Search results for "ANTHROPOGENIC"

Diversity and complexity of microbial communities from a chlor-alkali tailings dump

2015

Abstract Revegetation of the tailings dumps produced by various industrial activities is necessary to prevent dust storms and erosion and represents a great challenge for ecological restoration. Little is known about the microbial colonisation and community structure of revegetated tailings following site exploitation. Here, we report the sequencing of 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) fungal RNA gene amplicons from chlor-alkali residue and from an adjacent undisturbed soil to define the composition and assembly of the rhizosphere microbial communities. After quality filtering, a total of 72,373 and 89,929 bacterial sequences and 122,618 and 111,209 fungal sequences remained fo…

Widespread diminishing anthropogenic effects on calcium in freshwaters

2019

Calcium (Ca) is an essential element for almost all living organisms. Here, we examined global variation and controls of freshwater Ca concentrations, using 440 599 water samples from 43 184 inland water sites in 57 countries. We found that the global median Ca concentration was 4.0 mg L−1 with 20.7% of the water samples showing Ca concentrations ≤ 1.5 mg L−1 , a threshold considered critical for the survival of many Ca-demanding organisms. Spatially, freshwater Ca concentrations were strongly and proportionally linked to carbonate alkalinity, with the highest Ca and carbonate alkalinity in waters with a pH around 8.0 and decreasing in concentrations towards lower pH. However, on a temporal…

Expansion of rDNA and pericentromere satellite repeats in the genomes of bank voles Myodes glareolus exposed to environmental radionuclides

2021

Abstract Altered copy number of certain highly repetitive regions of the genome, such as satellite DNA within heterochromatin and ribosomal RNA loci (rDNA), is hypothesized to help safeguard the genome against damage derived from external stressors. We quantified copy number of the 18S rDNA and a pericentromeric satellite DNA (Msat‐160) in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) inhabiting the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), an area that is contaminated by radionuclides and where organisms are exposed to elevated levels of ionizing radiation. We found a significant increase in 18S rDNA and Msat‐160 content in the genomes of bank voles from contaminated locations within the CEZ compared with animals f…

Anthropogenic impact and environmental evolution of the last 55 years of the Gulf of Palermo (Sicily, Italy)

2009

Developing REE parameters for soil and sediment profile analysis to identify Neolithic anthropogenic signatures at Serpis Valley (Spain)

2020

In this study, patterns of rare earth elements (REE) have been developed and applied for the first time to sediments and soils to identify anthropogenic or natural layers in profiles sampled at several Neolithic settlements in the Serpis Valley area (Alicante, Spain). Most of these sites are characterized by dark brown paleosols that are easily distinguishable from the light brown paleosols of the valley. To demonstrate whether these strata are anthropogenic or natural requires a better geochemical understanding of sediment. Soil samples were taken across six different sites; four sites are associated with archaeological findings (sites BF, LP, PB and AC8); another one is from a natural sec…

Study of anthropogenic sinkholes in the Marsala area (western Sicily) through numerical analyses of instability processes in underground quarries

2011

You are earth, you feed on earth and you’ll return to earth

2007

Spatio-Temporal Effects of Land Use Change on the Anthropogenic Soils Diffusion: A Case Study in a Mediterranean Vineyard Area

2008

Anthropogenic soils created ex novo by land-use change in large scale farming are, from a pedogenetic point of view, catastrophic events that bring the soils to time zero and change the natural pattern of the soilscape, remarkably, in some cases. The quantitative aspects of pedodiversity of a soilscape in South-East Sicily, where some types of soils, in recent decades, have suffered a consistent reduction due to the transformations by large scale farming, are considered. The evolution of pedodiversity over a 53-year period (1955 to 2008) is examined using a dedicated statistical method and a space–time model based on Markov analysis and cellular automata in order to predict the evolution of…

Major ions and trace elements composition of rainwater around the two industrial areas of Milazzo and Priolo Gargallo (Sicily - Italy)

2023

This database shows the concentration of major ions and trace elements in rainwater from two polluted industrial areas of Sicily, Milazzo and Priolo Gargallo, collected from June 2018 to July 2019, through a network of 11 bulk collectors to sample bulk atmospheric deposition, for a total of 131 samples collected. Different sources, both natural and anthropogenic, for both major ions and trace elements have been recognised. This study also highlighted some critical issues with common methods of sampling and analysing atmospheric deposition. The analysis and comparison of two different aliquots, filtered and unfiltered rainwater, has shown that the filtration method removes from the sample a …

Effects of harvesting timber stands on goshawk nesting in two European areas

2001

We evaluated the effects of harvesting timber stands on goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) nesting in two European areas (central Italy and eastern France), by studying their occupancy and reproductive performance. We found no difference in the productivity of goshawk pairs reproducing in unlogged vs. logged stands. When considering the same nesting stand, before and after timber harvesting, we noted no differences in the number of young per breeding pair nora year effect. We observed that 87.5% of goshawk pairs nesting in logged stands moved away only when the original stand structure was altered by > 30%, and then only to the nearest neighbouring mature stand (maximum distance ca. 1.5 km). The …