Search results for "MINI"

2021

Funding: This research was funded through the 2017–2018 Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivScen ERA-Net COFUND program, with the following funding organizations: the Academy of Finland (Univ. Turku: 326327, Univ. Helsinki: 326338), the Swedish Research Council (Swedish Univ. Agric. Sci:2018–02440, Lund Univ.: 2018–02441), the Research Council of Norway (Norwegian Instit. for Nature Res.,295767), and the National Science Foundation (Cornell Univ., ICER-1927646), and we also acknowledge the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Functional and energetic consequences of climate change on a predatory whelk

2017

Abstract The increasing rise in sea surface temperature caused by human activities currently represents the major threat to biodiversity and natural food webs. In this study we used the Lessepsian mussel Brachidontes pharaonis, one of the most recent invaders of the Mediterranean Sea, as a model to investigate the effect of a novel prey and a chronic increase in temperatures on functional parameters of local consumers, compared to the native mytilid species Mytilaster minimus. In particular we focused on the whelk Stramonita haemastoma, a widespread Mediterranean intertidal predator that actively preys on bivalves, barnacles and limpets, by studying the direct effects of such multiple stres…

Combination of the OSA process with thermal treatment at moderate temperature for excess sludge minimization

2019

Abstract This study investigated the chance to couple the conventional Oxic Settling Anaerobic (OSA) process with a thermic treatment at moderate temperature (35 °C). The maximum excess sludge reduction rate (80%) was achieved when the plant was operated under 3 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT). Compared with the conventional OSA system, the thermic treatment enabled a further improvement in excess sludge minimization of 35%. The observed yield coefficient decreased from 0.25 gTSS gCOD−1 to 0.10 gTSS gCOD−1 when the temperature in the anaerobic reactor was increased to 35 °C, despite the lower HRT (3 h vs 6 h). Moreover, the thermic treatment enabled the decrease of filamentous bacteria,…

A Methodology to Derive Global Maps of Leaf Traits Using Remote Sensing and Climate Data

2018

This paper introduces a modular processing chain to derive global high-resolution maps of leaf traits. In particular, we present global maps at 500 m resolution of specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content per dry mass, and leaf nitrogen/phosphorus ratio. The processing chain exploits machine learning techniques along with optical remote sensing data (MODIS/Landsat) and climate data for gap filling and up-scaling of in-situ measured leaf traits. The chain first uses random forests regression with surrogates to fill gaps in the database (> 45% of missing entries) and maximizes the global representativeness of the trait dataset. Plant species are then a…

The response of cultured meiofaunal and benthic foraminiferal communities to lead exposure: Results from mesocosm experiments

2018

Lead (Pb) has been regarded as a very toxic element that poses a serious threat to biota. A mesocosm experiment is performed to assess the influence of Pb on meiofaunal (metazoans within 45-500 µm) and benthic foraminiferal (protozoans) communities. To this end, sediments bearing such communities are incubated in mesocosms, exposed to different levels of Pb in seawater, and monitored for up to eight weeks. Concentrations of Pb below 1 ppm in water do not promote a significant increase of this metal in sediments. Relatively high concentrations of Pb seem to affect meiofaunal and benthic foraminiferal communities by reducing their richness or diversity, and the abundance of the most sensitive…

Functional responses of intertidal bivalves to repeated sub-lethal, physical disturbances

2019

In coastal habitats, physical disturbances of benthic organisms can be caused by natural events like wave-born objects and human activity like trampling, and these disturbances can be sub-lethal (e.g., resulting in the organism's displacement). We know little of how sessile organisms respond to physical disturbances such as displacements. Using Mytilaster minimus, a mussel that is native to the Mediterranean Sea, we tested how byssus production and oxygen uptake rates changed in response to different frequencies of disturbance events (10-60 events h-1). Mussels increased oxygen uptake rates but not byssus production with increasing disturbance frequencies (50-60 events h-1). Our results sho…

Potential of nisin-incorporated sodium caseinate films to control Listeria in artificially contaminated cheese

2010

International audience; A sodium caseinate film containing nisin (1000 IU/cm(2)) was produced and used to control Listeria innocua in an artificially contaminated cheese. Mini red Babybel cheese was chosen as a model semi-soft cheese. L. innocua was both surface- and in-depth inoculated to investigate the effectiveness of the antimicrobial film as a function of the distance from the surface in contact with the film. The presence of the active film resulted in a 1.1 log CFU/g reduction in L. innocua counts in surface-inoculated cheese samples after one week of storage at 4 degrees C as compared to control samples. With regard to in-depth inoculated cheese samples, antimicrobial efficiency wa…

“Hidden invaders” conquer the Sicily Channel and knock on the door of the Western Mediterranean sea

2019

Abstract This study updates the current distribution, range expansion and establishment status of the non-indigenous species Amphistegina lobifera Larsen, 1976 and other foraminifera that are cryptogenic in the Sicily Channel. Prior to this study, amphisteginids were reported from the Levantine Basin, the Central Mediterranean (Tunisia, Malta, Pelagian islands) and the southern Adriatic Sea. Here, we provide new records documenting a north-western expansion in the Central Mediterranean. In summer-autumn 2017 and spring-summer 2018, we collected algae and sediment samples from shallow coastal habitats along the shores of the Maltese archipelago, southern and north-western Sicily, Pantelleria…

Environmental Quality Assessment of Bizerte Lagoon (Tunisia) Using Living Foraminifera Assemblages and a Multiproxy Approach.

2015

This study investigated the environmental quality of the Bizerte Lagoon (Tunisia) through an integrated approach that combined environmental, biogeochemical, and living benthic foraminiferal analyses. Specifically, we analyzed the physicochemical parameters of the water and sediment. The textural, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of the sediment, including total organic carbon, total nitrogen, simultaneously extracted metals (SEM), acid volatile sulfides (AVS), chlorophyll a, CaCO3, and changes in bacterial populations and carbon isotopes were measured. The SEM/AVS values indicated the presence of relatively high concentrations of toxic metals in only some areas. Foraminiferal…

Sampling effort and information quality provided by rare and common species in estimating assemblage structure

2020

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:06:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-03-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Academy of Finland Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Reliable biological assessments are essential to answer ecological and management questions but require well-designed studies and representative sample sizes. However, large sampling effort is rarely possible, because it demands large financial resources and time, restricting the number of sites sampled, the duration of the study and the sampling effort at each site. In…