Search results for " Mediterranean."
showing 10 items of 1153 documents
Loncomelos koprulense (Asparagaceae), a new species from southern Turkey
2021
A new species, Loncomelos koprulense (Asparagaceae), is described and illustrated from southern Turkey. It is a very rare endemic species growing on small semi-rocky escarpments within the Köprülü Kanyon in the province of Antalya. Morphologically for its hairy leaves, L. koprulense shows some relationships with L. malatyanum and L. tardum, species localized in Anatolia too. The chromosome number of the new species is 2n = 2x = 22. Geographical distribution map for L. koprulense, L. malatyanum and L. tardum is provided.
Genetic structure of a patchily distributed philopatric migrant: implications for management and conservation
2017
Significant demographic fluctuations can have major genetic consequences in wild populations. The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) has suffered both population declines and range fragmentation during the second half of the 20th century. In this study we analysed multilocus microsatellite data to assess the genetic structure of the species. Our analysis revealed significant genetic structuring of lesser kestrel populations, not only at the cross-continental scale, but also regionally within the Central and Eastern (CE) Mediterranean region. We detected signs of genetic bottlenecks in some of the peripheral populations coupled with small effective population sizes. Values of genetic differenti…
A taxonomic revision helps to clarify differences between the Atlantic invasive Ptilohyale littoralis and the Mediterranean endemic Parhyale plumicor…
2018
Ptilohyaleexplorator (formerly Parhyaleexplorator), described by Arresti (1989), can be considered to be a synonym of west-Atlantic Ptilohyalelittoralis (Stimpson, 1853), based on morphological observations of paratypes and specimens recently collected in the type locality of Ptilohyaleexplorator. The first collections of Ptilohyalelittoralis, from the eastern Atlantic were from the port of Rotterdam (The Netherlands) in 2009 and later in Wimereux, Opal Coast (France) in 2014; however, the synonymy of Ptilohyaleexplorator with Ptilohyalelittoralis backdates to the first European record of Ptilohyalelittoralis in 1985 at La Vigne, Bay of Arcachon (France). This indicates that Ptilohyalelitto…
Decline in coccolithophore diversity and impact on coccolith morphogenesis along a natural CO2 gradient
2014
A natural pH gradient caused by marine CO2 seeps off Vulcano Island (Italy) was used to assess the effects of ocean acidification on coccolithophores, which are abundant planktonic unicellular calcifiers. Such seeps are used as natural laboratories to study the effects of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, since they cause long-term changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and pH, exposing the organisms to elevated CO2 concentrations and therefore mimicking future scenarios. Previous work at CO2 seeps has focused exclusively on benthic organisms. Here we show progressive depletion of 27 coccolithophore species, in terms of cell concentrations and diversity, along a calcite saturation …
Red Listing plants under full national responsibility: Extinction risk and threats in the vascular flora endemic to Italy
2018
Abstract Taxa endemic to a country are key elements for setting national conservation priorities and for driving conservation strategies, since their persistence is entirely dependent on national policy. We applied the IUCN Red List categories to all Italian endemic vascular plants (1340 taxa) to assess their current risk of extinction and to highlight their major threats. Our results revealed that six taxa are already extinct and that 22.4% (300 taxa) are threatened with extinction, while 18.4% (247; especially belonging to apomictic groups) have been categorized as Data Deficient. Italian endemic vascular plants are primarily threatened by natural habitat modification due to agriculture, …
Phycological Herbaria as a Useful Tool to Monitor Long-Term Changes of Macroalgae Diversity: Some Case Studies from the Mediterranean Sea
2020
The Mediterranean Sea is currently experiencing a decline in the abundance of several key species, as a consequence of anthropogenic pressures (e.g., increase in human population, habitat modification and loss, pollution, coastal urbanization, overexploitation, introduction of non-indigenous species and climate change). Herbaria and natural history collections are certainly fundamental for taxonomic studies, but they are also an invaluable, if currently underestimated, resource for understanding ecological and evolutionary responses of species to environmental changes. Macroalgae herbarium collections, which are really consistent (ranging from 200,000 to approximately 500,000 specimens) in …
Plantes vasculaires nouvelles ou rares pour la Tunisie présentes sur les îles (Galite, Zembra, Kuriat, Monastir, Kerkennah, Kneiss, Djerba)
2020
International audience; Vascular plants new or rare for Tunisia occurring on the islands (Galite, Zembra, Kuriat, Monastir, Kerkennah, Kneiss, Djerba).-This study concerns the indigenous vascular plants newly reported for Tunisia and discovered on the islands during some field trips performed since 2014. Five native taxa are new to Tunisia: Bellis perennis, Carthamus creticus, Moraea mediterranea, Asplenium balearicum and Galium minutulum, the latter two also being new to North Africa. Information on 24 rare or poorly known taxa, most often of great biogeographical interest, is given, too. Most of these were discovered on the islands of the eastern coast (Kuriat, Monastir, Kerkennah, Kneiss…
Assessing escapes from short rotation plantations of the invasive tree species Robinia pseudoacacia L. in Mediterranean ecosystems: a study in centra…
2016
Abstract: Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a fast growing tree species native to temperate North America, and widely diffused and naturalized in Europe. It is one of the candidate species for establishing bioenergy plantations on marginal lands in temperate and sub-Mediterranean regions. This potential is in contrast to its well-known invasive habit, leading to a potential damage to plant biodiversity in many European countries. Advise against black locust plantation in regions where it is already invasive has been issued by several international reports, as well as the adoption of mitigation measures (e.g., “containment” buffer zones) to prevent the spread of the species into natu…
New national and regional bryophyte records, 61
2019
New record of phytogeographical interest, at national or regional scale, for 47 bryophytes taxa are reported. New sites are located in 23 different geographical areas of . In particular, for each taxon, data on taxonomy, ecological as well as phytogeographical features are specified
Standardization proposal for the mapping of Caulerpa taxifolia expansion in the Mediterranean sea
1999
Fourteen years after the first observation of Caulerpa taxifolia (Valh) C. Agardh in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, this green alga of tropical origin is now present in five countries (Spain, France, Monaco, Italy and Croatia). By the end of 1997, more than 46 km(2), at depths of between 0 and 50 m, were found to be affected by this expansion. A standardization of the cartographic procedure is proposed here. Such a standardization is necessary to compare maps produced by various organizations from different countries. For a given independent station, it is based on the definition of three levels of colonization:Level I refers to a station where one or several colonies less than 100 m a…