Search results for "Urbanization"
showing 10 items of 150 documents
Fruits arriving to the west. Introduction of cultivated fruits in the Iberian Peninsula
2021
Agricultural activities, including practices, crops and techniques have evolved throughout history undergoing tremendous changes. From the early Neolithic farmers in the Mediterranean focused on cereal agriculture and only later, during the 4th/3rd millennium cal. BC in the Eastern basin, other species such as fruit trees were introduced into the agrarian system transforming the model that had been in use for millennia. Fruit tree management required innovation and investment and more importantly multi-year foresight as the new crops entailed a new pace of work with delayed returns and, thus, a greater entanglement with the land. Processes of social complexity and urbanization accompanied t…
Landscape Dynamics in Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Castelló de la Plana in the Last Hundred Years
2019
The littoral areas of the Mediterranean coastline have undergone a significant transformation due to their historical and intense human occupation. The result has been an evolution of different cultural landscape configurations, ranging from those with a marked agrarian character to artificial ones derived from the process of urbanisation and metropolitan growth. The objective of this paper is to define a model to characterise landscape types and units that explains the landscape dynamics (1910-2015) in Mediterranean coastal spaces at local scale, taking as study area the municipality and surroundings of Castelló de la Plana, in Spain. The aim is to identify the way in which society has app…
Isotope evidence for the use of marine resources in the Eastern Iberian Mesolithic
2014
There are relatively few coastal Mesolithic sites in the Iberian Mediterranean region, probably due to a number of factors including sea level changes and the disappearance of sites due to agriculture and urbanisation. However, recent excavations have uncovered inland sites that have marine faunal remains (i.e. molluscs and fish) and lithics from the coastal area, which both indicate interactions between the coast and the upland valleys. These inland sites are located at a distance of 30-50km from today's coastline and are at altitudes higher than 1000m. We report on additional information on the links between the coast and these inland sites through the use of dietary isotope analysis (car…
Lifestyle-Induced Microbial Gradients: An Indian Perspective
2019
Introduction: Urbanization is a globally pervasive trend. Although urban settings provide better access to infrastructure and opportunities, urban lifestyles have certain negative consequences on human health. A number of recent studies have found interesting associations between the structure of human gut microbiota and the prevalence of metabolic conditions characterizing urban populations. The present study attempts to expand the footprint of these investigations to an Indian context. The objectives include elucidating specific patterns and gradients based on resident habitat and lifestyles (i.e., tribal and urban) that characterize gut microbial communities. Methods: Available 16S rRNA …
One Health Approach to Zoonotic Parasites: Molecular Detection of Intestinal Protozoans in an Urban Population of Norway Rats, Rattus norvegicus, in …
2021
Rattus norvegicus, the brown or Norway rat, is the most abundant mammal after humans in urban areas, where they live in close proximity to people. Among rodent-borne diseases, the reservoir role of Norway rats of zoonotic parasites in cities has practically been ignored. Considering the parasitic diseases in the One Health approach, we intended to identify and quantify the zoonotic intestinal protozoans (ZIP) in an urban population of R. norvegicus in the city of Barcelona, Spain. We studied the presence of ZIP in 100 rats trapped in parks (n = 15) as well as in the city’s sewage system (n = 85) in the winter of 2016/17. The protozoans were molecularly identified by means of a multiplex PCR…
The socio-ecology of zoonotic infections
2011
The resurgence of infectious diseases of zoonotic origin observed in recent years imposes a major morbidity/mortality burden worldwide, and also a major economic burden that extends beyond pure medical costs. The resurgence and epidemiology of zoonoses are complex and dynamic, being influenced by varying parameters that can roughly be categorized as human-related, pathogen-related, and climate/environment-related; however, there is significant interplay between these factors. Human-related factors include modern life trends such as ecotourism, increased exposure through hunting or pet owning, and culinary habits, industrialization sequelae such as farming/food chain intensification, globali…
Impervious Surfaces Alter Soil Bacterial Communities in Urban Areas: A Case Study in Beijing, China
2018
The rapid expansion of urbanization has caused land cover change, especially the increasing area of impervious surfaces. Such alterations have significant effects on the soil ecosystem by impeding the exchange of gasses, water, and materials between soil and the atmosphere. It is unclear whether impervious surfaces have any effects on soil bacterial diversity and community composition. In the present study, we conducted an investigation of bacterial communities across five typical land cover types, including impervious surfaces (concrete), permeable pavement (bricks with round holes), shrub coverage (Buxus megistophylla Levl.), lawns (Festuca elata Keng ex E. Alexeev), and roadside trees (S…
Current Thoughts on the Neolithisation Process of the Western Mediterranean
2017
The analysis of the Neolithisation process constitutes a recurrent theme in the scientific literature given the fundamental change for human populations implied in the transition from a hunting-fishing-gathering economy to one based on domestication and food production. Nonetheless, the majority of the regional syntheses on a European scale published to date have dealt mainly with the historical narrative of the process, focusing on discussing the Neolithisation process from a demographic and/or cultural perspective. In this respect, the work of Ammerman and Cavalli Sforza (1984) without doubt constituted a turning point in a number of aspects relevant to the study of the Neolithisation of …
Urban dynamics, mobilities and transport in the Algerian Southwest (wilayas of Adrar and Bechar)
2012
Between a regional perspective of the territorial (spatial) planning and a geopolitical vision of the region " Sahel, the Maghreb ", the Algerian State made a commitment since the second decade of its independence not only to develop transport in the Saharan zones but also to set up the necessary equipments for the economical and social development of these zones, by serving almost the totality of the urban areas. In the Southwest, this dynamics remodelled profoundly the relational space in Saoura, Gourara and Touat.Structured formerly by the roads of the trans-Saharan caravan business, this space opens up, attributes new functions and becomes urbanized. A new reorganization of the space is…
The Necessary Integration of Green Infrastructures in the Public Transport Infrastructure Design
2021
The spatial planning of the new infrastructures for the urban mobility can provide the opportunity for the development of the urban green areas toward the condition of a healthy city. Elements such as architectural, heritage, and landscape centralities can lead to build a converging point between the two infrastructural systems of green and mobility. The development of the new urban railway lines in the city of Palermo (Italy) offers the chance to apply an integrated approach to the field. The local potentials of the biodiversity on one side and the fragmented landscape and environment systems on the other side build the framework for the development of a case study oriented to the enhancem…