معرفی
Marta Maria Puglisi serves as Full Professor of Systematic Botany (SSD BIO/02) at the University of Catania's Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, where she heads the Plant Biology Section and presides over the Master's Degree Course in Environmental Biology. Her academic journey spans over three decades at the same institution, progressing from post-doctoral researcher to full professor.
Her educational background includes a PhD in Environmental Sciences I (Phytogeography of Mediterranean territories) from the University of Catania (1994), a Degree in Biological Sciences from the same university (1989), and a Classical High School diploma from Milan (1983).
Professor Puglisi's research focuses on Mediterranean bryophytes across taxonomic, floristic, conservation, ecological, and vegetation studies. Her fieldwork spans Italy, Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Macedonia, and Albania, examining specialized habitats including caves, gullies, gypsum formations, fumarolic stations, deserts, temporary ponds, protected areas, and Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC sites. She has documented rare species such as Riella notarisii, Myurella sibirica, Asterella africana, Crossidium geheebii, and Pseudocrossidium replicatum, including several national and European first records.
She represents a leading authority in bryosociology at Italian and Mediterranean levels, having synthesized all known Italian bryovegetation syntaxa with critical nomenclatural and syntaxonomic revisions. Her work on life forms and strategies of bryophyte communities remains the only research of its kind conducted in Italy.
- Subject Editor for Scopus-indexed journal Italian Botanist
- Editorial Board Member of Scopus-indexed Plant Sociology
- Guest Editor for Special Issue "Diversity, Distribution and Conservation of Bryophytes" in Plants
- Referee for numerous indexed journals including Cryptogamie Bryologie, Plant Biosystems, and Journal of Vegetation Science
Professor Puglisi has organized numerous international conferences including the XV International Seminar on Biodiversity Management and Conservation (2023), multiple sessions at the Italian Botanical Society Congresses, and specialized bryology symposia. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Bryology Working Group of the Italian Botanical Society and the Commission on Bryophytes of OPTIMA.
