Staff Profile

I am a marine ecophysiologist at the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University. My research focuses on understanding how oxygen dynamics influence the responses of aquatic organisms to climate change. I take a multidisciplinary approach that integrates physiology, microbial ecology, quantitative ecology, and advanced environmental sensing technologies to explore how aquatic life adapts to shifting environmental conditions.

Using a combination of laboratory experiments, field surveys, observational studies, and statistical modeling, I aim to quantify the ecological impacts of key environmental drivers on the sensitivity and resilience of aquatic communities. Beyond aquatic systems, my research also extends to desert and agroforestry ecosystems, where I investigate how interactions among plants, animals, and microorganisms support ecosystem functionality and adaptation.



PhD: University of Milan (Italy) - 2013

MSc: University of Florence (Italy) (2009)

BSc : University of Florence (Italy) (2006)

Teaching

NES2501 Tropical biology

NES2505 Marine Practical Skills II

NES3306 Physiological Zoology

NES3501 Advanced Marine Research Topics I

Postgraduate Reaserch Supervision

Completed

Dr Timothy Thompson, Waikato University. (2023) Thesis title: Effects of land-derived anthropogenic stressors on temperate mangrove forests

In progress

Katarina Scaife, Newcastle University. PhD: Effects of the predictability of oxygen fluctuation on aquatic benthic community dynamics

Martina Difonzo, Newcastle University. PhD: Effects of climate change and contaminants on oxygen availability for marine biota

Katie Willis, Newcastle University. MRes: The effect of oxygen availability in coral larval development

Mohamed Ahmed, Edinburgh Napier University. PhD: The role od oxygen availability in seagrass and coral ecology

Visiting

Elisabetta Toni, Universita' degli studi di Firenze. PhD: The effect of biochar long term amendment on microbial sediment community

• Articles

  • Thomson, T, Pilditch, CA, Fusi, F, Prinz, N, Lundquist, CJ, Ellis, JI. Vulnerability of Labile Organic Matter to Eutrophication and Warming in Temperate Mangrove Ecosystems. Global Change Biology 2025.
  • Fernández, F, Guzmán-Rivas, F, Urzúa, A, Landaeta, MF, Fusi, M, Baldanzi, S. Maternal investment of kelp crabs from central Chile is associated with the level of environmental fluctuations and predictability. Marine ecology Progres Series 2025.
  • Holmes, R, Salzmann, U,Djamaluddin, R,Hocking, EP,Williams, M,Berrio, JC,Siregar, I,Tjoa, BA, Fusi, M, Diele, K. Mangrove dynamics and resilience in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, across the Holocene. Ecological Indicator 2025.
  • Thomson, T, Ellis, JI, Fusi, M, Prinz, N, Lundquist, CJ, Bury, SJ, Shankar, U, Cary, SC, Pilditch, CA. Effects of catchment land use on temperate mangrove forests. Science of The Total Environment 2024, 940, 173579. In Preparation.
  • Soldan, R, Fusi, M, Cardinale, M, Homma, F, Santos, L, Wenzl, P, Bach-Pages, M, Bitocchi, E, Chacon-Sanchez, MI, Daffonchio, D, Preston, G. Consistent effects of independent domestication events on the plant microbiota. Current Biology 2024, 34, 557-567.
  • Trevathan-Tackett, SM,Kepfer-Rojas, S, Malerba, M, Macreadie, PI, Djukic, I, Zhao, J, Young, EB, York, PH, Yeh, S, Xiong, Y, Winters, G, Whitlock, D, Weaver, CA, Watson, A, Visby, I, Tylkowski, J, Trethowan, A, Tiegs, S, Taylor, B, Szpikowski, J, Szpikowska, G, Strickland, VL, Stivrins, N, Sousa, NI, Sinutok, S, Scheffel, WA, Santos, R, Sanderman, J, Sánchez-Carrillo, S, Sanchez-Cabeza, JA, Rymer, KG, Ruiz-Fernandez, AC, Robroek, BJM, Roberts, T, Ricart, AM, Reynolds, LK, Rachlewicz, G, Prathep, A, Pinsonneault, AJ, Pendall, E, Payne, R, Ozola, I, Onufrock, R, Ola, A, Oberbauer, SF, Numbere, AO, Novak, AB, Norkko, J, Norkko, A, Mozdzer, T, Morgan, P, Montemayor, DI, Martin, CW, Malone, SL, Major, M, Majewski, M, Lundquist, CJ, Lovelock, CE, Liu, S, Lin, H, Lillebo, A, Li, J, Kominoski, JS, Khuroo, AA, Kelleway, J, Jinks, KI, Jerónimo, D, Janousek, C, Jackson, EL, Iribarne, O, Hanley, T, Hamid, M, Gupta, A, Guariento, RD, Grudzinska, I, Gripp, A, González-Sagrario, MA, Garrison, LM, Gagnon, K, Gacia, E, Fusi, M, Farrington, L, Farmer, J, de-Assis-Esteves, F, Escapa, M, Domanska, M, Dias, AT, de-los-Santos, CB, Daffonchio, D, Czyryca, PM, Connolly, RM, Cobb, A, Chudzinska, M, Christiaen, B, Chifflard, P, Castelar, S, Carneiro, LS, Cardoso-Mohedano, JS, Camden, M, Caliman, A, Bulmer, RH, Bowen, J, Boström, C, Bernal, S, Berges, JA, Benavides, JC, Barry, SC, Alatalo, JN, Al-Haj, AN, Adame, F. Climate Effects on Belowground Tea Litter Decomposition Depend on Ecosystem and Organic Matter Types in Global Wetlands. Environmental Science and Technology 2024. In Press.
  • Booth, JM, Fusi, M, Marasco, R, Daffonchio, D. The microbial landscape in bioturbated mangrove sediment: A resource for promoting nature‐based solutions for mangroves. Microbial Biotechnology 2023, 16, 1584-1602.
  • Djamaluddin R, Fusi M, Djabar B, Evans D, Holmes R, Huxham M, O'Connell DP, Salzmann U, Singleton I, Tjoa A, Trianto A, Diele K. Point of (no) return? Vegetation structure and diversity of restored mangroves in Sulawesi, Indonesia, 14–16 years on. Restoration Ecology 2023, 31(7), e13963.
  • Giomi, F, Barausse, A, Steckbauer, A, Daffonchio, D, Duarte, CM, Fusi, M. Oxygen dynamics in marine productive ecosystems at ecologically relevant scales. Nature Geoscience 2023, 16, 560–566.
  • Fusi M, Sylvain Rigaud S, Guadagnin G, Barausse A, Marasco R, Daffonchio D, Régis J, Huchet L, Camin C, Pettit L, Vina-Herbon C, Giomi F. Ideas and perspectives: The fluctuating nature of oxygen shapes the ecology of aquatic habitats and their biogeochemical cycles – the aquatic oxyscape. Biogeosciences 2023, 20(16), 3509-3521.
  • Fusi, M, Ngugi, DK, Marasco, R, Booth, JM, Cardinale, M, Sacchi, L, Clementi,E, Yang, X, Garuglieri, E, Fodelianakis, S, Michoud, G, Daffonchio, D. Gill-associated bacteria are homogeneously selected in amphibious crabs to sustain host intertidal adaptation. Microbiome 2023, 11, 189. In Preparation.
  • Marasco, R, Fusi, M, Coscolín, C, Barozzi, A, Almendral, D, Bargiela, R, Gohlke, C, Pfleger, C, Dittrich, J, Gohlke, H, Matesanz, R, Sanchez-Carrillo, S, Mapelli, F, Chernikova, TN, Golyshin, PN, Ferrer, M, Daffonchio, D. Enzyme adaptation to habitat thermal legacy shapes the thermal plasticity of marine microbiomes. Nature Communications 2023, 14, 1045.
  • Booth, JM, Giomi, F, Daffonchio, D, McQuaid, CD, Fusi, M. Disturbance of primary producer communities disrupts the thermal limits of the associated aquatic fauna. Science of The Total Environment 2023, 872, 162135.
  • Yando, ES, Jones, S, James, WR, Colombano, DD, Montemayor, DI, Nolte, S, Raw, JL, Ziegler, SL, Chen, L, Daffonchio, D, Fusi, M, Rogers, K, Sergienko, L. An integrative salt marsh conceptual framework for global comparisons. Limnology and Oceanography Letters 2023.
  • Rolli, E, Marasco, R, Fusi, M, Scaglia, B, Schubotz, F, Mapelli, F, Ciccazzo, S, Brusetti, L, Trombino, L, Tambone, F, Adani, F, Borin, S, Daffonchio, D. Environmental micro-niche filtering shapes bacterial pioneer communities during primary colonization of a Himalayas' glacier forefield. Environmental microbiology 2022.
  • Marasco, R, Fusi, M, Callegari, M, Jucker, C, Mapelli, F, Borin, S, Savoldelli, S, Daffonchio, D, Crotti, E. Destabilization of the bacterial interactome identifies nutrient restriction-induced dysbiosis in insect guts. Microbiology spectrum 2022.
  • Fusi, M, Booth, JM, Marasco, R, Merlino, G, Garcias-Bonet, N, Barozzi, A, Garuglieri, E, Mbobo, T, Diele, K, Duarte, CM, and Daffonchio, D. Bioturbation intensity modifies the sediment microbiome and biochemistry and supports plant growth in an arid mangrove system. Microbiology Spectrum 2022.
  • OConnell DP, Fusi M, Djamaluddin R, Rajagukguk BB, Bachmid F, Kitson JJN, Dunnett Z, Trainto A, Tjoa AB, Diele K, Evans DM. Assessing mangrove restoration practices using species-interaction networks. Restoration Ecology 2022, 30(4), e13546.
  • Soldan, R, Fusi, M, Preston, GM. Approaching the domesticated plant holobiont from a community evolution perspective. Microbiology 2022.
  • Saderne, V, Fusi, M, Thomson, T, Dunne, A, Mahmud, F, Roth, F, Carvalho, S, Duarte, CM. Total alkalinity production in a mangrove ecosystem reveals an overlooked Blue Carbon component. Limnology and oceanography letters 2021.
  • Booth, JM, Fusi, M, Giomi, F, Chapman, EC, Diele, K, McQuaid, CD. Diel oxygen fluctuation drives the thermal response and metabolic performance of coastal marine ectotherms. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2021.
  • Callegari, M, Crotti, E, Fusi, M, Marasco, R, Gonella, E, De Noni, I, Romano, D, Borin, S, Tsiamis, G, Cherif, A, Alma, A, Daffonchio, D. Compartmentalization of bacterial and fungal microbiomes in the gut of adult honeybees. npj biofilms and microbiomes 2021.
  • Cannicci, S, Lee, SY, Bravo, H, Cantera-Kintz, JR, Dahdouh-Guebas, F, Fratini, S, Fusi, M, Jimenez, PJ, Nordhaus, I, Porri, F, Diele, K. A functional analysis reveals extremely low redundancy in global mangrove invertebrate fauna. PNAS 2021.
  • Marasco, R, Alturkey, H, Fusi, M, Brandi, M, Ghiglieno, I, Valenti, L, Daffonchio, D. Rootstock–scion combination contributes to shape diversity and composition of microbial communities associated with grapevine root system. Environmental microbiology 2002.

• Review

  • Struebig MJ, Aninta SG, Beger M, Bani A, Barus H, Brace S, Davies ZG, De Brauwer M, Diele K, Djakiman C, Djamaluddin R, Drinkwater R, Dumbrell A, Evans D, Fusi M, Herrera-Alsina L, Iskandar DT, Jompa J, Juliandi B, Lancaster LT, Limmon G, Lindawati, Lo MGY, Lupiyaningdyah P, Mccannon M, Meijaard E, Mitchell SL, Mumbunan S, O'connell D, Osborne OG, Papadopulos AST, Rahajoe JS, Rosaria, Rossiter SJ, Rugayah, Rustiami H, Salzmann U, Sheherazade, Sudiana IM, Sukara E, Tasirin JS, Tjoa A, Travis JMJ, Trethowan L, Trianto A, Utteridge T, Voigt M, Winarni N, Zakaria Z, Edwards DP, Frantz L, Supriatna J. Safeguarding Imperiled Biodiversity and Evolutionary Processes in the Wallacea Center of Endemism. BioScience 2022, 72(11), 1118-1130.