Search results for "Unity"
showing 10 items of 3852 documents
Ecological Analysis of the Helminth Community of the Wood Mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, along an 18-Year Post-Fire Regeneration Period in a Mediterrane…
2021
The role of helminths of the wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus, as biological indicators of the post-fire regeneration process in Serra Calderona Natural Park, a Mediterranean forest ecosystem located between the provinces of València and Castelló (Valencian Country, Spain), has been analysed for almost twenty years. The helminth ecological analysis of 917 A. sylvaticus (675 originating from the burned area and 242 originating from the control area) has been carried out between the 2nd and 18th post-fire years. The influence of intrinsic (host population density, sex and age) and extrinsic (site, period and year of capture, climate variables) factors on the post-fire evolution of the helminth…
Metacommunities from bacteria to birds: stronger environmental selection in mediterranean than in tropical ponds
2021
AbstractThe metacommunity concept provides a theoretical framework that aims at explaining organism distributions by a combination of environmental filtering, dispersal and drift. With the development of statistical tools to quantify and partially isolate the role of each of these processes, empirical metacommunity studies have multiplied worldwide. However, few works attempt a multi-taxon approach and even fewer compare two distant biogeographical regions using the same methodology. Under this framework, we tested the expectation that temperate (mediterranean-climate) pond metacommunities would be more influenced by environmental and spatial processes than tropical ones, because of stronge…
Trying to link vegetation units with biomass data: the case study of Italian shrublands
2014
Although their carbon stock is relevant in assessing the baseline for the negotiation of future agreements with respect to carbon balance, there still are few available studies concerning the biomass and the net ecosystem exchange capacity of Mediterranean shrublands. In this chapter a preliminary overview on the biomass values concerning Italian shrubland communities and/or their dominant/ characteristic woody species is provided. Many useful data on above- and belowground biomass issued from investigations carried out in other Mediterranean countries and concerning plant communities, which share the same ecological, floristic and structural traits of Italian shrublands. A preliminary find…
Short-term effect of human trampling on the upper infralittoral macroalgae of Ustica Island MPA (western Mediterranean, Italy)
2002
The short-term response of Mediterranean upper infralittoral macroalgal species to experimental human trampling was investigated. Disturbances of six different intensities were applied within the integral reserve of the Ustica Island marine protected area (Italy, Mediterranean Sea). The dominant macroalgal species Cystoseira brachicarpa v. balearica and Dictyota mediterranea were strongly affected by human trampling. Higher levels of disturbance significantly affected both algal percentage cover and canopy at an increasing rate. Three months after trampling, for both variables it was highlighted that the algal recovery from disturbance was incomplete, being significantly different among tra…
Reviving extinct Mediterranean forest communities may improve ecosystem potential in a warmer future
2015
The Mediterranean Basin is the region of Europe most vulnerable to negative climate-change impacts, including forest decline, increased wildfire, and biodiversity loss. Because humans have affected Mediterranean ecosystems for millennia, it is unclear whether the region's native ecosystems were more resilient to climate change than current ecosystems, and whether they would provide sustainable management options if restored. We simulated vegetation with the LandClim model, using present-day climate as well as future climate-change scenarios, in three representative areas that encompass a broad range of Mediterranean conditions and vegetation types. Sedimentary pollen records that document n…
Tertiary relict laurophyll vegetation in the Madonie mountains (Sicily)
2014
Laurel woodlands in the Madonie mountains (Sicily) are characterized by the presence of Laurus nobilis, Rhamnus lojaconoi and Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris. The results of a phytosociological study are presented, and a new endemic association, Rhamno lojaconoi–Lauretum nobilis, is described. Present Mediterranean laurel communities are the result of an adaptive response by Tertiary laurel forest to the peculiar microclimatic conditions that characterize the refugia where they persist. These refugia have been recently considered as a priority habitat under the Directive 92/43/EEC, and their plant communities are very vulnerable. Protection measures of the studied laurel populations are ne…
Steady-state assemblages in a Mediterranean hypertrophic reservoir. The role of Microcystis ecomorphological variability in maintaining an apparent e…
2003
Lake Arancio is a hypertrophic Mediterranean man-made lake, located on the southern coast of Sicily. Its artificial origin and the climate make it a very dynamic environment, strongly characterised by very wide water-level fluctuations. These vertical water movements interfere with the thermal stability of the water body often causing the breaking of the thermocline in mid-summer. In addition, the summer level-decrease influences the nutrient dynamics and modifies the zmix/zeu ratio. All these modifications were observed to support a high environmental variability, which was reflected by the richness of its phytoplankton composition and by its dynamics. Nevertheless, an investigation carrie…
Opportunistic Germination Behaviour of Gypsophila (Caryophyllaceae) in Two Priority Habitats from Semi-arid Mediterranean Steppes
2011
Gypsophila tomentosa and G. struthium are closely related species, characteristic of two European priority habitats, salt and gypsum inland steppes, respectively. Germination strategies of the two taxa were investigated in plants from two nearby populations, growing under the same climatic conditions but on different types of soil, and belonging to different plant communities. Their germination patterns were studied at five constant temperatures in darkness: 5oC, 10oC, 15oC, 20oC and 25oC, and the base temperature and the thermal time requirement were calculated. As the distribution area of both species is subjected to a Mediterranean continental climate with significant differences between…
Aspilota-group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) diversity in Mediterranean Natural Parks of Spain
2014
This work analyses the biodiversity of the Aspilota-group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) in three Mediterranean Natural parks: Natural Park of La Font Roja, Natural Park of Las Lagunas de la Mata-Torrevieja and Natural Park of La Tinença de Benifassà. Samples were carried out from April 2004 to December 2007. In total, 822 specimens, belonging to 52 species, were collected. Alpha, beta and gamma diversities were analysed, and the Tinença Park was proven to have higher diversity than the Font Roja and Torrevieja. Also, the structure of the Aspilota-group community was analysed.
The helminth community of the Mediterranean mouse, Mus spretus, in a post-fire regenerated Mediterranean ecosystem
2007
Abstract The helminth community of the Mediterranean mouse, Mus spretus, was analysed in a post-fire regenerated Mediterranean ecosystem. The study was carried out in the Spanish Natural Park of the Serra Calderona and comprised a 13 year period, from the 2nd to the 14th year after a wildfire. A total of 121 host individuals was analysed, 66 mice from the burned area and 55 from the non-burned area used as control. The results show a helminth community consisting of 10 helminth species, characterised by low diversity, with Syphacia obvelata as the only dominant helminth species. The helminth infracommunity, determined by its origin of capture, burned or non-burned areas, shows some signific…