Search results for "hip"

Species–area relationship and small-island effect of vascular plant diversity in a young volcanic archipelago

2021

International audience; Aims: Aeolian islands form an active volcanic archipelago. By using updated vascular plant checklists for islands and islets, we tested four hypotheses: (i) Island speciesarea relationship (ISAR) of alien species has lower c-and higher z-values than native species, (ii) islands with active volcanoes have lower species richness than expected for native and alien species, (iii) ISAR of native species shows lower c-and higher z-values than ISARs of Mediterranean land bridge archipelagos and (iv) species richness of smaller islets is independent of area.Location: Aeolian Archipelago, Mediterranean Basin.Taxon: Vascular plants, identified and named according to the Flora …

<strong><em>Grandidierella</em> <em>bonnieroides</em> Stephensen, 1948 (Amphipoda, Aoridae)—first record of an establis…

2016

The first record in the Mediterranean Sea of the invasive aorid amphipod crustacean Grandidierella bonnieroides is presented. A widespread circumtropical species, recorded off the Saudi coast of the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, it may have been introduced into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. This tube-builder species of soft bottoms recently established a population in the polluted Haifa Bay, Israel. Further, this is the first Mediterranean record of the genus.

First Assessment of Plasticizers in Marine Coastal Litter-Feeder Fauna in the Mediterranean Sea

2021

Micro and nanoplastics are harmful to marine life due to their high level of fragmentation and resistance to degradation. Over the past two decades, marine coastal sediment has shown an increasing amount of microplastics being a sort of trap for debris wastes or chemicals. In such an environment some species may be successful candidates to be used as monitors of environmental and health hazards and can be considered a mirror of threats of natural habitats. Such species play a key role in the food web of littoral systems since they are litter-feeders, and are prey for fishes or higher trophic level species. A preliminary investigation was conducted on five species of small-sized amphipod cru…

Tracking marine alien macroalgae in the mediterranean sea: The contribution of citizen science and remote sensing

2021

The accelerating rate of the introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS) and the magnitude of shipping traffic make the Mediterranean Sea a hotspot of biological invasions. For the effective management of NIS, early detection and intensive monitoring over time and space are essential. Here, we present an overview of possible applications of citizen science and remote sensing in monitoring alien seaweeds in the Mediterranean Sea. Citizen science activities, involving the public (e.g., tourists, fishermen, divers) in the collection of data, have great potential for monitoring NIS. The innovative methodologies, based on remote sensing techniques coupled with in situ/laboratory advanced sampli…

Mandible morphology, dental microwear, and diet of the extinct giant rats Canariomys (Rodentia: Murinae) of the Canary Islands (Spain)

2010

An ecomorphological approach of mandible shape through Fourier analyses combined with a paleodietary analysis of dental microwear patterns is used to reconstruct the diet of the extinct endemic Canariomys bravoi Crusafont, Pairo & Petter, 1964 and Canariomys tamarani Lopez-Martinez & Lopez-Jurado, 1987. These two large rodents, respectively, lived on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the central islands of the Canarian Archipelago. Mandible shape and dental microwear respectively inform us on the volume of vegetal matter and on the presence of grass in the diet. Both Canariomys, which are of similar size, possess relatively similar mandible outlines and microwear patterns. For each species, a diet…

2016

By altering or eliminating delicate ecological relationships, non-indigenous species are con- sidered a major threat to biodiversity, as well as a driver of environmental change. Global cli- mate change affects ecosystems and ecological communities, leading to changes in the phenology, geographic ranges, or population abundance of several species. Thus, predicting the impacts of global climate change on the current and future distribution of invasive species is an important subject in macroecological studies. The African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), native to South Africa, possesses a strong invasion potential and populations have become established in numerous countries across four contin…

Ecological niche features override biological traits and taxonomic relatedness as predictors of occupancy and abundance in lake littoral macroinverte…

2018

The degree to which species ecological and biological traits determine their distribution and abundance has intrigued ecologists for a long time, and it has seen a revival in recent years. This topic is important because it provides information about the determinants of species rarity and their conservation implications. We examined the effects of niche breadth, niche position, biological traits and taxonomic relatedness on the interspecific occupancy–abundance relationship, as well as on occupancy and abundance, in lake littoral macroinvertebrates. We sampled 48 lakes in a boreal lake district, found altogether 155 species, and calculated regional occupancy (as the proportion of sites occu…

Behaviour of consumers of conventional and organic flowers and ornamental plants in Italy

2013

The paper analyses preferences and motivations of Italian consumers of flowers and ornamental plants, both conventional and organic. The results helped to outline their profile. Purchases are still done in the traditional places (flower shops for cut flowers and plant nurseries for potted plants), however positive trend is found for potted plants purchases at large distribution chains. Some differences came out as to purchase motivations: cut flowers are mainly bought in special occasions whereas potted plants purchases are linked to personal use. The results confirm a positive relationship between the purchase of flowers and plants and the age of the interviewees, besides showing that wome…

Kinetic studies on protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibition by diphenyl ether herbicides

1991

Diphenyl ethers (DPEs) and related herbicides are powerful inhibitors of protoporphyrinogen oxidase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of haems and chlorophylls. The inhibition kinetics of protoporphyrinogen oxidase of various origins by four DPEs, (methyl)-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid (acifluorfen and its methyl ester, acifluorfen-methyl), methyl-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl) phenoxy]-2-chlorobenzoate (LS 820340) and methyl-5-[2-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid (RH 5348), were studied. The inhibitions of the enzymes from maize (Zea mays) mitochondrial and etiochloroplastic membranes and mouse liver mitochondrial membranes were com…

Assessment of UV Biological Spectral Weighting Functions for Phenolic Metabolites and Growth Responses in Silver Birch Seedlings

2009

In research concerning stratospheric ozone depletion, action spectra are used as biological spectral weighting functions (BSWFs) for describing the effects of UV radiation on plant responses. Our aim was to evaluate the appropriateness of six frequently used BSWFs that differ in effectiveness with increasing wavelength. The evaluation of action spectra was based on calculating the effective UV radiation doses according to 1-2) two formulations of the generalized plant action spectrum, 3) a spectrum for ultraviolet induced erythema in human skin, 4) a spectrum for the accumulation of a flavonol in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, 5) a spectrum for DNA damage in alfalfa seedlings and 6) the pla…