Search results for "Nature and Landscape Conservation"

Choosy beetles : How host trees and southern boreal forest naturalness may determine dead wood beetle communities

2021

Wood-living beetles make up a large proportion of forest biodiversity and contribute to important ecosystem services, including decomposition. Beetle communities in managed southern boreal forests are less species rich than in natural and near-natural forest stands. In addition, many beetle species rely primarily on specific tree species. Yet, the associations between individual beetle species, forest management category, and tree species are seldom quantified, even for red-listed beetles. We compiled a beetle capture dataset from flight intercept traps placed on Norway spruce (Picea abies), oak (Quercus sp.), and Eurasian aspen (Populus tremulae) trees in 413 sites in mature managed forest…

Polypore communities and their substrate characteristics in Atlantic forest fragments in southeast Brazil

2018

Anthropogenic environmental changes have resulted in biodiversity crisis. Although tropical rainforests are one of the global biodiversity hotspots, their biodiversity is still poorly known. Especially fungi are poorly represented in national Red Lists and conservation plans, despite their important role in ecosystem functioning. We studied wood-inhabiting fungi (polypores) in four areas within two Atlantic rainforest fragments in Southeast Brazil. Our aim was to investigate fungal substrate characteristics and community composition. Deadwood amount ranged from 27 to 82 m3/ha among the four study areas and altogether we recorded 53 polypore species. More species were observed in intermediat…

Limnology and Aquatic Microbial Ecology of Byers Peninsula: A Main Freshwater Biodiversity Hotspot in Maritime Antarctica

2019

Here we present a comprehensive review of the diversity revealed by research in limnology and microbial ecology conducted in Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) during the last two decades. The site constitutes one of the largest ice-free areas within the Antarctic Peninsula region. Since it has a high level of environmental protection, it is less human-impacted compared to other sites within the South Shetland archipelago. The main investigations in Byers Peninsula focused on the physical and chemical limnology of the lakes, ponds, rivers, and wetlands, as well as on the structure of their planktonic and benthic microbial communities, and on the function…

Risk of Invasive Lupinus polyphyllus Seed Survival in Biomass Treatment Processes

2021

Invasive plant species threaten native species and habitats causing ecologic, economic and social burden. When creating climate friendly solutions by utilizing plant biomasses in biogas and fertilizer production, safety should be ensured concerning the use of residues. This study concentrates on the treatment of biomasses containing invasive plant material by tunnel and windrow composting, and by farm-scale and laboratory-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) in mesophilic conditions. Germination of the nationally settled and harmful invasive species Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. was investigated after these processes. In addition, the role of the conditions found in the processes that destroyed seed…

Reintroduced northern bald ibises from Spain reach Morocco

2017

Soil genetic erosion: New conceptual developments in soil security

2019

In the last decades, in some Mediterranean areas, pedodiversity decreased mainly due to pedotechnique application in large-scale farming that transformed original soils into Anthrosols. Supporting the consideration that soils can be considered as living systems, the original concept of 'soil genetic erosion' is re-proposed. Data, extrapolated and modeled from a Soil Information System in a study case representative of a Mediterranean landscape, predicted that most of the soil types would disappear in few years leading to a decrease of the soil diversity and originating soil genetic erosion. This circumstance is intentionally here told in form of a story where the fairy tale characters are s…

Soil conservation and sustainable development goals(SDGs) achievement in Europe and central Asia: Which role for the European soil partnership?

2021

Abstract Voluntary soil protection measures are not sufficient to achieve sustainable soil management at a global scale. Additionally, binding soil protection legislation at national and international levels has also proved to be insufficient for the effective protection of this non-renewable natural resource. In 2012, the FAO Members established the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) with the mission to facilitate and contribute exchange of knowledge and technologies related to soils, and develop dialogue and raise awareness for the need to establish a binding global agreement for sustainable soil management. Moreover, region-specific aspects of implementation are considered and strengthened th…

The Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Food Products of Rhizophora stylosa Fruit (Coffee and Tea Mangrove)

2018

The objective of this study is to investigate the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of coffee and tea mangrove (locally known in Indonesia) produced from the fruit of Rhizophora stylosa. Furthermore, three raw materials of coffee mangrove were also investigated to clarify their potencies. The crude extracts of five samples were subjected to antioxidant assay using DPPH. The results show that the extract of tea mangrove has the strongest activity; then, it was successfully fractionated using different polarity of solvents and yielded acetone and methanol fractions that had high antioxidant activity. The acetone fraction was purified and gave fractions A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6, b…

Taxonomic clarification of three taxa of Iberian geomitrids, Helix montserratensis Hidalgo, 1870 and subspecies (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), based on mor…

2017

Revisión taxonómica de tres taxones de geomítridos ibéricos, Helix montserratensis Hidalgo, 1870, y subespecies (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), basada en datos morfo–anatómicos Helix montserratensis (actualmente Xerocrassa montserratensis) es un geomítrido ibérico descrito por Hidalgo en 1870 en Montserrat (Barcelona, España). Sobre la base de varios caracteres conquiológicos, se describieron dos taxones muy similares, como variedades de este taxón: Helix montserratensis betulonensis y otro menos nombrado, Helix montserratensis delicatula. Estas variedades, sobre todo betulonensis, se han considerado subespecies de X. montserratensis, aunque algunos autores las consideran especies diferentes, basá…

2018

Secondary sexual trait expression can be influenced by fixed individual factors (such as genetic quality) as well as by dynamic factors (such as age and environmentally induced gene expression) that may be associated with variation in condition or quality. In particular, melanin-based traits are known to relate to condition and there is a well-characterized genetic pathway underpinning their expression. However, the mechanisms linking variable trait expression to genetic quality remain unclear. One plausible mechanism is that genetic quality could influence trait expression via differential methylation and differential gene expression. We therefore conducted a pilot study examining DNA meth…