Search results for "zoology"
showing 10 items of 4160 documents
Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of ontogenetically old, long-lived bivalve shells (Arctica islandica) and their function as paleotemperature proxies
2011
International audience; The Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of many biogenic skeletons provide useful paleotemperature estimates. As yet however, it has remained largely impossible to obtain such information from bivalve shells. In the present study, metal-to-calcium values in the hinge plate (aragonite, outer shell layer) of four ontogenetically old (85 to 374 year-old) specimens of the long-lived bivalve, Arctica islandica, were measured on a LA-ICP-MS. The shells were collected alive in 1868, 1986 and 2003 from three different localities around Iceland. With increasing ontogenetic age and decreasing growth rate, a distinct trend toward increasing Sr/Ca (max. 5.17 mmol/mol) and Mg/Ca values (max. …
Using present and past climosequences to estimate soil organic carbon and related physical quality indicators under future climatic conditions
2018
Abstract This research aimed at testing the use of present and past climosequences to estimate soil organic carbon (SOC) and related physical quality indicators under future climatic conditions. The influence of climate on soil features was studied for four combinations of typical Mediterranean soil types and cropping systems, placed along climosequences of the past (P1: 1961–1990), present (P2: 1981–2010) and future (P3: 2021–2050). The four test areas were located in Italy, each one characterized by the same soil typology and cropping system, placed on similar morphological position and parent material, wide enough to cross climatic boundaries. Legacy soil profiles that were sampled in th…
A high-resolution, integrated system for rice yield forecasting at district level
2019
Abstract To meet the growing demands from public and private stakeholders for early yield estimates, a high-resolution (2 km × 2 km) rice yield forecasting system based on the integration of the WARM model and remote sensing (RS) technologies was developed. RS was used to identify rice-cropped area and to derive spatially distributed sowing dates, and for the dynamic assimilation of RS-derived leaf area index (LAI) data within the crop model. The system—tested for the main European rice production districts in Italy, Greece, and Spain—performed satisfactorily; >66% of the inter-annual yield variability was explained in six out of eight combinations of ecotype × district, with a maximum of 8…
Soil erosion in sloping vineyards assessed by using botanical indicators and sediment collectors in the Ruwer-Mosel valley
2016
Steep slopes, erodible soils, rill and ephemeral gullies, compaction due to wheel. traffic and human trampling are common features in vineyards around the world and result in high soil erosion rates. However, little is known about seasonal and spatial variations of soil erosion rates due to factors such as the impact of the vine plantation, harvest, and tillage on the soil redistribution over the long-term temporal scale. The goal of this study is to assess long-term soil erosion rates and the impact of management on sediment and runoff yield by means of Gerlach troughs and a topographical approach based on botanic benchmarks in two paired vineyards with different ages (3 and 35 years) loca…
The chronic effects of fullereneC 60 -associated sediments in the midge Chironomus riparius – Responses in the first and the second generation
2017
Abstract The life cycle parameters of the benthic invertebrate Chironomus riparius make it a relevant organism for use in multi-generation chronic ecotoxicology tests. Since studies on chronic exposures with fullerene carbon nanoparticles have revealed adverse effects at lower concentration ranges, it is crucial to gain understanding of the consequences in following generations. The aims of this study were to investigate whether sediment-associated fullereneC 60 impacts on C. riparius emergence and breeding, thus affecting the growth of the second generation. Larvae were exposed to fullerene-spiked sediment at concentrations of 0.5, 10 and 40 mg/kg sediment dw. Total emergence and breeding …
Economic performance and risk of farming systems specialized in perennial crops: An analysis of Italian hazelnut production
2019
Abstract Assessing farm profitability and economic risk is important to support farmers' decisions. Several factors affect yields and product prices, in turn influencing farmers' income level and economic risk. However, the literature has often neglected to explicitly account for the role of product quality. This is particularly important for crops such as hazelnut because farmers' prices vary according to the quality of the harvested product. Furthermore, it seems fundamental to disentangle the role of parameters influencing farm results, noticeably yield, product price and quality. This is because farmers select their risk management tools to satisfy their needs, but these are often suita…
Wildcat scats: Taphonomy of the predator and its micromamal prey
2019
Small sized felids, such as wild and domestic cats, are one of the most common predators in the nature and in sites occupied by humans in archaeological and historical contexts. Wildcats have ingestion/ digestion traits highly destructive for their prey, i.e.: teeth to chew causing extreme breakage, and digestion along the entire digestive tract with low pH gastric juices causing extreme bone corrosion. Small sized cats are also well known to play with the prey and select skeletal parts to ingest. The present study is focused on the taphonomic analysis of micromammal remains recovered from scats produced by European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) during several months and years. Exc…
Dental microwear texture analysis on extant and extinct sharks : Ante- or post-mortem tooth wear?
2020
Sharks are apex-predators that play an important role in past and present aquatic food webs. However, their diet - especially in extinct species - is often not well constrained. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) has been successfully applied to reconstruct diet and feeding behaviours of different aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates. However, unlike in mammals, food-to-tooth contact in sharks is rather limited because only larger prey is manipulated before swallowing. Together with a fast tooth replacement rate, this reduces wear on individual teeth. Here, we present an explorative study of dental microwear texture on extant and extinct sharks to test whether ante-mortem wear is relat…
Revision of the genus Anasibirites Mojsisovics (Ammonoidea): An iconic and cosmopolitan taxon of the late Smithian (Early Triassic) extinction
2016
34 pages; International audience; The family Prionitidae Hyatt represents a major component of ammonoid faunas during the Smithian (Early Triassic), and the genus Anasibirites Mojsisovics is the most emblematic taxon of this family. Its stratigraphical range is restricted to the beginning of the late Smithian (Wasatchites distractus Zone). The genus is also characterized by an unusual cosmopolitan distribution, thus contrasting with most earlier Smithian ammonoid distributions that were typically restricted by latitude. Because the late Smithian witnessed an extinction of the nekton (e.g. ammonoids, conodonts) whose amplitude is equal to or larger than that of the end-Permian crisis, the nu…
A new species ofPlesiodimylus(Dimylidae, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) from the Early Miocene of Spain
2017
AbstractWe report a new dimylid species, Plesiodimylus ilercavonicus sp. nov., from the Early Miocene locality of Mas d’Antolino B-5 (Ribesalbes-Alcora, Castello, Spain). This new species of Plesiodimylus is an amblyodont form of the genus and exhibits some primitive characters. The phylogenetic and palaeoenvironmental implications of this southern occurrence of Plesiodimylus in Lower Miocene sediments are discussed.urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EB5435A4-EECE-4B88-B5AC-4B77E2E13029