Search results for " Ecosystem"

The role of sustainable agroforestry practices and food consumption to prevent tropical deforestation and increase ecosystem services

2022

Tropical forests harbor most of global terrestrial biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services, although they have been largely replaced by agricultural activities. Amazon is the largest tropical forest remaining, and cattle ranching and soybean cultivation are by far the greater drivers of deforestation, that together with other few commodities constitutes the main products responsible for the imported deforestation caused by European countries. Agroforestry systems and sustainable intensification are pointed out as solutions to conciliate food production with environmental conservation, thus reviewing the results of studies comparing these practices against conventional ones are…

Could cattle ranching and soybean cultivation be sustainable? A systematic review and a meta-analysis for the Amazon

2021

Abstract: Tropical forests are being destroyed to make space for agricultural activities with the assumption that they are required to feed the growing global population. Consequently, more sustainable practices are needed to guarantee food security and environmental protection of highly threatened natural biodiversity hotspots like the Amazon rainforest. Cattle ranching and soybean cultivation are by far the greater drivers of land use change and deforestation in the Amazon region. We performed a systematic review of papers related to these two main drivers and a meta-analysis on the effects of sustainable practices on different ecosystem services. The results of the review highlight a lar…

Laghi Artificiali dell'Italia meridionale e delle isole maggiori

2014

In questo articolo gli autori analizzano i principali fattori ecologici che determinano il funzionamento dei laghi artificiali localizzati nel meridione d’Italia e nelle isole maggiori. In particolare, viene illustrato come il ciclo idrologico annuale di questi ecosistemi sia fortemente influenzato dalle attività umane connesse all’uso dell’acqua invasata. Tali attività spesso interferiscono negativamente con la dinamica dei fattori fisici (stratificazione/circolazione), chimici (concentrazioni di nutrienti e ossigeno) e biologici (successione stagionale del fitoplancton) che governano il funzionamento di questi ecosistemi. Comprendere come il cambiamento climatico in atto influenzi il cicl…

AN ANALYSIS OF SURFACE ACTIVITY OF BEACH RESIDENT INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY DURING STORM EVENTS

2022

Increasing storminess is among the expected effects of climate change; systems such as sandy beaches –and especially those on islands- are particularly exposed to these events. Data related to behavioural reactions of resident beach fauna to storms could hence provide useful insights for the study of beaches’ resilience. A study was carried out on two beach units on the NE coast of Crete island (Greece), seasonally subjected to violent storms. Daily surface activity of resident fauna was analysed through temporal replicates (four different moon phases) during the months of March and April 2016. Pitfalls were placed along transects perpendicular to the shoreline and emptied every three hours…

Factors affecting fish assemblages associated with gas platforms in the Mediterranean Sea

2013

Abstract Understanding the role played by offshore platforms in marine ecosystems is acquiring increasing importance worldwide. In this work, underwater visual census techniques were applied to describe spatial and temporal patterns of fish assemblages associated with extractive platforms. Data were collected during three seasons according to the following spatial factors: Location (Adriatic and Ionian Seas), Depth (0–6 m and 12–18 m) and Distance from the platform (external and internal). Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed highly significant differences for each factor assessed in this study, as well as for the interaction among said factors. Results indicated that artificial…

Size–Abundance Relationships of Freshwater Macroinvertebrates in Two Contrasting Floodplain Channels of Rhone River

2022

Body size is perhaps the most fundamental property of an organism and its relationship with abundance is one of the most studied relationships in ecology. Although numerous studies have examined these relationships in local communities, few have investigated how they vary at different temporal and spatial scales. We investigated the relationship between body size and abundance of local macroinvertebrate communities in two floodplain channels of the French upper Rhone River. The two channels differ in their vegetation coverage (high vs. low vegetation) and hydrological regimes. The shapes of the size–abundance relationship were similar between channels on a yearly basis but differed wh…

Environmental quality and sustainable resource exploitation in marine coastal ecosystems: the case study of tuna farming.

2009

Stable isotopes: a tool for understanding trophodynamic functioning in coastal lagoons

2010

Food web structure in Mediterranean coastal lagoons under different trophic conditions

2011

Hydrological drivers of wetland vegetational biodiversity patterns within Everglades National Park, Florida

2009

The influence of hydrological dynamics on vegetational biodiversity and structuring of wetland environments is of growing interest as wetlands are modified by human alteration and the increasing threat from climate change. Hydrology has long been considered a driving force in shaping wetland communities as the frequency of inundation along with the duration and depth of flooding are key determinants of wetland structure. We attempt to link hydrological dynamics with vegetational distribution and species richness across Everglades National Park(ENP) using two publicly available datasets. The first, the Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN),is a water-surface model which determines the m…