Search results for " Geography"

Human activity and damaging landslides and floods on Madeira Island

2011

Abstract. Over the last few decades, the island of Madeira has become an important offshore tourism and business center, with rapid economic and demographic development that has caused changes to the landscape due to human activity. In Madeira's recent history, there has been an increase over time in the frequency of occurrence of damaging landslide and flood events. As a result, the costs of restoration work due to damage caused by landslide and flood events have become a larger and larger component of Madeira's annual budget. Landslides and floods in Madeira deserve particular attention because they represent the most serious hazard to human life, to property, and to the natural environme…

Predicting storm-triggered debris flow events: application to the 2009 Ionian Peloritan disaster (Sicily, Italy)

2015

Abstract. The main assumption on which landslide susceptibility assessment by means of stochastic modelling lies is that the past is the key to the future. As a consequence, a stochastic model able to classify past known landslide events should be able to predict a future unknown scenario as well. However, storm-triggered multiple debris flow events in the Mediterranean region could pose some limits on the operative validity of such an expectation, as they are typically resultant of a randomness in time recurrence and magnitude and a great spatial variability, even at the scale of small catchments. This is the case for the 2007 and 2009 storm events, which recently hit north-eastern Sicily …

Distribution of recent ostracods in inland waters of Sicily (Southern Italy)

2006

From 2003 to 2005, freshwater ostracods were sampled in 67 water bodies of mainland Sicily (Provinces of Agrigento, Caltanisetta, Catania, Enna, Palermo, Messina, Ragusa, Siracusa and Trapani) located from sea level up to 1300 m a.s.l. This survey took into account streams, springs, wells, but especially temporary and ephemeral habitats (e.g., flooded meadows, temporary ponds). The aim of this research was to give the first comprehensive picture of the regional ostracod fauna and establish relationships between the distribution of ostracod species and some habitat features. Altogether, 21 ostracod taxa belonging to five families (Candonidae, Ilyocyprididae, Cyprididae, Notodromadidae, and L…

Studies on the zooplankton of the deep subalpine Lake Garda

1999

The specific composition and seasonal dynamics of the zooplankton of Lake Garda have been studied through monthly surveys in two annual cycles (December 1994-November 1995 and January-December 1997). The assemblage is largely dominated by Copipo-diaptomus steueri, a typical calanoid presently identified in deep (Garda, Iseo) and shallow lakes of NE Italy and in the hinterland of the central Adriatic region (Dalmatia and Marche Region). Cladocerans and the smaller rotifers represent a significant component of the zooplankton from spring to autumn. A re-examination of the results obtained in previous studies does not seem to demonstrate substantial shifts in the composition of the dominant sp…

Experimental test on the use of MS-222 for ostracod anaesthesia: concentration, immersion period and recovery time

2010

Anaesthesia of animals may be useful for different purposes, particularly for veterinary reasons or in experimental research, for manipulation or treatment of immobilized but alive animals. Its use in crustaceans is not uncommon, but it has never been described for Ostracoda. We provide brief and preliminary guidelines on the use of the tricaine mesylate (MS-222) on the widespread freshwater ostracod Eucypris virens and we show that this compound is an effective anaesthetic used as a bath treatment at minimum concentrations of 500 mg L-1. This value is considerably higher than that recommended for other aquatic animals like fish. Recovery time, ranging from 5 to 15 minutes, is mostly determ…

Assessment of the changes of COD and color in rivers of Latvia during the last twenty years

1998

Analysis of long-term records of the concentrations of water color and chemical oxygen demand for nine river sites in Latvia is reported. The period of observations lasted for the last 20 years. Characteristic features of data include non-normal distributions, serial correlation, seasonality and presence of mostly significant downward trends. In Latvia, the main water quality changes could be explained by the changes of anthropogenic impact and the type of catchment management over the last 20 years.

A Territorial Approach to the Production of Urban and Rural Landscape.

2018

The authors, starting from the examination of the historic data of Palermo landscapes on the south-east side, draws up an analysis of the landscape by illustrating the environmental characteristics and the intervention of man in its transformations. Therefore, determined by a certain point to refer to, the author, on the basis of archival, literary, and existing graphic documentation, has therefore sought to illustrate the evolution of the landscape in the geographical area of Maredolce while still presenting relations with the territory of Palermo. Examining the diaries at the end of the eighteenth century with the help of the water colored planks of the sites taking into account the great…

Peer review report 1 on âControls on runoff generation along a steep climatic gradient in the Eastern Mediterraneanâ

2017

The Unexpected profile of agricultural innovators: evidence from an empirical study

2020

[EN] Innovation capacity is essential for farmers to remain competitive and overcome the challenges facing Mediterranean agricultural systems. Based on an extensive empirical study, this paper elucidates the common attributes of innovative farmers in the Region of Valencia (Spain). The model presented in this study investigates whether an innovative attitude can be explained by market-entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation, individual profile traits and farm size. The findings provide insights into how age and experience affect innovation in agricultural smallholdings. The study shows that the most innovative farmers run large farms and have a strong market-entrepreneurial orient…

ROMANIAN SMES VERSUS THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISISIMPEDIMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

2012

This paper studies the way small and medium sized enterprises have reacted towards the global financial crisis. It also attempts to study the impact this crisis had on both the activity of these enterprises and on the business mentality in Romania. The article studies the reasons which determined the SMEs’ vulnerability during the crisis; these belong to a wide range, spreading from the tightening of the financing options or of the activity, up to the management’s nature. The impact of the economic crisis is studied starting with the statistics in the specialty literature, which highlight the SMEs’ situation starting with 2008. Having as support these numbers, the paper analyzes the effects…