Search results for "ECOLOGY"
showing 10 items of 15385 documents
Conservation status of the Italian flora under the 92/43/EEC ‘Habitats’ Directive
2021
The results of the 4th National Report for the Italian flora under the 92/43/EEC ‘Habitats’ Directive are presented. The outcomes showed a general negative conservation status for plant species, with the worst situation being in the Mediterranean bioregion. At the National level, significant monitoring and conservation activities are required.
Hydrogen isotopes (δ2H) of polyunsaturated fatty acids track bioconversion by zooplankton
2022
1. Organisms at the base of aquatic food webs synthesize essential nutrients, such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), which are transferred to consumers at higher trophic levels. Many consumers, requiring n-3 long-chain (LC) PUFA, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have limited ability to biosynthesize them from the essential dietary precursor α-linolenic acid (ALA) and thus rely on dietary provision of LC-PUFA. 2. We investigated LC-PUFA metabolism in freshwater zooplankton using stable hydrogen isotopes (δ2H) of fatty acids as tracers. We conducted feeding experiments with the freshwater keystone grazer Daphnia to quantify changes in the δ2…
Benthic foodweb structure in a large shallow lake studied by stable isotope analysis
2014
The benthic foodweb structure of Lake Võrtsjärv, a large (270 km2), shallow, and turbid Estonian lake, was evaluated based on C and N stable-isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N). Variation in δ13C between sampling sites was not related to site proximity to the littoral zone or the more vegetated southern part of the lake, but rather appeared to be influenced by in-situ site peculiarities. δ13C was stable temporally and between functional feeding groups, a result implying that the whole benthic food web of the lake relies largely on the same C source admixture, essentially particulate organic matter (POM). Thus, the foodweb composition of Lake Võrtsjärv is remarkably homogeneous given the lake’s …
Past and current distribution of Charaxes jasius jasius (Linnaeus, 1767) (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) in Sicily in relation to its host plant, Arbutus u…
2022
The authors provide an updated overview of the past and present regional distribution of the two-tailed Pasha Charaxes jasius jasius (Linnaeus, 1767) (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) and its host plant, the strawberry tree Arbutus unedo L. Most of the occurrence data reported in the entomological literature was confirmed, and several new populations have been recently dis- covered. The distribution pattern of the insect and its host plant overlap almost perfectly. C. jasius jasius is more abundant and forms large and stable populations on the Peloritani Mts. and in some areas of the Madonie Mountains. The high number of new records of C. jasius jasius suggests that the species is experiencing a sp…
The identity of the tropical African Polichne mukonja Griffini, 1908 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Phaneropterinae)
2016
Polichne mukonja Griffini, 1908 from Cameroon was hitherto known only from the holotype preserved at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels. This was probably due to the fact that the genus Polichne Stål, 1874 distributed only in Australia and Papua New Guinea. In view of this distribution, the tropical African species was therefore overlooked in the African literature. The recent discovery of two specimens at the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, now provides us with a better understanding of the identity of this taxon, which is related to the African genus Catoptropteryx Karsch, 1890. Polichne mukonja is here transferred to a new genus Griffinipteryx and both taxa are p…
The legacy of human use in Amazonian palm communities along environmental and accessibility gradients
2023
Aim: Palms are iconic and dominant elements of neotropical forests. In the Amazon region, palms have been used and managed by humans for food, material, medicine and other purposes for millennia. It is, however, debated to what extent the structure of modern palm communities reflects long-term human modification. Here, we investigate the complex interplay of ecological and societal factors that influence the distributions of both human-used and non-used palms in western Amazonia. Location: Amazonia. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Palms (Arecaceae). Methods: We used Bayesian hierarchical joint species distribution models to predict the distributions and environmental niche dimensi…
Economic and Life Cycle Analysis of Passive and Active Monitoring of Ozone for Forest Protection
2021
At forest sites, phytotoxic tropospheric ozone (O3) can be monitored with continuously operating, active monitors (AM) or passive, cumulative samplers (PM). For the first time, we present evidence that the sustainability of active monitoring is better than that of passive sensors, as the environmental, economic, and social costs are usually lower in the former than in the latter. By using data collected in the field, environmental, social, and economic costs were analyzed. The study considered monitoring sites at three distances from a control station in Italy (30, 400, and 750 km), two forest types (deciduous and Mediterranean evergreen), and three time windows (5, 10, and 20 years of moni…
Stilt bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Berytidae) of Poland: check-list, distribution, bionomics
2019
W Polsce pluskwiaki różnoskrzydłe z rodziny smukleńcowatych (Berytidae) reprezentowane są przez dziewięć gatunków sklasyfikowanych w czterech rodzajach: Neides tipularius, Berytinus clavipes, B. hirticornis, B. minor, B. crassipes, B. signoreti, Gampsocoris culicinus, G. punctipes i Metatropis rufescens. Niniejsze opracowanie, poza nowymi stanowiskami, podsumowuje wszystkie dane na temat występowania przedstawicieli Berytidae na terenie naszego kraju. Dodatkowo podano podstawowe informacje dotyczące biologii wymienionych gatunków (preferencje wilgotnościowe, termiczne, troficzne oraz ilość generacji w roku). Berytinus montivagus został wyłączony z krajowej fauny, jednak jego występowanie w …
Do childhood infections affect labour market outcomes in adulthood and, if so, how?
2020
A burgeoning body of literature suggests that poor childhood health leads to adverse health outcomes. lower educational attainment and weaker labour market outcomes in adulthood. We focus on an important but under-researched topic, which is the role played by infection-related hospitalization (IRH) in childhood and its links to labour market outcomes later in life. The participants aged 24-30 years in 2001 N =1706 were drawn from the Young Finns Study, which includes comprehensive registry data on IRHs in childhood at ages 0-18 years. These data are linked to longitudinal registry information on labour market outcomes (2001-2012) and parental background (1980). The estimations were performe…
In-depth characterization of denitrifier communities across different soil ecosystems in the tundra
2022
Abstract Background In contrast to earlier assumptions, there is now mounting evidence for the role of tundra soils as important sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the microorganisms involved in the cycling of N2O in this system remain largely uncharacterized. Since tundra soils are variable sources and sinks of N2O, we aimed at investigating differences in community structure across different soil ecosystems in the tundra. Results We analysed 1.4 Tb of metagenomic data from soils in northern Finland covering a range of ecosystems from dry upland soils to water-logged fens and obtained 796 manually binned and curated metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). We then sear…