Search results for " Ecosystem services"
showing 10 items of 31 documents
A review of Payment for Ecosystem Services for the economic internalization of environmental externalities: A water perspective
2016
Abstract The allocation of economic value to environmental goods is intended to internalize the socio-economic and environmental costs of policies implemented and thus recognizes the value of the ecosystem and the consequences of environmental damage. This entails identifying the costs and benefits of management measures for conservation and of degraded ecosystems. The difficulties of this task are: (i) they are goods that have no market and (ii) there is a need for economic funding for conservation purposes. Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) seeks to internalize the environmental externalities of human actions, ascribing monetary value to Ecosystem Services (ES) and helping decision-mak…
Priorities for research in soil ecology
2017
The ecological interactions that occur in and with soil are of consequence in many ecosystems on the planet. These interactions provide numerous essential ecosystem services, and the sustainable management of soils has attracted increasing scientific and public attention. Although soil ecology emerged as an independent field of research many decades ago, and we have gained important insights into the functioning of soils, there still are fundamental aspects that need to be better understood to ensure that the ecosystem services that soils provide are not lost and that soils can be used in a sustainable way. In this perspectives paper, we highlight some of the major knowledge gaps that shoul…
Contrasting olfactory responses of two egg parasitoids to buckwheat floral scent are reflected in field parasitism rates
2019
International audience; Conservation biological control programs advocate the planting of flower strips alongside crops to improve the survival and effectiveness of parasitoids. Ideally, the provided food plants are highly attractive and benefit the targeted biocontrol agents without promoting pests or intraguild competition. Previous laboratory studies showed that Trissolcus basalis, an egg parasitoid of the stink bug Nezara viridula, is highly attracted to floral odors of buckwheat and that its nectar increases the wasp’s fecundity. In the field, T. basalis competes with the co-occurring parasitoid Ooencyrtus telenomicida for host eggs. Therefore, in the present study, we explored whether…
Environmentally-conditioned human rights: a good idea?
2021
The emergence of the rights of nature is a clear response to the current environmental crisis. But such trend is not to walk alone: it is to be espoused to the many still remaining human rights issues, otherwise the power and credibility of both are at danger. This chapter focuses on one of the many possible points of encounter between the rights of nature and human rights. It explores how they may be combined within biocultural rights—the basket of rights of indigenous peoples and local communities necessary to maintain their role as ecosystem stewards—and tries to understand what the consequences of combining nature and human interests as their foundations may be. In particula…
Patterns of soil microbial biomass and diversity across Mediterranean agroecosystems in areas under desertification risk
2022
Contrasting behavioural responses of two egg parasitoids to buckwheat floral scent is reflected in field parasitism rates
2017
The use of food supplements in conservation biological control (CBC) programmes is considered an essential element for increasing parasitoid fitness and their population density leading to an increase in overall parasitism levels. However, non-crop habitats that substitute the necessary resources for natural enemies have not always achieved the desired effects. It is suggested that the composition of flower strips in agricultural systems around/in agricultural fields plays an important role because not all plant species are equally suitable and the consumption of food resources by parasitoids can shape direct and indirect interactions with other arthropods and the community complex. We deve…
Are Cover Crops Affecting the Quality and Sustainability of Fruit Production?
2021
The study of the interaction between fruit trees and cover crops has been addressed in numerous works over the last 50 years or more, evidencing the need to evolve from a productive orchard to an orchard that plays different ecosystem roles in terms of environmental sustainability rather than just productivity. This review, through an analysis of the scientific literature since the 1950s, highlights the development of sustainable soil management models in fruit tree orchards, mostly considering the relationship with fruit quality traits and with the ecosystem services that result from the adoption of cover crops, aiming at identifying and formulating technical recommendations in perennial o…
Ecosystem services provided by marine and freshwater phytoplankton
2021
AbstractPhytoplankton, the ecological group of microalgae adapted to live in apparent suspension in water masses, is much more than an ecosystem’s engineer. In this opinion paper, we use our experience as phytoplankton ecologists to list and highlight the services provided by phytoplankton, trying to demonstrate how their activity is fundamental to regulate and sustain Life on our Planet. Although the number of services produced by phytoplankton can be considered less numerous than that produced by other photosynthetic organisms, the ubiquity of this group of organisms, and their thriving across oceanic ecosystems make it one of the biological engines moving our biosphere. Supporting servic…
Evaluation of payment for ecosystem services in Mediterraneanforest: An empirical survey
2016
Abstract The relationship between humans and the forest has always been an important element, sometimes characterizing in the history of man himself. During the last years, the socio-economic context is profoundly changed, diversifying economic services provided by the forest. In the past, in fact, the primary function of the forest was the firewood production, while nowadays it grants several socio-economic benefits such as climate change mitigation, soil protection, protection and conservation of biodiversity, landscaping and recreational value. So, in recent decades a new type of socio-economic interest was developed in order to create a market of goods and services for the forests, call…
Tradizioni etnofarmacobotaniche in alcune comunità rurali dei Monti di Trapani (Sicilia occidentale)
2014
Ethnopharmacobotanical traditions in some rural communities of Trapani Mountains (West-Sicily). – The results refer an ethnopharmacobotanical study carried out in the territories of Valderice, Busto Palizzolo, Custonaci and San Vito Lo Capo, in the Trapani Mountains. There are 155 plants used in etno-medicine. The etnofarmacobotanical use of spontaneous and cultivated taxa represents an ecosystem services provided by biodiversity in the traditional agricultural systems of this area.