Search results for "agroecosystems"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
The alien vascular flora of Linosa (Pelagie Islands, Strait of Sicily): update and management proposals
2017
This paper provides an up-to-date overview of the naturalized alien plants of Linosa (Pelagie Archipelago, Sicily), which includes 83 taxa and accounts for 29 % of the total island's flora. Among these plants, 6 are invasive, 49 are naturalized and 28 are casual. With respect to previous available data, our field investigations resulted in the addition of 31 new xenophytes (21 casual and 10 fully naturalized). One of these species is new to the whole European territory (Kleinia anteuphorbia), 6 of them are new to Sicily and 11 are recorded for the first time on circum-Sicilian islets. For each alien plant, we indicate the habitat where the naturalization has been observed by using the codes…
Transgenerational effects of insecticides - implications for rapid pest evolution in agroecosystems
2018
Although pesticides are a major selective force in driving the evolution of insect pests, the evolutionary processes that give rise to insecticide resistance remain poorly understood. Insecticide resistance has been widely observed to increase with frequent and intense insecticide exposure, but can be lost following the relaxation of insecticide use. One possible but rarely explored explanation is that insecticide resistance may be associated with epigenetic modifications, which influence the patterning of gene expression without changing underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, and small RNAs have been observed to be heritable in art…
Peaks of in situ N2O emissions are influenced by N2O producing and reducing microbial communities across arable soils
2018
International audience; Introduction Agriculture is the main source of terrestrial N2O emissions, a potent greenhouse gas and the main cause of ozone depletion ((Hu et al., 2015). The reduction of N2O into N2 by microorganisms carrying the nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) is the only known biological process eliminating this greenhouse gas. Recent studies showed that a previously unknown clade of N2O-reducers (nosZII) was related to the potential capacity of the soil to act as a N2O sink (see Hallin et al., 2017 and references therein). However little is known about how this group responds to different agricultural practices. Here, we investigated how N2O-producers and N2O-reducers were …
Agro-biodiversity evaluation in Sicilian farmlands entered into agri-environment scheme agreements
2009
To test if the application of Rural Development Regulation 1257/1999 played a possible role in maintaining or increasing biodiversity, monitoring of the avifauna has been carried out in 2004-2005. On the whole, 836 point counts were carried out, 418 in spring and 418 in winter, evenly shared between 16 farmlands entered into F2 and F4 agri-environmental measures, and an equal number of “not enhanced” farmlands, which represented test-farms and control-farms, respectively. Between bird frequencies within test-farms and control-farms statistical differences have been dected; farms entered in agri-environmental measures showed, on average, higher values of species, frequency of occurrence and …
Agroecosystems shape population genetic structure of the greenhouse whitefly in Northern and Southern Europe
2014
International audience; Background: To predict further invasions of pests it is important to understand what factors contribute to the genetic structure of their populations. Cosmopolitan pest species are ideal for studying how different agroecosystems affect population genetic structure within a species at different climatic extremes. We undertook the first population genetic study of the greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum), a cosmopolitan invasive herbivore, and examined the genetic structure of this species in Northern and Southern Europe. In Finland, cold temperatures limit whiteflies to greenhouses and prevent them from overwintering in nature, and in Greece, milder tempera…
Historical Landscape Ecology of the Favorita Park in Palermo (Sicily)
2021
Historical Landscape Ecology of the Favorita Park in Palermo
The wild taxa utilized as vegetables in Sicily (Italy): a traditional component of the Mediterranean diet
2018
Background: Wild vegetables in the Mediterranean Basin are still often consumed as a part of the diet and, in particular, there is a great tradition regarding their use in Sicily.In this study, an ethnobotanical field investigation was carried out to (a) identify the wild native taxa traditionally gathered and consumed as vegetables in Sicily, comparing the collected ethnobotanical data with those of other countries that have nominated the Mediterranean diet for inclusion in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and (b) highlight new culinary uses of these plants.Methods: Interviews were carried out in 187 towns and villages in Sicily between 2005 an…
NEW RECORDS OF SPRINGTAILS (COLLEMBOLA) FROM SICILY, ITALY
2022
Along with some studies on soil fauna in various Sicilian sites, both agricultural lands and typical Mediterranean habitats, particular attention was paid to the Collembolan. Specific identification allowed to assess the occurrence in Sicily of 39 species not previously recorded, belonging to 10 families: Hypogastruridae (six species), Brachystomellidae (one species), Neanuridae (five species), Onychiuridae (three species), Tullbergiidae (seven species), Isotomidae (nine species), Entomobryidae (three species), Cyphoderidae (one species), Dicyrtomidae (one species), and Katiannidae (one species). Of these 39 species, 21 are new also for Italy. Furthermore, this is the first record of the ge…
Nitrogen cycling microbial communities: from diversity to interactions and functions
2019
Soil microorganisms form one of the largest biodiversity reservoirs on earth. They also play essential roles in ecosystem functions such as biogeochemical cycling. However, the importance of microbial community diversity and composition for ecosystem functioning is still debated. A sound understanding of the ecological processes governing the assembly of these communities in the environment is also missing. In this talk, I will give examples of how we addressed these knowledge gaps using nitrogen cycling microorganisms as model functional guilds. Nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for crop production in agriculture. The nitrogen cycle is also one which was pushed by human activities out…
Mitigation of N2O emissions in agroecosystems: the role of N2O-reducers
2016
CT3 ; EnjS4 ; Département EA; Mitigation of N2O emissions in agroecosystems: the role of N2O-reducers. 16. International Symposium on Microbial Ecology - ISME16