Search results for " Spatial"

Adjustment time and offset of a system for spatially variable rate fertilisation

2005

The aim of this research is to measure the adjustment time and offset of a cheap system for spatially variable rate fertilisation, designed, developed and set up by the Mechanics Section of I.T.A.F. Department. In order to test the system, a centrifugal fertiliser spreader, working by gravity, was modified connecting an actuator with the two hopper shutter slides. Two different actuator types were tested, in order to measure the accordingly variable adjustment time and offset. The adjustment offset of the centrifugal spreader increases with increasing machine average forward speed and decreases with increasing fertiliser rate, considering the same rate variation. The main components of the …

Fine-scale spatial variability of soil organic carbon and related environmental variables in a protected area of Sicily, Italy

2008

The institution of Natural Reserves has promoted, in Italy, the conservation and the environmental improvement of several areas and their physical and biological factors. Agriculture, forestry and every human activity are regulated to preserve their high ecological and naturalistic value. Land use, in particular, must follow careful rules to preserve the soil fertility and to limit the factors of landscape degradation. Maps of soil organic carbon (SOC) or soil organic matter (SOM) are of interest for agricultural management, resulting a very important soil fertility parameter, as well as in environmental policy related to the terrestrial sequestration of atmospheric carbon. Thus, a better u…

L'incremento della sostenibilità ambientale attraverso una corretta gestione dell'irrigazione.

2014

Lo scopo di questo lavoro è quello di mettere a punto, a partire dalle informazioni territoriali quali caratteristichemeteorologiche e pedologiche, uno studio capace di valutare la sostenibilità della gestione irrigua in tre ipotetiche parcelle sperimentali individuate nel territorio del sottobacino Iudeo-Bucari (TP). Sitratta di tre vigneti che rappresentano per caratteristiche morfologiche e gestionali l'intero sottobacino, ovvero una delle aree maggiormente vitate della Sicilia. Il fine è valutare la sostenibilità della gestione irrigua in termini di risparmio energetico, attraverso l'applicazione del modello di bilancio idrico FAO 56. Questo tipo di studio pone le basi per la redazione …

Un Modello Computerizzato di Valutazione dei Suoli per la Zonazione Vitivinicola Ecosostenibile in Aree Siciliane

2013

LiDAR-derived DTM for historical landscape evaluation: the case study of the “Harvesting Memories” project (Castro Valley and Mt. Barraù, Corleone – …

2016

The project “Harvesting Memories” is focused on the analysis of the long-term transformation of the cultural landscape in a rural area of Central-Western Sicily (Castro Valley and Mt. Barraù, Corleone – Palermo). In order to quickly outline the history of the territory with an acceptable precision, our survey aimed at covering and sampling as much surface as possible, according to time and human resources available. To reach this goal, in the research design we opted for qualitative surveys. The choice of the fields to be surveyed was based on GIS analysis — our predictive model took in consideration slope, water sources and presence of points with high visibility in the landscape —, that h…

An “Uncertainty Principle” for the Mediterranean annual dry grasslands

2009

Preliminary results of diachronic researches on the spatial arrangement and species richness in Mediterranean annual dry grasslands (Tuberarietea guttatae) demonstrated that the patchiness resulted minimized and the temporal stability maximized at elevations offering the best compromise between the summer drought stress and the winter cold stress. Moreover, the temporal stability of the Mediterranean annul dry grasslands could not necessarily be related with their demographic inertia, meaning that the turnover and rearrangement of species within the community do not necessarily implicate significant changes in the average species composition over time. On the other hand, the survival chance…

Bright spots as climate‐smart marine spatial planning tools for conservation and blue growth

2021

Marine spatial planning that addresses ocean climate-driven change (‘climate-smart MSP’) is a global aspiration to support economic growth, food security and ecosystem sustainability. Ocean climate change (‘CC’) modelling may become a key decision-support tool for MSP, but traditional modelling analysis and communication challenges prevent their broad uptake. We employed MSP-specific ocean climate modelling analyses to inform a real-life MSP process; addressing how nature conservation and fisheries could be adapted to CC. We found that the currently planned distribution of these activities may become unsustainable during the policy's implementation due to CC, leading to a shortfall in its s…

Integrating functional traits into correlative species distribution models to investigate the vulnerability of marine human activities to climate cha…

2021

Climate change and particularly warming are significantly impacting marine ecosystems and the services they provided. Temperature, as the main factor driving all biological processes, may influence ectotherms metabolism, thermal tolerance limits and distribution species patterns. The joining action of climate change and local stressors (including the increasing human marine use) may facilitate the spread of non-indigenous and native outbreak forming species, leading to associated economic consequences for marine coastal economies. Marine aquaculture is one among the most economic anthropogenic activities threatened by multiple stressors and in turn, by increasing hard artificial substrates …

Integrating multiple stressors in aquaculture to build the blue growth in a changing sea

2017

Fisheries currently represent the main source of animal protein intake worldwide, although catches of most commercial species are at or beyond maximum sustainable yields. Increasing production would require an excess of exploitation levels and aquaculture is expected to become crucial in sustaining a growing seafood demand. Nonetheless, many threats are expected to affect aquaculture and the increased production must evolve in a way that minimizes environmental and socio-economic impacts. The claimed sustainable development of human activities at sea (blue growth and economy) seeks for new joint analyses and solutions at (trans-)national systemic level should be planned and applied. To meet…

Integrating natural capital assessment and marine spatial planning: A case study in the Mediterranean sea

2017

Abstract Marine and coastal ecosystems are among the most productive environments in the world and their stocks of natural capital offer a bundle of vital ecosystem services. Anthropogenic pressure seriously threatens health and long-term sustainability of marine environments. For these reasons, integrated approaches capable of combining ecological and socio-economic aspects are needed to achieve nature conservation and sustainability targets. In this study, the value of natural capital of the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (EI-MPA) was assessed through a biophysical and trophodynamic environmental accounting model. The emergy value of both autotrophic and heterotrophic natural capital…