Ruggero Tomaselli is credited with having introduced the studies of phytosociology in Italy with his work Introduction to the Study of Phytosociology, published in Milan in 1956. His research has influenced for years the activity of the Institute of Botany of the University of Pavia in the geobotanical and cartographic field: in Pavia he published the first map of the potential natural vegetation of Italy which, together with other notable studies in the phytosociological field, among which he won the presidency of the "Group of experts for the cartography of European vegetation of the Council of Europe". His research in the ecological and vegetational field was utilised in the creation of the bioclimatic map of Italy.[3]
In 1988, the Institute of Botany of the University of Pavia formally purchased his substantial book and cartographic collection (223 containers containing miscellaneous publications, 420 volumes and about 280 phytogeographic papers with frequent original notes by the author) of various topics (phytogeography, cartography, ecology, plant physiology, etc.).[3]
Tomaselli also did some taxonomical work in the area of lichenology. Italian lichenologist Pier Luigi Nimis described him as a "versatile botanist", but without having left any significant contributions to the field.[4] Together with Raffaele Ciferri, Tomaselli published 215 alternative names for the fungal component (the mycobiont) of lichens; most of these ended in the suffix -myces. The vast majority of these names were later determined to be formally illegitimate according to nomenclatural rules.[5]
Tomaselli died prematurely on 30 March 1982 in a road accident while returning from a work trip together with his colleagues Sebastiano Filipello and Mario Sacchi. As part of the XVII International Ethnobotany Symposium in Antigua, Tomaselli was posthumously awarded the Scientific Award for 2019.[6]
Ciferri, R.; Tomaselli, R. (1952). Saggio di una sistematica micolichenologica. Atti Ist. Bot. Pavia serie 5, 10: 25–84
Ciferri, R.; Tomaselli, R. (1953). Tentative mycolichenes classification. Atti dell'Istituto Botanico della Università e Laboratorio Crittogamico di Pavia, serie 5, 10 (1): 25–84
Ciferri, R.; Tomaselli, R. (1955). Sulla Nomenclatura del fungo simbionte dei licheni. Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano, N.S. 62 (3–4): 501–504
Tomaselli, R.; Ciferri, R. (1954). Scissioni di generi di licheni sulla base delle caratteristiche del fungo. Atti Ist. Bot. Univ. Pavia, serie 5, 12 (1): 30–69
Ciferri, R.; Tomaselli, R. (1957). Prospetto di una sistematica micolichenologica. Atti Ist. Bot. Univ. Pavia, serie 5, 14 (1-3): 247–262
Tomaselli, R. (1950). Appunti sulla Sistematica e distribuzione geografica dei basidiolicheni. Archivio Botanico per la Sistematica, Fitogeografia e Genetica 26: 100–116
Tomaselli, R. (1951). "Notes sur les basidiolichens". Revue Bryologique et Lichénologique. Série 2 (in French). 20 (1–2): 212–214.
Tomaselli, R. (1957). Modalitá di crescita di vari ceppi Italiani di Xanthoriomyces (fungo lichenizzante). Atti Dell Istituto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia, serie 5, 12 (3–4): 320–359
Tomaselli, R. (1962). Considerazioni sulla posizione sistemica degli ascomiceti simbionti nei licheni. Atti. Accad. Gioenia, serie 6, 14: 168–199
Tomaselli, R. (1964). Raffaele Ciferri (1897–1964). Atti Ist. Bot. Univ. Lab. Crittogam. Pavia, serie 5, Supl. 21: 55 pp.
^Nimis, Pier Luigi (2016). The Lichens of Italy. A Second Annotated Catalogue. Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste. p. 10. ISBN978-88-8303-755-9.
^Lücking, Robert; Hawksworth, David L. (2007). "Names for lichen-forming fungi introduced by Ciferri and Tomaselli are illegitimate and not available for use, except for three cases". Taxon. 56 (4): 1274–1284. doi:10.2307/25065921.
Giovanna Giomaro, Ruggero Tomaselli, in Tonelli A., Maestri di ateneo: i docenti dell'Università di Urbino nel Novecento, Urbino, Quattroventi, 2013, ISBN 9788839209825
Balduzzi A., 1982. In memoria di Ruggero Tomaselli, Sebastiano Filipello, Mario Sacchi. Atti st. Bot. e Lab. Critt. Ser. 7, v.1: 5–23