Search results for "mediterranean area"
showing 10 items of 148 documents
Biowaste in a circular bioeconomy in Mediterranean area: A case study of compost and vermicompost as growing substrates alternative to peat
2020
European policies are advocating a transition toward circular bio-economy, an economy aiming at reducing the dependence from fossil-based resources, limiting greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts. The aim of this paper is to assess the potential for circularity for bio-waste and related by-products, to highlight the role of compost and vermicompost in the circular bioeconomy and their use in the agricultural sector. Three different substrates were tested in the soilless cultivation of Salvia officinalis, a Mediterranean nutraceutical and healthy plant: vermicompost (40%), compost (40%) and peat (100%). The average values of the main biometric parameters were calculated and comp…
Medicinal Properties of Mediterranean Oyster Mushrooms: Species of Genus Pleurotus (Higher Basidiomycetes)
2017
The term “Mediterranean area,” applied in this chapter, refers to the definition reported in Med-Checklist and particularly to all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea plus Portugal, Bulgaria, the Crimea (Ukraine), and Jordan. The “Mediterranean oyster mushrooms” is a geographically and ecologically well-defined group of Basidiomycetes. The medicinal properties of some widely investigated species such as Pleurotus ostreatus and P. eryngii are recognized worldwide, while in the case of some other Mediterranean Pleurotus taxa, there is still a lack of knowledge. A substantial increase in knowledge about the anticancer and antibacterial properties of the group of Pleurotus species growing…
Mapping traditional cultural landscapes in the Mediterranean area using a combined multidisciplinary approach: Method and application to Mount Etna (…
2011
Traditional cultural landscapes (TCLs) are prominent in Mediterranean countries. The abundance of this landscape type, however, is not reflected by broad-scale inventories and mapping tools. The aim of this paper is to highlight the need for a multidisciplinary approach to landscape analysis, with special reference to the Mediterranean area. We propose an integrated method that combines deductive and inductive processes to define and map TCLs in a study area (Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy). We also develop a procedure to characterize the primary components of these landscapes as a reference to be used in cultural-landscape descriptions. For mapping purposes, three different scales of analysis w…
Ecological characterization and cladocerans, calanoid copepods and large branchiopods of temporary ponds in a Mediterranean island (Sicily, Southern …
2006
Temporary waters have been sporadically investigated in Sicily. These environments reflect the climatic features of the Mediterranean area with a winter ponding phase and a more or less prolonged dry period in summer. Their biota, especially those organisms strictly linked to aquatic environments and without any terrestrial life stage, have to exhibit special adaptations to survive the dry phases that are recurrent in such ecosystems. This study included more than 250 water bodies distributed on the whole Sicilian territory and on the small circum-Sicilian islands. This paper represents a first attempt to characterize Sicilian temporary waters from an ecological point of view and is mainly …
The water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) of the standing waters of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily: review and new data
2014
A compilation of our present knowledge of the water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) adapted to life in standing waters on the three large islands in the western Mediterranean (Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily) is provided. In addition to published data, this study deals with a rich volume of new material from recent field work, mostly deriving from intermittent ponds and pools, an extremely poorly investigated yet peculiar habitat type in the Mediterranean area. Species richness of water mites reported for the standing waters of the three islands amounts to 91 species. Out of the 47 species for which we present new distributional data, Hydrachna incisa Halbert, 1903, Hydrachna leegei Koenike, 1895,…
L'Italia sul mare
2019
Il decimo numero monografico della rivista internazionale Proyecto + Ciudad, della Universiade Politécnica de Cartagena, dedicato a "L'Italia sul mare", pone a confronto gli articoli di docenti universitari italiani, provenienti dalle Scuole di architettura di Palermo, Cagliari, Napoli, Reggio Calabria, Roma, Siracusa e Venezia. Tra i temi affrontati si segnalano: Mediterraneo: mito, paesaggi e architetture silenti; Il canto del mare, il canto dell’architettura; Il mare e la città. Cefalù e Il Parco delle mura megalitiche di Pasquale Culotta, Giuseppe Leone e Tania Culotta; La “terra di mezzo” tra Siracusa e Augusta. Dalle poleis greche alla città lineare; Le “nostre” distanze. Il difficile…
Proposal for a parametrization of site conditions in the Mitrakos' indices.
2001
The influence of slope gradient and exposure, of altitude and of distance from the sea on the winter and summer stresses sustained by the Mediterranean vegetation have been parametrized. An example of vegetation changes driven by the variation of any of such environmental factors is reported, and a mathematical formula is proposed to determine a monthly value to add to or subtract from the drought stress and cold stress values, estimated by the Mitrakos' index, in order to better approximate reality. Values obtained in such way can be used in synecology and phytosociology to express in a synthetic-correlative way the ecological valence of plant communities with respect to the main physiogno…
Contribution to the identification of Dianthus rupicola (Caryophyllaceae) subspecies using morphological and molecular approaches
2017
The systematic relationships between the five different subspecies actually recognized within Dianthus rupicola (subsp. aeolicus , subsp. bocchorianus , subsp. hermaensis, subsp. lopadusanus and subsp. rupicola ), were assessed by means of morphometric and molecular analysis. Our results highlighted the molecular differences between the five subspecies of D. rupicola and a morphological differentiation of four groups being D. rupicola subsp. aeolicus and D. rupicola subsp. rupicola partly overlapping. At the present state of knowledge, a subspecific status seems the most appropriate for all the recognized subspecies of D. rupicola . The names D. aeolicus , D. bisignanii var. virescens , D. …
Phenotypes of intermediate forms of Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica in buffaloes from Central Punjab, Pakistan.
2013
AbstractFascioliasis is an important food-borne parasitic disease caused by the two trematode species, Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The phenotypic features of fasciolid adults and eggs infecting buffaloes inhabiting the Central Punjab area, Pakistan, have been studied to characterize fasciolid populations involved. Morphometric analyses were made with a computer image analysis system (CIAS) applied on the basis of standardized measurements. Since it is the first study of this kind undertaken in Pakistan, the results are compared to pure fasciolid populations: (a) F. hepatica from the European Mediterranean area; and (b) F. gigantica from Burkina Faso; i.e. geographical areas wh…
A Two-Year Bio-Agronomic and Chemotaxonomic Evaluation of Wild Sicilian Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) Berries and Leaves.
2019
A collection of nine Myrtus communis samples from different localities of Sicily was evaluated. Morphological traits and production characteristics have been chosen as parameters to arrange the samples into homogeneous groups and to identify the best biotypes for possible future agro-industrial exploitation. The plant material has been subjected to taxonomic characterization from biometric and phytochemical perspectives. Myrtle berries and leaves have been analyzed for their content in metabolites, applying a cascade extraction protocol for M. communis leaves and a single hydroalcoholic extraction for berries, whereas hydrodistillation procedures have been applied to obtain the essential oi…