Search results for "Brea"
showing 10 items of 4298 documents
Advancing Through the Pandemic From the Perspective of Marine Graduate Researchers: Challenges, Solutions, and Opportunities
2020
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a new social and academic reality to researchers worldwide. The field of marine science, our own topic of interest, has also been impacted in multiple ways, from cancelation of laboratory and field activities to postponement of onboard research. As graduate researchers, we have a time-sensitive academic path, and our current situation may constrain our academic future. At the same time, the pandemic demands revised strategies to deal with the ongoing difficulties and tackle similar future situations. In this perspective, we have gathered information on the challenges, solutions and opportunities for graduate researchers in the field of marine …
Potential Solar Radiation as a Driver for Bark Beetle Infestation on a Landscape Scale
2019
In recent decades, Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) forests of the High Tatra Mountains have suffered unprecedented tree mortality caused by European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus L.). Analysis of the spatiotemporal pattern of bark beetle outbreaks across the landscape in consecutive years can provide new insights into the population dynamics of tree-killing insects. A bark beetle outbreak occurred in the High Tatra Mountains after a storm damaged more than 10,000 ha of forests in 2004. We combined yearly Landsat-derived bark beetle infestation spots from 2006 to 2014 and meteorological data to identify the susceptibility of forest stands to beetle infestation. We found that digi…
A financial feasibility study of an aquaponic system in a Mediterranean urban context
2019
Abstract Aquaponics is largely recognized as a solution for sustainable food production as it follows a biomimetic natural system and the circular economy principles, allowing large food productivity on nonagricultural land, and at the same time strongly reducing inputs and waste. In this study, we collected technical, economic and production data from a pilot aquaponic plant producing lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) realized in an urban context in Sicily (Southern Italy), very suitable area for aquaponic production in relation to the Mediterranean climate. Through the determination of Net return and Break Even Point, analysing on one side the items which c…
An assessment of the floristic composition, structure and possible origin of a liana forest in the Guayana Shield
2015
Liana is a life form that possess high importance in many neotropical forests. Density of climbers apparently increases with the intervention rate (eg. logging). The aim of this work is to characterize the structure, floristic composition and soils of a sector classified as Liana Forest (LF). We identified a LF sector in a not-logged area; three 1 ha square plots were measured (individuals ≥ 10 cm dbh, “diameter at breast height”). In each plot we evaluate four 100 m2 square understory sub-plots (all spermatophyta individuals < 10 cm dbh). LF has a low canopy (< 15 m) and is dominated by Alexa imperatricis and Pentaclethra macroloba. Basal area (20.4 m2ha-1) and diversity (H´= 2.6) ar…
Coping styles in farmed fish: consequences for aquaculture
2017
Individual differences in physiological and behavioural responses to stressors are increasingly recognised as adaptive variation and thus raw material for evolution and fish farming improvements including selective breeding. Such individual variation has been evolutionarily conserved and is present in all vertebrate taxa including fish. In farmed animals, the interest in consistent trait associations, that is coping styles, has increased dramatically over the last years because many studies have demonstrated links to performance traits, health and disease susceptibility and welfare. This study will review (i) the main behavioural, neuroendocrine, cognitive and emotional differences between …
Symmetry breaking in mass-recruiting ants: extent of foraging biases depends on resource quality.
2016
Abstract The communication involved in the foraging behaviour of social insects is integral to their success. Many ant species use trail pheromones to make decisions about where to forage. The strong positive feedback caused by the trail pheromone is thought to create a decision between two or more options. When the two options are of identical quality, this is known as symmetry breaking, and is important because it helps colonies to monopolise food sources in a competitive environment. Symmetry breaking is thought to increase with the quantity of pheromone deposited by ants, but empirical studies exploring the factors affecting symmetry breaking are limited. Here, we tested if (i) greater …
Acting locally - affecting globally: RNA sequencing of gilthead sea bream with a mild Sparicotyle chrysophrii infection reveals effects on apoptosis,…
2019
[Background] Monogenean flatworms are the main fish ectoparasites inflicting serious economic losses in aquaculture. The polyopisthocotylean Sparicotyle chrysophrii parasitizes the gills of gilthead sea bream (GSB, Sparus aurata) causing anaemia, lamellae fusion and sloughing of epithelial cells, with the consequent hypoxia, emaciation, lethargy and mortality. Currently no preventive or curative measures against this disease exist and therefore information on the host-parasite interaction is crucial to find mitigation solutions for sparicotylosis. The knowledge about gene regulation in monogenean-host models mostly comes from freshwater monopysthocotyleans and almost nothing is known about …
Spread of tomato brown rugose fruit virus in sicily and evaluation of the spatiotemporal dispersion in experimental conditions
2020
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is an emerging pathogen that causes severe disease in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crops. The first ToBRFV outbreak in Italy occurred in 2018 in several Sicilian provinces, representing a serious threat for tomato production. In the present work, the spatiotemporal displacement of ToBRFV in Sicily was evaluated, analyzing a total of 590 lots of tomato seed, 982 lots of plantlets from nurseries and 100 commercial greenhouses. Furthermore, we investigated the ToBRFV spreading dynamic in a greenhouse under experimental conditions. Results showed several aspects related to ToBRFV dispersion in protected tomato crops. In detail, an important decrease …
Vessel noise pollution as a human threat to fish: assessment of the stress response in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata, Linnaeus 1758)
2016
This study examined the effects of boat noise pollution on the stress indices of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata, Linnaeus 1758). To assess the stress response in these fish, biometric values and plasma parameters such as ACTH, cortisol, glucose, lactate, haematocrit, Hsp70, total protein, cholesterol, triglycerides and osmolarity were analysed. After acclimatization of the animals, the experiment was carried out in a tank fitted with underwater speakers where the fish were exposed to sound treatments (in duplicate) consisting of: 10 days of no sound (control treatment; the animals were only exposed to the experimental tank’s background noise) and 10 days of noise derived from original re…
Abundance patterns at the invasion front: The case of Siganus luridus in Linosa (Strait of Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea)
2017
The dusky spinefoot (Siganus luridus) has spread through much of the eastern Mediterranean since its introduction in 1920. In the present study, we monitored the abundance of this invader around the island of Linosa (Strait of Sicily), where the species was first recorded in 2003. Data were periodically collected along two temporal windows, 2005–06 and 2012–15, by both underwater visual census and surface snorkelling. Local ecological knowledge was investigated to gain complementary information. Both approaches highlighted significant proliferation of this tropical invader, with an average abundance of 0.36 individuals per 250m2 across the 0–30-m depth range. Dense aggregations of more than…