Search results for "Mediterranean"
showing 10 items of 3196 documents
Innovative technologies for encapsulation of Mediterranean plants extracts
2017
Abstract Background High-added value biological compounds (BACs) from herbal and plant sources, such as essential oils (EO), antioxidants and volatile compounds, often exhibit remarkable features, ranging from nutritive and medicinal properties, as well as antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, which can be exploited in the production of functional foods. However, most BACs exhibit low water solubility, strong off-flavors/odors, and are generally unstable and easily degraded under common processing and storage conditions. Encapsulation is a technology that enables the delivery in food systems, the protection, as well as the controlled and targeted release of BACs. Scope and approach The …
Deadly impalement of a blue shark Prionace glauca by a swordfish Xiphias gladius
2017
In September, 2016, an adult female blue shark (Prionace glauca) 247 cm long stranded alive on the coast of Valencia (Spain, Western Mediterranean) but died shortly afterwards. The necropsy revealed ongoing pregnancy, with 65 embryos in early stage of development, and a healthy condition with no signs of starvation. Two fishing hooks surrounded by scarred tissue were detected in the mandible, indicating past interaction with fisheries. In addition, a fragment of the tip of a swordfish (Xiphias gladius) rostrum (length: 18 cm long, width: 0.5 cm (distal) and 3 cm (proximal)) was removed from the animal. The fragment had pierced the head producing an incision of 3.5 cm close to the left eye, …
Filling gaps: closing the life cycle of the endangered Mediterranean limpet Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791 (Gastropoda, Patellidae)
2020
Several reproductive issues and the larval development of the ferruginous limpet, Patella ferruginea Gmelin, 1791, an endangered species endemic from the western Mediterranean Sea, were studied to fill gaps in the knowledge of its life cycle. Average diameter of mature oocytes was 141.83 μm and mean oocyte density in the ovary was 283,800 oocytes/gram. No significant correlations were found between both oocyte diameter or density and female shell length. Female fecundity (number of oocytes per gonad) was significantly correlated with shell length and varied between 189,200 oocytes in a 40.0 mm female and 5,019,200 oocytes in an 86.4 mm female. However, there was considerable variability, in…
Trends in summer presence of fin whales in the Western Mediterranean Sea Region: new insights from a long-term monitoring program
2020
Background The Mediterranean subpopulation of fin whale Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) has recently been listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The species is also listed as species in need of strict protection under the Habitat Directive and is one of the indicators for the assessment of Good Environmental Status under the MSFD. Reference values on population abundance and trends are needed in order to set the threshold values and to assess the conservation status of the population. Methods Yearly summer monitoring using ferries as platform of opportunity was performed since 2008 within the framework of the FLT Med Network. Data were collected along sever…
Checklist of gypsophilous vascular flora in Italy
2018
Our understanding of the richness and uniqueness of the flora growing on gypsum substrates in Italy has grown significantly since the 19th century and, even today, new plant species are still being discovered. However, the plants and plant communities, growing on gypsum substrates in Italy, are still a relatively unknown subject. The main aim of this paper was to elaborate a checklist of the Italian gypsophilous flora, to increase knowledge about this peculiar flora and for which conservation efforts need to be addressed. Through a structured group communication process of experts (application of the Delphi technique), a remarkable number of experienced Italian botanists have joined togethe…
Facebook groups as citizen science tools for plant species monitoring
2021
I social network sono canali di comunicazione utilizzati per condividere enormi quantità di dati, che possono essere utilizzati per la ricerca scientifica, anche nel campo della biodiversità. Per sapere quanto i dati ricavati dai social network possono integrare quelli raccolti per scopi scientifici, è necessario individuarne i bias. Utilizzando i dati estratti da un gruppo Facebook specializzato nella flora vascolare siciliana, abbiamo analizzato quali sono i caratteri che aumentano la probabilità che una pianta spontanea venga fotografata e postata su un social network. A tal fine, abbiamo confrontato frequenze e attributi delle specie fotografate dai membri del gruppo Facebook con quelli…
A new contribution to the alien macroalgal flora of the Ustica Island Marine Protected Area (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)
2018
A second record of the non-indigenous species Botryocladia madagascariensis G. Feldmann (Rhodophyta) along the coasts of the “Ustica Island” Marine Protected Area (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is reported. With this additional record for the Sicilian coasts, we provide a description of collected specimens of B. madagascariensis and habitat details. Numerous fertile female gametophytes with cystocarps immersed in vesicles were also observed, for the second time in the Mediterranean Sea, and described.
The urban vascular flora of Palermo (Sicily, Italy)
2019
This article presents a comprehensive inventory of the urban vascular flora of the town of Palermo. The data were gathered from extensive field collections, from specimens kept in different herbaria, and publications of the last 30 years. The floristic catalogue includes all the vascular plants that occur spontaneously within the urban area. Thirteen taxa are endemic to Sicily and one of these, Clinopodium raimondoi, is exclusive to Palermo’s area. The inventory comprises 1052 taxa belonging to 119 families and 225 genera, and contains 170 taxa non-native to the Italian flora.
An updated checklist of the vascular flora alien to Italy
2018
An updated inventory of the vascular flora alien to Italy, providing details on the occurrence at regional level, is presented. The checklist includes 1597 species, subspecies, and hybrids, distributed in 725 genera and 152 families; 2 taxa are lycophytes, 11 ferns and fern allies, 33 gymnosperms, and 1551 angiosperms. 157 taxa are archaeophytes and 1440 neophytes. The alien taxa currently established in Italy are 791 (570 naturalized and 221 invasive), while 705 taxa are casual aliens, 4 are not assessed, 7 are of unknown regional distribution, 47 have not been confirmed in recent times, 3 are considered extinct or possibly extinct in the country, and 40 are doubtfully occurring in Italy. …
Re-evaluation and typification of Foeniculum piperitum (Apiaceae), an underknown medicinal plant and crop wild relative
2021
Foeniculum piperitum was described as Anethum piperitum based on plants collected in Sicily, Italy. Currently it is treated either as a synonym of Foeniculum vulgare, or as one of two subspecies within that taxon. Here we show that F. vulgare and F. piperitum are two different, sometimes co-occurring, taxa and that given clear morphological and ecological separation, they should be treated as distinct species. Anethum piperitum is typified. Owing to misapplication of names and wrong synonymizations, the ecology and chorology of F. vulgare and F. piperitum have to be better defined.