Vegetative regeneration of beech coppices for biomass in Piedmont, NW Italy

AbstractIn Odonates, female colour polymorphism is common and implies the presence of two or more female types with different colours and behaviours. To explain this phenomenon, several hypotheses have been proposed that consider morph frequency, population density, the presence of parasites, and mating behaviour. We studied the blue-tailed damselfly Ischnura elegans, a species with a blue androchrome morph and two gynochrome morphs (the common green infuscans, and the rare orange rufescens-obsoleta). The size of adult males and females, the presence of parasites, and pairing behaviour between males and the three female morphs was assessed in field conditions throughout the reproductive season in NW Italy. Moreover, growth and emergence success of larvae produced by the different morphs was analyzed in standardized conditions. In the field, males showed a preference for the gynochrome infuscans females, despite a similar frequency of androchrome females. In test conditions, male preference for the infuscans females was also observed. Paired males and paired androchrome females were larger than unpaired individuals, while there were no differences in size between paired and unpaired infuscans females. Males and androchrome females were more parasitized than infuscans females. The survival and emergence success of larvae produced by androchrome females was higher than those of offspring produced by the infuscans females. Our results suggest that a higher survival of progeny at the larval stage could counterbalance the higher parasitism and the lower pairing success of andromorph adult females and highlight the importance of considering the whole life-cycle in polymorphism studies.

Download Full-text

A Possible Role of Copernicus Sentinel-2 Data to Support Common Agricultural Policy Controls in Agriculture

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11010110 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 110

Author(s):

Filippo Sarvia ◽

Elena Xausa ◽

Samuele De Petris ◽

Gianluca Cantamessa ◽

Enrico Borgogno-Mondino

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Policy ◽

Common Agricultural Policy ◽

Observation Data ◽

Key Factor ◽

Ndvi Time Series ◽

Earth Observation Data ◽

Four Levels ◽

Nw Italy ◽

Sentinel 2

Farmers that intend to access Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) contributions must submit an application to the territorially competent Paying Agencies (PA). Agencies are called to verify consistency of CAP contributions requirements through ground campaigns. Recently, EU regulation (N. 746/2018) proposed an alternative methodology to control CAP applications based on Earth Observation data. Accordingly, this work was aimed at designing and implementing a prototype of service based on Copernicus Sentinel-2 (S2) data for the classification of soybean, corn, wheat, rice, and meadow crops. The approach relies on the classification of S2 NDVI time-series (TS) by “user-friendly” supervised classification algorithms: Minimum Distance (MD) and Random Forest (RF). The study area was located in the Vercelli province (NW Italy), which represents a strategic agricultural area in the Piemonte region. Crop classes separability proved to be a key factor during the classification process. Confusion matrices were generated with respect to ground checks (GCs); they showed a high Overall Accuracy (>80%) for both MD and RF approaches. With respect to MD and RF, a new raster layer was generated (hereinafter called Controls Map layer), mapping four levels of classification occurrences, useful for administrative procedures required by PA. The Control Map layer highlighted that only the eight percent of CAP 2019 applications appeared to be critical in terms of consistency between farmers’ declarations and classification results. Only for these ones, a GC was warmly suggested, while the 12% must be desirable and the 80% was not required. This information alone suggested that the proposed methodology is able to optimize GCs, making possible to focus ground checks on a limited number of fields, thus determining an economic saving for PA and/or a more effective strategy of controls.

Download Full-text

Late Quaternary Landscape Dynamics at the La Spezia Gulf (NW Italy): A Multi-Proxy Approach Reveals Environmental Variability within a Rocky Embayment

Water ◽

10.3390/w13040427 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 427

Author(s):

Veronica Rossi ◽

Alessandro Amorosi ◽

Marco Marchesini ◽

Silvia Marvelli ◽

Andrea Cocchianella ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Level ◽

Environmental Variability ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Landscape Dynamics ◽

Last Interglacial ◽

Core Depth ◽

Coastal Bay ◽

Nw Italy ◽

Global Sea Level ◽

Geomorphological Features

The Gulf of La Spezia (GLS) in Northwest Italy is a rocky embayment with low fluvial influence facing the Mediterranean Sea. Past landscape dynamics were investigated through a multi-proxy, facies-based analysis down to a core depth of 30 m. The integration of quantitative ostracod, foraminifera, and pollen analyses, supported by radiocarbon ages, proved to be a powerful tool to unravel the late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental evolution and its forcing factors. The complex interplay between relative sea-level (RSL), climatic changes, and geomorphological features of the embayment drove four main evolution phases. A barrier–lagoon system developed in response to the rising RSL of the Late Pleistocene (likely the Last Interglacial). The establishment of glacial conditions then promoted the development of an alluvial environment, with generalised erosion of the underlying succession and subsequent accumulation of fluvial strata. The Holocene transgression (dated ca. 9000 cal year BP) caused GLS inundation and the formation of a low-confined lagoon basin, which rapidly turned into a coastal bay from ca. 8000 cal year BP onwards. This latter environmental change occurred in response to the last Holocene stage of global sea-level acceleration, which submerged a morphological relief currently forming a drowned barrier-island complex in the embayment.

Download Full-text

Ethusa sp. (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ethusidae) from the Pliocene of Valduggia (Vercelli, Piedmont, NW Italy)

Natural History Sciences ◽

10.4081/nhs.2016.262 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 53

Author(s):

Giovanni Pasini ◽

Alessandro Garassino

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Basin ◽

New Finding ◽

Nw Italy ◽

First Time ◽

Stratigraphic Range

<em>Ethusa</em> sp. (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ethusidae) from Valduggia (Vercelli, Piedmont, NW Italy) is here reported for the first time from the Pliocene of Italy. This new finding enlarges our knowledge on the distribution and stratigraphic range of this genus in the paleo- Mediterranean basin.

Download Full-text

Soil Erosion Caused by Snow Avalanches: a Case Study in the Aosta Valley (NW Italy)

Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research ◽

10.1657/1938-4246-42.4.412 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 412-421 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Michele Freppaz ◽

Danilo Godone ◽

Gianluca Filippa ◽

Margherita Maggioni ◽

Stefano Lunardi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Snow Avalanches ◽

Nw Italy

Download Full-text

Laterally accreted deposits in low efficiency turbidites associated with a structurally-induced topography (Oligocene Molare Group, Tertiary Piedmont Basin, NW Italy)

Journal of Sedimentary Research ◽

10.2110/jsr.2020.174 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 91 (7) ◽

pp. 751-772

Author(s):

Roberto Tinterri ◽

Andrea Civa

Keyword(s):

Small Volume ◽

Alternative Interpretation ◽

Meandering Channels ◽

Stratigraphic Framework ◽

Sediment Gravity Flow ◽

Dense Flows ◽

Low Efficiency ◽

Nw Italy ◽

Cross Current ◽

Lateral Deflections

ABSTRACT The origin of laterally accreted deposits in ancient deep marine successions is often controversial. Indeed, not always do these features imply the occurrence of meanders or high-sinuosity turbidite channels, but they can be generated by other causes, such as sediment-gravity-flow dynamics controlled by the morphology of tectonically confined mini-basins. This work discusses laterally accreted deposits composed of sharp-based, normally graded beds in a very small tectonically controlled mini-basin. These beds, characterized by a well-defined asymmetrical cross-current facies tract, form well-developed lateral-accretion surfaces dipping in directions ranging between W and SW, and perpendicular to the paleocurrents directed towards the N. For this reason, these deposits have always been interpreted as point bars related to meandering channels. A new detailed stratigraphic framework and facies analysis have led to an alternative interpretation, namely that these deposits record lateral deflections of small volume, longitudinally segregated turbidite dense flows against a structurally controlled morphological high. This interpretation is also supported by a comparison to other tectonically controlled turbidite systems that are characterized by higher degrees of efficiency but show similar laterally accreted deposits and cross-current facies tracts.

Download Full-text