Search results for "bioindicator"
showing 10 items of 97 documents
Ellenberg Indicator Values for the vascular flora alien to Italy
2018
Studies to date about plants alien to Italy have had limited focus on the ecology of this component of the flora. Ellenberg's indicator values are a useful tool to delineate the relationship between plants and environment, recognizing for each species a functional role as biological indicator; these values have been proposed for estimating the influence of the main environmental factors in determining flora and vegetation changes on a specific surface area. This contribution includes a list of 1206 taxa of plants naturalized in at least one administrative region or casual in at least three regions of Italy. In addition, some methodological considerations on the attribution and use of Ellenb…
The morphological diversity within a species can obscure the correct identification
2022
Critical points of various diagnostic characters and a paucity of information relating to the geographical distribution of several marine species can hinder real species delimitation, particularly if they are supposed to be cosmopolitan. Such constraints characterize many amphipod species and are mainly due to the variation in morphological characters during growth. Specifically, the benthic filter-feeding corophiid Cheiriphotis mediterranea Myers, 1983 displays different shapes for the male gnathopod 2 as it grows. This variation has hitherto never been described but an extensive sampling has provided us with the opportunity of studying it in detail. More than six thousand individuals, bel…
Risposta dei bioindicatori della qualità del suolo alla diversa fertilizzazione di un aranceto nell’ Italia Meridionale
2013
Lo scopo della ricerca è stato quello di valutare i cambiamenti indotti dalle diverse tipologie di fertilizzazione sui parametri chimici e biologici di un suolo. Il suolo dell’agro di Lentini (SR, Sicilia), coltivato ad arancio da oltre 50 anni, a partire dal 1995 secondo il metodo biologico , omogeneo per portinnesto e cultivar, è stato addizionato con 4 diversi tipi di fertilizzanti (pollina, minerale, compost da pastazzo e letame). Quattro profili di suolo, ciascuno per tipo di fertilizzazione, sono stati campionati e studiati secondo la sequenza degli orizzonti genetici. In totale 18 campioni orizzonte-specifici di suolo sono stati prelevati e sottoposti ad analisi per valutare il conte…
DNA Damage and Developmental Defects After Exposure to UV and Heavy Metals in Sea Urchin Cells and Embryos Compared to Other Invertebrates
2005
The depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and the resulting increase in hazardous ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation reaching the Earth are of major concern not only for terrestrial but also for aquatic organisms. UV-B is able to penetrate clear water to ecologically significant depths. This chapter deals with the effects of UV radiation on DNA integrity in marine benthic organisms, in particular sea urchins in comparison to other marine invertebrates (sponges and corals). These animals cannot escape the damaging effects of UV-B radiation and may be additionally exposed to pollution from natural or anthropogenic sources. Besides eggs and larvae that lack a protective epidermal layer and ar…
Lacustrine profundal meiobenthos as an environmental indicator
1992
Organic loading and eutrophy is indicated at profundal depths by large numbers of resting copepodid stages of cyclopoid copepods, by the occurrence of the naidid oligochaete species, Amphichaeta leydigii and Specariajosinae, and the harpacticoid species Canthocamptus staphylinus, and by a low meiobenthos/ macrobenthos biomass ratio. An oligotrophic environment is indicated by the occurrence of the aeolo-somatid oligochaetes Aeolosoma quaternarium, A. hemprichi and Rheomorpha neiswestnovae, the naidid oligochaete Chaetogaster langi and the harpacticoid species Attheyella crassa and a high meiobenthos/ macrobenthos biomass ratio.
Contribution to development of microbial bioindicators for assessing the impact of agricultural pratices on soil
2015
Soil is the support of agricultural production. It performs many functions essential to the provision of ecosystem services necessary for the well-being of our societies. Soil physicochemical and biological properties have been altered by the development of intensive agriculture while it is a non-renewable resource, revealing the need to develop new management practices suitable for the sustainability of soil quality. This also marked the entry into the “Agroecology” era, which promotes the development of new agricultural systems optimizing services provided by biodiversity to reduce the use of inputs and energy use. To achieve this aim, the development of a range of indicators to assess th…
The use of zooplankton metrics to determine the trophic status and ecological potential: An approach in a large Mediterranean watershed.
2021
In the European Water Framework Directive, zooplankton was not included as a Biological Quality Element despite its important place in the aquatic trophic web. In the present study on zooplankton abundances and biomasses, we used several metrics to test their ability to detect differences among trophic statuses and ecological potential levels, and collected a large sum of data in more than 60 reservoirs at Ebro watershed, on more than 300 sampling occasions over 10 years. Our results indicate that most zooplankton metrics are correlated to environmental variables that determine reservoirs’ trophic states, especially chlorophyll a and total phosphorus. The metrics with better sensitivity to …
Lichen microalgae are sensitive to environmental concentrations of atrazine
2017
The identification of new organisms for environmental toxicology bioassays is currently a priority, since these tools are strongly limited by the ecological relevance of taxa used to study global change. Lichens are sensitive bioindicators of air quality and their microalgae are an untapped source for new low-cost miniaturized bioassays with ecological importance. In order to increase the availability of a wider range of taxa for bioassays, the sensitivity of two symbiotic lichen microalgae, Asterochloris erici and Trebouxia sp. TR9, to atrazine was evaluated. To achieve this goal, axenic cultures of these phycobionts in suspension were exposed to a range of environmental concentrations of …
Statistical characterisation of heavy metal contents inParacentrotus lividusfrom Mediterranean Sea
2014
This work focuses on the estimation of Hg, As, Cr, Ni, Cu, V, Cd and Pb by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in 135 adult specimens of Paracentrotus lividus collected in different coastal areas of Sicily (Gela, Punta Secca, Ragusa (RG), Siracusa, Priolo, Catania, Messina, Milazzo, Brolo and Filicudi), in order to monitor the Mediterranean marine ecosystem by use of sea urchin as bioindicator. Moreover, the paper deals with the statistical classification of the tested samples according to the sampling area based on metal concentrations. The descriptive statistics findings were obtained and, a starting multivariate matrix was built. Data-sets were subjected to Kruskal-Wallis test t…
New data on Calomera panormitana panormitana (Ragusa, 1906) in Sicily (Coleoptera Cicindelidae)
2021
Calomera panormitana panormitana (Ragusa, 1906) (Coleoptera Cicindelidae) is an endemic species of Sicily, of remarkable biogeographic and ecological importance. It belongs to a small group of species of eastern Mediterranean distribution and it is peculiar for living on the low rocky coasts, near the sea. In this paper we provide new and summarized data on the presence of this species in Sicily. We examined its habitat, ecology and phenology in detail, and we provide useful elements for a better protection. In particular, the presence of this species also in some small islands, located at a short distance from the coast, highlights the presence of important refuge areas to be protected and…