Search results for " Planetary"
showing 10 items of 5408 documents
Ecosystem carbon response of an Arctic peatland to simulated permafrost thaw
2019
Permafrost peatlands are biogeochemical hot spots in the Arctic as they store vast amounts of carbon. Permafrost thaw could release part of these long-term immobile carbon stocks as the greenhouse gases (GHGs) carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) to the atmosphere, but how much, at which time-span and as which gaseous carbon species is still highly uncertain. Here we assess the effect of permafrost thaw on GHG dynamics under different moisture and vegetation scenarios in a permafrost peatland. A novel experimental approach using intact plant–soil systems (mesocosms) allowed us to simulate permafrost thaw under near-natural conditions. We monitored GHG flux dynamics via high-resolution…
Severe effects of long-term drought on calcareous grassland seed banks
2018
Climate change models project shifts in precipitation patterns at regional and global scales. Increases in dry areas and the occurrence of drought predicted in future scenarios are likely to threaten grassland ecosystems. Calcareous grassland seed banks have proven to be resistant to short-term drought, but their responses to long-term drought are unknown. Here we show that 14 years of summer drought changed calcareous grassland seed bank composition, reducing its size and richness, and that these responses do not simply reflect patterns in the above-ground vegetation. Moreover, the effect of drought was larger on seed banks than on vegetation, and above-ground responses mediated by soil de…
Key Economic Characteristics of Italian Trawl Fisheries and Management Challenges
2017
Two key measures of economic performance are calculated and analyzed for three important Italian trawl fisheries (Northern Thyrrenian Sea, South of Sicily, Northern Adriatic Sea): the Net Economic Returns (NER), which informs on the economic performance and is considered a proxy of resource rent in fisheries and the Return on Fixed Tangible Assets (ROFTA), which is used as an approximation of the Return on Investment (ROI) and is a key financial and performance indicator for a fisherman in order to take a decision to operate in a fishery. The trend of these indicators over the last decade highlights a poor economic performance that is associated with an overall poor condition of the state o…
Novel Insights Into Gas Embolism in Sea Turtles: First Description in Three New Species
2020
The recent finding of gas embolism and decompression sickness in loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean Sea challenged the conventional understanding of marine vertebrate diving physiology. Additionally, it brought to light a previously unknown source of mortality associated with fisheries bycatch for this vulnerable species. In this paper, we use ultrasonography to describe gas embolism in a leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and an olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) from accidental capture in a gillnet, bottom trawl and pair-bottom trawl respectively. This is the first description of this condition in thes…
Common Bottlenose Dolphin Protection and Sustainable Boating: Species Distribution Modeling for Effective Coastal Planning
2020
Indicators for preserving marine biodiversity include knowledge of how the spatial distribution and critical habitats of species overlap with human activities and impacts. Such indicators are key tools for marine spatial planning, a process that identifies and resolves conflicts between human uses and the conservation of marine environments. The common bottlenose dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea is considered a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List and a priority species of the EU Habitat Directive. Here, we estimated spatio-temporal patterns of the species occurrence in the area around one Marine Protected Area (MPA) and two Sites of Community Importance (SCI) of the North western Sardin…
Molecular Systematics of the Long-Snouted Deep Water Dogfish (Centrophoridae, Deania) With Implications for Identification, Taxonomy, and Conservation
2021
According to the most recent taxonomical revision, the deep-sea dogfish genus Deania encompasses four species. Three of them, D. calcea, D. profundorum, and D. hystricosa, occur in the North Atlantic. Whilst D. profundorum can be identified by the presence of a subcaudal keel, the other two species are not easily visually distinguished. Uncertainties over identification raises concerns over stock units and whether management plans are adequate. In this study we compared onboard visual identification of Deania specimens, with morphological inspection of skin denticles under stereo microscope and with independent molecular taxonomical assignment using two molecular markers. Particular emphasi…
Tracking the invasion of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852) (Decapoda Cambaridae) in Sicily: a “citizen science” approach
2017
Author(s): Faraone, Francesco Paolo; Giacalone, Gabriele; Canale, Domenica Emanuela; D'Angelo, Stefania; Favaccio, Giorgio; Garozzo, Vincenzo; Giancontieri, Giacoma Lidia; Isgro, Carmelo; Melfi, Raffaella; Morello, Bruno; Navarria, Federica; Russo, Giuseppe; Tinnirello, Viviana; Torre, Antonio; Torre, Daniele; Torre, Giancarlo; Urso, Giuseppe; Vinci, Pierluigi; Zizzo, Maria Grazia; Marrone, Federico | Abstract: The first record of the red swamp crayfish in Sicily dates back to 2003 and, since then, the species seemed to be confined to a few localities in western Sicily. A small “citizen science” project carried out from November 2016 onwards led to the creation of the “Sicilian Procambarus …
Spatiotemporal Dispersal and Deposition of Fish Farm Wastes: A Model Study from Central Norway
2017
Abstract A spatially explicit coupled hydrodynamic-mass transport model system was used to simulate dispersal of particulate organic matter from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) farming in central Norway. Model setups of 32 m horizontal resolution were run for periods of up to 650 days for 3 sites of different oceanographic characteristics: one fjord location, one medium-exposed location influenced by fjord water and one coastal location. Records on feed used for each cage at each location were converted to feces released based on a published mass balance model. The results from the simulations were compared with scores from corresponding mandatory benthic surveys (MOM-B) of the sediment layer…
The role of anthropogenic habitats in freshwater mussel conservation
2018
The data that supports the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.
The Influence of Solar Power Plants on Microclimatic Conditions and the Biotic Community in Chilean Desert Environments
2016
The renewable energy sector is growing at a rapid pace in northern Chile and the solar energy potential is one of the best worldwide. Therefore, many types of solar power plant facilities are being built to take advantage of this renewable energy resource. Solar energy is considered a clean source of energy, but there are potential environmental effects of solar technology, such as landscape fragmentation, extinction of local biota, microclimate changes, among others. To be able to minimize environmental impacts of solar power plants, it is important to know what kind of environmental conditions solar power plants create. This study provides information about abiotic and biotic conditions i…