Search results for "Trait"

Life history traits to predict biogeographic species distributions in bivalves

2015

Organismal fecundity (F) and its relationship with body size (BS) are key factors in predicting species distribution under current and future scenarios of global change. A functional trait-based dynamic energy budget (FT-DEB) is proposed as a mechanistic approach to predict the variation of F and BS as function of environmental correlates using two marine bivalves as model species (Mytilus galloprovincialis and Brachidontes pharaonis). Validation proof of model skill (i.e., degree of correspondence between model predictions and field observations) and stationarity (i.e., ability of a model generated from data collected at one place/time to predict processes at another place/time) was provid…

Predicting biological invasions in marine habitats through eco-physiological mechanistic models: a case study with the bivalveBrachidontes pharaonis

2013

Aim We used a coupled biophysical ecology (BE)-physiological mechanistic modelling approach based on the Dynamic Energy Budget theory (DEB, Dynamic energy budget theory for metabolic organisation, 2010, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; DEB) to generate spatially explicit predictions of physiological performance (maximal size and reproductive output) for the invasive mussel, Brachidontes pharaonis. Location We examined 26 sites throughout the central Mediterranean Sea. Methods We ran models under subtidal and intertidal conditions; hourly weather and water temperature data were obtained from the Italian Buoy Network, and monthly CHL-a data were obtained from satellite imagery. Results …

Short-term exposure to concurrent biotic and abiotic stressors may impair farmed molluscs performance

2022

Global warming, through increasing temperatures, may facilitate the spread and proliferation of outbreak-forming species which may find favourable substrate conditions on artificial aquaculture structures. The presence of stinging organisms (cnidarian hydroids) in the facilities fouling community are a source of pollution that can cause critical problems when in-situ underwater cleaning processes are performed. Multiple stressor experiments were carried out to investigate the cumulative effect on farmed mussels' functional traits when exposed to realistic stressful conditions, including presence of harmful cnidarian cells and environmental conditions of increasing temperature and short-term…

Functional traits, mechanistic bioenergetics and microclimatic downscaling of marine ectotherms

2014

Functional traits of two co-occurring sea urchins across a barren/forest patch system

2013

Abstract Temperate rocky reefs may occur in two alternative states (coralline barrens and erect algal forests), whose formation and maintenance are often determined by sea urchin grazing. The two sea urchin species Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula are considered to play a similar ecological role despite their differing morphological traits and diets. The patchy mosaic areas of Ustica Island, Italy, offer an ideal environment in which to study differences in the performance of P. lividus and A. lixula in barren versus forest states. Results show that the two sea urchin species differ in diet, trophic position, grazing adaptation, movement ability and fitness in both barren and forest…

An account on the non-malacostracan crustacean fauna from the inland waters of Crete, Greece, with the synonymization of Arctodiaptomus piliger Brehm…

2019

The Mediterranean bioregion is widely recognised as a biodiversity hotspot and its inland waters are among the species richest ecosystems of the northern hemisphere. However, the extent of such biodiversity has not been totally unravelled, especially in the Mediterranean islands. Here we present a first account of the crustaceans inhabiting 21 permanent and temporary ponds in Crete, the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The ponds, sampled between 2009 and 2018, cover all the island surface even though their number cannot be considered exhaustive to represent the entire non-malacostracan fauna of the island. Nevertheless, 46 taxa were identif…

Predictive mechanistic bioenergetics to model habitat suitability of shellfish culture in coastal lakes

2014

Quantitative tools based on mechanistic modelling of functional traits able to enhance the sustainability of aquaculture and most other human activities (i.e. reducing the likelihood of detrimental impacts optimising productions), are especially important factors in the decision to site aquaculture facilities in coastal lakes, ponds and lagoons and, in the case of detrimental impact, to adopt mitigation measures. We tested the ability of mechanistic functional trait based models to predict life history traits of cultivable shellfish in shallow coastal lakes. Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models were run to generate spatially explicit predictions of Mytilus galloprovincialis life history (LH) …

Crostacei Anfipodi associati ai reef di Sabellaria alveolata (Annelida: Sabellariidae) del Canale di Sicilia (Mar Mediterraneo)

2015

We describe diversity and patterns of spatial distribution of the amphipod fauna associated with reefs of the polychaete Sabellaria alveolata (L.) in the Sicily Strait. Samples were collected in June 2013, at three localities. Amphipod assemblages appeared homogeneous in the study area with variability increasing with decreasing spatial scale of observation. Jassa ocia (Bate) and Gammaropsis ulrici Krapp-Schickel & Myers characterized the studied assemblages.

Thinking beyond organism energy use: a trait-based bioenergetic mechanistic approach for predictions of life history traits in marine organisms

2014

The functional trait-based bioenergetic approach is emergent in many ecological spectra, from the conservation of natural resources to mitigation and adaptation strategies in a global climate change context. Such an approach relies on being able to exploit mechanistic rules to connect environmental human-induced variability to functional traits (i.e. all those specific traits defining species in terms of their ecological roles) and use these to provide estimates of species life history traits (LH; e.g. body size, fecundity per life span, number of reproductive events). LHs are species-specific and proximate determinants of population characteristics in a certain habitat. They represent the …

Un contributo ‘palermitano’ al ciclo giulio-claudio di Centuripe

2021

The Julio-Claudian portraits from Centuripe. A contribution from Palermo · The sculptural group of Julio-Claudian princes from Centuripe (en, Sicily) deserves an in-depth analysis after the recent works by R. Patané, who collected a lot of data and proposed a new interpretation of the whole context. Patané’s proposals are discussed starting from two pieces in the Regional Archaeological Museum “Antonino Salinas” at Palermo. A fragment of a cuirassed statue, discovered in the 19th century near the Chiesa del Crocifisso (that is, near the “Edificio degli Augustali”, at that time not yet discovered), is similar to several fragments belonging to three to six different statues of the Julio-Claud…