Search results for "SCALE"
showing 10 items of 5180 documents
LTSER platforms as a place-based transdisciplinary research infrastructure: learning landscape approach through evaluation
2019
Context: Place-based transdisciplinary research involves multiple academic disciplines and non-academic actors. Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) platform is one concept with ~ 80 initiatives globally. Objectives: As an exercise in learning through evaluation we audited (1) the siting, construction and maintenance of individual LTSER platforms, and (2) them as a distributed infrastructure for place-based transdisciplinary research with focus on the European continent. Methods: First, we defined a normative model for ideal performance at both platform and network levels. Second, four surveys were sent out to the 67 self-reported LTSER platforms officially listed at the end of 2016.…
Temporal turnover of the soil microbiome composition is guild-specific.
2021
Although spatial and temporal variation are both important components structuring microbial communities, the exact quantification of temporal turnover rates of fungi and bacteria has not been performed to date. In this study, we utilised repeated resampling of bacterial and fungal communities at specific locations across multiple years to describe their patterns and rates of temporal turnover. Our results show that microbial communities undergo temporal change at a rate of 0.010-0.025 per year (in units of Sorensen similarity), and the change in soil is slightly faster in fungi than in bacteria, with bacterial communities changing more rapidly in litter than soil. Importantly, temporal deve…
Squamation and ecology of thelodonts
2017
Thelodonts are an enigmatic group of Paleozoic jawless vertebrates that have been well studied from taxonomical, biostratigraphic and paleogeographic points of view, although our knowledge of their ecology and mode of life is still scant. Their bodies were covered by micrometric scales whose morphology, histology and the developmental process are extremely similar to those of extant sharks. Based on these similarities and on the well-recognized relationship between squamation and ecology in sharks, here we explore the ecological diversity and lifestyles of thelodonts. For this we use classic morphometrics and discriminant analysis to characterize the squamation patterns of a significant num…
Multi-zone marine protected areas: Assessment of ecosystem and fisheries benefits using multiple ecosystem models
2020
12 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, 1 appendix supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105232
Spatial genetic structure in the saddled sea bream (Oblada melanura [Linnaeus, 1758]) suggests multi-scaled patterns of connectivity between protecte…
2016
Marine protected areas (MPAs) and networks of MPAs are advocated worldwide for the achievement of marine conservation objectives. Although the knowledge about population connectivity is considered fundamental for the optimal design of MPAs and networks, the amount of information available for the Mediterranean Sea is currently scarce. We investigated the genetic structure of the saddled sea bream (Oblada melanura) and the level of genetic connectivity between protected and unprotected locations, using a set of 11 microsatellite loci. Spatial patterns of population differentiation were assessed locally (50–100 km) and regionally (500–1000 km), considering three MPAs of the Western Mediterran…
New Mediterranean records of Trabutina mannipara (Hemprich & Ehrenberg 1829) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae)
2018
The occurrence of Trabutina mannipara (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1829) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) is reported for the first time at Linosa (Pelagian Islands, Sicily Channel, Italy) and Libya. T. mannipara was approved by USA authorities for release as biocontrol agents against invasive saltcedars. The potential impact of this species, that in the Mediterranean area showed to be occasionally invasive, is discussed.
Recreational and small-scale fisheries may pose a threat to vulnerable species in coastal and offshore waters of the western Mediterranean
2019
10 pages, 3 figures, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz071
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,…
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 …
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…