Search results for "flora"

The intestinal ecosystem and probiotics

2016

The term "probiotic" comes from the greek "pro bios" and means "pro life": Nowadays, an increasing number of pharmaceutical preparations and functional foods are enriched with probiotics and for the patients it is increasingly important to receive information needed to know how to orient in the choice. The benefits from probiotics are many and include the modulation of the intestinal microflora (stimulation of beneficial bacteria and inhibition of pathogens), the support of bowel function and the stimulation of the immune system. This broad spectrum of beneficial effects to maintain efficient the intestinal ecosystem. Therefore, probiotics are an useful tool to prevent the formation of diso…

Consistent phenological shifts in the making of a biodiversity hotspot: the Cape flora

2011

Abstract Background The best documented survival responses of organisms to past climate change on short (glacial-interglacial) timescales are distributional shifts. Despite ample evidence on such timescales for local adaptations of populations at specific sites, the long-term impacts of such changes on evolutionary significant units in response to past climatic change have been little documented. Here we use phylogenies to reconstruct changes in distribution and flowering ecology of the Cape flora - South Africa's biodiversity hotspot - through a period of past (Neogene and Quaternary) changes in the seasonality of rainfall over a timescale of several million years. Results Forty-three dist…

Hieracium barrelieri, a new hawkweed species from S Italy, with notes on Tenore’s Hieracium murorum var. barrelieri (Asteraceae)

2015

A new species from Montevergine in Campania, Hieracium barrelieri, is described in detail. It is closest to H. acanthodontoides of H. sect. Acanthodontoidea. H. murorum var. barrelieri, an obsolete taxon described by Tenore, is also discussed, as it was partly based on the same population.

Targeting antibiotic resistant bacteria with phages reduces bacterial density in an insect host

2018

Phage therapy is attracting growing interest among clinicians as antibiotic resistance continues becoming harder to control. However, clinical trials and animal model studies on bacteriophage treatment are still scarce and results on the efficacy vary. Recent research suggests that using traditional antimicrobials in concert with phage could have desirable synergistic effects that hinder the evolution of resistance. Here, we present a novel insect gut model to study phage-antibiotic interaction in a system where antibiotic resistance initially exists in very low frequency and phage specifically targets the resistance bearing cells. We demonstrate that while phage therapy could not reduce th…

Effect of 30 years of road traffic abandonment on epiphytic moss diversity

2014

Road traffic emits a cocktail of pollutants that can influence the vegetation and plant diversity in neighboring areas. However, the recovery potential of bryophytes after traffic abandonment is still little explored. In addition, the effects of the main pollutants of road verges, such as metals and salinity, on moss flora need to be investigated. In our study, we compared the moss richness and diversity in two closely related veteran tree allees of high conservation importance. The allees in Gryżów and Lubrza, Poland, were chosen because of their similarity in age, geographical location, type of surrounding areas, and tree species. The only difference was that the trees in Gryżów had not b…

BIO–GEL – a new type of organic fertilizer

2017

A new technology for the production of the BIO -GEL organic fertilizer which is based on physical phenomena with no chemicals used has been suggested. The technology involves reproduction of “wild” microorganisms in peat, biohumus, sapropel, fertile soil. In the course of the production process natural bacteria are hardened at temperatures above 70°С and at low temperatures below - 20°С. BIO-GEL has combined the previously incompatible properties of inoculants, fungicides and humates.Field studies conducted for several years on sandy testing grounds at extremely high temperatures in the south of Ukraine have shown that the new fertilizer has pronounced properties of a natural herbicide, act…

IMPORTANZA DEI FRAMMENTI DI HABITAT NATURALE PER LE COMUNITÀ DI FILLOMINATORI (INSECTA DIPTERA, LEPIDOPTERA ET HYMENOPTERA) E LORO PARASSITOIDI (HYME…

2002

LICHENI E FUNGHI LICHENICOLI DI PANTELLERIA (TRAPANI, SICILIA, ITALIA)

2009

LICHENI E FUNGHI LICHENICOLI DI PANTELLERIA (TRAPANI, SICILIA, ITALIA) Domenico OTTONELLO1, Domenico PUNTILLO2 1Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 38, 90123 Palermo; 2Museo di Storia Naturale della Calabria ed Orto Botanico, Università degli Studi della Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS) L'Isola di Pantelleria è stata oggetto di numerosi studi floristici e fitosociologici sulla flora vascolare. Per quanto concerne i licheni, i pochi lavori risalgono al secolo scorso e agli inizi di quello attuale. La flora lichenica di Pantelleria consta di 219 taxa di cui 74 nuovi per l'isola e uno nuovo per l’Europa (Bacidia insularis Zahlbr.). Le spe…

Changes in the benthic algal flora and vegetation of a semi-enclosed Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Stagnone di Marsala, Western Sicily)

2014

È stato condotto uno studio sulla flora e vegetazione macroalgale dello Stagnone di Marsala (Trapani) con l’obiettivo di fornire una revisione dei dati riportati in letteratura ed esaminare i principali cambiamenti che si sono verificati nell’intera area negli ultimi tre decenni. La flora algale è risultata più povera rispetto al passato (94 taxa contro 108), mostrando un incremento delle Cloroficee e una riduzione delle Rodoficee e delle Feoficee. Solo 48 taxa sono stati riportati precedentemente, mentre 46 sono nuovi per lo Stagnone. Tra questi, è interessante sottolineare sia da un punto di vista floristico che ecologico, il ritrovamento per la prima volta dell’alga bruna Cystoseira comp…

Prima analisi della flora briofitica dei siti archeologici siciliani.

2004

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