beta (+)-Thalassaemia in the Po river delta region (northern Italy): genotype and beta globin synthesis.

The Po River Delta (PRD, Northern Italy) has been historically affected by land subsidence due to natural processes and human activities, with strong impacts on the stability of the natural ecosystems and significant socio-economic consequences. This paper is aimed to highlight the spatial and temporal evolution of the land subsidence in the PRD area analyzing the geodetic observations acquired in the last decade. The analysis performed using a moving window approach on Continuous Global Navigation Satellite System (CGNSS) time-series indicates that the velocities, in the order of 6 mm/year, are not affected by significant changes in the analyzed period. Furthermore, the use of non-permanent sites belonging to a new GNSS network (measured in 2016 and 2018) integrated with InSAR data (from 2014 to 2017) allowed us to improve the spatial coverage of data points in the PRD area. The results suggest that the land subsidence velocities in the easternmost part of the area of interest are characterized by values greater than the ones located in the western sectors. In particular, the sites located on the sandy beach ridge in the western sector of the study area are characterized by values greater than −5 mm/year, while rates of about −10 mm/year or lower have been observed at the eastern sites located in the Po river mouths. The morphological analysis indicates that the land subsidence observed in the PRD area is mainly due to the compaction of the shallow layers characterized by organic-rich clay and fresh-water peat.

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Seasonal Variation of Functional Traits in the Fish Community in a Brackish Lagoon of the Po River Delta (Northern Italy)

Water ◽

10.3390/w13050679 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 679

Author(s):

Mattia Lanzoni ◽

Mattias Gaglio ◽

Anna Gavioli ◽

Elisa Anna Fano ◽

Giuseppe Castaldelli

Keyword(s):

Fish Community ◽

Fish Communities ◽

Reproductive Period ◽

Northern Italy ◽

River Delta ◽

Nursery Ground ◽

Resident Species ◽

Po River ◽

Feeding Ground ◽

Whole Life Cycle

Brackish lagoons are highly productive systems that support fishing and aquaculture activities with important revenue. At the same time, they function as fundamental habitats for the conservation of a number of species that use lagoons for reproduction and feeding. The present study aims at describing the seasonal structural and functional variations of fish communities in the Fattibello lagoon, a small but important nursery ground of the Po River delta (northern Italy), historically exploited for fishing. The fish community was sampled monthly over a six-years’ period (2009–2014). The results were normalized in catch per unit of effort (CPUE) and are expressed both as individual abundances (ind/CPUE) and biomass (g/CPUE). Higher biodiversity levels were observed in autumn, when both lagoon residents and marine species coexist, and summer, for individual abundances and biomass. Biomass was a better descriptor than individual abundance of the functional use of the lagoon. In autumn, the lagoon resident species increased significantly, while marine feeding ground species decreased. Vice versa, lagoon residents decreased in winter, when the lagoon were mainly used as feeding ground by marine fishes. Marine migrating species were present throughout the whole year. Overall, the lagoon serves as (i) reproduction habitats for different species, as well as habitat for the pre-reproductive period for the European anchovy; (ii) nursery grounds for a number of commercial species; and (iii) habitats for lagoon resident species, supporting them for the whole life cycle. Overall, the results highlight the fundamental conservation role of the lagoon throughout the whole year, and that seasonal structural and functional patterns of fish communities should be carefully considered when seeking to harmonize direct uses, such as fishing and bivalve farming, as well as nature conservation.

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Assessment of heavy metal bioaccumulation in sorghum from neutral saline soils in the Po River Delta Plain (Northern Italy)

Environmental Earth Sciences ◽

10.1007/s12665-017-6856-6 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (15) ◽

Author(s):

Dario Di Giuseppe ◽

Massimiliano Melchiorre ◽

Gianluca Bianchini ◽

Alessandra Giurdanella ◽

Massimo Coltorti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Northern Italy ◽

River Delta ◽

Saline Soils ◽

Metal Bioaccumulation ◽

Po River ◽

Delta Plain ◽

Heavy Metal Bioaccumulation

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Reclamation influence and background geochemistry of neutral saline soils in the Po River Delta Plain (Northern Italy)

Environmental Earth Sciences ◽

10.1007/s12665-014-3154-4 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 72 (7) ◽

pp. 2457-2473 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Dario Di Giuseppe ◽

Barbara Faccini ◽

Micòl Mastrocicco ◽

Nicolò Colombani ◽

Massimo Coltorti

Keyword(s):

Northern Italy ◽

River Delta ◽

Saline Soils ◽

Po River ◽

Delta Plain

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Geochemical characterization and biomonitoring of reclaimed soils in the Po River Delta (Northern Italy): implications for the agricultural activities

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-013-3590-8 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 186 (5) ◽

pp. 2925-2940 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Dario Di Giuseppe ◽

Gianluca Bianchini ◽

Livia Vittori Antisari ◽

Annalisa Martucci ◽

Claudio Natali ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Northern Italy ◽

River Delta ◽

Agricultural Activities ◽

Po River ◽

Geochemical Characterization ◽

Reclaimed Soils

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Monitoring the Coastal Changes of the Po River Delta (Northern Italy) since 1911 Using Archival Cartography, Multi-Temporal Aerial Photogrammetry and LiDAR Data: Implications for Coastline Changes in 2100 A.D.

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13030529 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 529

Author(s):

Massimo Fabris

Keyword(s):

Land Subsidence ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Economic Value ◽

Radar Data ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Northern Italy ◽

River Delta ◽

Po River ◽

Synthetic Aperture Radar Data ◽

Multi Temporal

Interaction between land subsidence and sea level rise (SLR) increases the hazard in coastal areas, mainly for deltas, characterized by flat topography and with great social, ecological, and economic value. Coastal areas need continuous monitoring as a support for human intervention to reduce the hazard. Po River Delta (PRD, northern Italy) in the past was affected by high values of artificial land subsidence: even if at low rates, anthropogenic settlements are currently still in progress and produce an increase of hydraulic risk due to the loss of surface elevation both of ground and levees. Many authors have provided scenarios for the next decades with increased flooding in densely populated areas. In this work, a contribution to the understanding future scenarios based on the morphological changes that occurred in the last century on the PRD coastal area is provided: planimetric variations are reconstructed using two archival cartographies (1911 and 1924), 12 multi-temporal high-resolution aerial photogrammetric surveys (1933, 1944, 1949, 1955, 1962, 1969, 1977, 1983, 1990, 1999, 2008, and 2014), and four LiDAR (light detection and ranging) datasets (acquired in 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2018): obtained results, in terms of emerged surfaces variations, are linked to the available land subsidence rates (provided by leveling, GPS—global positioning system, and SAR—synthetic aperture radar data) and to the expected SLR values, to perform scenarios of the area by 2100: results of this work will be useful to mitigate the hazard by increasing defense systems and preventing the risk of widespread flooding.

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