Search results for "Historical"
showing 10 items of 554 documents
IMPOVERISHMENT OF SICILIAN (ITALY) HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASSETS BY AN ALIEN INSECT SPECIES: THE CASE OF THE RED PALM WEEVIL.
2012
Alien invasive species (IAS) have a disastrous impact on the biodiversity, cultural heritage and economy of a geographic area. The case of the Red Palm Weevil (RPW), an IAS that attacks the non-native palm species Phoenix canariensis, but also native species Chaemerops humilis, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, is reported. These palm trees have played an important role in Sicilian history and cultural heritage since the period of the Arab invasion. The accidental introduction of the RPW has remarkably changed the Sicilian panorama. In this study the chronology and the severity of the effects of RPW on palms so far detected, is reported. In only 7 years the RPW has drastically chang…
The Quality of Five Natural, Historical Italian Cheeses Produced in Different Months: Gross Composition, Fat-Soluble Vitamins, Fatty Acids, Total Phe…
2022
Simple Summary For the purposes of raising awareness of five historical cheeses of Southern Italy that are less known by consumers, and of restoring dignity to the breeders and producers of these cheeses, we studied their quality in terms of chemical composition, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), PUFA-ω6, PUFA-ω3, α-tocopherol, retinol, cholesterol, polyphenol content (TPC), total antioxidant capacity (FRAP and TEAC), and health index (GHIC). Two stretched-curd bovine cheeses, Caciocavallo Palermitano (CP) and Casizolu del Montiferru (CdM), two ovine cheeses, Vastedda della Valle del Belìce (VVB) and Pecorino Siciliano (PS)…
A new species of Thilachium (Capparaceae) from the Analanjirofo Region, Madagascar
2023
Madagascar is a centre of speciation for the genus Thilachium Lour., which includes several species of small trees and shrubs occurring in a wide range of habitats. A new species of Thilachium, T. latifolium Fici, from the Analanjirofo Region of northeastern Madagascar is here described and illustrated. It is characterised by 1-foliolate leaves, leaf blades widely ovate or elliptic with shortly acuminate or acute apices, flowers in terminal, dense subumbels or corymbs, short pedicels and ellipsoid, ribbed fruit. The new species is related to T. madagascariense Fici, a species recently described from eastern Madagascar, differing in the wider, coriaceous leaves with shorter, mucronulate tip,…
Fungi in archaeological areas
2018
The most renowned examples of the prehistoric use of mushrooms are represented by the stone paintings from Saharan aboriginal tribes of North Africa (ca. 9000 BC.) and the rock paintings of religious rituals in Spain (ca. 6000 years ago). The symbols, statues and paintings created by the Mayas and the Aztecs indicate the consumption of psilocybin mushrooms, especially during religious rituals, as a way to communicate with deities. Other tribes originating in Central America were also involved in magic mushrooms use for similar reasons. In northeastern Greece, western Turkey, and Bulgaria, in the regions known in antiquity as Macedonia, Anatolia, and Thrace, numerous megalithic natural rock …
Su un erbario del XVII secolo conservato presso il Museo Regionale di Messina: Stato di conservazione e proposte per il recupero e la salvaguardia
2013
In this article the conservation status of a XVII Century herbarium from Messina is assessed. This herbarium is attributed to Pietro Castelli, the founder of the Botanical garden of Messina or, most probably, to a pupil of him. It consists of a single volume of 214 pages and is housed in the library od the Museum “Maria Accascina” in Messina. The large part of the specimens stay in poor conditions. Hypothesis for recovery and preservation both in short and long term of this precious heritage are given.
Impoverishment of Sicilian (Italy) historical and cultural assets by an alien insect species:the case study of the Real Palm Weevil
2012
Microorganisms and insects have a disastrous impact on the biodiversity, cultural heritage and economy of a geographic area. However, in recent decades, the negative effects of invasive alien species (IAS), including both animal and plant or microorganisms occurring outside their natural distribution range, are generally not well known. Invasive alien species are most often found in or near urban areas, as well as throughout the settled landscape. According to the World Conservation Union, IUCN 2012, IAS represent the second most significant threat to biodiversity after resource depletion of habitats, becoming predators, competitors, parasites, hybridizers and diseases for native plants and…
New historical data for long-term swordfish ecological studies in the Mediterranean Sea
2021
Abstract. Management of marine fisheries and ecosystems is constrained by knowledge based on datasets with limited temporal coverage. Many populations and ecosystems were perturbed long before scientific investigations began. This situation is particularly acute for the largest and commercially most valuable species. We hypothesized that historical trap fishery records for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus Linnaeus, 1758) could contain catch data and information for other, bycatch species, such as swordfish (Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758). This species has a long history of exploitation and is presently overexploited, yet indicators of its status (biomass) used in fishery management only start…
Neglected fishery data sources as indicators of pre‐industrial ecological properties of Mediterranean swordfish ( Xiphias gladius , Xiphiidae)
2022
Management of fish populations and ecosystems suffers from data and knowledge gaps, particularly with respect to how humans and nature affect dynamics at multi-decadal and longer time scales. However, collection of new data which indicates population or ecosystem status is slow and expensive. Here we analyse c. 110 years of neglected fishery data for an overexploited top predator, swordfish, in the Mediterranean Sea. These data are available at scales of high time–space–biological resolution (i.e., sub-weekly, sub-regional sea; individual weights) and allow different ecological questions to be addressed than is possible with coarsely scaled data (e.g., annually resolved total catches aggreg…
Seismotectonics of the active thrust front in southwestern Sicily: hints on the Belice and Selinunte seismogenic sources
2014
We present a seismotectonic model of the active thrust front in western Sicily, which includes the area hit by the 1968 Belice earthquake sequence. The ~40 km long South-WEstern Sicilian Thrust (SWEST) is formed by two aligned albeit non-parallel fault arrays, the Granitola-Castelevetrano Thrust System (GCTS) in the west and the Partanna- Poggioreale Thrust System (PPTS) in the east. The ~NE-SW trending, NW-dipping GCTS straddles from the Pelagian coastline to Castelvetrano, is ~18 km long and composed of two segments, with the northern, ~12 km long one showing geodetic and geologic evidence of active deformation (Barreca et al., 2014). The segment is marked by a sharp gradient in Different…
Simulation of blind pre-diction and post-diction shaking table tests on a masonry building aggregate using a continuum modelling approach
2023
AbstractMasonry buildings of historical centres are usually organized within aggregates, whose structural performance against seismic actions is challenging to predict and constitutes still an open issue. The SERA—AIMS (Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures) project was developed to provide additional experimental data by testing a half-scale, two-unit stone masonry aggregate subjected to two horizontal components of dynamic excitation. In this context, this paper investigates the reliability of the modelling approach and the assumptions adopted to generate a three-dimensional continuum finite element model. The work involves two stages, namely a blind pre-diction and a…