Search results for "CONSERVATION"
showing 10 items of 2328 documents
Extending full protection inside existing marine protected areas, or reducing fishing effort outside, can reconcile conservation and fisheries goals
2020
Most fish stocks world-wide are fished at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) or overfished, as many fisheries management strategies have failed to achieve sustainable fishing. Identifying effective fisheries management strategies has now become urgent. Here, we developed a spatially explicit metapopulation model accounting for population connectivity in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, and parameterized it for three ecologically and economically important coastal fish species: the white seabream Diplodus sargus, the two-banded seabream Diplodus vulgaris and the dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus. We used the model to assess how stock biomass and catches respond to changes in fishing mort…
Spatial genetic structure in the saddled sea bream (Oblada melanura [Linnaeus, 1758]) suggests multi-scaled patterns of connectivity between protecte…
2016
Marine protected areas (MPAs) and networks of MPAs are advocated worldwide for the achievement of marine conservation objectives. Although the knowledge about population connectivity is considered fundamental for the optimal design of MPAs and networks, the amount of information available for the Mediterranean Sea is currently scarce. We investigated the genetic structure of the saddled sea bream (Oblada melanura) and the level of genetic connectivity between protected and unprotected locations, using a set of 11 microsatellite loci. Spatial patterns of population differentiation were assessed locally (50–100 km) and regionally (500–1000 km), considering three MPAs of the Western Mediterran…
Morphology, geographical variation and the subspecies of Marsh TitPoecile palustrisin Britain and central Europe
2016
Capsule: All British Marsh Tits belong to subspecies Poecile palustris dresseri, being smaller than nominate P. p. palustris of central Europe. Aims: Determining the subspecies of Marsh Tit in Britain to test whether ssp. P. p. palustris occurs in northern England and Scotland, by assessing regional variation in size compared with central European birds. Methods: 1147 wing length and 250 tail length measurements from 953 Marsh Tits were compared between eight British locations to test for regional variation. Biometrics were compared between birds from Britain and six locations within the continental European range of ssp. palustris. Results: There was no regional variation in wing or tail l…
Interbreeding between local and translocated populations of a cleaner fish in an experimental mesocosm predicts risk of disrupted local adaptation
2019
Source at https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5246. Translocation of organisms within or outside its native range carries the risk of modifying the community of the recipient ecosystems and induces gene flow between locally adapted populations or closely related species. In this study, we evaluated the genetic consequences of large‐scale translocation of cleaner wrasses that has become a common practice within the salmon aquaculture industry in northern Europe to combat sea lice infestation. A major concern with this practice is the potential for hybridization of escaped organisms with the local, recipient wrasse population, and thus potentially introduce exogenous alleles and breaking down coadap…
Classification of European and Mediterranean coastal dune vegetation
2018
Aims: Although many phytosociological studies have provided detailed local and regional descriptions of coastal dune vegetation, a unified classification of this vegetation in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin has been missing. Our aim is to produce a formalized classification of this vegetation and to identify the main factors driving its plant species composition at a continental scale. LocationAtlantic and Baltic coasts of Europe, Mediterranean Basin and the Black Sea region. - Methods: We compiled a database of 30,759 plots of coastal vegetation, which were resampled to reduce unbalanced sampling effort, obtaining a data set of 11,769 plots. We classified these plots with TWINSPAN, int…
At the intersection of cultural and natural heritage: Distribution and conservation of the type localities of Italian endemic vascular plants
2017
Abstract We conducted a GIS spatial analysis with the aim of providing the first quantitative large-scale overview of the distribution patterns of 1536 type localities ( loci classici ) of 1216 Italian endemic vascular plants and their relationship with a set of descriptive variables. Whereas some variables were used to model the presence-absence distribution patterns of the type localities for the whole set of endemics as well as for the subset of narrow endemics, others (e.g., presence inside or outside protected areas and Italian Important Plant Areas) were considered with the purpose of assessing potential assets or risks for conservation. The largest number of type localities was found…
Fungal Diversity in the Mediterranean Area
2020
The Special Issue entitled “Fungal Diversity in the Mediterranean Area” aimed at highlighting the role of various organisms in the Mediterranean habitat. The role of fungi at the root and phyllosphere level; the biodiversity in small island territories and the sea; rare forms of fungi never previously found; the commercial, food, and therapeutic value of some ascomycetes and basidiomycetes; the diversity related to fungi associated with galls on plants; and the important role of culture collection for the ex situ conservation of fungal biodiversity are the topics dealt with in this Special Issue.
Synthetic cartography for mapping biodiversity in the Mediterranean region: Sicily as a case study
2018
This paper proposes a new hierarchical land classification system for the mapping of species distribution at national or regional scales. Our integrative framework incorporates two hierarchical levels inferred from historical, climatic, geomorphological and geological attributes. The feasibility of this proposal is based on the use of historical collections and literature data, as well as on its ability to combine old low-precision data with more recent records of higher resolution. The system is set up for vascular plants, but it can also be used for other taxonomic groups. Furthermore, it has the potential for application to the whole Mediterranean region because it is based on informatio…
The challenge of habitat modelling for threatened low density species using heterogeneous data: The case of Cuvier’s beaked whales in the Mediterrane…
2018
We are grateful to the ACCOBAMS Secretariat for their support in this work, including a small grant for the analysis. The Mediterranean population of Cuvieŕs beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), a deep-diving cetacean, is genetically distinct from the Atlantic, and subject to a number of conservation threats, in particular underwater noise. It is also cryptic at the surface and relatively rare, so obtain robust knowledge on distribution and abundance presents unique challenges. Here we use multiplatform and multiyear survey data to analyse the distribution and abundance of this species across the Mediterranean Sea. We use a novel approach combining heterogeneous data gathered with different …
Contribution to the knowledge of Mediterranean wetland vegetation: Lemnetea and Potamogetonetea classes in Western Sicily
2021
The freshwater aquatic vegetation of the Lemnetea and Potamogetonetea classes in Western Sicily was surveyed and analyzed. 85 lakes and small pools were investigated collecting 147 phytosociological unpublished relevés to integrate the very scarce available data (only 3 relevés). By applying statistical analyses on abundances data and on the bases of physiognomy and dominant species, two alliances (Lemnion minoris and Stratiotion) and four different coenoses have been identify for the Lemnetea class; while 11 associations, assigned to two orders (Potamogetonetalia pectinati and Callitricho hamulatae-Ranunculetalia aquatilis) and four alliances (Potamogetonion, Nymphaeion albae, Ranunculion …