Search results for " biodiversity."
showing 10 items of 313 documents
ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY FROM POLYPEPTIDE-RICH EXTRACTS OF THE SEAGRASS POSIDONIA OCEANICA
2021
The present study was carried out to assess the antibacterial, antifungal and antibiofilm properties of polypeptide-rich extracts isolated from green leaves and rhizomes of Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L. Delile) (Posidoniaceae). The seagrass was collected, washed with freshwater, grinded with liquid nitrogen in order to obtain fine powders that were exposed to extraction by acetic acid and antiproteases. The crude extracts isolated from leaves and rhizomes of P. oceanica were subjected to microbiological assays to evaluate the antibacterial, antifungal and antibiofilm activity of polypeptide fraction against two reference bacterial strains Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and…
Effects of Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder (Chlorophyta Caulerpaceae) on marine biodiversity
2019
The chief purpose of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is biodiversity conservation. The effects that invasive alien species (IAS) have on MPAs are not yet fully known, even though assessing them is fundamental. Effective management plans, indeed, also require knowledge on the dis- tribution, spread dynamics and impact of IAS. We report first observations on the effects of Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder (Chlorophyta Caulerpaceae) on the communities living along the coasts of the Island of Favignana (Egadi Islands MPA, Sicily, Italy). We found that C. cylindracea may have negative effects on the habitat where it settles in two different ways: a) affecting the structure of the native algal community…
The genetic heritage of Alpine local cattle breeds using genomic SNP data
2020
Abstract Background Assessment of genetic diversity and population structure provides important control metrics to avoid genetic erosion, inbreeding depression and crossbreeding between exotic and locally-adapted cattle breeds since these events can have deleterious consequences and eventually lead to extinction. Historically, the Alpine Arc represents an important pocket of cattle biodiversity with a large number of autochthonous breeds that provide a fundamental source of income for the entire regional economy. By using genotype data from medium-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays, we performed a genome-wide comparative study of 23 cattle populations from the Alpine Arc an…
Scale-dependent plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands: a comparative overview
2016
Here we present an extensive overview of plant diversity values in Palaearctic grasslands for seven standard grain sizes from 0.0001 to 100 m². The data originate from 20 studies, including the Field Workshops of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG), ranging geographically from Spain in the west to Siberia in the east, from Sicily in the south to Estonia in the north and from the sea coast up to 3100 m a.s.l. The majority of data is from dry grasslands (Festuco-Brometea, Koelerio-Corynephoretea, Cleistogenetea squarrosae), but there are also some mesic, wet, saline, acidic, alpine and Mediterranean grasslands included. Among others, we compiled data from 1795 1-m², 1109 10-m² and 338 100…
Assessing plant diversity and composition in grasslands across spatial scales: the standardised EDGG sampling methodology
2016
This paper presents the details of the EDGG sampling methodology and its underlying rationales. The methodology has been applied during EDGG Research Expeditions and EDGG Field Workshops since 2009, and has been subsequently adopted by various other researchers. The core of the sampling are the EDGG Biodiversity Plots, which are 100‐m2 squares comprising, in two opposite corners, nested‐plot series of 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 m2 square plots, in which all terricolous vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens are recorded using the shoot presence method. In the 10‐m2 plots, species cover is also estimated as a percentage and various environmental and structural parameters are recorde…
Tillage effects on yield and nitrogen fixation of legumes in Mediterranean conditions
2012
Published in Agron. J. 104:1459–1466 (2012) Posted online [DATE] doi:10.2134/agronj2012.0070 Copyright © 2012 by the American Society of Agronomy, 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. I agricultural practices that involve the use of agrochemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides have greatly increased the global food supply but often with detrimental effects on the environment, such as contamination of ground…
The check-list of fungi in Sicily (southern Italy): current survey status
2011
A number of checklists are currently available in several continents, European and extra European countries (Holland, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, North America, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Russia, Africa, Iran, Oman, Turkey, Asia). The checklists are modern tools for evaluation of fungal biodiversity and precious documents to obtain ecological data and information for management and exploitation of protected areas, agro- and forest ecosystems. A checklist of Sicilian fungi was edited by Venturella (1991), followed, in 2009, by a new report (Gargano et al., 2009). At that time the number of macrofungi from…
Patterns of earthworm, enchytraeid and nematode diversity and community structure in urban soils of different ages
2016
Annelids (Lumbricidae and Enchytraeidae) and nematodes are common soil organisms and play important roles in organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and creation of soil structure and porosity. However, these three groups have rarely been studied together and only few studies exist for urban soils. We studied the diversity and community composition of annelids and nematodes in soils spanning more than two centuries of urban soil development in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and assessed the relationships 1) among these three groups and 2) between each group and environmental (physical, chemical and functional) characteristics of soils and soil age. While the groups of environmental variable…
Supplementary material 1 from: Geneletti D, Adem Esmail B, Cortinovis C, Arany I, Balzan M, van Beukering P, Bicking S, Borges PA, Borisova B, Broekx…
2020
An overview of the assessment of ecosystem condition in the selected case studies.
Species–area relationships in continuous vegetation: Evidence from Palaearctic grasslands
2019
Aim Species-area relationships (SARs) are fundamental scaling laws in ecology although their shape is still disputed. At larger areas, power laws best represent SARs. Yet, it remains unclear whether SARs follow other shapes at finer spatial grains in continuous vegetation. We asked which function describes SARs best at small grains and explored how sampling methodology or the environment influence SAR shape. Location Palaearctic grasslands and other non-forested habitats. Taxa Vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Methods We used the GrassPlot database, containing standardized vegetation-plot data from vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens spanning a wide range of grassland types throu…