Search results for "Castanea sativa"

Chestnut woods on madonie mountains (Sicily, Italy): Reasons for abandonment and possibilities of recovery

1999

The status of the chestnut woods on the Madonie Mountains (Sicily, PA) was investigated. During the last years, the surface of chestnut woods on the Madonie Mountains has been decreasing as well as their utilisation has changed because of chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) attacks. Therefore, three plots located in the Madonie mountains were studied to investigate the effects of chestnut blight attack. The first results here exposed stress the strong relations between the entity of chestnut blight attack and the density and age of the coppice.

The contribution of archaeological plant remains in tracing the cultural history of Mediterranean trees: The example of the Roman harbour ofNeapolis

2015

In this paper, we present a detailed record of the plant remains recovered on the palaeo-seafloors of Neapolis harbour, spanning ≈700 years, between the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD, thus intersecting the entire Roman Imperial Age. The site preserved many cultivated or cultivable plant remains, especially from food related trees. This particular feature provided the opportunity to reconstruct the puzzling history of planting them and the Roman economy, especially with respect to food production, the market and to dietary habits. The evidence suggests that Prunus persica, Castanea sativa, Juglans regia and Pinus pinea were locally grown all along the investigated period, testifying …

Monuments Unveiled: Genetic Characterization of Large Old Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) Trees Using Comparative Nuclear and Chloroplast DNA Analys…

2020

Large old trees are extraordinary organisms. They not only represent a historical, landscape and environmental heritage of inestimable value, but they also witness a long history of environmental changes and human interventions, and constitute an as yet poorly known reserve of genetic variability which can be considered a great resource for management programs of forest species. This is the first genetic study on Italian, large, old chestnut trees (Castanea sativa Mill.). Ninety-nine trees were surveyed and analysed. For each tree, more than one sample from canopy and root suckers was collected to test for the genetic integrity of the individuals. All samples were genotyped using nine nucle…

Plant litter decomposition and microbial characteristics in volcanic soils (Mt Etna, Sicily) at different stages of development

2006

Soils at different developmental stages were sampled from eight sites on the slopes of Mt Etna, Sicily (Italy) and characterized for total C, microbial biomass and microbial respiration. The values of these parameters were greatest for the most developed soils, but differences in recent management and site characteristics limited analysis of trends with soil development across the eight sites. The decomposition kinetics of both intact leaf litter and the water-insoluble fraction of leaf litter from three common species on Etna [Etnean broom (Genista aetnensis), European chestnut (Castanea sativa), and Corsican pine (Pinus nigra)] were determined in four of the soils (the two with the smalle…

Segnalazione di Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera) nei Monti Nebrodi (Sicilia)

2013

The use of tree-rings and foliage as an archive of volcanogenic cation deposition.

2007

Tree cores (Pinus nigra ssp. laricio) and leaves (Castanea sativa) from the flanks of Mount Etna, Sicily were analysed by ICP-MS to investigate whether volcanogenic cations within plant material provide an archive of a volcano's temporal and spatial depositional influence. There is significant compositional variability both within and between trees, but no systematic dendrochemical correlation with periods of effusive, explosive or increased degassing activity. Dendrochemistry does not provide a record of persistent but fluctuating volcanic activity. Foliar levels of bioaccumulated cations correspond to modelled plume transport patterns, and map short-term volcanic fumigation. Around the fl…

Indagini preliminari sull’attività di degradazione di basidiomiceti cariogeni su legno di castagno

2019

Recentemente, presso il Dip. SAAF e in collaborazione con l‘Instituto di Ciencia Animal (ICA) di Cuba, sono state avviati studi rivolti alla valutazione dell’attività celluloso-ligninolitica da parte microrganismi isolati da diverse matrici naturali. Alcuni primi risultati hanno consentito di rilevare la produzione di enzimi litici (cellulasi, laccasi, ecc.) in diversi funghi in collezione. Nell’ambito di questa ricerca, 5 colonie fungine appartenenti a quattro differenti specie di basidiomiceti cariogeni (Armillaria mellea (Val) P. Kumm, Fistulina hepatica (Shaeffer) Withering, due Ganoderma resinaceum Boud e Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill) sono state saggiate su campioni di legno d…

RECOVERY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CHESTNUT GERMPLASM ON THE WESTERN SLOPES OF THE ASPROMONTE IN SOUTHERN CALABRIA

2010

For a considerable period of time chestnuts were a fundamental source of food and economy for the people in the Aspromonte area. After decades in which chestnut cultivation has been neglected as a result of depopulation in mountainous zones, the production capacity in this area has reduced resulting in an erosion of the native germplasm. A survey has been carried out to improve the knowledge about the chestnut germplasm present in this area and to evaluate its qualities with the objective of preserving native genetic resources, safeguarding them from genetic erosion phenomenon and individuating local genotypes of market value which could be used to promote a re-launch of local chestnut cult…

The indigenous germplasm of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in the Etna area: Ecophysiological aspects and morphological traits of the fruits

2006

In Sicily, chestnut ( Castanea sativa Mill.) is present at altitudes that run from 300 to 1600 m asi and, due to the extreme variability of the environmental conditions, a large autochthonous germplasm has been dif- ferentiated. On the island, starting back as far as ancient times, chestnut was an important crop for rural com- munities but, after the Second World War, the tendency of the rural population to move to the capital cities and because of Cryphonectria parasitica attacks, chestnut plantings reduced dramatically. Recently, an investigation has commenced in the Etna area to collect the residual genetic resources of chestnut. Although many of the che- stnut genotypes found on the slo…

Gestion des ressources naturelles dans le Pays de Tulle : impacts paysagers et histoire du châtaignier (Castanea sativa Mill.) de l'Antiquité à la Re…

2013

Este artículo presenta los resultados paleoambientales de los primeros análisis palinolójicos y sedimentológicos llevados a cabo en el area de Tulle (Mars, Gimel-les-Cascades, Corrèze, Francia). Se basan en la comparación de distintos indicadores bióticos (polen, microfósiles no polínicos) y sedimentarios y en la realización de 9 dataciones radiocarbónicas. Esta investigación establece datos inéditos sobre las dinámicas paisajísticas desde la Antigüedad y sus factores de control tanto climáticos como antrópicos. También analiza de que manera estos cambios paisajísticos pueden significar el desarrollo de sistemas de uso diversificados de los recursos vegetales como el cultivo del castaño (Ca…