PhD in Molecular, Cellular and Environmental Biology (with honours)
“The role of old seed collections on plant de-extinction and quasi in-situ reintroduction approaches”, tutor: Prof. Abeli T. (Roma Tre University); Co-tutor: Prof. Caneva G. (Roma Tre University), Davis C. (Harvard University).
Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Roma (RM) - Italy
Master’s degree in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management (with honours)
“Vegetational and floristic aspects of forest cenosis in the area of antica Lavinium (Pratica di mare, Pomezia) for the historical-naturalistic promotion of the area”, tutor: Prof. Caneva G.; Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Roma (RM) - Italy
Bachelor’s Degree in Life Sciences
“Pheromones in sexuality: role in human and non-human animals”, tutor: Prof. Carosi M.; Department of Science, Roma Tre University, Roma (RM) – Italy
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Plant Science, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Ecology, Environmental Science
16
Scopus Publications
296
Scholar Citations
8
Scholar h-index
8
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
FIAT LUX: The Mullein’s (Verbascum sp.) Image and Its Symbology Through History Within the Euro-Mediterranean Culture Nicolò Soldovieri, Alessandro Lazzara, Giulia Albani Rocchetti, Flavia Bartoli, Giulia Caneva Plants, 2025 The plant’s representation had, in the past, a great symbolic relevance, which is now often neglected. The presence and significance of mullein (Verbascum sp.) in Euro-Mediterranean art have been investigated, but despite its iconographic importance, a wide analysis of its value and recurrence is lacking. Through a survey of over 5000 artworks, from ancient to modern age, combining digital museum collections and fieldwork, we identified about hundred depictions of Verbascum, 64 of which are here reported for the first time. Based on key morphological traits, V. thapsus and V. sinuatum emerged as the most frequently depicted species, particularly through their basal leaves and inflorescences (especially in modern ages). In archaeological contexts, Verbascum overall appears as a symbol of Athena/Minerva, bringers of light, and in funerary settings, such as Apulian vases and tombs, symbolizing new life in the afterlife. After its absence during the Middle Ages, the plant reappeared in the Renaissance, carefully portrayed by notable artists, such as Leonardo, Correggio, Bellini, Dürer, Caravaggio, and Bernini. During this period, mullein is often associated with Christ and St. John the Baptist, reinforcing its symbolism of light and spiritual elevation. Other representations also occurred in the subsequent centuries, but in a renovated vision of the natural world.
Testing seed germination from herbaria: Application of seed quality enhancement techniques and implication for plant resurrection and conservation Giulia Albani Rocchetti, Lisa Brancaleoni, Giulia Caneva, Alessandra Cona, Giuseppe Fabrini, et al. Taxon, 2024 Herbaria are an important source of data and material useful in many fields, including plant conservation. Seeds preserved in herbarium specimens may have the potential to germinate, although few studies focused on this topic. Here, the first systematic assessment of six techniques, including priming techniques and melatonin application, aimed at improving the germination of seeds from herbarium specimens is presented. Seed germination of 26 species common in Europe, some of which congeneric to extinct species, collected in herbaria and in the wild (20,549 seeds in total, including 19,509 from 297 herbarium specimens from 8 different herbaria) was tested with the following treatments: exogenous melatonin addition to the germination medium, priming with melatonin, osmopriming, hydropriming for 24 and 48 hours, standard soil, heat sterilization and gibberellins addition. More than 85% of the fresh seeds and 1% of the seeds collected in herbaria germinated, including seeds older than 50 years. Data show that treatment with exogenous melatonin had a positive effect on the germination of fresh seeds, but a negative effect on the germination of herbarium‐derived seeds. Furthermore, osmopriming treatment had a slightly positive effect on the germination of herbarium‐derived seeds. Osmopriming and exogenous melatonin addition seem to be promising techniques that need further investigation and improvement and might be useful for the development of an optimal germination protocol for old and herbarium‐derived seeds. The germination of seeds from herbaria could be an important tool in plant conservation, with the aim of reversing the extinction trend of many species through de‐extinction, safeguarding biodiversity, and genetic variability. This study provides preliminary data for the development of germination protocols, especially for old seeds of species of conservation interest, to maximise the chance of recovering lost genetic diversity and leading to the first de‐extinction ever.
Understanding the Lost: Reconstruction of the Garden Design of Villa Peretti Montalto (Rome, Italy) for Urban Valorization Flavia Bartoli, Luca D’Amato, Arianna Nucera, Giulia Albani Rocchetti, Giulia Caneva Plants, 2024 Urbanization and urban regeneration can significantly impact cultural heritage, but a greater knowledge of the past natural and historical features is needed to value the past and understand the present. The lost Villa Peretti Montalto in Rome, once located in the area that corresponds to the current front side of Termini station, deserves great attention due to its cultural value. This work aimed to provide a floristic and functional reconstruction of the gardens of the villa during the XVI and XVII Centuries. From several bibliographic and iconographic sources, a critical analysis and interpretation of plant names was conducted. A list of 87 species and their location in the different garden sectors, during different periods with their specific uses, is provided. The arboreal design was made by classical species in the Roman context, like Cupressus sempervirens, Pinus pinea, Quercus ilex, and Ulmus glabra. In addition, ancient lost varieties of fruit trees (mainly Pyrus communis and Ficus carica) and several species of conservation interest were found. The knowledge of the ancient flora in historical gardens could be a key tool in urban greenery planning and touristic and cultural valorization.
The role of aftercare in plant translocation Anna Corli, Giulia Albani Rocchetti, Simone Orsenigo, Jennifer Possley, Thomas Abeli Biodiversity and Conservation, 2023 Plant translocation can increase the chances of long-term survival of threatened plant species; nevertheless, can be costly and challenging, with unknowns in the pre- and post-release phases, limiting success. Methodological advances have been made in the pre-release phase but long-term monitoring and post-release site management (i.e., “aftercare”) are not always applied and almost neglected in the literature despite being frequently effective for identifying and mitigating unexpected threats (e.g., interspecific competition, herbivory) to outplant survival.Aiming to fill this gap, we reviewed published and gray literature on 296 translocations to shed light on the importance of aftercare on translocation outcome. We identified the most common aftercare techniques, then we performed a meta-analysis on a subset of studies that were specifically designed to test the effect of aftercare against a control (i.e., no aftercare).The most common aftercare techniques were competition reduction, water irrigation and plant protection. Aftercare significantly increased the percentage of survival of plants when herbivory reduction and other understorey species were enhanced. Aftercare reported also a positive trend toward improved qualitative outcome when plants were protected or competition was mitigated. Nevertheless, more evidence is needed on the importance and effectiveness of aftercare techniques.Long-term monitoring and post-release site management should be the post-translocation standard in plant translocations when ethical and possible, with plant protection, competition limitation and water irrigation being applied when needed to reduce transplant mortality. To provide statistically supported data on the effect of aftercare on translocation outcome, aftercare should be tested against a control when feasible.
A pragmatic and prudent consensus on the resurrection of extinct plant species using herbarium specimens Giulia Albani Rocchetti, Charles Davis, Giulia Caneva, Gianluigi Bacchetta, Giuseppe Fabrini, et al. Taxon, 2022 Herbaria may represent remarkable sources of viable diaspores for recovering lost genetic variation and extinct plant species, but the application of rewilding extinct species using these collections has not been explored in detail. De‐extinction in plants may be achieved by germinating viable diaspores or culturing tissues preserved in herbarium specimens. Germination of old diaspores (fruits, seeds, spores) preserved in sub‐optimal uncontrolled storage conditions demonstrates that the recovery of extinct plants from herbarium specimens may be possible. Plant de‐extinction via herbarium specimens relies on the availability of samples containing viable diaspores, and on the inclination of curators and the conservation community to use such material for this purpose. We developed an internet‐based survey to assess (i) whether the scientific community would consent to the use of herbarium specimens of extinct species to attempt de‐extinction, and (ii) the limitations of removing diaspores from specimens. Despite the risk of potential damages to valuable specimens from historical collections when harvesting diaspores, a consensus for using specimens of extinct plant species emerged. Most respondents would permit the collection of a low number of diaspores, preferably from duplicate specimens and only if the integrity of the specimen is preserved. These considerations would be more restrictive for type specimens and those of historical value. These results help to formalise a decision framework for the grant and use of material from natural history collections and a pragmatic approach to attempt to resurrect extinct species from herbarium specimens.
FIAT LUX : The Mullein’s ( Verbascum sp.) Image and Its Symbology Through History Within the Euro-Mediterranean Culture N Soldovieri, A Lazzara, G Albani Rocchetti, F Bartoli, G Caneva Plants 14 (21), 3294 , 2025 2025
Herbariomic approach solved identity crisis of the putatively extinct Armeria arcuata Welw. ex Boiss. & Reut. (Plumbaginaceae) T Abeli, G Albani Rocchetti, D Draper, EJ Gouda, L Loze, I Marques, ... Annals of botany, mcaf042 , 2025 2025 Citations: 2
Vascular Plant Extinction in Macaronesia: Biogeographical and Biological Drivers of Loss GA Rocchetti Glob. Change Biol 31, e70128 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Qualitative vs. quantitative morphology of seeds of an Italian critically endangered Hawkweed as predictor of germination capacity G Albani Rocchetti, L Gargiulo, AG Napolitano, S Orsenigo, G Mele, ... Plant Biosystems-An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant … , 2025 2025
Plant biodiversity and its meaning at the origin of the peopled scrolls friezes: data from the Castrum Minervae sanctuary (Castro- Lecce, Italy) G Caneva, A Lazzara, G Albani Rocchetti, F D’Andria Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali 35 (4), 1077-1093 , 2024 2024 Citations: 2
Testing seed germination from herbaria: Application of seed quality enhancement techniques and implication for plant resurrection and conservation G Albani Rocchetti, L Brancaleoni, G Caneva, A Cona, G Fabrini, ... Taxon 73 (3), 854-867 , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
Understanding the lost: Reconstruction of the garden design of Villa Peretti Montalto (Rome, Italy) for urban valorization F Bartoli, L D’Amato, A Nucera, G Albani Rocchetti, G Caneva Plants 13 (1), 77 , 2023 2023 Citations: 7
The role of aftercare in plant translocation A Corli, GA Rocchetti, S Orsenigo, J Possley, T Abeli Biodiversity and Conservation 32 (13), 4181-4197 , 2023 2023 Citations: 16
Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria G Albani Rocchetti, A Carta, A Mondoni, S Godefroid, CC Davis, ... Nature Plants 8 (12), 1385-1393 , 2022 2022 Citations: 33
Out-of-date datasets hamper conservation of species close to extinction T Abeli, S Sharrock, G Albani Rocchetti Nature Plants 8 (12), 1370-1373 , 2022 2022 Citations: 8
A pragmatic and prudent consensus on the resurrection of extinct plant species using herbarium specimens GA Rocchetti, C Davis, G Caneva, G Bacchetta, G Fabrini, G Fenu, ... Taxon 71 (1), 168-177 , 2022 2022 Citations: 4
A pragmatic and prudent consensus on the resurrection of extinct plant species using herbarium specimens G Albani Rocchetti, C Davis, G Caneva, G Bacchetta, G Fabrini, G Fenu, ... Taxon 71 (1), 168-177 , 2022 2022 Citations: 13
Conservation Status and Activities of the Threatened Endemic Quillwort Isoëtes malinverniana GA Rocchetti, T Abeli Elsevier , 2022 2022
Linking Man and Nature: Relictual Forest Coenosis with Laurus nobilis L. and Celtis australis L. in Antica Lavinium , Italy G Albani Rocchetti, F Bartoli, E Cicinelli, F Lucchese, G Caneva Sustainability 14 (1), 56 , 2021 2021 Citations: 13
IDPlanT: the Italian database of plant translocation T Abeli, M D’Agostino, S Orsenigo, F Bartolucci, R Accogli, ... Plant Biosystems-An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant … , 2021 2021 Citations: 24
Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring G Bonari, E Fantinato, L Lazzaro, MG Sperandii, ATR Acosta, ... Plant Sociology 58 (1), 157-166 , 2021 2021 Citations: 51
Reversing extinction trends: new uses of (old) herbarium specimens to accelerate conservation action on threatened species G Albani Rocchetti, CG Armstrong, T Abeli, S Orsenigo, C Jasper, S Joly, ... New Phytologist 230 (2), 433-450 , 2021 2021 Citations: 100
Seventeen ‘extinct’plant species back to conservation attention in Europe T Abeli, G Albani Rocchetti, Z Barina, I Bazos, D Draper, P Grillas, ... Nature Plants 7 (3), 282-286 , 2021 2021 Citations: 21
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Reversing extinction trends: new uses of (old) herbarium specimens to accelerate conservation action on threatened species G Albani Rocchetti, CG Armstrong, T Abeli, S Orsenigo, C Jasper, S Joly, ... New Phytologist 230 (2), 433-450 , 2021 2021 Citations: 100
Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring G Bonari, E Fantinato, L Lazzaro, MG Sperandii, ATR Acosta, ... Plant Sociology 58 (1), 157-166 , 2021 2021 Citations: 51
Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria G Albani Rocchetti, A Carta, A Mondoni, S Godefroid, CC Davis, ... Nature Plants 8 (12), 1385-1393 , 2022 2022 Citations: 33
IDPlanT: the Italian database of plant translocation T Abeli, M D’Agostino, S Orsenigo, F Bartolucci, R Accogli, ... Plant Biosystems-An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant … , 2021 2021 Citations: 24
Seventeen ‘extinct’plant species back to conservation attention in Europe T Abeli, G Albani Rocchetti, Z Barina, I Bazos, D Draper, P Grillas, ... Nature Plants 7 (3), 282-286 , 2021 2021 Citations: 21
The role of aftercare in plant translocation A Corli, GA Rocchetti, S Orsenigo, J Possley, T Abeli Biodiversity and Conservation 32 (13), 4181-4197 , 2023 2023 Citations: 16
A pragmatic and prudent consensus on the resurrection of extinct plant species using herbarium specimens G Albani Rocchetti, C Davis, G Caneva, G Bacchetta, G Fabrini, G Fenu, ... Taxon 71 (1), 168-177 , 2022 2022 Citations: 13
Linking Man and Nature: Relictual Forest Coenosis with Laurus nobilis L. and Celtis australis L. in Antica Lavinium , Italy G Albani Rocchetti, F Bartoli, E Cicinelli, F Lucchese, G Caneva Sustainability 14 (1), 56 , 2021 2021 Citations: 13
Out-of-date datasets hamper conservation of species close to extinction T Abeli, S Sharrock, G Albani Rocchetti Nature Plants 8 (12), 1370-1373 , 2022 2022 Citations: 8
Understanding the lost: Reconstruction of the garden design of Villa Peretti Montalto (Rome, Italy) for urban valorization F Bartoli, L D’Amato, A Nucera, G Albani Rocchetti, G Caneva Plants 13 (1), 77 , 2023 2023 Citations: 7
A pragmatic and prudent consensus on the resurrection of extinct plant species using herbarium specimens GA Rocchetti, C Davis, G Caneva, G Bacchetta, G Fabrini, G Fenu, ... Taxon 71 (1), 168-177 , 2022 2022 Citations: 4
Herbariomic approach solved identity crisis of the putatively extinct Armeria arcuata Welw. ex Boiss. & Reut. (Plumbaginaceae) T Abeli, G Albani Rocchetti, D Draper, EJ Gouda, L Loze, I Marques, ... Annals of botany, mcaf042 , 2025 2025 Citations: 2
Plant biodiversity and its meaning at the origin of the peopled scrolls friezes: data from the Castrum Minervae sanctuary (Castro- Lecce, Italy) G Caneva, A Lazzara, G Albani Rocchetti, F D’Andria Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali 35 (4), 1077-1093 , 2024 2024 Citations: 2
Vascular Plant Extinction in Macaronesia: Biogeographical and Biological Drivers of Loss GA Rocchetti Glob. Change Biol 31, e70128 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Testing seed germination from herbaria: Application of seed quality enhancement techniques and implication for plant resurrection and conservation G Albani Rocchetti, L Brancaleoni, G Caneva, A Cona, G Fabrini, ... Taxon 73 (3), 854-867 , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
FIAT LUX : The Mullein’s ( Verbascum sp.) Image and Its Symbology Through History Within the Euro-Mediterranean Culture N Soldovieri, A Lazzara, G Albani Rocchetti, F Bartoli, G Caneva Plants 14 (21), 3294 , 2025 2025
Qualitative vs. quantitative morphology of seeds of an Italian critically endangered Hawkweed as predictor of germination capacity G Albani Rocchetti, L Gargiulo, AG Napolitano, S Orsenigo, G Mele, ... Plant Biosystems-An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant … , 2025 2025
Conservation Status and Activities of the Threatened Endemic Quillwort Isoëtes malinverniana GA Rocchetti, T Abeli Elsevier , 2022 2022
