Search results for "allochthonous"

Social–ecological connections across land, water, and sea demand a reprioritization of environmental management

2022

International audience; Despite many sectors of society striving for sustainability in environmental management, humans often fail to identify and act on the connections and processes responsible for social-ecological tipping points. Part of the problem is the fracturing of environmental management and social-ecological research into ecosystem domains (land, freshwater, and sea), each with different scales and resolution of data acquisition and distinct management approaches. We present a perspective on the social-ecological connections across ecosystem domains that emphasize the need for management reprioritization to effectively connect these domains. We identify critical nexus points rel…

GEOCHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL FINGERPRINTS OF THE SEDIMENTS SUPPLY AND EARLY DIAGENETIC PROCESSES IN THE BIZERTE LAGOON (TUNISIA)

2016

International audience; The Bizerte Lagoon (Tunisia) functions as a sedimentation environment characterized by receiving allochthonous sediments mainly transported by the Ben Hassine, Rharek and Guenich streams, as well as marine sediments from the Mediterranean Sea. It is subjected to significantenvironmental changes due to the natural and anthropic influences altering the natural patterns of circulation, extraction and/or deposition of mineralogical materials. The aim of this investigation is to analyze the sediments supply and early diagenetic processes in Bizerte Lagoon. Thephyicochemical parameter of the sediment pore water, as well as their texture, mineralogical composition (X-Ray di…

Seabird influence on ecological processes in coastal marine ecosystems: An overlooked role? A critical review

2021

Abstract Seabirds are vital, but overlooked, components of coastal marine ecosystems and may connect the marine and terrestrial environment at a global scale, significantly contributing to inter-habitat connectivity and the provision of multiple ecosystem services. Although the ecological and functional role of birds in terrestrial areas, islands in particular, has been deeply studied since the last century, the same does not hold true for coastal marine areas. Given the importance of coastal areas for seabirds worldwide and, at the same time, the high vulnerability of both, looking into the role of seabirds in influencing the ecosystem functioning in coastal areas is needed nowadays. Here,…

Mammals of Italy: An annotated checklist

2019

Checklists represent a basic tool for conservation and management of regional faunas. However, our knowledge on species composition in a territory changes over time due to species movements across borders, extinctions, introductions, as well as to new taxonomic evidence. We aimed to provide the most updated data on native and non-native species of mammals occurring, or that used to occur until recently, on the Italian political territory and seas. The checklist only includes species whose taxonomic status was explicitly agreed in the most recent peer-reviewed literature and based on the most updated taxonomic approaches. For each species, we provided the following information: scientific an…

Contamination by trace metals and their trophic transfer to the biota in a Mediterranean coastal system affected by gull guano

2013

Transitional environments are vulnerable interface systems, ecologically connected with adjacent systems by several biotic or abiotic flows. The coastal system of the Marinello ponds (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is affected by a colony of yellow-legged gulls Larus michahellis (Naumann, 1840), resident on the cliff beside the ponds. To investigate the role of the gull colony as a potential source of allochthonous non-essential trace metals (As, Cd, Pb and total mercury, THg) and the consequent metal trophic transfer to the biota in the ponds, we collected guano, surface sediment and biota from 3 ponds with different levels of avian input. The highest concentrations were observed in guano and surf…

First molecular evidences for the synonimy of Ferrissia wautieri and F. fragilis(MOLLUSCA: PULMONATA: ANCYLIDAE

2011

Although some fossil records attributed to the freshwater limpet genus Ferrissia testify for an ancient occurrence of the genus in Europe, its presence was completely overlooked till the twentieth century, when an increasing amount of records throughout the whole continent peaked out with the description of a new species, Ferrissia wautieri, based on specimens collected in northern Italy. In the last few years, an ever increasing number of records reporting the occurrence of Ferrissia species throughout Europe have been published, but an agreement on the taxonomical identity of the European populations is currently missing. Recent molecular studies aimed at investigating the identity of Pal…

A review on the animal xenodiversity in Sicilian inland waters (Italy)

2015

This paper reviews the available knowledge about faunal xenodiversity in Sicilian inland waters (Italy). The aim is to provide an updated checklist and bibliography of those non-indigenous species (NIS) which occur in the island, and to identify possible threats to its native biological diversity. Data were collected through an extensive literature search which encompassed also local journals, books, congress abstracts, and other grey literature. All the collected data were critically revised and, when possible, verified by consulting available collections or through dedicated sampling surveys. Only those data contained in reports indicating precise occurrence localities, which were confirm…

Variation in zooplankton diets in contrasting small lakes, inferred from stable isotope analyses

2007

The second life of terrestrial and plastic carbon as nutritionally valuable food for aquatic consumers

2023

Primary production is the basis for energy and biomolecule flow in food webs. Nutritional importance of terrestrial and plastic carbon via mixotrophic algae to upper trophic level is poorly studied. We explored this question by analysing the contribution of osmo- and phagomixotrophic species in boreal lakes and used 13C-labelled materials and compound-specific isotopes to determine biochemical fate of carbon backbone of leaves, lignin–hemicellulose and polystyrene at four-trophic level experiment. Microbes prepared similar amounts of amino acids from leaves and lignin, but four times more membrane lipids from lignin than leaves, and much less from polystyrene. Mixotrophic algae (Cryptomonas…

How important are terrestrial organic carbon inputs for secondary production in freshwater ecosystems?

2017

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