Search results for "taxonomic"
showing 10 items of 148 documents
Hot spots, indicator taxa, complementarity and optimal networks of taiga
2000
If hot spots for different taxa coincide, priority-setting surveys in a region could be carried out more cheaply by focusing on indicator taxa. Several previous studies show that hot spots of different taxa rarely coincide. However, in tropical areas indicator taxa may be used in selecting complementary networks to represent biodiversity as a whole. We studied beetles (Coleoptera), Heteroptera, polypores or bracket fungi (Polyporaceae) and vascular plants of old growth boreal taiga forests. Optimal networks for Heteroptera maximized the high overall species richness of beetles and vascular plants, but these networks were least favourable options for polypores. Polypores are an important gro…
Contribution to development of microbial bioindicators for assessing the impact of agricultural pratices on soil
2015
Soil is the support of agricultural production. It performs many functions essential to the provision of ecosystem services necessary for the well-being of our societies. Soil physicochemical and biological properties have been altered by the development of intensive agriculture while it is a non-renewable resource, revealing the need to develop new management practices suitable for the sustainability of soil quality. This also marked the entry into the “Agroecology” era, which promotes the development of new agricultural systems optimizing services provided by biodiversity to reduce the use of inputs and energy use. To achieve this aim, the development of a range of indicators to assess th…
Environmental RNA outperforms eDNA metabarcoding in assessing impact of marine pollution: A chromium-spiked mesocosm test
2022
Environmental (e)DNA metabarcoding holds great promise for biomonitoring and ecotoxicological applications. However, few studies have compared the performance of eDNA versus eRNA metabarcoding in assessing organismal response to marine pollution, in experimental conditions. Here, we performed a chromium (Cr)-spiked mesocosm experimental test on benthic foraminiferal community to investigate the effects on species diversity by analysing both eDNA and eRNA metabarcoding data across different Cr concentrations in the sediment. Foraminiferal diversity in the eRNA data showed a significant negative correlation with the Cr concentration in the sediment, while a positive response was observed in t…
Current and Potential Use of Citrus Essential Oils
2013
Since the Middle Ages, citrus essential oils (EOs) have been widely used for their bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, antipara- sitical, insecticidal, medicinal and cosmetic proprieties. Also nowadays, they find important applications in pharmaceutical, sanitary, cosmetic, agricultural and food industries. The best method to extract EOs from citrus plant tissue is steam distillation because of a vari- ety of extracted volatile molecules such as terpenes and terpenoids, phenol-derived aromatic components and aliphatic components. In vitro physicochemical assays classify most of them as antioxidants.
Investigating bacterial populations in styrene-degrading biofilters by 16S rDNA tag pyrosequencing
2014
Microbial biofilms are essential components in the elimination of pollutants within biofilters, yet still little is known regarding the complex relationships between microbial community structure and biodegradation function within these engineered ecosystems. To further explore this relationship, 16S rDNA tag pyrosequencing was applied to samples taken at four time points from a styrene-degrading biofilter undergoing variable operating conditions. Changes in microbial structure were observed between different stages of biofilter operation, and the level of styrene concentration was revealed to be a critical factor affecting these changes. Bacterial genera Azoarcus and Pseudomonas were among…
VegItaly: Technical features, crucial issues and some solutions
2012
VegItaly is at present the largest Italian vegetation database. It is the result of a collaborative project aspiring to represent a major reference for the Italian vegetation scientists. The paper emphasizes its benefits for phytosociological data management and describes the solutions adopted to solve several technical problems, like the treatment of different vegetation stratification systems, the conversion of vegetation cover values, taxonomic and syntaxonomic issues, data import and access. The structure of the taxonomic list produced to support the storing of data is described. It allows an easy management of synonymic relationships and is constantly updated according to new publicati…
A review of the Entocytheridae (Ostracoda) of the world: updated bibliographic and species checklists and global georeferenced database, with insight…
2014
The creation of biodiversity datasets freely available for the scientific community is a valuable task to stimulate global research on biodiversity. Among others, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is a remarkable resource providing free online access to biodiversity data on many diverse taxonomic groups (including Ostracoda) from both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. More specific databases for Ostracoda georeferenced data have been built (e.g., NACODe and OMEGA), some with freely available data. However, the Entocytheridae, a family of ostracods living commensal on other crustaceans, with 220 living species, representing the third non-marine ostracod family in number of…
Evaluation of viticultural practices on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with grapevine
2021
Arbuscular mycorrhiza, a mutualistic symbiosis established between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), provides many ecosystem services such as improved soil structure, increased plant growth and nutrition, and improved tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, intensive agricultural practices and the use of phytosanitary products as for example herbicide and fungicides, have a strong impact on communities of soil microorganisms, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, as well as on biological mechanisms within the ecosystem. This thesis wotk is part of the European Biovine project supported by the European Commission through the CORE Organic Cofund. The aim of this rese…
Functional classifications and their application in phytoplankton ecology
2015
SUMMARY 1. Ecologists often group organisms based on similar biological traits or on taxonomic criteria. However, the use of taxonomy in ecology has many drawbacks because taxa may include species with very different ecological adaptations. Further, similar characters may evolve independently in different lineages. 2. In this review, we examine the main criteria that have been used in the identification of nine modes of classifying phytoplankton non-taxonomically. These approaches are based purely on morphological and/or structural traits, or on more complex combinations including physiological and ecological features. 3. Different functional approaches have proved able to explain some frac…
DNA barcodes reveal the presence of the introduced freshwater leechHelobdella europaeain Spain
2013
Abstract We report the finding of the freshwater leech Helobdella europaea in Spain for the first time. Three leech specimens were found attached to the European pond turtle Emys orbicularis. Helobdella europaea is not a blood feeder and, like all members of the genus, feeds on the hemolymph of aquatic invertebrates including snails and worms. Despite the fact that the original geographical distribution or source population of this species is unknown, the close relationship between H. europaea and leeches of the "triserialis" series (sensu Sawyer, 1986) suggests a New World origin. Given its ability to invade and persist in new environments, this leech has been described as a new species by…