Search results for " Ecosystem"

Invasive crayfish increase habitat connectivity: a case study in a large boreal lake

2013

Several studies have shown that distinct compartments of lake ecosystems are coupled via transportation of organic matter, nutrients and energy across habitat boundaries. Here we evaluate the potential of the invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana)) to modify energy pathways in large boreal lakes. Using a stable isotope mixing model and calculation of the isotopic niches we estimated the contribution of different food sources to the diets of crayfish captured from different habitats, and from that inferred their potential to transport energy across the littoral-profundal gradient. The crayfish caught from the littoral area utilized mainly littoral food sources, whereas the…

Biometric characterisation and taxonomic considerations of european rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus 1758) in Sicily (Italy)

2014

In Sicilian Mediterranean ecosystems the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is a keystone species, very important for popular small game species and for ecological reasons. However, its spread across the island seems to have decreased and fragmented in recent times, but until now no accurate population management has been carried out due to the lack of ethological, ecological and taxonomic knowledge. A biometric analysis of European rabbit specimens from Sicily to widen current taxonomic knowledge was performed. In this paper, 7 body variables and 23 cranial variables of 166 and 120 individuals, respectively, were examined. Thereafter, the results were compared with biometric data from o…

Energizing Collaborative Industry-Academia Learning: A Present Case and Future Visions

2022

AbstractIn Industry-Academia Collaborations (IAC) both academic, scientific research results and industrial practitioner findings and experiences are produced. Both types of knowledge should be gathered, codified, and disseminated efficiently and effectively. This paper investigates a recent (2014–2017) large-scale IAC R&D&I program case (Need for Speed, N4S) from a learning perspective. It was one of the programs in the Finnish SHOK (Strategic Centres of Science, Technology, and Innovation) system. The theoretical bases are in innovation management, knowledge management, and higher education (university) pedagogy. In the future, IAC projects should be more and more commonplace sinc…

The functional trait-based approach to investigate life history traits in marine invertebrates to predict effects of global climate change on ecosyst…

2013

Terrestrial Inputs Drive Seasonality in Organic Matter and Nutrient Biogeochemistry in a High Arctic Fjord System (Isfjorden, Svalbard)

2020

Climate-change driven increases in temperature and precipitation are leading to increased discharge of freshwater and terrestrial material to Arctic coastal ecosystems. These inputs bring sediments, nutrients and organic matter (OM) across the land-ocean interface with a range of implications for coastal ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling. To investigate responses to terrestrial inputs, physicochemical conditions were characterized in a river- and glacier-influenced Arctic fjord system (Isfjorden, Svalbard) from May to August in 2018 and 2019. Our observations revealed a pervasive freshwater footprint in the inner fjord arms, the geochemical properties of which varied spatially and seaso…

Recent changes in chironomid communities and hypolimnetic oxygen conditions relate to organic carbon in subarctic ecotonal lakes

2018

A key question in aquatic elemental cycling is related to the influence of bottom water oxygen conditions in regulating the burial and release of carbon under climate warming. In this study, we used head capsules of Chironomidae larvae to assess community and diversity change between the past (estimated as Pre-Industrial Period) and present and to reconstruct changes in hypolimnetic oxygen conditions from 30 subarctic ecotonal lakes (northeastern Lapland) using the top-bottom paleolimnological approach applying surface sediment (topmost 0-2 cm) and reference (4-5 cm) samples. Subsequently, we tested the findings against dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration of the sites. We found tha…

The use of bioindicators (Posidonia oceanica and benthic foraminifera) to evaluate metal pollution in a complex ecological system: marine coastal env…

2007

A stochastic reaction-diffusion-taxis model for picophytoplankton dynamics

2011

The dynamics of picophytoplankton communities in marine environment is studied by astochastic reaction-dìffusìon-taxis model, analyzing the time evolution of the biomass concentration along a water column. The model is based on two stochastic differentìal equations, where the random fluctuations of the environmental variables are considered by inserting two multiplicative noise terms. Specifically, the model describes the dynamics of diffusion of picophytoplankton biomass and nutrient concentrations. In the proposed model the marine environment is characterized by poorly mixed waters and picophytoplankton is subject to intraspecific competition for light and nutrients. By numerically solvin…

A stochastic reaction-diffusion-taxis model for two picophytoplankton populations

2012

In this work, the stationary distributions of two populations of picophytoplankton, i.e. picoeukaryotes and Prochlorococcus, are studied. This two groups account on average for 60% of the total chlorophyll a (chl a) and divinil chlorophyll a (divinil chl a) concentration in Mediterranean Sea. The interaction of these populations with the environment occurs through two factors that limit the growth of the aquatic microorganisms: light intensity and nutrient, i.e. phosphorus. The dynamics of the two picophytoplanktonic groups, distributed at different depth along a water column (one-dimensional spatial domain), is analyzed starting from a deterministic reaction-diffusion-taxis model. This con…

Current agri-environmental policies dismiss varied perceptions and discourses on management of traditional rural biotopes

2017

Abstract Traditional rural biotopes (TRBs) are threatened habitats that host significant biodiversity and several ecosystem services, and depend on active management such as low-intensity grazing. The current study explores private landowners’ decision-making on TRB management and abandonment within a social-ecological system framework. We provide insight into supporting resilience of TRB systems in the face of agricultural modernization. Using a mixed methods approach with content analysis and Q analysis, we demonstrate that TRB management fosters cultural, biological, aesthetic, and utilitarian values. These are reflected in different ways through conservationist’s, profit-oriented farmer…