Search results for "Mediterranean islands"
showing 10 items of 56 documents
New records of Characeae for Sicily (Italy)
2018
During the last year, the first two authors continued their survey of the scarcely known Characeae flora of the island of Sicily: plants were collected in different periods, habitats and areas of the island, and identifications – made on fresh material – were based mainly on Mouronval et al. (2015). We had the opportunity to include here some results deriving from the visit in Sicily made by Klaus van de Weyer in March 2018. Roman Romanov identified some specimens and revised some identifications. Data for Sicily are basically limited to more than one hundred years old reports; data for the national Flora have been completed with recent reports for Sardinia (cf. the work made by Ralf Becker…
Conservation genetics of insular **Podarcis** lizards using partial cytochrome b sequences
1998
Sequence data derived from a 306 bp fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome b and molecular variance estimates were used to investigate the genetic population structure of the endangered and endemic lizard Podarcis atrata of the Columbretes archipelago (Mediterranean, Spain). Our results show a very high and significant among-population genetic differentiation. FST values and phylogenetic analyses confirm the evolutionary distinctiveness of P. atrata populations, suggesting that the populations of these islands deserve special protection measures. The populations of the two islands Columbrete Grande and Mancolibre are less differentiated than those of Foradada and Lobo, and seem to have retain…
Environmental quality assessment of the Sicilian coast using a multi-disciplinary approach
2018
A multidisciplinary approach for the assessment of the environmental quality of the Sicilian coast is presented. This approach can be adopted for any Mediterranean coastline. The territory was divided into elementary areas and for each of them we reported the most important taxa, belonging to fauna and vascular, bryophytic and algal flora, from a biogeographic point of view in order to evaluate punctual and general levels of biodiversity conservation. The comparative analysis showed that the main circumsicilian islands and the carbonate promontories of the Tyrrhenian coast present the highest degree of biodiversity. The coastal lagoons located in the south-eastern Sicily, even though charac…
Sustainability of the Renewable Energy Extraction Close to the Mediterranean Islands
2017
The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of transitioning a fuel powered island to a renewable powered one. This transition is analyzed for the real MV/LV distribution system of the island of Pantelleria, in the Mediterranean Sea. Particularly, this work is focused on a renewable source nowadays totally unused: wave energy. Thanks to the innovative generator prototype designed by Department of Energy of University of Palermo (Italy), wave energy is able to represent a primary source for the production of electric energy in the Mediterranean islands. The procedures applied in the present article, as well as the main equations used, are the result of previous applications made in di…
Measurement and Conservation of Species and Habitat Biodiversity at Different Scales on Small Mediterranean Islands
2021
In this paper we discuss current methodologies for measuring biodiversity, analyse pros and cons at different scales, and finally propose distribution mapping as the most suitable method for measuring floristic biodiversity on small Mediterranean islands. These territories often host endangered flora and habitats, and have peculiarities that distinguish them from the mainland and the larger islands.
PRECIPITATION ESTIMATION THROUGH SATELLITE SYSTEM OVER THE MAJOR MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
2017
Reliable and accurate precipitation measurement or estimation is crucial for disaster monitoring and water resource management. Nowadays the scientific community expects significant improvements in precipitation monitoring by the continuous technological evolution of satellite-rainfall estimate systems which are able to produce data with global coverage and thus can provide low-cost information even in scarcely populated areas or places where for economic reasons ground measures are missing. The most recent satellite mission is the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), which is an international constellation of ten partner satellites, and a source of rainfall estimates at high spatial and…
Environmental Gamma Radiation Measurements on the Island of Pantelleria
1992
The population exposure to those living on the island of Pantelleria, Italy, was estimated by measuring the natural gamma background. Gamma spectra of natural rocks and measurements of absorbed dose in air were taken. A correlation was found between the mean gamma exposure rate and the mean values of natural radionuclide concentrations in the investigated rocks.
Island incidence and mainland population density: Mammals from Mediterranean islands
2002
. The reasons why some species are resistant to extinction or are better invaders of islands than others remain unexplained. In this study, we test the hypothesis that mammals living on the mainland at higher density than predicted by the density/body mass relationship have a much greater chance to colonize a small island successfully, and/or that they are less likely to become extinct when living on small islands. For this, we used data compiled on mammals from a number of Mediterranean islands. We show a nested pattern for mammals on western Mediterranean islands, which suggests that the distribution of mammals on these islands is not the result of a random process. Using two comparative …
Description of Lifestyle, Including Social Life, Diet and Physical Activity, of People ≥90 years Living in Ikaria, a Longevity Blue Zone
2021
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to describe the lifestyle of people ≥90 years, living in Evdilos or Raches, two municipalities of the Greek island of Ikaria, classified a longevity blue zone. The 71 participants were interviewed and underwent the Mediterranean Islands study food frequency questionnaire (MEDIS-FFQ) and the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ). The frequency of social contacts was daily for 77.9% of participants, weekly for 16.1%, and monthly for 5.9%. Most participants (90.0%) believed in God, and 81.4% took part in religious events. A total of 62.0% attended Panigiria festivals. Access to primary health care was considered difficult in th…
Post-Messinian evolutionary relationships across the Sicilian channel: Mitochondrial and nuclear markers link a new green toad from Sicily to African…
2008
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