Search results for "VEGETATION"

Il complesso delle Latomie a Siracusa: un bene culturale e ambientale da rivalutare.

2012

The authors present the results of a botanical study dealing with the gardens of the Latomie, a complex of spectacular quarries in Syracuse (Sicily) used in ancient times to get stones for building the Greek town, and today totally enclosed by the urban expansion. The present conditions of each garden are analysed as regards the primary arrangement and their exotic and wild flora in order to emphasize both the historical and cultural value, as well as the ecological and natural role of these particular archaeological sites. The presence of significant patches of natural vegetation, together with the development of dangerous invasive plants, suggest urgent actions for the management and valo…

Experimental investigation of flow characteristics in vegetated channels

2006

Classification of tall-forb vegetation in the Pamir-Alai and western Tian Shan Mountains (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Middle Asia)

2020

Aims: To complete the syntaxonomic scheme for tall-forb vegetation of the montane and alpine belts in the Pamir-Alai and western Tian Shan Mountains in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with some remarks on its environmental predictors. Study area: Middle Asia: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Methods: A total of 244 relevés were sampled in 2013–2019 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of the Braun-Blanquet approach. These were classified with a modified TWINSPAN algorithm with pseudospecies cut-levels 0%, 5% and 25%, and total inertia as a measure of cluster heterogeneity. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. NMDS was used to explore the relationsh…

The Italian endemic forest plants: an annotated inventory and synthesis of knowledge

2023

Background and aims – Forests are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, and endemic plants are often a vulnerable component of the flora of a given territory. So far, however, understory forest endemics of southern Europe have received little attention and are poorly known for several aspects. Material and methods – We developed the first list of native vascular plants that are restricted to Italian forests. Available information on taxonomy, regional distribution, ecology, biology, functional traits, and conservation status was collected for each taxon, allowing to identify major knowledge gaps and calculate baseline statistics. Key results – The list includes 134 taxa, most of w…

Monitoring deforestation and forest degradation linking high-resolution satellite data and field data in the context of REDD+. A case of Tanzania

2017

El principal objetivo de este doctorado es apoyar el desarrollo de un sistema nacional de monitoreo forestal en Tanzania para informar sobre las emisiones actuales e históricas derivadas de la deforestación y la degradación forestal. El marco de la tesis se centra específicamente en el emergente contexto internacional de la iniciativa REDD + (Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación) de las Naciones Unidas, bajo la cual los países pueden obtener subsidios financieros para demostrar que están reduciendo sus emisiones de carbono de tierras forestales con respecto a su práctica histórica reciente. La investigación se centró en cinco áreas de investigación: La parte (1) revisa los…

Protection of Trees against Lightning Strikes as a Measure to Prevent Fires and Loss of Human Life

2021

Lighting strikes have been the catalyst of massive uncontrolled fires in areas of combustible vegetation. In some regions, lightning strikes may be a relatively unusual occurrence (e.g., California), but instead they seem to have become a major contributor to the propagation of wildfires, as a byproduct of climate change. Given such unusual weather, wildfires originating from lightning are an increasing threat. In this paper, the authors discuss the withstand capability of trees against lightning and introduce a proactive approach to prevent wildfires by the deployment of tree lighting protection systems (TLPS) to protect forested areas, where deemed necessary by the tree risk assessment.

The Coastal Levantine Area

2017

The Coastal Levantine area is a very diverse territory situated between the Cap de Creus and the Cap de la Nau. The wide variety of environments and ecological conditions that occur in this area determine its great diversity and richness from the vegetation point of view. Forest composition depends mainly on climatic factors, geomorphology and soil features, and are currently dominated by evergreen sclerophyllous (Quercus ilex, Q. rotundifolia, Q. suber), conifer (Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster, P. pinea, P. salzmannii, P. sylvestris), and deciduous (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea) and semi-deciduous (Quercus faginea, Q. canariensis, Q. pubescens, Q. pyrenaica) species in inland areas with…

Terpenoid composition and origin of amber from the Cape York Peninsula, Australia

2014

The terpenoid composition of fossil resin from the Cape York Peninsula, Australia has been analysed by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) to determine its origin. The pyrolysis products were dominated by cadalene-based C15 bicyclic sesquiterpenoids including some C30–C31 bicadinanes and bicadinenes typical of Class II resin derived from angiosperm plants of Dipterocarpaceae. This observation contrasts with the Araucariaceae (Agathis sp.) source previously suggested for the resin based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses. Dipterocarpaceae are not known in Australian vegetation but grow abundantly in Southeast Asia including New Guinea, indicating that the geo…

Expected trends and surprises in the Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation history of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands

2010

18 páginas, 13 figuras.

Modelling of piping collapses and gully headcut landforms: Evaluating topographic variables from different types of DEM

2021

Abstract The geomorphic studies are extremely dependent on the quality and spatial resolution of digital elevation model (DEM) data. The unique terrain characteristics of a particular landscape are derived from DEM, which are responsible for initiation and development of ephemeral gullies. As the topographic features of an area significantly influences on the erosive power of the water flow, it is an important task the extraction of terrain features from DEM to properly research gully erosion. Alongside, topography is highly correlated with other geo-environmental factors i.e. geology, climate, soil types, vegetation density and floristic composition, runoff generation, which ultimately inf…