Search results for "mediterranean sea."
showing 10 items of 830 documents
Intensity of Italy's agri-food trade with countries outside the EU Mediterranean
2013
This paper aims to present a framework of trade relations between Italy and the countries of southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. More specifically, using the indicators proposed in the analysis of international trade, we want to analyse the intensity of trade in agri-food products and the strength of trade ties between the bordering Mediterranean countries. The analysis of the intensity of trade flows of food products from Italy and the partner countries of North Africa and the Near East has allowed us to trace a network of flows between the countries in the area. If we can see an overall weakening of the agri-food trade, the analysis for individual partner states, however…
Allozyme Similarity in Two Morphologically Distinguishable Populations ofParacentrotus Lividus(Echinodermata) From Distinct Areas of the Mediterranea…
1998
Allozymes ofParacentrotus lividusfrom Palermo Gulf in the northern Sicilian coast (Italy) and from a small body-size population in the western Greek coast (Ionian Sea) were investigated by PAGE. Five of the twenty examined loci were polymorphic(AAT*, ADH*, ME*, PGI*andPGM*)over each population with a polymorphism value of 0–25. Average heterozygosity was equal to 0081 in the Sicilian sample and 0084 in the Greek. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were significant inME*andPGI*loci (as calculated byy).Nei's (1978) genetic distance (D=0–0025) index described a close identity between the two samples. FSTvalue of polymorphic loci ranged from 0001 to 0029, its mean value (0–008) resultin…
New contribution to the systematic status of various Mediterranean scorpionfish, as inferred from a mitochondrial DNA sequence.
2014
This study investigated the molecular phylogeny of 6 Mediterranean species of scorpionfish, belonging to the Scorpaenidae and Sebastidae family. Neighbor-Joining and Maximum Parsimony phylogenetic analyse, based on 424 base pairs of partial mitochondrial DNA sequences of the 12S-rRNA gene, revealed 2 main clades. One clade is represented by the Scorpaena genera (with the species S. notata, S. porcus, and S. scrofa) and another clade consists of the genera Helicolenus, Pterois, and Scorpaenodes. The molecular phylogeny showed that the Scorpaenodes genus (sub-family Scorpaeninae) is found within the clade of the species belonging to the other two sub-families (Pteroninae and Sebastinae). This…
Mediterranean circulation perturbations over the last five centuries: Relevance to past Eastern Mediterranean Transient-type events
2016
The Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) occurred in the Aegean Sea from 1988 to 1995 and is the most significant intermediate-to-deep Mediterranean overturning perturbation reported by instrumental records. The EMT was likely caused by accumulation of high salinity waters in the Levantine and enhanced heat loss in the Aegean Sea, coupled with surface water freshening in the Sicily Channel. It is still unknown whether similar transients occurred in the past and, if so, what their forcing processes were. In this study, sediments from the Sicily Channel document surface water freshening (SCFR) at 1910 ± 12, 1812 ± 18, 1725 ± 25 and 1580 ± 30 CE. A regional ocean hindcast links SCFR to enhanc…
Spatial structure of helminth communities in the golden grey mullet, Liza aurata (Actinopterygii: Mugilidae), from the Western Mediterranean.
2012
Ecological investigations regarding the parasite fauna of grey mullets are scarce. The present study provides a detailed description of the helminth communities of Liza aurata in the Spanish western Mediterranean and analyzes the role of spatial, temporal, and host variables in shaping the infracommunities. In total, 204 fish were collected in 2 localities, situated ca. 290 km apart, in spring and fall of 2004 and 2005. A non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to visualize an ordination of the infracommunities according to their relative similarities in parasite abundances. The relationship between infracommunity composition and explanatory variables (host size, locality, year,…
Preliminary patterns of distribution and abundance of loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta , around Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve, Spanish Me…
2003
Aerial surveys were conducted to estimate the abundance and distribution of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Columbretes Islands Marine Reserve and surrounding waters (western Mediterranean). Four surveys were carried out during 2000 and 2001, following the line transect methodology. Loggerheads appeared to be present at high densities in the area throughout the whole year, although density varied between seasons, being more abundant during the spring. Mean density in the study area was 0.322 turtles/km2 (range 0.200–0.516) and the mean abundance was 1,324 turtles (range 825–2,124). The turtles were distributed homogeneously throughout the study area, we found no difference in lo…
Holocene millennial-scale productivity variations in the Sicily Channel (Mediterranean Sea)
2008
[1] The calcareous nannofossil assemblages of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 963D from the central Mediterranean Sea have been investigated to document oceanographic changes in surface waters. The studied site is located in an area sensitive to large-scale atmospheric and climatic systems and to high- and low-latitude climate connection. It is characterized by a high sedimentation rate (the achieved mean sampling resolution is <70 years) that allowed the Sicily Channel environmental changes to be examined in great detail over the last 12 ka BP. We focused on the species Florisphaera profunda that lives in the lower photic zone. Its distribution pattern shows repeated abundance fluctuations of …
Evidence for an African-Iberian mammal dispersal during the pre-evaporitic Messinian
2013
The accurate timing of biogeographic dispersal can be determined by examining the age of fossiliferous strata on either side of a physical barrier. Here we show that African mammals migrated to Iberia and European mammals migrated to North Africa at the same time before isolation of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian. The fossil site of Venta del Moro (Spain) exhibits western Europe’s most complete vertebrate fauna for the latest Miocene. Its uniquely cosmopolitan assemblage is evidence of faunal dispersals from Africa and Asia to Europe during the latest Miocene glaciation. A preliminary paleomagnetic study suggested an age of 5.8 Ma for this site, but our expanded magnetostratigra…
Study of the first reported nest of loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, in the Spanish Mediterranean coast
2002
We summarize all the data of nest placement, incubation period, emergence of hatchlings and nest study of the first reported nesting event of a loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta (Reptilia: Cheloniidae) in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The nest was laid in a beach of Almería province (south-east Spain) in July 2001. The incubation period was 58 days. Forty-two hatchlings emerged from a total of 97 eggs laid. Future beach surveys will determine whether this is a sporadic nesting event or whether loggerheads nest frequently in these coasts.
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…