Search results for "olive."

Climate Aridity and the Geographical Shift of Olive Trees in a Mediterranean Northern Region

2021

Climate change leverages landscape transformations and exerts variable pressure on natural environments and rural systems. Earlier studies outlined how Mediterranean Europe has become a global hotspot of climate warming and land use change. The present work assumes the olive tree, a typical Mediterranean crop, as a candidate bioclimatic indicator, delineating the latent impact of climate aridity on traditional cropping systems at the northern range of the biogeographical distribution of the olive tree. Since the olive tree follows a well-defined latitude gradient with a progressive decline in both frequency and density moving toward the north, we considered Italy as an appropriate case to i…

Annual and monthly carbon balance in an intensively managed Mediterranean olive orchard

2013

At present, research activities on the role of orchard systems in sequestering atmospheric CO2 remain scarce. This paper aimed to contribute to assessing the carbon balance of a Mediterranean olive (Olea europea) orchard. The net ecosystem exchange, the ecosystem respiration and the gross primary production were computed for two consecutive years through eddy covariance, and the different biomass accumulation terms were also inferred in the same period through an inventorial method. The net carbon exchange ranged from 13. 45 t(C) ha-1 year-1 to 11. 60 t(C) ha-1 year-1. Very similar values [12. 2 and 11. 5 t(C) ha-1 year-1] were found with the direct carbon accumulation inventory. The intens…

Olive Yield and Future Climate Forcings

2013

Abstract The rainfall reduction and the temperature increase forecasted for Mediterranean regions would likely increase the vegetation water stress and decrease productivity in rainfed agriculture. Olive trees, which have traditionally been grown under rainfed conditions, are one of the most characteristic tree crops from the Mediterranean not only for economical importance but also for minimizing erosion and desertification and for improving the carbon balance of these areas. In order to simulate how climatic change could alter soil moisture dynamics, biomass growth and fruit productivity, a water driven crop model is used in this study. The model quantitatively links olive yield to climat…

Genetic Structure of Wild and Cultivated Olives in the Central Mediterranean Basin

2006

Background and Aims: Olive cultivars and their wild relatives (oleasters) represent two botanical varieties of Olea europaea subsp. europaea (respectively europaea and sylvestris). Olive cultivars have undergone human selection and their area of diffusion overlaps that of oleasters. Populations of genuine wild olives seem restricted to isolated areas of Mediterranean forests, while most other wild-looking forms of olive may include feral forms that escaped cultivation. Methods: The genetic structure of wild and cultivated olive tree populations was evaluated by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers at a microscale level in one continental and two insular Italian regions. Key…

Olive agroforestry systems in Sicily: Cultivated typologies and secondary succession processes after abandonment

2011

The first part of this study provides an overview on Sicilian olive systems. Subsequently, the study describes the different typologies of cultivated agroforestry systems present in South-Eastern Sicily employing olive trees in association with other Mediterranean tree species, in particular for the production of firewood, coal and animal food (downy or pubescent oak, holm oak, cork oak), but also in association with forage or grazing species (oat, barley, vetch, etc.) or cereals. The study shows that Sicilian agroforestry systems are much more diversified than it was known so far. In the second part, the study describes the spontaneous colonization processes by plants, observed in abandone…

Eddy covariance and sap flow measurement of energy and mass exchange of woody crops in a Mediterranean environment

2012

Evapotranspiration estimation by micrometeorological techniques through the assessment of mass and energy exchanges in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) is a very active research area, involving both well-known and novel measurement techniques. A crucial aspect in validating experimental results is the integration of independent measurements of mass and energy exchanges in the SPAC. To this aim, the development and validation of an integrated approach in major tree crop species, involving different independent techniques, are presented. Eddy covariance estimates of ET fluxes were compared to up-scaled sap flow measurements in olive, orange and grapevine, three important Mediterrane…

Future Climate Forcings and Olive Yield in a Mediterranean Orchard

2014

The olive tree is one of the most characteristic rainfed trees in the Mediterranean region. Observed and forecasted climate modifications in this region, such as the CO2 concentration and temperature increase and the net radiation, rainfall and wind speed decrease, will likely alter vegetation water stress and modify productivity. In order to simulate how climatic change could alter soil moisture dynamic, biomass growth and fruit productivity, a water-driven crop model has been used in this study. The numerical model, previously calibrated on an olive orchard located in Sicily (Italy) with a satisfactory reproduction of historical olive yield data, has been forced with future climate scenar…

Mediterranean diet and longevity: an example of nutraceuticals?

2013

The Mediterranean diet (Mediet) is an eating pattern characterizing a lifestyle and culture that has been reported to contribute to better health and quality of life. The Mediet reflects food patterns typical of Mediterranean regions, where olive oil plays an essential role in the food pyramid. Olive oil is located in the middle and it is considered the principal source of dietary fat because of its high nutritional quality (particularly extra virgin olive oil). Several studies have shown the effect of the Mediet on healthy status by lowering the rates of coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and some other age-related chronic diseases. Although the scientific literature regarding diet a…

Molecular analysis of the fungal community associated with phyllosphere and carposphere of fruit crops

Multi-model ensemble simulations of olive pollen distribution in Europe in 2014

2017

Abstract. A 6-models strong European ensemble of Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) was run through the season of 2014 computing the olive pollen dispersion in Europe. The simulations have been compared with observations in 6 countries, members of the European Aeroallergen Network. Analysis was performed for individual models, the ensemble mean and median, and for a dynamically optimized combination of the ensemble members obtained via fusion of the model predictions with observations. The models, generally reproducing the olive season of 2014, showed noticeable deviations from both observations and each other. In particular, the season start was reported too early, by 8 days …