to wildfire occurrence, the fires have considerably increased. In Italy (IT) in 2021 the total area burned was greater than that burned in 2017.
This research aims to investigate the resilience of soils and the social significance of wildfires in the UK rural landscape and to assess the sensitivity of soils to the increasing frequency and severity of fires in the IT natural areas.
Marfella L., Mairota P., Marzaioli R., Pazienza G., Glanville C.H. & Rutigliano F.A., 2024. Long-term impact of wildfire on soil physical, chemical and biological properties within a pine forest. European Journal of Forest Research, 143(5): 1379-1399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10342-024-01696-8
Marfella L., Ashby M.A., Hennessy G., P., Marzaioli R., Rutigliano F.A., Glanville C.H., 2024. Effects of 2018 wildfire on soil properties in a peatland within the Peak District National Park (central England). EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11965
Marfella L., Marzaioli R., Pazienza G., Mairota P., Glanville C.H. & Rutigliano F.A., 2023. Medium-term effects of wildfire severity on soil physical, chemical and biological properties in Pinus halepensis Mill. woodland (Southern Italy): an opportunity for invasive Acacia saligna colonization? Forest Ecology and Management, 542, 121010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121010
Marfella L., Rufino F., Glanville C.H., Mastrocicco M. & Strumia S., 2023. Distribution of the alien species Cotula coronopifolia L. (Asteraceae) relating to water halinity and sodicity in the Variconi wetland (Campania, southern Italy). Hydrobiologia, 850, 1653–1668. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05175-w
Marfella L., Marzaioli R., Pazienza G., Mairota P., Catherine Glanville H. & Rutigliano F. A., 2023. Wildfire impacts on soil characteristics in two Pinus halepensis Mill. stands within a Natura 2000 site (Southern Italy). EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17203, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17203