Search results for "SCA"
showing 10 items of 23299 documents
Biodiversity in canopy-forming algae: Structure and spatial variability of the Mediterranean Cystoseira assemblages
2018
Abstract In the Mediterranean Sea, Cystoseira species are the most important canopy-forming algae in shallow rocky bottoms, hosting high biodiverse sessile and mobile communities. A large-scale study has been carried out to investigate the structure of the Cystoseira-dominated assemblages at different spatial scales and to test the hypotheses that alpha and beta diversity of the assemblages, the abundance and the structure of epiphytic macroalgae, epilithic macroalgae, sessile macroinvertebrates and mobile macroinvertebrates associated to Cystoseira beds changed among scales. A hierarchical sampling design in a total of five sites across the Mediterranean Sea (Croatia, Montenegro, Sardinia,…
Circummed pine forest database: An electronic archive for mediterranean and submediterranean pine forest vegetation data
2019
Large thematic databases of vegetation plots are increasingly needed for vegetation studies and biodiversity research. In this paper, we present the CircumMed Pine Forest Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-026), which in November 2018, comprised records from 6317 pine-dominated vegetation plots (relevés) and associated vegetation types from 20 countries of the Mediterranean Basin, Near East and Crimea. These vegetation plots were collected through a detailed literature search for plots not previously included in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA), in order to fill geographic gaps in data coverage. The database comprises Mediterranean (including Oromediterranean) pine-forest vegetation plots from b…
Recruitment patterns in an intertidal species with low dispersal ability: the reef-building Dendropoma cristatum (Biondi, 1859) (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
2016
In the Mediterranean, the gastropod Dendropoma cristatum (sin. D. petraeum (Monterosato, 1884)) is the primary builder of the vermetid reef, an intertidal bioconstruction of exceptional ecological importance. Despite awareness of the need for conservation of this key species, the biology of D. cristatum remains poorly understood. The recruitment of D. cristatum deserves particular attention because the absence of a planktonic larval stage limits its dispersal ability. We examined the temporal pattern of recruitment during the breeding season of D. cristatum from June to September in 2013. Specifically, we compared the two portions of the vermetid reef (i.e. the inner edge and the outer edge…
Phytosociological survey vegetation map of Sicily (Mediterranean region)
2016
ABSTRACTWe present the results of a study aimed at developing a vegetation map of Sicily (Italy) including the smaller circum-Sicilian islands, for an area of approximately 25,703 km2. The work is a synthesis of studies carried out in accordance with the survey methodology of phytosociology in the last 40 years over the whole study area. The vegetation map of Sicily was compiled in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment, in order to produce a cartographic representation at a scale of 1:10,000 (reduced to a scale of 1:250,000). The physiognomic-structural characteristics of the plant landscape of Sicily are analyzed, providing a general and, at the same time, detailed overview …
Cetacean strandings and museum collections: A focus on Sicily island crossroads for mediterranean species
2021
The study examined the extent of the cetacean strandings in Italy, with a particular focus on Sicily Island. The paper aimed to contribute to the description of a pattern that contemplates the “regular and rare” cetacean species passage along the Sicilian coast. The estimate of marine cetacean strandings was extrapolated from the National Strandings Data Bank (BDS—Banca Dati Spiaggiamenti) and evaluated according to a subdivision in three coastal subregions: the Tyrrhenian sub-basin (northern Sicilian coast), the Ionian sub-basin (eastern Sicilian coast), and the Channel of Sicily (southern Sicilian coast). Along the Italian coast, more than 4880 stranding events have been counted in the pe…
Differential endozoochory of aquatic invertebrates by two duck species in shallow lakes
2017
Abstract Animal vectors are essential for the movement of invertebrate resting eggs between water bodies. However, differences in habitat preferences and feeding behaviour between bird species may result in variations in the dispersal of invertebrates via these birds, even if the different bird species live in the same lake. To test such effects, faecal samples from Anas platyrhynchos (collected in autumn and spring) and Tadorna tadorna (collected in spring) were cultured in water at 20° C and 12 L: 12 D conditions in order to quantify the resting eggs which could be internally transported by these birds. One half of each faecal sample was initially cultured at a conductivity of 0.6 mS cm −…
The role of watercourse versus overland dispersal and niche effects on ostracod distribution in Mediterranean streams (eastern Iberian Peninsula)
2016
Abstract The processes behind the heterogeneous distribution of species involve a combination of environmental and spatial effects. In the spatial context, stream networks constitute appropriate systems to compare the relative importance of two dispersal modes in aquatic organisms: overland and watercourse dispersal. In the present study, we analyzed the distribution of ostracod species in a river network in the eastern Iberian Peninsula, with variation partitioning between environmental and spatial factors, using Moran and Asymmetric Eigenvector Maps (MEMs, AEMs) as spatial variables. Our aims were to determine the relative importance of environmental and spatial control and to compare the…
The role of spatial environmental factors as determinants of large branchiopod distribution in Tunisian temporary ponds
2016
The influence of spatial and environmental factors in explaining the structure of large branchiopod assemblages at different spatial scales is still poorly explored. We hypothesized that the extent of actual spatial connectivity, and thus the spatial distribution of a metacommunity, may depend on the environmental conditions as represented by climatic gradients and the structural characteristics of the landscape. To test this hypothesis, the distributional patterns of 14 large branchiopod species in a set of 177 temporary water bodies repeatedly sampled across Tunisia and on its main islands were analysed. Physical, chemical, morphological and climatic characteristics of the studied water b…
Spatial and environmental effects on a rock-pool metacommunity depend on landscape setting and dispersal mode
2017
Empirical studies on structuring mechanisms of metacommunities usually focus on the major roles of environmental filtering and dispersal. Recent works suggest that the relative importance of these structuring mechanisms differs among organisms with different body size, taxonomic affiliation, and dispersal abilities, and also depends on spatial extent and environmental heterogeneity. However, the effects of physical connectivity among sites and dispersal mode are less commonly considered explicitly in field metacommunity studies. We analysed a rock‐pool animal metacommunity, comparing both environmental and spatial effects between a set of pools in a ravine setting, with ephemeral connecting…
Levels of genetic differentiation and gene flow between four populations of the Scaly-naped Pigeon, Patagioenas squamosa : implications for conservat…
2021
Island-endemic columbid species are particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation, extreme climatic events, and interactions with exotic species. The situation might be even more critical in the case of exploited species, where legal hunting and poaching can severely affect population dynamics. Here we document for the first time the genetic structure of the Scaly-naped Pigeon, Patagioenas squamosa, a Caribbean-endemic columbid species of cynegetic interest, over a large part of its range. Using both mitochondrial DNA and nuclear markers (microsatellites), we investigated gene flow, genetic diversity, and genetic structure among four islands populations originating from Puerto-Rico, …