Search results for "Trees"

Are Sicilian forests at less risk of invasion by alien plants?

Climate change could facilitate the spread of invasive alien plants by making plant communities and individuals weaker and less competitive. Indeed, alien plants are generally more adapted to the rapidly changing environmental conditions that are being determined in the coming decades. Moreover, while alien plants have, until recent years, mainly affected synanthropic communities and man-made habitats, they are increasingly able to affect also more complex natural communities such as forests. The talk will show some Sicilian cases.

Functional Redundancy and Complementarities of Seed Dispersal by the Last Neotropical Megafrugivores

2013

Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-27T11:28:22Z No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2014-05-27T14:42:48Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 2-s2.0-84873586375.pdf: 1508075 bytes, checksum: 7e697f6c67a83195e9b0cb525355980e (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-27T11:28:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-02-07 Background: Functional redundancy has been debated largely in ecology and conservation, yet we lack detailed empirical studies on the roles of functionally similar species in ecosystem function. Large bodied frugivores may disperse similar plant species and have strong impact on plant recruitment in tropical forests. Th…

IMPOVERISHMENT OF SICILIAN (ITALY) HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASSETS BY AN ALIEN INSECT SPECIES: THE CASE OF THE RED PALM WEEVIL.

2012

Alien invasive species (IAS) have a disastrous impact on the biodiversity, cultural heritage and economy of a geographic area. The case of the Red Palm Weevil (RPW), an IAS that attacks the non-native palm species Phoenix canariensis, but also native species Chaemerops humilis, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, is reported. These palm trees have played an important role in Sicilian history and cultural heritage since the period of the Arab invasion. The accidental introduction of the RPW has remarkably changed the Sicilian panorama. In this study the chronology and the severity of the effects of RPW on palms so far detected, is reported. In only 7 years the RPW has drastically chang…

Phytoseiid mites associated with forest trees in two "Natura 2000" locations: S.Adrian woods (Sicily) and Fraktò virgin forest (Greece).

2009

Araucaria columnaris (Araucariaceae) casual alien in Sicily

2021

The first case of spontaneous regeneration of Araucaria columnaris in Europe is reported. Data are given on the taxon and on the Sicilian site where A. columnaris - native to New Caledonia (Australia) - tends to spread autonomously.

Schede 27/36. In: Schicchi, R, Raimondo, FM. Schede per il censimento degli alberi monumentali di Sicilia 27-36.

2012

Sicilian monumental trees reports. 27-36. – The reports 27-36 concerning unpublished monumental trees surveyed in Sicily are here presented. They are: the Almond tree of Rifesi Santuary [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb var. dul- cis]; the Ash tree (Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl subsp. angustifolia) in Alefina land and Tusa country; the Olive trees (Olea euro- paea L. subsp. europaea var. europaea) in the following lands: Murro, Fontecà and Serra Bruno; the largest Apple tree of Crescimanno (Malus crescimannoi Raimondo) and the Hawthorn tree (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.) of Piano Menta; the Willow tree of Mangalaviti Homes (Salix alba L. subsp. vitellina ) and the Common Yew of Tassita Wood (Tax…

Impoverishment of Sicilian (Italy) historical and cultural assets by an alien insect species:the case study of the Real Palm Weevil

2012

Microorganisms and insects have a disastrous impact on the biodiversity, cultural heritage and economy of a geographic area. However, in recent decades, the negative effects of invasive alien species (IAS), including both animal and plant or microorganisms occurring outside their natural distribution range, are generally not well known. Invasive alien species are most often found in or near urban areas, as well as throughout the settled landscape. According to the World Conservation Union, IUCN 2012, IAS represent the second most significant threat to biodiversity after resource depletion of habitats, becoming predators, competitors, parasites, hybridizers and diseases for native plants and…

Schede per il censimento degli alberi monumentali di Sicilia. 37-43

2013

The reports 37-50 concerning unpublished monumental trees sur- veyed in Sicily are here presented. They are: the Cherry tree of Ciccio Faranda, the Almond tree of Corte del Sole [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb var. dulcis], the Olive trees (Olea europaea L. var. europaea) in the following lands: Innari, Maviti, Misilmeri and Favorita Park; the Common pear (Pyrus communis L.) of the Pistacchiera.

Words, Trees and Automata Minimization

2013

In this paper we explore some connections between some combinatorial properties of words and the study of extremal cases of the automata minimization process. An intermediate role is played by the notion od word trees for which some properties of words are generalized. In particular, we describe an infinite family of binary automata, called word automata and constructed by using standard sturmian words and more specifically Fibonacci words, that represent the extremal case of some well known automata minimization algorithms, such as Moore’s and Hopcroft’s methods. As well as giving an overview of the main results in this context, the main purpose of this paper is to prove that, even if a re…

Monitoring tropical forests under a functional perspective with satellite-based vegetation optical depth.

2020

Monitoring ecosystem functions in forests is a priority in a climate change scenario, as climate-induced events may initially alter the functions more than slow-changing attributes, such as biomass. The ecosystem functional properties (EFPs) are quantities that characterize key ecosystem processes. They can be derived by point observations of gas and energy exchanges between the ecosystems and the atmosphere that are collected globally at FLUXNET flux tower sites and upscaled at ecosystem level. The properties here considered describe the ability of ecosystems to optimize the use of resources for carbon uptake. They represent functional forest information, are dependent on environmental dri…