Search results for " biodiversity."
showing 10 items of 313 documents
Soil structural stability and erosion rates influenced by agricultural management practices in a semi-arid Mediterranean agro-ecosystem
2012
Unsuitable agricultural practices can cause loss in soil quality and erodibility to thus increase or trigger desertification under Mediterranean conditions. A field experiment was performed at the El Teularet-Sierra de Enguera Experimental Station (eastern Spain) to assess the influence during a 5-yr period of different agricultural practices on physical and chemical indicators of soil quality (total and water-soluble carbohydrates, glomalin-related soil proteins (GRSP), total organic carbon, aggregate stability (AS), vegetation cover and soil erosion). The management practices included residual herbicide use, ploughing, ploughing + oats, addition of oat straw mulch and a control (land aban…
Marine biodiversity as source of new drugs
2013
Life in the oceans has an extraordinary biodiversity, including most of plant and animal taxa. Ecological pressures, including competition for space, the fouling of the surface, predation, and successful reproduction have led to the evolution of secondary metabolites and proteins with various biological activities (Cammarata et al. 2011; Maisano et al. 2013). Therefore, marine biodiversity is an exceptional reservoir of natural products, with different structural features from those of terrestrial natural products (Ireland et al. 1988). Only less than 1% of the natural products isolated from marine organisms have been examined for pharmacological activities (Fusetani 2000). These molecules …
Human Peopling and Population Dynamics in Sicily: Preliminary Analysis of the Craniofacial Morphometric Variation from the Paleolithic to the Contemp…
2023
The geographic position, isolation, and the long and dynamic history of colonization created a human context in Sicily that allows for a particular anthropological study; information about “migratory flow” and “population influx” could be investigated in the cranial morphology of a localized geographical region. The research goals are the identification of temporal trends in facial morphology in order to assess the adaptations and the microevolutionary trends and to verify if the cranial morphology of humans was modified by the various genetic contributions and more or less related to the intense and significant migratory flows. This work includes a diachronic morpho…
Exotic insect pests: The impact of the Red Palm Weevil on natural and cultural heritage in Palermo (Italy)
2013
Abstract The impact of invasive exotic pests is increasingly recognised as a global issue. A global strategy to address the exotic pest problem is beginning to evolve, albeit slowly. The International Plant Protection Convention (FAO) has begun the process of harmonizing standards for pest risk analysis to minimise the spread of exotic pests without adversely impacting global trade. However if the impacts of insect invasive species on human health and on agriculture have attracted worldwide attention, researchers and policymakers address directly the connection between invasive species and damage to natural and cultural heritages. The cost of these losses is generally neglected or underesti…
A methodological protocol for Annex I Habitats monitoring: the contribution of Vegetation science.
2016
The methodological foundations of the recently published Manual for Annex I Habitats monitoring in Italy, edited by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) with the scientific support of the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV), are here presented, discussed and related to the most consolidated and acknowledged scientific advances in the field of Vegetation science. The proposed methodologies aim at offering simple, yet effective, protocols and procedures towards a harmonized data collection, by way of standardized and shared technical tools, resulting in comparable evaluations of the conservation status of Annex I Habitats. The methodological framew…
Biodiversity of wood-decay fungi in Italy
2011
Abstract Current knowledge about Italian wood-decay fungi (Basidiomycota and Ascomycota) is surveyed: 1582 taxa belonging to Ascomycota (341) and Basidiomycota (1241) have been reported, including 23 species new to science of Basidiomycota described from Italy within the last five years. Evaluating diversity of wood-decay fungi can provide a more accurate estimation of species richness for fungi which are an important functional component of ecosystems. Aphyllophoroid and Ascomycota species play an important role in habitat conservation and management. Sardinia, Sicily, the Alps and the Apennines are “hot spots” for wood-decay Basidiomycota in Italy.
Insight into the noble crayfish morphological diversity: a geometric morphometric approach.
2022
The noble crayfish (Astacus astacus), a keystone species of high ecological, economic, and cultural importance in Europe, is threatened due to a long-term population decline caused by anthropogenic pressure on its habitats, the presence of non-indigenous invasive crayfish species and climate change. Since the effective protection of the remaining populations requires conservation measures based on the comprehensive knowledge of the species, including good understanding of its genetic and morphological variability, our aim was to study morphological features of the noble crayfish in Croatia using geometric morphometrics for the first time. We applied two-dimensional geometric morphometrics t…
Evaluación etnobotanica de la Yareta (Azorella compacta) en Arequipa (Perú) y sus posibles aplicaciones
2013
Abstract – Ethnobotanical study of the Yareta Arequipa plant (Azorella compacta Phil) and its possible applications. – The aim of this work is the ethnobotanical characterisation of the Yareta Arequipa plant (Azorella compacta Phil), to report indications about the uses of the Yareata plant by “Salinas y Aguada Blanca” National Reserve (RNSAB) populations and to find its possible applications. The survey has been lead on nine communities of the Arequipa Region (Peru), it concerned the actual degree of conservation of the plants, the botanical description and classification, the ecological characterization, the use and the distribution in ethnomedicine and ethnopharmacology and all the uses …
Azorella compacta (Yareta):an endemic plant of the Andean planteaux in South America. Azorella compacta (Yareta): pianta endemica degli altipiani and…
2013
Azorella compacta (Yareta): pianta endemica degli altipiani andini del Sud America. – Si riportano i risultati di una ricerca sugli usi della Azorella compacta Phil da parte delle popolazioni sudamericane del Perù, Argentina, Cile e Bolivia, allo scopo di realizzare una documentazione etnobotanica di partenza per possibili applicazioni pratiche della pianta. La sperimentazione sulla A. compacta ha preso in esame lo stato attuale di conservazione, la classificazione e descrizione botanica, l’ecologia, la distribuzione, l’utilizzazione in etnomedicina e etnofarmacologia e altre possibili impieghi. Dalla suddetta esperienza è emerso che tutte le comunità in studio,dei suddetti Paesi, utilizzan…
CARATTERIZZAZIONE METAGENOMICA di MICRORGANISMI E ORGANISMI DEL TERRENO PER UN LORO UTILIZZO COME AGENTI di LOTTA BIOLOGICA CONTRO NEMATODI FITOPARAS…
2014
La microflora della rizosfera riveste un ruolo fondamentale sia nella difesa che nello sviluppo e crescita delle piante. Molti studi hanno dimostrato inoltre che i nematodi sono in grado d’influenzarne la composizione. I batteri a loro volta producono una varietà di composti (antibiotici, nutrienti, esoenzimi e altre molecole segnale), in grado d’indurre ulteriori cambiamenti. L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è stato quello di studiare i cambiamenti nella biodiversità della microflora batterica di un terreno proveniente da un’azienda biologica, conseguenti all'introduzione sperimentale di larve di Meloidogyne incognita e al trattamento con un nematocida (fenamifos). Seguendo un approccio metage…