Search results for "FOREST"
showing 10 items of 3780 documents
Do island plant populations really have lower genetic variation than mainland populations? Effects of selection and distribution range on genetic div…
2015
Ecological and evolutionary studies largely assume that island populations display low levels of neutral genetic variation. However, this notion has only been formally tested in a few cases involving plant taxa, and the confounding effect of selection on genetic diversity (GD) estimates based on putatively neutral markers has typically been overlooked. Here, we generated nuclear microsatellite and plastid DNA sequence data in Periploca laevigata, a plant taxon with an island–mainland distribution area, to (i) investigate whether selection affects GD estimates of populations across contrasting habitats; and (ii) test the long-standing idea that island populations have lower GD than their mai…
Priority areas for the conservation of Atlantic forest large mammals
2009
Large mammal faunas in tropical forest landscapes are widely affected by habitat fragmentation and hunting, yet the environmental determinants of their patterns of abundance remain poorly understood at large spatial scales. We analysed population abundance and biomass of 31 species of medium to large-bodied mammal species at 38 Atlantic forest sites (including three islands, 26 forest fragments and six continuous forest sites) as related to forest type, level of hunting pressure and forest fragment size using ANCOVAs. We also derived a novel measure of mammal conservation importance for each site based on a "Mammalian Conservation Priority index" (MPi) which incorporates information on spec…
Boschi di neoformazione in Italia: approfondimenti conoscitivi e orientamenti gestionali
2019
Nelle regioni meridionali, e in Sicilia in particolare, la fisionomia della vegetazione forestale post-abbandono è quella della macchia o arbusteto che difficilmente evolve verso un bosco propriamente detto. Il processo evolutivo della vegetazione spesso non raggiunge lo stadio di bosco non perché le condizioni ambientali non lo consentano ma per due ragioni fondamentali: i disturbi, in particolare gli incendi e il pascolo, e le limitazioni nell’arrivo di propaguli, causate dalla mancanza di piante madri, dei dispersori dei semi o entrambi. Infatti, in contesti favorevoli (assenza di disturbi e arrivo dei propaguli) la vegetazione evolve sino al bosco. Le formazioni preforestali frutto dei …
The cork oak in the Mountains of Palermo (Italy): ecological insights from the south-eastern edge of its distribution range
2020
Abstract: The uneven presence of the cork oak (Quercus suber L.) within its distribution range is not only determined by its climatic requirements but also by specific edaphic needs. Although most of the natural populations thrive in acidic soils deriving from metamorphic or volcanic rock outcrops, some cork oak populations are found growing in soils deriving from calcareous bedrock, which are considered less suitable. We carried out a multidisciplinary investigation at the south eastern edge of the Q. suber distribution range (Mountains of Palermo, NW Sicily), including soil, floristic, and vegetation surveys, aimed at: (i) assessing the native or introduced origin of some peculiar cork oa…
Fish-seastar facilitation leads to algal forest restoration on protected rocky reefs
2015
AbstractAlthough protected areas can lead to recovery of overharvested species, it is much less clear whether the return of certain predator species or a diversity of predator species can lead to re-establishment of important top-down forces that regulate whole ecosystems. Here we report that the algal recovery in a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area did not derive from the increase in the traditional strong predators, but rather from the establishment of a previously unknown interaction between the thermophilic fish Thalassoma pavo and the seastar Marthasterias glacialis. The interaction resulted in elevated predation rates on sea urchins responsible for algal overgrazing. Manipulative ex…
Modelling strategies for the reduction of fat dormice in northern Italian hazel groves
2018
The production of hazelnuts represents an important resource for several Italian rural areas. Sicily and Piedmont, two of the most important producers of hazelnuts, are affected by the presence of the dormouse (Glis glis), that has considerably severely harmed the production of hazelnuts. This study aims to analyse the issue in the Province of Cuneo in Piedmont and to evaluate the sustainability of the policies implemented by using the system dynamics (SD) methodology. An SD predator-prey microworld was built to reproduce the main relevant cause and effect relationships between the development of the dormouse population and local hazelnut production. The results of the SD microworld simulat…
Sistema biocompatibile di supporto per la piantumazione di organismi vegetali in ambiente marino
2010
Il brevetto consiste in un sistema a basso impatto ambientale, realizzato interamente in bioplastica, per il fissaggio sul fondo marino in forma rapida ed efficace di organismi vegetali, allo scopo di garantirne l'attecchimento e la crescita, assecondandone la dinamica naturale di sviluppo.
Sustainable management systems to prevent and adaptat to desertification: Case Studies from the LIFE Desert Adapt project
2021
Around 40% of the ice-free terrestrial surface is under desertification risk, and the Mediterranean is one of the most sensible regions. Concomitantly, most areas occupied by agriculture suffer from lack of organic matter in the soil, as well as very low tree cover, making them more vulnerable to climate change. The LIFE (Desert Adapt) project aims to develop a desert adaptation model to enhance resistence and resilience of farms, both public and private, to desertification by appliyng an integrative sustainable land management in Italy, Spain and Portugal. In Italy three sites in Sicily are involved, two private areas in Caltanissetta and Catagirone and the municiaplity of Lampedusa.The mo…
Evaluation of benefits and limitations of a Desertification Adaptation Model framework for sustainable land management in areas under desertification…
2022
The LIFE project Desert-Adapt (LIFE16 CCA/IT/000011) has designed a Desertification Adaptation Model (DAM) framework of land management to respond to two of the most critical problems experienced by farmers, public land and communities of the Mediterranean Basin, given the need to adapt to current Climate Change and reduce or counteract the increasing phenomenon of land degradation and desertification risk. These two issues are interrelated, as land degradation often characterizes fragile areas where the co-occurrence of climatically unfavourable conditions, mostly prolonged aridity and high temperatures, and inappropriate land management, leads to loss of ecosystem quality, biodiversity, p…
La scienza utile per le foreste: ricerca e trasferimentto. XII Congresso Nazionale SISEF. Abstract-Book Poster
2019
Il contributo contiene tutti gli abstract dei poster presentati al XII Congresso Nazionale SISEF "La scienza utile per le foreste: ricerca e trasferimento", svoltosi a Palermo, dal 12 al 15 Novembre 2019.