Search results for "MEDITERRANEAN BASIN"

2021

Abstract. Lightning is the major cause of the natural ignition of wildfires worldwide and produces the largest wildfires in some regions. Lightning strokes produce about 5 % of forest fires in the Mediterranean Basin and are one of the most important precursors of the largest forest fires during the summer. Lightning-ignited wildfires produce significant emissions of aerosols, black carbon, and trace gases, such as CO, SO2, CH4, and O3, affecting air quality. Characterization of the meteorological and cloud conditions of lightning-ignited wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin can serve to improve fire forecasting models and to upgrade the implementation of fire emissions in atmospheric model…

Karyology of Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) species from the Balearic Islands and the western Iberian Peninsula

2007

Somatic chromosome numbers, conventional karyotype features and idiograms are reported for 27 Limonium species inhabiting the Western Mediterranean basin (Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands). The chromosome numbers of Limonium barceloi (2n = 36), L. ejulabilis (2n = 24), L. inexpectans (2n = 26), L. interjectum (2n = 24), and L. scopulorum (2n = 25) were determined for the first time. In addition, new aneuploid and/or polyploid cytotypes are reported in L. alcudianum (2n = 26), L. bonafei (2n = 26), L. camposanum (2n = 26), L. companyonis (2n = 26), L. dufourii (2n = 26), L. geronense (2n = 36), L. marisolii (2n = 54), L. migjornense (2n = 50), and L. pseudodictyocladon (2n = 16). A…

<p class="HeadingRunIn"><strong><em>Charybdis glaucophylla</em> (Asparagaceae), a new species from Sardinia</strong>&lt…

2012

Charybdis glaucophylla (Asparagaceae), a new species from Sardinia, is described and illustrated. It is a diploid species with 2n = 20 chromosomes growing along the rocky coast, sandy dunes and mountain top in the south-western part of the island. Within the genus, this species results taxonomically well isolated and differentiated due to relevant morphological and phenological features, such as the leaves wide and short, very rigid and glaucous-pruinose, as well as the very late foliation (winter). It shows only some relationships with C. pancration for the whitish bulb tunics and the diploid chromosome complement, and with C. maura and C. aphylla due to the glaucous leaves.

Climate Change in the Mediterranean Basin (Part II): A Review of Challenges and Uncertainties in Climate Change Modeling and Impact Analyses

2023

AbstractThe Mediterranean basin is particularly prone to climate change and vulnerable to its impacts. One of the most relevant consequences of climate change, especially for the southern Mediterranean regions, is certainly water scarcity as result of a reduction of surface runoff and groundwater levels. Despite the progress achieved in recent years in the field of climate change and its impact on water resources, results and outcomes should be treated with due caution since any future climate projection and derived implications are inevitably affected by a certain degree of uncertainty arising from each different stage of the entire modeling chain. This work offers a comprehensive overview…

Conservation genetics of an endemic from the Mediterranean Basin: high genetic differentiation but no genetic diversity loss from the last population…

2013

The Mediterranean Basin is a biodiversity hotspot, housing > 11.000 narrowly endemic plant species, many of which are declining due to mass tourism and agricultural intensification. To investigate the genetic resource impacts of ongoing habitat loss and degradation, we characterized the genetic variation in the last known populations of Leopoldia gussonei, a self-compatible endangered Sicilian Grape Hyacinth numbering less than 3,000 remaining individuals, using AFLP. Results demonstrated significant genome-wide genetic differentiation among all extant populations (I broken vertical bar(ST) = 0.05-0.56), and genetic clustering according to geographic location. Gene diversity was fairly c…

Metagenomic dynamics in Olea europaea after root damage and Verticillium dahliae infection

2019

AbstractThe olive tree is of particular economic interest in the Mediterranean basin. Researchers have conducted several studies on one of the most devastating disorders affecting this tree, the Verticillium wilt of olive, which causes significant economic damage in numerous areas of this crop. We have analyzed the temporal metagenomic samples of a transcriptomic study in Olea europaea roots and leaves after root-damage and after a root Verticillium dahliae infection (Jimenez-Ruiz et al. 2017). Our results indicate that this infection, although led by Verticillium, is driven not by a single species but by a polymicrobial community, including their natural endophytes, which acts as a consort…

Old World Megadroughts and Pluvials During the Common Era

2015

An atlas of megadroughts in Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin during the Common Era provides insights into climate variability.

The orophilous communities of the Pino-Juniperetea class in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean area

2001

Orophilous plant communities of the Pino-Juniperetea class, occurring in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean area, are examined. This vegetation is characterized by the dominance of trees and shrubs, mostly represented by conifers belonging to the genera Juniperus, Abies and Pinus. These communities are nowadays relegated to the supra- and oromediterranean belt, and show a fragmentary distribution, which is an evident proof of their relict connotation. The comparison among these communities, based on original and literature data, has highlighted a remarkable floristic and structural homogeneity, together with a series of geographical vicariances. From the phytosociological point of view, …

West Nile virus in Spain: Forecasting the geographical distribution of risky areas with an ecological niche modelling approach.

2021

West Nile virus (WNV), a well-known emerging vector-borne arbovirus with a zoonotic life cycle, represents a threat to both public and animal health. Transmitted by ornithophilic mosquitoes, its transmission is difficult to predict and even more difficult to prevent. The massive and unprecedented number of human cases and equid outbreaks in Spain during 2020 interpellates for new approaches. For the first time, we present an integrate analysis from a niche perspective to provide an insight to the situation of West Nile disease (WND) in Spain. Our modelling approach benefits from the combined use of global occurrence records of outbreaks of WND in equids and of its two alleged main vectors i…

‘Back to the Future’—Oak wood-pasture for wildfire prevention in the Mediterranean

2021

In the summer of 2021, enormous wildfires in the Mediterranean eliminated huge areas of mainly coniferous forest, destroyed adjacent settlements and claimed the lives of many people. The fires indicate effects of climate change and expose consequences of rural demographic changes, deficits in regional and touristic development planning and shortcomings in forest policy. This forum article highlights the dimensions of the problem, calls for a paradigm shift and shows solutions. Land abandonment, woody plant encroachment and non-reflective afforestation are leading to increasing amounts of combustible biomass. To prevent disastrous fires in future, fundamental changes in tree species composit…