Search results for " BIODIVERSITY"
showing 10 items of 376 documents
Italian Goat Consortium: a collaborative project to study the Italian caprine biodiversity.
2017
The Italian Goat Consortium (IGC), joined the effort of many Universities and Research Institutes, in a comprehensive study of the Italian goat population genetic makeup using a medium density (54K) SNPs chip. Currently IGC has genotyped more than 1,000 animals from more than 30 goat breeds and populations from all Italian geographical and agroecological areas of goat rearing. The aim of this work is to obtain a clear picture of the Italian caprine biodiversity, to reconstruct the ancestry, to disentangle the genetic background and to assess the relationships among and within the investigated breeds. To date, the IGC dataset includes about 50 million genotypes. The data were quality checked…
Persistence of wild Streptococcus thermophilus strains on wooden vat and during the manufacture of a traditional Caciocavallo type cheese
2012
The present work was undertaken to evaluate the influence of the wooden dairy plant equipment on the microbiological characteristics of curd to be transformed into Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese. Traditional raw milk productions were performed concomitantly with standard cheese making trials carried out in stainless steel vat inoculated with a commercial starter. Milk from two different farms (A and B) was separately processed. The wooden vat was found to be a reservoir of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), while unwanted (spoilage and/or pathogenic) microorganisms were not hosted or were present at very low levels. All microbial groups were numerically different in bulk milks, showing higher lev…
OVERVIEW OF SOME TECHNIQUES ON DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI (A CASE STUDY IN ITALY)
2019
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are mutualistic symbionts widespread among both cultivated and wild plants. They have different beneficial roles including stimulating plant growth and tolerance to wide varieties of biotic as well as abiotic stresses. So,the exact and optimize methods for quantification and detection of these fungi in roots and soils are necessary.These techniques are based on fungal sporesmorphological characterization as well as molecular characterization of fungi in soil or root samples.The work was carried out at the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Turin. For this purpose, the AM fungal root colonization p…
Distribution and ecological role of selected shrubby species in the Mediterranean basin
2019
In many natural and semi-natural habitats trees and shrubs represent two major growth forms (1). In particular shrublands, which can be considered a mixture of several sclerophyllous shrubs and tree species, represent a Mediterranean type of vegetation rarely found in other ecosystems. The distribution of shrubs in an ecosystem is connected to complex ecological processes. Indeed, shrubs provide substrate, food and shelter for organisms, play an important role in the nutrient cycle providing organic matter input to soils and they protect watersheds from erosion. Moreover shrubs are very important for many associated species such as mammals, birds, invertebrates, other plants (that favour th…
Elenco delle specie fungine raccolte in occasione delle XVII giornate micologiche della CEMM (Cefalù)
2012
240 taxa, 25 Ascomycetes and 215 Basidiomycetes were collected and identified during the mycological forays carried out in the framework of XVII CEMM meeting. Amaurodon viridis, Botryohypochnus isabellinus, Sarcodon cyrneus, Sarcoscypha austriaca and Subulicystidium longisporum are new records for Sicily.
Macromycetes' diversity in Tunisia
2017
In Tunisia, about 12% of the country area is covered by forests which have favorable climatic factors likely to harbor a high macrofungal biodiversity. However, this valuable bioresource remains understudied especially regarding their distribution, ecology, abundance and diversity. The initiation of the first national inventory of macrofungi in NorthWestern Tunisian forests was published by our group in 2016. The study covered six governorates, sixty seven sites and enabled the identification of one hundred and twenty-three specimens. Abiotic environmental factors such (as bioclimatic stage, rainfall and edaphic conditions) and biotic factors (plant association and nature and density of the…
Citizen science: a successful tool for monitoring biodiversity in Marine Protected Areas
2018
In the last few decades, anthopogenic activities, introduction of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS, i.e. organisms introduced outside of their natural range), and climate changes, have significantly affected Mediterranean marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (Coll et al., 2010). All that is also true for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), whose major aim is biodiversity conservation. Therefore, monitoring and surveillance plans are strongly needed, and the creation of public awareness campaigns might be effective tool to plan effective management and conservation strategies in MPAs. Since intensive monitoring programs could be very expensive, citizen science, the involvement of citizens in …
Ethnobotanical knowledge in some rural communities of northern Sicily (Palermo, Italy)
2018
An ethnobotanical study was carried out to document the uses of wild plants among some local communities of Sicily (southern Italy). We recorded 48 taxa belonging to 45 genera included in 32 families. 30 taxa are used as medicinal plants, 22 taxa as food and 9 for handicraft use. In comparison with other ethnobotanical studies carried out in Sicily and other Italian territories, some uses of the plants reported by the local population in the study area are peculiarities. The analysis of data shows that the level of traditional knowledge on use of plants in province of Palermo is poor, highlighting a considerably advanced state of cultural erosion. The results of our investigation confirm th…
Fungal biodiversity in old-growth forests of Sicily: preliminary results
2014
According to several authors an old-growth forest in Italy is a natural forest in which human disturbance is absent or negligible, and in which natural dynamics create a mosaic of all the forest regeneration phases, including the senescing one. Such phase is characterized by large old trees, deadwood (snags logs and coarse woody debris) and a vascular plant species composition that is consistent with the bio-geographical context and it includes highly specialized taxa related to the small-scale disturbance and the microhabitats resulting from structural heterogeneity. Unmanaged forests are the main refugee for rare and endangered species, including fungi. In Sicily, 472 hectares were recogn…
FUNGAL DIVERSITY IN URBAN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
2014
In past and recent times the anthropic pressure strongly influenced the dynamic of forest ecosystems in Europe and led to a drastic decrease of forest cover and distribution mainly in unmanaged areas. The term “urban and community forests” refers to the trees and forests found in urbanized settings, in the center of cities and towns, in suburbs and rural ommunities, and at the edge of wild lands. Trees in the urban environment are subjected to a number of stresses which are very different from those suffered by trees in typical rural conditions. Biodiversity has been reduced in urban areas through ecosystem destruction, degradation, and fragmentation of remaining ecosystems. Recent investig…