Applying an operating model for the environmental risk assessment in Italian Sites of Community Importance (SCI) of the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC)

The fast development of agro-biotechnologies asks for a harmonized approach in risk analysis of GMO's releases, where "risk analysis" entails the assessment, management and communication of risk. Risk assessment consists in the evaluation of the likelihood that a hazard occurs, associated with the presence of the receptor(s) in the receiving environment, and the determination of their potential degree of exposure to the hazard. The whole process has to be both science based and applied case by case, and it involves a very complicated procedure that needs to be transformed in an operational and standardized tool. Beginning in 2003, an expert group on behalf of the Italian Ministry of the Env…

First investigations on the effects of transgenic Brassica napus L. on the trophic structure of the nematofauna.

Prime liste faunistiche di Lepidotteri diurni in aree protette italiane

Nell’ambito del progetto Life+ 2008, Validation of risk management tools for genetically modified plants in protected and sensitive areas in Italy (MAN-GMP-ITA), sono stati condotti studi di caratterizzazione dell’entomofauna di alcune aree protette in Italia, da marzo a settembre di due anni consecutivi (2011-2012). Tali studi hanno condotto alla redazione di liste faunistiche di Lepidotteri diurni, Lepidotteri notturni e Coccinellidi per ciascun sito. I due gruppi di specie sono stati scelti in considerazione del loro possibile ruolo come specie “non-target” in studi di impatto ambientale. Le aree oggetto di studio sono state scelte in modo da essere rappresentative di diverse aree bio-ge…

Non-target and biological diversity risk assessment

This chapter discusses the following procedures for risk assessment in Bt cotton using the non-target risk assessment model developed by scientists of the GMO ERA Project ("International Project on GMO Environmental Risk Assessment Methodologies", which is a continuation of the GMO Guidelines Project, which was launched by scientists of the International Organization for Biological Control Global Working Group on "Transgenic Organisms in Integrated Pest Management and Biological Control"): (1) identify relevant functional groups of biological diversity associated with adverse effects, (2) list and prioritize species or ecological processes, (3) identify potential exposure pathways and adver…

Comparazione tra liste faunistiche di Lepidotteri e Coccinellidi in aree protette italiane con diverse caratteristiche biogeografiche