Search results for " biodiversity."

Diversity of Draba L. sect. Aizopsis DC. (Brassicaceae) in Sicily

2008

2030 for the EU: Real steps of change? A short commentary on Biodiversity Strategy and Farm to Fork

2020

A short commentary on the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and the Farm to Fork Strategy. The Covid-19 pandemic adds other similarly contradictory stances: it is an occasion to change the world for the better, but it also forces us to focus on the here and now to save lives and jobs. The Strategy, whose subtitle is Bringing nature back into our lives, seems to speak to people in lock-down, building on their sense of suffocation from strict indoor living and on the beautiful and nourishing memories of moments spent in nature. However, the Strategy also, and mostly, speaks to industries and entrepreneurs who are projected to the post-Covid time to bring business back into their lives. Regardless…

Tardigrades of Finland: new records and an annotated checklist

2020

Species checklists are powerful and important tools of communication between taxonomists and applied environmental biologists, which in turn lead to well-planned and successful conservation strategies and ecological studies. Despite this, only recently the interest on compiling systematic checklists is growing among taxonomists who study tardigrades—micrometazoans that inhabit almost every habitat worldwide. As the Finnish records of tardigrades (a.k.a. water bears) species are incomplete, outdated and no checklist has ever been compiled for this country, an easy-to-consult checklist is here reported. This checklist covers all Finnish tardigrade taxa identified in the past and in the 13 sam…

Effects of dimethoate and benomyl on soil organisms and soil processes – a microcosm study

1998

Abstract Effects of two pesticides, dimethoate, an insecticide, and benomyl, a fungicide, applied singly or together, on soil organisms and plant growth were studied in microcosms containing agricultural soil and indigenous soil fauna together with introduced invertebrates and barley. Dimethoate reduced soil microarthropod populations and the reduction was stronger in the upper than in the lower soil layer. The collembolan community structure was affected by both pesticides. Populations of microarthropods in pesticide-treated microcosms recovered during the experiment but the community structures remained differentiated. Total numbers of enchytraeids and nematodes were not affected by eithe…

Xeric grasslands of the inner-alpine dry valleys of Austria - new insights into syntaxonomy, diversity and ecology

2021

We are grateful to the IAVS for financial support for some of the participants. We would like to give special thanks to Dr. Ernst Partl, director of the Naturpark Kaunergrat for authorizing sampling in the protected areas and for helping with the organization of the field workshop.

New Data on Native and Alien Vascular Flora of Sicily (Italy): New Findings and Updates

2023

In this paper, based on fieldwork and herbaria surveys, new data concerning the presence of 32 native and alien vascular species for Sicily (Italy) are provided. Among the native species, the occurrence of the following taxa is reported for the first time or confirmed after many decades of non-observation: Aira multiculmis, Arum maculatum, Carex flacca subsp. flacca, Mentha longifolia, Oxybasis chenopodioides, Najas minor and Xiphion junceum. Furthermore, we document the presence of three native species (Cornus mas, Juncus foliosus and Limonium avei) that, despite being repeatedly observed in Sicily and reported in the literature, are inexplicably omitted by the most recent authoritative ch…

Protest beliefs in contingent valuation: Explaining their motivation

2006

Abstract The definition and treatment of protest responses in contingent valuation (CV) can have a significant influence on the estimated values of the good in question if these responses are censored. In order to understand how protest responses are motivated, in a CV about forest biodiversity in Germany we used an item battery to identify respondents' protest beliefs. The items were measured for all respondents, irrespective of their willingness to pay (WTP) in principle. Then, a scale based on these beliefs is taken as a dependent variable of regression analyses. In addition to environmental concern we used norms, the warm glow of giving and dilemma concern as further explanatory variabl…

Some European green roof norms and guidelines through the lens of biodiversity : do ecoregions and plant traits also matter?

2018

Abstract Green infrastructure and in particular green roofs are crucial to meet the challenge of sustainable urbanisation fostered by the current European Research and Innovation agenda. Several documents were issued in the last decades in Europe for regulating the design, construction and up-keep of roof greening. In particular, the actual German guidelines have been widely adopted as a reference basis for green roof design and regulation worldwide, because of its exhaustiveness and proven building- and landscaping tradition. With the aim to assess the effectiveness of green roof guidelines and norms in supporting plant and soil biodiversity in different ecoregions, and particularly of the…

Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards.

2016

Soil erosion is extreme in Mediterranean orchards due to management impact, high rainfall intensities, steep slopes and erodible parent material. Vall d'Albaida is a traditional fruit production area which, due to the Mediterranean climate and marly soils, produces sweet fruits. However, these highly productive soils are left bare under the prevailing land management and marly soils are vulnerable to soil water erosion when left bare. In this paper we study the impact of different agricultural land management strategies on soil properties (bulk density, soil organic matter, soil moisture), soil water erosion and runoff, by means of simulated rainfall experiments and soil analyses. Three rep…

Soil biodiversity monitoring in Europe : ongoing activities and challenges

2009

International audience; The increasing interest in soil biodiversity and its protection includes both the biodiversity conservation issues and the mostly unknown economic and ecological values of services provided by soil biodiversity. Inventory and monitoring are necessary tools for the achievement of an adequate level of knowledge regarding soil biodiversity status and for the detection of biodiversity hot spots as well as areas where current levels of biodiversity are under threat of decline. In this paper the main tools and methodological approaches for soil biodiversity measurement are presented. Technical aspects related to the inventory and monitoring activities at a large spatial sc…