Search results for " Islands"
showing 10 items of 322 documents
Testing Taxonomic and Biogeographical Relationships in a Narrow Mediterranean Endemic Complex (Hippocrepis balearica) using RAPD Markers
2002
Analyses of RAPD profiles from 17 populations of the Hippocrepis balearica complex revealed a highly structured geographic pattern, not only among continental–insular areas but also within the eastern Balearic islands. In marked contrast to previous morphometric results, a clear separation between continental and insular samples was found, and intermediates between H. balearica and H. valentina samples were not detected. Molecular data indicated that western and eastern Balearic populations of the complex (H. grosii and H. balearica) were more closely related to each other than to continental populations (H. valentina). Multivariate analyses of the RAPD data clearly indicated that the simil…
The Balearic toad (Bufo viridis balearicus (BOETTGER, 1881)), human bronze age culture, and Mediterranean biogeography
1981
Abstract Microcomplement fixation analysis of albumin relationship shows that the Balearic green toad (Bufo viridis balearicus) is not an original, autochthonous member of the basically Miocene fauna of these western Mediterranean islands, but a quite recent newcomer. The plasma protein pattern clearly points to its close populational relationship to the Tyrrhenian islands' conspecifics. The male and female release vocalization shows the same, and this is in accordance with the external morphology too. There has been no possibility for toads to reach the Balearic Islands in Pleistocene or Holocene via land bridges, nor are they candidates for any sea drifting. Anthropogenic introduction mu…
Typification of the Linnaean name Centaurea seridis (Asteraceae)
2014
The genus Centaurea Linnaeus (1753: 909) (Asteraceae) comprises a large number of taxa mainly occurring in the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia (Susanna & Garcia-Jacas 2007). Centaurea seridis Linnaeus (1753: 915) is distributed from south Europe (Spain incl. Balearic Islands, Italy incl. Sicily, France, Albania and Greece) to northwest Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia). From a nomenclatural standpoint, Centaurea seridis has not been typified (Jarvis 2007: 402). This paper proposes the designation of a lectotype for this Linnaean name, based on the analysis of the protologue and original material.
Nuclear and chloroplast DNA variation in Cephalaria squamiflora (Dipsacaceae), a disjunct Mediterranean species
2009
Cephalaria squamiflora is a chamaephyte restricted to rupicolous habitats in islands of the Western (Balearic Islands, Sardinia) and Eastern Mediterranean (Crete and few Aegean islands). Four narrowly distributed races (subspp. squamiflora, mediterranea, ebusitana, balearica) have been described to encompass the morphological variation within the species. We have used nuclear ribosomal ITS and cpDNA sequences to assess how the patterns of molecular differentiation are related to taxonomic and geographic boundaries. Extensive intragenomic ITS variation was detected in samples from all territories, the average sequence divergence among cloned ribotypes was 1.339%. The parsimony network of clo…
First record of Aplysia dactylomela (Opisthobranchia: Aplysiidae) from the Egadi Islands (western Sicily)
2014
The alien mollusc Aplysia dactylomela is recorded for the first time from the Egadi Islands marine protected area (western Sicily). This species has been widely reported in the Mediterranean and has established populations in Sicily. The presence of a few specimens let us suppose that its occurrence in this area is a recent event and that soon new populations will be sighted in the whole Egadi Islands and on the western and southern coasts of Sicily.
A comparison of the structure of helminth communities in the woodmouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, on islands of the western Mediterranean and continental …
2003
We investigated the pattern of helminth species diversity in woodmouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, on western Mediterranean islands. We first performed a survey of the helminth fauna of A. sylvaticus in Sicily. Despite the small sampling effort, parasite species richness in Sicily is large in comparison with parasite species richness on other Mediterranean islands. We tested the nestedness of helminth parasite species from a number of Mediterranean localities using data compiled from epidemiological surveys of the helminth species of A. sylvaticus. We showed a nested pattern for woodmouse helminth species on western Mediterranean islands which suggests that the distribution of parasites on these …
Short and medium effects on the environment of Valencia, Spain, of the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident.
1991
As a consequence of the 26 April 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, a large amount of radioactivity was released into the atmosphere. The radioactive plume formed could be detected in practically the whole of the Northern Hemisphere a few days later. The zone most affected by the radioactive cloud over Spain was that of the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands. In this paper, the authors examine the level of the radioactive contamination reached in various receptive media in Valencia, such as air, dry-fallout, water, soil, grass and milk samples collected in Valencia immediately after the accident. The activity levels are compared with those found during 1964 and 1965 due…
Nothodissotis (Melastomataceae), a new genus from Atlantic Central Africa, including the new species N. alenensis from Equatorial Guinea
2019
Based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence, a new genus of Melastomataceae (Melastomateae), Nothodissotis Veranso-Libalah & G.Kadereit, gen. nov., is described from Atlantic Central Africa. Nothodissotis is distinguished from other African Melastomateae genera by its calyx-lobes that are notched at apex and asymmetrical (vs. entire and symmetrical). Nothodissotis includes two species: the type species N.barteri (Hook.f.) Veranso-Libalah & G.Kadereit, comb. nov. (syn. Dissotisbarteri Hook.f.), and the new species N.alenensis Veranso-Libalah & O. Lachenaud, sp. nov., described and illustrated here. Both species are restricted to open vegetation on rock outcrops w…
Noble gas and CO2 isotopic signatures of the lithospheric mantle underneath Mexico and the Canary Islands: clues from mantle xenoliths and arc lavas
2022
Studying the isotopic composition of fluids trapped in mantle xenoliths opens avenues to understand the origin and cycling of volatiles in the Earth’s upper mantle. In this PhD dissertation, new and in most cases the very first data regarding the isotopic (noble gases and CO2) characterization of the lithospheric mantle portions of three different geodynamic environments are presented: (i) Central and NW Mexico, a continental setting dominated by extension; (ii) the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) a subduction setting, and (iii) the Canary Islands, particularly El Hierro and Lanzarote, two oceanic islands formed by mantle plume-derived intraplate volcanism. In total 32 peridotites (includ…
Mycobacterium tuberculosis molecular evolution in western Mediterranean Island of Sicily and Sardinia
2004
Abstract In this study, a total of 204 Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNAs from Sicily ( n = 144) and Sardinia ( n = 60) were studied by three genotyping methods. Results were analyzed both within and across islands, to define the phylogeographical specificities of the genotypes, look for their diversity and infer a molecular evolutionary scenario. A strong link between geography and tuberculosis genotypes was observed in Sardinia. The results were also matched against a world-wide genetic diversity database to compare the population structure of the tubercle bacilli in the islands. Eight common genotypes between Sicily, Sardinia and continental Italy were found which underlines the influences …