Search results for "Protection"
showing 10 items of 1623 documents
The agricultural heritage of Lampedusa (Pelagie Archipelago, South Italy) and its key role for cultivar and wildlife conservation
2011
As occurred on many other little Mediterranean islands, agricultural activity at Lampedusa (Strait of Sicily) underwent a very strong decline in terms of surface area during the second half of the last century. In particular, cereal crops have ceased and horticulture is disappearing, while vineyards still occupy a reduced area but are quickly vanishing and currently survive thanks to a small number of old farmers. Here are presented the results of a research carried out by interviewing seven farmers in order to study not only the techniques and the germplasm used in local viticulture, but also the final use of grapes and an evaluation on the connection between traditional farming and agro-e…
How to escape from insect egg parasitoids: A review of potential factors explaining parasitoid absence across the Insecta: Escape from insect egg par…
2020
The egg is the first life stage directly exposed to the environment in oviparous animals, including many vertebrates and most arthropods. Eggs are vulnerable and prone to mortality risks. In arthropods, one of the most common egg mortality factors is attack from parasitoids. Yet, parasitoids that attack the egg stage are absent in more than half of all insect (sub)orders. In this review, we explore possible causes explaining why eggs of some insect taxa are not parasitized. Many insect (sub)orders that are not attacked by egg parasitoids lack herbivorous species, with some notable exceptions. Factors we consider to have led to escape from egg parasitism are parental egg care, rapid egg deve…
General framework for assessing the risks for in-soil organisms exposed to Plant Protection Products (PPP)
2017
The Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR) has been tasked by EFSA to revise the SANCO guidance Document on Terrestrial Ecotoxicology which is currently used for conducting the risk assessment for terrestrial non-target organisms, except for birds and mammals and non-target arthropods. For each group of organisms, the PPR Panel first summarises the science behind the respective risk assessment in a scientific opinion and, in a second step, EFSA will develop practical guidance on how to perform the risk assessment. The main scope of the revision is to take into consideration: (i) the entry into force of the Regulation 1107/2009 replacing the Directive 91/414/EEC; (ii) th…
Rhagoletis cerasi (L.) in Western Sicily: presence, damages and control in cherry orchards.
2012
The research was carried out from 2006 to 2010 in 12 cherry orchards in Western Sicily, were Rhagoletis cerasi (L.), the cherry fly, represents a problem for medium late ripening cultivars. Presence and infestation of the dipteran were monitored on local cultivars and effectiveness of some products allowed in organic farming was tested compared with net bags. The presence of the cherry fly was recorded in all cherry orchards except in two recently planted and isolated. The infestation on fruits was not very high until the end of May. Pyrethrum and spinosad did not lower the infestation, on the contrary nets reduced it.
Control of powdery mildew in cut roses using natural products in the greenhouse.
2009
Roses grown under greenhouse cultivation are commonly affected by diseases and regular fungicide applications are commonly used. The aim of this research was to identify natural products that can substitute and reduce the health and environmental impacts of typical chemical treatments in the control of powdery mildew [(Podosphaera pannosa (Wallr. Fr.) de Bary] and grey mould (Botrytis cinerea Pers.). Treatments were applied in the greenhouse on the cut rose cultivars Sunluck (Gold Strike®) and Nirpbredy (New Fashion®) growing in a soilless system. Oregano and clove essential oil at 0.5 ml/l (an emulsifier was added) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) at 4 g/l were sprayed on rose plants to run…
Predicting effective aquaculture in subtropical waters: A dynamic energy budget model for the green lipped mussel, Perna viridis
2018
Abstract The green lipped mussel, Perna viridis, is an important aquaculture species throughout the Indo-Pacific region where production is often impacted by environmental degradation. To predict the impacts and mitigate against environmental problems due to various kinds of anthropogenic pollution, such as heavy metals and eutrophication, on P. viridis aquaculture a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model was constructed. By integrating species-specific parameters and regional-specific environmental data the DEB model determined how the life history traits of P. viridis respond to changing environmental conditions. Using various levels of basal maintenance costs and food availability to elucidat…
Towards a landscape scale management of pesticides: ERA using changes in modelled occupancy and abundance to assess long-term population impacts of p…
2015
Pesticides are regulated in Europe and this process includes an environmental risk assessment (ERA) for nontarget arthropods (NTA). Traditionally a non-spatial or field trial assessment is used. In this study we exemplify the introduction of a spatial context to the ERA as well as suggest a way in which the results of complex models, necessary for proper inclusion of spatial aspects in the ERA, can be presented and evaluated easily using abundance and occupancy ratios (AOR). We used an agent-based simulation system and an existing model for a wide-spread carabid beetle (Bembidion lampros), to evaluate the impact of a fictitious highly-toxic pesticide on population density and the distributi…
Ecological risk assessment of agricultural soils for the definition of soil screening values: A comparison between substance-based and matrix-based a…
2017
The Italian legislation on contaminated soils does not include the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) and this deficiency has important consequences for the sustainable management of agricultural soils. The present research compares the results of two ERA procedures applied to agriculture (i) one based on the “substance-based” approach and (ii) a second based on the “matrix-based” approach. In the former the soil screening values (SVs) for individual substances were derived according to institutional foreign guidelines. In the latter, the SVs characterizing the whole-matrix were derived originally by the authors by means of experimental activity.\ud \ud \ud The results indicate that the “matr…
Cool barnacles: Do common biogenic structures enhance or retard rates of deterioration of intertidal rocks and concrete?
2017
Sedentary and mobile organisms grow profusely on hard substrates within the coastal zone and contribute to the deterioration of coastal engineering structures and the geomorphic evolution of rocky shores by both enhancing and retarding weathering and erosion. There is a lack of quantitative evidence for the direction and magnitude of these effects. This study assesses the influence of globally-abundant intertidal organisms, barnacles, by measuring the response of limestone, granite and marine-grade concrete colonised with varying percentage covers of Chthamalus spp. under simulated, temperate intertidal conditions. Temperature regimes at 5 and 10 mm below the surface of each material demons…
Stable isotopes and trophic positions of littoral fishes from a Mediterranean Marine Protected Area
2008
Stable isotope analyses were employed to explore feeding and foraging habitats and trophic levels of littoral fishes in a western Mediterranean Marine Protected Area (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in primary producers, invertebrates and fishes collected in December 2001 and January 2002. Fishes of the littoral region of the Egadi Islands had isotopic signatures that fell into a wider range for δ13C (about 6‰) than for δ15N (about 3‰). Carbon isotope ratios were consistent with a food web based on mixed sources and two trophic pathways leading to different fish species. Differences in the isotopic composition between islands were highe…