Search results for "marine specie"
showing 4 items of 14 documents
Special Issue "Historical and Current Diversity Patterns of Mediterranean Marine Species"
2021
The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed basin that experienced different natural and anthropogenic phenomena, which produced biological diversity changes over time. The Mediterranean Sea has been through dramatic changes in its biota over the last 6 million years, and more rapidly in the past century. All the events left a footprint on the gene pool of marine species, on their morpho-physiological traits, and on the loss or expansion of the geographical range extent. Nowadays, the Mediterranean is changing its physical and ecological features. The changes in its environmental conditions are followed by changes in species composition, of which most of the heritage has been stored and preser…
Invasive Alien Species and Their Effects on Marine Animal Forests
2020
Nonindigenous species are increasingly transported around the world through multiple pathways by a diversity of vectors. Invasive species are a subset of those that are introduced into the receptor community, where they establish and increase their population to a size where they impact the native system. Marine invasive species can therefore interact with and modify native animal forests and/or create novel ones resulting in simple-to-complex changes in material cycling, energy flow, ecosystem structure, and function. Despite the ever increasing number of studies dealing with marine invasive species, mostly biological invasions are mentioned generically as one of a number of threats of dir…
Biodiversity in the era of the market globalization: some cases from the marine realm
2015
The over-exploitation of the most consumed species has determined an increase in demand of frozen or trasformed fishery products importated from different countries. This caused an increase of food fraud represented by the substitution of a species with another with less eco- nomical value but which presents similar morphological characeristics. The use of modern tools as the DNA barcoding is crucial for traceability of such products and provides the consumer the necessary information about the exact identification of the species and their origin. The Italia and European Union food stuff are controlled thanks to laws, while for many non UE products are not expected any control inspection
Bright spots in the darkness of cancer: A review of starfishes-derived compounds and their anti-tumor action
2019
The fight against cancer represents a great challenge for researchers and, for this reason, the search for new promising drugs to improve cancer treatments has become inevitable. Oceans, due to their wide diversity of marine species and environmental conditions have proven to be precious sources of potential natural drugs with active properties. As an example, in this context several studies performed on sponges, tunicates, mollusks, and soft corals have brought evidence of the interesting biological activities of the molecules derived from these species. Also, echinoderms constitute an important phylum, whose members produce a huge number of compounds with diverse biological activities. In…