Search results for "generation"
showing 10 items of 3050 documents
Plant functional trait response to environmental drivers across European temperate forest understorey communities
2020
Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral s…
Hierarchical log Gaussian Cox process for regeneration in uneven-aged forests
2021
We propose a hierarchical log Gaussian Cox process (LGCP) for point patterns, where a set of points x affects another set of points y but not vice versa. We use the model to investigate the effect of large trees to the locations of seedlings. In the model, every point in x has a parametric influence kernel or signal, which together form an influence field. Conditionally on the parameters, the influence field acts as a spatial covariate in the intensity of the model, and the intensity itself is a non-linear function of the parameters. Points outside the observation window may affect the influence field inside the window. We propose an edge correction to account for this missing data. The par…
In utero behavioral imprinting to predation risk in pups of the bank vole
2020
Abstract In the predator–prey arms race, survival-enhancing adaptive behaviors are essential. Prey can perceive predator presence directly from visual, auditory, or chemical cues. Non-lethal encounters with a predator may trigger prey to produce special body odors, alarm pheromones, informing conspecifics about predation risks. Recent studies suggest that parental exposure to predation risk during reproduction affects offspring behavior cross-generationally. We compared behaviors of bank vole (Myodes glareolus) pups produced by parents exposed to one of three treatments: predator scent from the least weasel (Mustela nivalis nivalis); scent from weasel-exposed voles, i.e., alarm pheromones;…
Early response ofQuercus roburseedlings to soil compaction following germination
2018
Logging operations using heavy machinery effect changes in soil characteristics due to compaction; such conditions can negatively influence seedling development. In stands managed on the basis of close-to-nature silviculture or continuous cover forestry, successful establishment of natural regeneration after logging is important to ensure the proper functioning of a forest ecosystem, to promote soil recovery, and to prevent and mitigate land degradation processes (such as soil erosion, mudflow, waterlogging, and landslides) related to soil compaction and rutting. This work aimed to assess the early response of Quercus robur seedlings to soil compaction during the first 1.5 months after germ…
Managing conservation values of protected sites: How to maintain deciduous trees in white-backed woodpecker territories
2020
Successional and other temporal habitat changes may also affect conservation areas and reduce their conservation value. Active management to promote vulnerable habitat features may be an effective, but controversial, solution. Old deciduous trees and deciduous dead wood in boreal forest reserves are examples of habitat features that may be lost during succession, yet several threatened species, including the white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), are dependent on them. Encroaching spruce have been removed from white-backed woodpecker territories to promote the regeneration of deciduous trees and to preserve habitat quality, although the efficiency of this treatment is unclear. In t…
Limnology and Aquatic Microbial Ecology of Byers Peninsula: A Main Freshwater Biodiversity Hotspot in Maritime Antarctica
2019
Here we present a comprehensive review of the diversity revealed by research in limnology and microbial ecology conducted in Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) during the last two decades. The site constitutes one of the largest ice-free areas within the Antarctic Peninsula region. Since it has a high level of environmental protection, it is less human-impacted compared to other sites within the South Shetland archipelago. The main investigations in Byers Peninsula focused on the physical and chemical limnology of the lakes, ponds, rivers, and wetlands, as well as on the structure of their planktonic and benthic microbial communities, and on the function…
Direct and transgenerational effects of an experimental heatwave on early life stages in a freshwater snail
2019
1. Global climate change imposes a serious threat to natural populations of many species. Estimates of the effects of climate change‐mediated environmental stresses are, however, often based only on their direct effects on organisms, and neglect the potential transgenerational (e.g. maternal) effects. 2. We tested whether high temperature (i.e. an experimental heatwave), which is known to reduce the performance of adult Lymnaea stagnalis snails, affects the produced offspring (eggs and hatchlings) through maternal effects, and how strong these effects are compared with the effects of direct exposure of offspring to high temperature. We examined the effect of maternal thermal environment (15…
Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Agricultural Residue Feedstock for Bioenergy
2021
The depletion of fossil fuels and climate change concerns are drivers for the development and expansion of bioenergy. Promoting biomass is vital to move civilization toward a low-carbon economy. To meet European Union targets, it is required to increase the use of agricultural residues (including straw) for power generation. Using agricultural residues without accounting for their energy consumed and carbon dioxide emissions distorts the energy and environmental balance, and their analysis is the purpose of this study. In this paper, a life cycle analysis method is applied. The allocation of carbon dioxide emissions and energy inputs in the crop production by allocating between a product (g…
Technical Rules for Connecting PV Systems to the Distribution Grid: A Critical Comparison of the Italian and Vietnamese Frameworks
2018
In the last two decades, starting from the Kyoto protocol, decarbonization has promoted worldwide the rise of distributed generation from renewable energy sources. Currently, Vietnam is still showing a strong dependence on fossil fuels but with a great interest in investing in renewable, especially in photovoltaic (PV) systems. In this paper, the current Vietnamese technical and administrative framework for the connection of PV systems to the power grid is presented and critically compared to the Italian one, in order to define the bases for future cooperation in distributed generation and renewable sectors.
Sea water desalination and energy consumption: A case study of wave energy converters (WEC) to desalination applications in sicily
2016
Recent studies about interactions among energy and water are considered as a new field of research. As almost all energy generation processes require significant amounts of water, and water requires energy for treatment and transport, so these two resources are inextricably linked. The main aim of this work is a presentation of the use of renewable energy for desalination plants in Sicily: in particular exploitation of wave energy into electrical energy necessary for water treatment. Desalination is the most energy intensive water treatment technology but it could be solution for many problems in water supply for areas with chronic debt of water. The aim of this work is a description of a s…