Almo Farina

Curriculum Vitae

Country of citizenship: Italy
Professor of Ecology

Education: Doctor in Natural Sciences, Pisa University, June 1974

Administrative related experiences:
1980–1984 Delegate Director of the Lunigiana Museum of Natural History
1984–2000 Director of the Lunigiana Museum of Natural History
1988–2000 Director of the Laboratory of Landscape Ecology at the Lunigiana Museum of Natural History, Aulla.
2008 Elected coordinator of the Ph.D. course in Environmental Sciences, Urbino University
2010 Appointed vice-director of the Department of Basic Sciences and Foundations, Urbino Universityrsity

Major research activities conducted include eco-ethology of vertebrates, landscape ecological studies, land abandonment of upland areas and effects on landscape and fauna, GIS and expert systems for wildlife management, relationship between birds and landscape, landscape changes and effects on biodiversity, theories in landscape ecology, cognitive landscape ecology, eco-semiotic approach in the study of landscape complexity and ecoacoustics.

My recent principal interests are in understanding how complexity operates across a range of ecological scales affecting the organization of communities, ecosystems, and landscapes. In particular, I am interested in studying the organization of landscapes and how organisms perceive the surrounding complexity. Specific attention is directed to the study of the mechanisms involved in the communication between the internal world of organisms and their interpreted umwelt.
Recently, I have incorporated the principles of biosemiotics into the ecological domain developing the eco-field hypothesis. In addition, I have elaborated a new theory on resources (general theory of resources) where resources have been defined and some axioms have been presented and discussed as a basis for a new ecological perspective to investigate the complexity of life. In addition, I have investigated the soundscape of animals as an energetic, informative dimension utilized by these species to maintain contact with vital resources. I am working on the development of new theories in ecoacoustics and new metrics (Acoustic Complexity Index; ACI) to evaluate the complexity of sounds inside populations, communities, and landscapes. Moreover, in collaboration with Lunilettronik, I have realized new field recorders with onboard metrics (ACI) to extract acoustic information in real time.

Publications include more than 250 reports, articles, and books on zoology, eco-ethology, bird community ecology, landscape ecology, landscape changes, rural landscape modifications, soundscape ecology, eco-informatics, ecoacoustics, and soundscape ecology.

Contact Details

  • Work Address : Department of Basic Sciences and Foundations, Scientific Campus, University of Urbino.
  • Tel : +39-0722-304301
  • Fax : +39-0722-304265
  • Email : almo.farina@uniurb.it

Publications

  • Landscape ecology and the General Theory of Resources: Comparing two paradigms. Journal of Landscape Ecology 4: 18-29 (Farina A)
  • Soundscape Ecology: The Science of Sound in Landscapes. BioScience 61, 203-216 (Pijanowski B.C., Villanueva-Rivera L.J., Dumyahn S., Farina A., Krause B., Napoletano B., Gage, S., Pieretti N.)
  • What is soundscape ecology? An introduction and overview of an emerging new science. Landscape Ecology 26(9): 1213-1232. (Pijanowski B.C., Farina A., Gage S.H., Dumyahn S.L., Krause B.L.)
  • A new methodology to infer the singing activity of an avian community: The Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI). Ecological Indicators 11 (3): 868-873 (Pieretti N., Farina A., Morri D.)
  • Avian soundscapes and cognitive landscapes: theory, application and ecological perspectives. Landscape Ecology 26(9):257-1267 (Farina A., Lattanzi E., Malavasi R., Pieretti N., Piccioli L.)
  • The soundscape methodology for long-term bird monitoring: A Mediterranean Europe case-study. Ecological Informatics 6: 354-363.(Farina A., Pieretti N., Piccioli L.)
  • An Essay on the Relationship of Warfare Ecology to General Ecology. In: Machlis, G.E., Hanson, T., Spiriç, Z., McKendry, J.E. (Eds.), Warfare ecology. Springer. Pp. 273-290 (A. Farina)
  • Ecologia del Paisaje. Universidad de Alicante (Farina A)
  • Les paysages sonores:une nouvelle dimension pour la recherche écologique. Sonorité, Paris (Farina A)
  • BirdSong. In: D Favareau, P Cobley, K Kull (eds.) A more developed sign. Tartu University Press. Pp. 37-39. (Farina A)
  • A Biosemiotic Perspective of the Resource Criterion: Toward a General Theory of Resources. Biosemiotics 5: 17-32. (Farina A)
  • The soundscape ecology: A new frontier of landscape research and its application to islands and coastal systems. Journal of Marine and Island Cultures (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.imic.2012.04.002 . 1(1): 21-26 (Farina A & Pieretti N).
  • The SoundscapeMeter. http://www.disbef.uniurb.it/biomia/soundscapemeter/(Farina A., Lattanzi E., Piccioli L., Pieretti N.)
  • A contribution to theoretical ecology: the biosemiotic perspective. In: Timo Maran, Kati Lindström, Riin Magnus and Morten Tønnessen (eds.) Biosemiotics turning wild. Tartu University Press. Pp. 87-93.( Farina A)
  • Ecologia della percezione nel peregrinare tra cultura , storia e paesaggi. In: Bettini V., Marotta L., Tosi S.S. (eds.) La via Francigena in Italia. Alla ricerca del paesaggio. EdicloEditore, Portogruaro (Ve). Pp. 35-41.(Farina A.)
  • Acoustic patterns of an invasive species: the Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea Scopoli 1796) in a Mediterranean maqui. Bioacoustics 22 (3): 175-194 (Farina A., Pieretti N., Morganti N.)
  • Neighbours' talk: interspecific choruses among songbirds. Bioacoustics 22 (1):33-48.(Malavasi, R. & Farina, A.)
  • Soundscape ecology: principles, patterns, methods and applications. Springer Dordrecht. (Farina A)
  • The Acoustic Codes: How Animal Sign Processes Create Sound-Topes and Consortia via Conflict Avoidance Biosemiotics 7: 89-95. (Malavasi R., Kull K., Farina, A.)
  • Application of a recently introduced index for acoustic complexity to an avian soundscape with traffic noise. J.Acoust.Soc.Am.134(1): 891-900. (Pieretti, N. & Farina, A.)
  • Patterns and dynamics of (bird) soundscapes: a biosemiotic interpretation. Semiotica (in print) 10.1515/sem-2013-0109. (Farina A, Pieretti N, Malavasi R)
  • Low cost (audio) recording (LCR) for advancing soundscape ecology towards the conservation of sonic complexity and biodiversity in natural and urban landscapes. Urban Ecosystem 17: 923_944. (Farina A. et al.)
  • Acoustic indices for biodiversity assessment and landscape ecology. Acta Acustica 100: 772-781. (Sueur J, Farina A, Gasc A, Pieretti N, Pavoine S)
  • The soundscape approach for the assessment and conservation of Mediterranean landscapes: principles and case studies. Landscape Ecology Journal 7: 10-22 (Farina A, Buscaino G, Ceraulo M, Pieretti N)
  • Acoustic Codes in Action in a Soundscape Context. Biosemiotics 7: 321-328 (Farina A & Pieretti N)
  • Sonic environment and vegetation structure: A methodological approach for a soundscape analysis of a Mediterranean maqui. Ecol. Informatics 21: 120-132. ( Farina A. & Pieretti N.)
  • ACI (Acoustic Complexity Index): Nueva herramienta para el estudio del canto de anuros ACI (Acoustic Complexity Index): a new tool to study anuran calls. Quehacer Científico en Chiapas 9 (2) 2014. (Lozano A, Farina A, Márquez R)
  • From Umwelt to Soundtope: An Epistemological Essay on Cognitive Ecology. Biosemiotics 7:1-10. (Farina A & Pieretti N
  • Spatial and temporal variation of bird dawn choruses in a Mediterranean landscape. Bioacoustics (in press). Doi/10.1080/09524622.2015.1070282. (Farina A, Ceraulo M, Bobryk C, Pieretti N, Lattanzi E)
  • Animals in a Noisy World. (in press) (Farina A.)
  • Ecoacoustics: the ecological investigation and interpretation of environmental sound. Biosemiotics. (in press). (Sueur J, Farina A)
  • Determining temporal sampling schemes for passive acoustic studies in different tropical ecosystems. Tropical Conservation Science Vol.8 (1): 215-234. (Pieretti N, Duarte MHL, Sousa-Lima RS, Rodrigues M, Young RJ, Farina A)
  • The impact of noise from open-cast mining on Atlantic forest biophony. Biological Conservation 191 (2015) 623–631 (M.H.L. Duarte, R.S. Sousa-Lima, R.J. Young, A. Farina, M. Vasconcelos , M. Rodrigues , N. Pieretti)
  • Acoustic community structure and dynamics: a fundamental component of ecoacoustics. Sub. (Farina A, Philip J)
  • Application of landscape and soundscape ecology to the Mediterranean region. Journal of Mediterranean Ecology 13: 21-27. (Farina A)
  • Utility of soundscape assessment for understanding conservation benefits of temperate agroforestry systems. Agroforestry Systems (in press). (Christopher W B, Rega CC, Bardhan S, Farina A, He HS, Jose S)