Search results for "plant ecology"

Bioloģija

2007

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi positively affect growth of Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle seedlings and show a strong association with this invasi…

2015

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may promote plant invasion by enhancing plant performance and competitiveness. However, only a small number of studies have considered the interactions between local soil microbial communities and invasive plants, and even fewer have focused on alien trees. Ailanthus altissima is a serious problem in the Mediterranean Basin, where it has invaded many habitats. We investigated the symbiosis between A. altissima and indigenous AMF in two invaded, ecologically different Mediterranean woodlands. Mycorrhizal infection was high at both sites (> 60% of the root fragments were mycorrhizal), indicating that A. altissima roots may be infected by AMF under different …

Proposals for improvement of Annex I of Directive 92/43/ EEC: Central Italy

2021

The main purpose of the 92/43/EEC Habitats Directive is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, understood as habitat types and species of the flora and fauna of the European Union. To achieve this goal, natural and semi-natural biodiversity as a whole must be recognized and included in its annexes. As for the conservation of biotopes, named habitat types, Italy is unfortunately lacking as it the Annex I does not include important ecosystems that are typical of its territory, rare for biogeographical reasons or threatened. Therefore, the opportunity to identify a first list of significant habitats for central Italy is discussed here. For each of the new proposed types (new habita…

Determining noise and vibration exposure in conifer cross-cutting operations by using Li-Ion batteries and electric chainsaws

2018

In many activities, chainsaw users are exposed to the risk of injuries and several other hazard factors that may cause health problems. In fact, environmental and working conditions when using chainsaws result in workers&rsquo

Ellenberg Indicator Values for the vascular flora alien to Italy

2018

Studies to date about plants alien to Italy have had limited focus on the ecology of this component of the flora. Ellenberg's indicator values are a useful tool to delineate the relationship between plants and environment, recognizing for each species a functional role as biological indicator; these values have been proposed for estimating the influence of the main environmental factors in determining flora and vegetation changes on a specific surface area. This contribution includes a list of 1206 taxa of plants naturalized in at least one administrative region or casual in at least three regions of Italy. In addition, some methodological considerations on the attribution and use of Ellenb…

Competitive interactions are mediated in a sex-specific manner by arbuscular mycorrhiza inAntennaria dioica

2017

Plants usually interact with other plants, and the outcome of such interaction ranges from facilitation to competition depending on the identity of the plants, including their sexual expression. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been shown to modify competitive interactions in plants. However, few studies have evaluated how AM fungi influence plant intraspecific and interspecific interactions in dioecious species. The competitive abilities of female and male plants of Antennaria dioica were examined in a greenhouse experiment. Females and males were grown in the following competitive settings: (i) without competition, (ii) with intrasexual competition, (iii) with intersexual competitio…

Capparis tchaourembensis, a new species of Capparaceae from Mayotte, Comororian Archipelago

2011

A new species of Capparis, C. tchaourembensis Fici, is described and illustrated. Its conservation status is assessed and its affinities with related taxa are discussed.

The vegetation of a historic road system in the suburban area of Monte Pellegrino (Palermo, Sicily)

2020

Knowledge of the processes by which plants colonize old structures is a key element for nature-based design both in urban and suburban contexts. This paper analyses the natural vegetation on walls and in other microhabitats of the roadway structures of Monte Pellegrino (606 m a.s.l.) near Palermo (Sicily), built in the first half of the 1900s. The historical road has particular construction and architectural features, and its characteristics have been maintained to this day. The route, approximately 16 kilometers long, is well integrated within a site of high naturalistic value which has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (ITA020014) of the Natura 2000 network, and it is also…

Relevant habitats neglected by the Directive 92/43 EEC: the contribution of Vegetation Science for their reappraisal in Sicily

2021

Field investigation carried out by the Sicilian botanists in the last 20 years enabled them to identify eight habitat types of high biogeographic and conservation interest, neglected by the Directive 92/43, which deservead hocconservation measures. For each of these habitats, a syntaxonomic interpretation of the corresponding plant communities, their main ecological, physiognomic and syndynamic traits and a list of diagnostic species are provided. Their classification into the macrotypes listed in the Annex I of the Directive 92/43 and the respective correspondence in EUNIS habitat classification are proposed. The habitats here described integrate those already proposed by the Italian Botan…

‘Back to the Future’—Oak wood-pasture for wildfire prevention in the Mediterranean

2021

In the summer of 2021, enormous wildfires in the Mediterranean eliminated huge areas of mainly coniferous forest, destroyed adjacent settlements and claimed the lives of many people. The fires indicate effects of climate change and expose consequences of rural demographic changes, deficits in regional and touristic development planning and shortcomings in forest policy. This forum article highlights the dimensions of the problem, calls for a paradigm shift and shows solutions. Land abandonment, woody plant encroachment and non-reflective afforestation are leading to increasing amounts of combustible biomass. To prevent disastrous fires in future, fundamental changes in tree species composit…