Search results for " Landscape ecology"
showing 10 items of 23 documents
Circummed pine forest database: An electronic archive for mediterranean and submediterranean pine forest vegetation data
2019
Large thematic databases of vegetation plots are increasingly needed for vegetation studies and biodiversity research. In this paper, we present the CircumMed Pine Forest Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-026), which in November 2018, comprised records from 6317 pine-dominated vegetation plots (relevés) and associated vegetation types from 20 countries of the Mediterranean Basin, Near East and Crimea. These vegetation plots were collected through a detailed literature search for plots not previously included in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA), in order to fill geographic gaps in data coverage. The database comprises Mediterranean (including Oromediterranean) pine-forest vegetation plots from b…
New national and regional bryophyte records, 67
2021
Bulgaria. Samokov Region, Rila Mountains, Rila National Park, N slopes of peak Deno, on granite slabs and scree, collected with occasional sporophytes, 42.19709°N, 23.60322°E, 2780 m a.s.l, 17 September 2019, leg./det. R. Natcheva s.n. (SOM 9811-B). This arctic-alpine species has a north Holarctic circumpolar distribution and this is the first report of Andreaea blyttii for SE Europe. It is its southernmost locality and extends its range further south in Europe. The Rila Mountains are the highest in the Balkan peninsula and A. blyttii was found near the highest summit (Mussala, 2925 m a.s.l.). In Bulgaria the genus Andreaea is also represented by A. alpestris (Thed.) Schimp. and A. rupestri…
Formalized classification of European fen vegetation at the alliance level
2017
AimsPhytosociological classification of fen vegetation (Scheuchzerio palustris-Caricetea fuscae class) differs among European countries. Here we propose a unified vegetation classification of European fens at the alliance level, provide unequivocal assignment rules for individual vegetation plots, identify diagnostic species of fen alliances, and map their distribution.LocationEurope, western Siberia and SE Greenland.Methods29 049 vegetation-plot records of fens were selected from databases using a list of specialist fen species. Formal definitions of alliances were created using the presence, absence and abundance of Cocktail-based species groups and indicator species. DCA visualized the s…
Biocultural diversity and naturalness of rural landscape in Sicily
2017
Rural landscapes are a relevant palimpsest of biocultural diversity, as a tangible example of the symbiosis between natural processes and human activities. Sicilian rural landscape, due to the history of the territory and the resulting social and economic context, are configured in a heterogeneous mosaic rich in residual naturalness, which enhance connectivity of ecological network and support a high diversity of species. The present-day natural traits and biological diversity of Sicilian environment are the legacy of the historical land uses, which has generated a variegated mosaic of rural landscapes. They play an important role in the conservation of endemic, rare and threatened plant sp…
Community Turnover of Wood-Inhabiting Fungi across Hierarchical Spatial Scales
2014
For efficient use of conservation resources it is important to determine how species diversity changes across spatial scales. In many poorly known species groups little is known about at which spatial scales the conservation efforts should be focused. Here we examined how the community turnover of wood-inhabiting fungi is realised at three hierarchical levels, and how much of community variation is explained by variation in resource composition and spatial proximity. The hierarchical study design consisted of management type (fixed factor), forest site (random factor, nested within management type) and study plots (randomly placed plots within each study site). To examine how species richne…
Harvesting memories project: ricognizioni archeologiche nelle contrade Castro e Giardinello e nell’area di Monte Barraù (Corleone, Palermo)
2016
The “Harvesting Memories” project (funded by Bona Furtuna LLC) is focused on the long-term Transformation of the cultural landscape in the central part of the Alto Belice Corleonese (Central-Western Sicily). In particular, we surveyed the area of Contrada Giardinello, Castro Valley and the western slopes of Monte Barraù (Corleone, Palermo). The fieldwork led to the identification of 12 sites featuring pottery concentrations spanning from Protohistory (Middle Copper Age/Aeneolithic and Bronze Age), Classic period, Middle Ages/Arab-Norman period to the Late Modern period and 4 areas with dry-stone structures related to the Late Modern Age pastoral activities. This report represents the first …
Scavengers on the move: behavioural changes in foraging search patterns during the annual cycle
2013
Background: Optimal foraging theory predicts that animals will tend to maximize foraging success by optimizing search strategies. However, how organisms detect sparsely distributed food resources remains an open question. When targets are sparse and unpredictably distributed, a Lévy strategy should maximize foraging success. By contrast, when resources are abundant and regularly distributed, simple Brownian random movement should be sufficient. Although very different groups of organisms exhibit Lévy motion, the shift from a Lévy to a Brownian search strategy has been suggested to depend on internal and external factors such as sex, prey density, or environmental context. However, animal re…
How avifauna changes: forty years of observations on the status of birds in a representative area of Sicily (Roccapalumba, Pa)
2020
Over the last 40 years, we have been regularly conducting observations in a typical hinterland area of Sicily around the inhabited centre of Roccapalumba. The heterogeneity of the territory made up of strips of natural woods, reforestation, cultivated areas (especially arable lands and small orchards), pastures, bushy areas, isolated rocks, a river and many small artificial lakes has created suitable habitats for almost all species of hilly environments in Sicily. During the study period, no substantial changes have occurred in the landscape at the level of land‐use macro‐categories, with the exception of new pine afforestation. Major changes have been observed, however, within agro‐ecosyst…
SMALL LAKES AND RESERVOIRS IN THE HILLS OF SICILY. MAINTAIN, SAVE AND RECOVER RURAL LANDSCAPE
2011
In the transition from nomadic to sedentary, people have tried - for their settlements - the most plenty of water, and the first cities were founded, in fact, along Tigris and Euphrates rivers, extraordinary water resources in a particular dry climate. In the most interior of Sicily, which has always been characterized by low rainfall, the farmers - over time - have tried various expedients for the preservation of rain water in order to allow its survival and crop. The use of new technologies and materials has resulted in recently hard impacts for landscape, while construction of small dams filled with earth, using natural soil impluviums and the nature of the land, made it possible to irri…
Ellenberg-type indicator values for European vascular plant species
2022
This is a dataset of Ellenberg-type indicator values for European vascular plant species described in this article: Tichý L., Axmanová I., Dengler J., Guarino R., Jansen F., Midolo G., Nobis M.P., Van Meerbeek K., Aćić S., Attorre F., Bergmeier E., Biurrun I., Bonari G., Bruelheide H., Campos J.A., Čarni A., Chiarucci A., Ćuk M., Ćušterevska M., Didukh Y., Dítě D., Dítě Z., Dziuba T., Fanelli G., Fernández-Pascual E., Garbolino E., Gavilán R.G., Gégout J.-C., Graf U., Güler B., Hájek M., Hennekens S.M., Jandt U., Jašková A., Jiménez-Alfaro B., Julve P., Kambach S., Karger D.N., Karrer G., Kavgacı A., Knollová I., Kuzemko A., Küzmič F., Landucci F., Lengyel A., Lenoir J., Marcenò C., Moeslun…