The Festuco-Brometea Grasslands on Sandstone and Marl-Clay-Sandstone Substrata in Tuscany (Northern-Central Italy)

Abstract The grasslands dominated by Bromus erectus and/or Brachypodium rupestre cover large areas on sandstone and marl-clay-sandstone substrata (limestone is excluded), of the Apennines and pre-Apennines between Pistoia and Arezzo provinces (Tuscany, Central Italy). Our investigation was focused on to 71 unpublished releves and 45 literature releves from Tuscany and surrounding areas, reporting the original releves of Astragalo monspessulani-Brometum erecti, Centaureo bracteatae-Brometum erecti and Ononido masquillerii-Brometum erecti. The releves were submitted to exploratory multivariate analysis, allowing to detect nine distinct groups. Their consistence was verified by mean of NMDS against Ellenberg/Pignatti indicator values, and CCA constrained against chorotypes and growth forms. Diagnostic species of the definitive groups resulting from the analysis were chosen according to species fidelity, based on the φ coefficient of association. The analysis splits the data set in two main subclusters; the first one (A) includes few releves of low altitude, thermophilous conenoses, interpreted as a transition between the submediterranean aspects of Festuco-Brometea class and other Mediterranean herbaceous and shrubby classes; the second subcluster (B) includes most of the data set and can be clearly subdivided in pioneering, mesoxerophilous communities (B1 and B2a groups) and mesophilous communities (B2b group). The releves of clusters B1 and B2a are referred to Coronillo minimae-Astragaletum monspessulanii association and to three other groups: Plantago argentea-Carex caryophyllea communities, Tragopogon samaritani-Bromus erectus communities, Festuco trachyphyllae-Brometum erecti ass. nova. The mesophilous group (B2b) includes the original Centaureo bracteatae-Brometum erecti and Ononido masquillerii-Brometum erecti releves, together with a slightly differentiated community; due to the non-relevant differences between these grassland types from floristic, ecological and chorological perspectives, we propose herewith to treat them as three subassociations of Centaureo bracteatae-Brometum erecti (typicum, ononidetosum masquillerii and linetosum cathartici). Post-cultural grasslands in human-disturbed areas were also detected. All these communities can be attributed to Polygalo mediterraneae-Bromenion erecti suballiance (Bromion alliance), even if a clear subdivision between the mesoxerophilous pioneer aspects and the more mesophilous and evolved ones can be noted.

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THE PRAIRIE, MEADOW, AND MARSH VEGETATION OF NELSON COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b67-003 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 21-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

R. L. Dix ◽

F. E. Smeins

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

North Dakota ◽

Physical Environment ◽

Geographical Area ◽

Tension Zone ◽

Indicator Values ◽

Marsh Vegetation ◽

Vegetational Diversity ◽

Surrounding Areas ◽

Grassland Types

The objectives of the study were to determine the general phytosociological structure of the native prairies, meadows, and marshes of Nelson County, North Dakota; to establish relationships between this structure and factors of the physical environment; and to evaluate the relationships between the vegetation of Nelson County and the True and Mixed prairies. Frequency values and environmental measurements on soil texture, salinity, pH, and an estimate of the drainage regime were obtained in 100 stands selected to represent the vegetational diversity within the County. The drainage regime proved to be the most important single environmental factor in determining the vegetation. A phytosociological drainage regime gradient was then established by assigning indicator values to selected species, and the behaviors of all species and environmental factors were displayed along this gradient. The vegetational display was then divided into six units: the uplands into high prairie, mid prairie, and low prairie and the lowlands into meadow, marsh, and cultivated depressions. Each vegetational unit is described. Comparisons are made between each unit and the related vegetation in surrounding areas. It is concluded that Nelson County should be considered to be within the geographical area of the True Prairie, although the frequent occurrence of western grassland types and western species suggests that the County is within the tension zone between the True and Mixed prairies.

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An automatically generated high-resolution earthquake catalogue for the 2016–2017 Central Italy seismic sequence, including P and S phase arrival times

Geophysical Journal International ◽

10.1093/gji/ggaa604 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

D Spallarossa ◽

M Cattaneo ◽

D Scafidi ◽

M Michele ◽

L Chiaraluce ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Central Italy ◽

Earthquake Catalogue ◽

Hazard Evaluation ◽

Depth Range ◽

Data Set ◽

Epicentral Area ◽

Earthquake Parameters ◽

Waveform Data ◽

Arrival Times

Summary The 2016–17 central Italy earthquake sequence began with the first mainshock near the town of Amatrice on August 24 (MW 6.0), and was followed by two subsequent large events near Visso on October 26 (MW 5.9) and Norcia on October 30 (MW 6.5), plus a cluster of 4 events with MW > 5.0 within few hours on January 18, 2017. The affected area had been monitored before the sequence started by the permanent Italian National Seismic Network (RSNC), and was enhanced during the sequence by temporary stations deployed by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the British Geological Survey. By the middle of September, there was a dense network of 155 stations, with a mean separation in the epicentral area of 6–10 km, comparable to the most likely earthquake depth range in the region. This network configuration was kept stable for an entire year, producing 2.5 TB of continuous waveform recordings. Here we describe how this data was used to develop a large and comprehensive earthquake catalogue using the Complete Automatic Seismic Processor (CASP) procedure. This procedure detected more than 450,000 events in the year following the first mainshock, and determined their phase arrival times through an advanced picker engine (RSNI-Picker2), producing a set of about 7 million P- and 10 million S-wave arrival times. These were then used to locate the events using a non-linear location (NLL) algorithm, a 1D velocity model calibrated for the area, and station corrections and then to compute their local magnitudes (ML). The procedure was validated by comparison of the derived data for phase picks and earthquake parameters with a handpicked reference catalogue (hereinafter referred to as ‘RefCat’). The automated procedure takes less than 12 hours on an Intel Core-i7 workstation to analyse the primary waveform data and to detect and locate 3000 events on the most seismically active day of the sequence. This proves the concept that the CASP algorithm can provide effectively real-time data for input into daily operational earthquake forecasts, The results show that there have been significant improvements compared to RefCat obtained in the same period using manual phase picks. The number of detected and located events is higher (from 84,401 to 450,000), the magnitude of completeness is lower (from ML 1.4 to 0.6), and also the number of phase picks is greater with an average number of 72 picked arrival for a ML = 1.4 compared with 30 phases for RefCat using manual phase picking. These propagate into formal uncertainties of ± 0.9km in epicentral location and ± 1.5km in depth for the enhanced catalogue for the vast majority of the events. Together, these provide a significant improvement in the resolution of fine structures such as local planar structures and clusters, in particular the identification of shallow events occurring in parts of the crust previously thought to be inactive. The lower completeness magnitude provides a rich data set for development and testing of analysis techniques of seismic sequences evolution, including real-time, operational monitoring of b-value, time-dependent hazard evaluation and aftershock forecasting.

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Cusp-like plasma in high altitudes: a statistical study of the width and location of the cusp from Magion-4

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.5194/angeo-20-311-2002 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 311-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

J. Mĕrka ◽

J. Šafránková ◽

Z. Nĕmeček

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Solar Wind ◽

High Altitudes ◽

Data Set ◽

Latitudinal Dependence ◽

Merging Process ◽

Low Altitude ◽

Field Lines ◽

The Magnetic Field ◽

Dipole Tilt

Abstract. The width of the cusp region is an indicator of the strength of the merging process and the degree of opening of the magnetosphere. During three years, the Magion-4 satellite, as part of the Interball project, has collected a unique data set of cusp-like plasma observations in middle and high altitudes. For a comparison of high- and low-altitude cusp determination, we map our observations of cusp-like plasma along the magnetic field lines down to the Earth’s surface. We use the Tsyganenko and Stern 1996 model of the magnetospheric magnetic field for the mapping, taking actual solar wind and IMF parameters from the Wind observations. The footprint positions show substantial latitudinal dependence on the dipole tilt angle. We fit this dependence with a linear function and subtract this function from observed cusp position. This process allows us to study both statistical width and location of the inspected region as a function of the solar wind and IMF parameters. Our processing of the Magion-4 measurements shows that high-altitude regions occupied by the cusp-like plasma (cusp and cleft) are projected onto a much broader area (in magnetic local time as well as in a latitude) than that determined in low altitudes. The trends of the shift of the cusp position with changes in the IMF direction established by low-altitude observations have been confirmed.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and boundary layer; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions)

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Alyssum desertorum Stapf (Brassicaceae), new for the Italian flora

Acta Botanica Croatica ◽

10.1515/botcro-2016-0006 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 75 (1) ◽

pp. 149-152 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Fabrizio Bartolucci ◽

Fabio Conti

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Central Italy ◽

The Other ◽

Italian Flora ◽

Surrounding Areas ◽

First Time

Abstract The occurrence of Alyssum desertorum, a species belonging to A. sect. Alyssum, is reported for the first time in Italy. It was found in Abruzzo (central Italy) in the territory of National Park of Gran Sasso and Laga mountains and surrounding areas. Morphological similarities with the other taxa recorded in Italy belonging to A. sect. Alyssum are briefly discussed. Information about the typification of the name, habitat, phenology and distribution in Italy are also provided.

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Active Fault Systems in the inner North West Apennines: an updated view

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1473 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Giancarlo Molli ◽

Rick Bennett ◽

Jacques Malavieille ◽

Enrico Serpelloni ◽

Fabrizio Storti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Active Fault ◽

Central Italy ◽

Structural Features ◽

Structural Studies ◽

Data Set ◽

Structural Domains ◽

North West ◽

Fault Systems ◽

Internal Fault ◽

Fault Characterization

As part of an ongoing project of mapping, structural studies and fault characterization we present an updated tectonic scheme and data set for the active fault systems that shaped the inner portion of the Apennines north of the Arno river. Geomorphology, stratigraphy of Plio-Quaternary sediments, GPS data, historical and instrumental seismicity have been reviewed and combined with structural studies to define the neotectonic history of the investigated region. Within the studied area, first-order physiographic and structural features allow to define different structural domains related to a set of ranges with a dominant NW-SE direction separated by intramontane or continental/marine morphotectonic depressions of the Lunigiana, Garfagnana, Lucca-Mt.Albano, La Spezia-Carrara and the off-shore Viareggio basin. The main boundary faults and internal fault segments of the different structural domains were described while the Plio-Quaternary sedimentary records has been used to constrain their long to short term deformation and rates, with the aim to improve current Italian catalogues - DISS (INGV) and Ithaca (ISPRA) - with some utilities for the seismic microzonation local projects. Moreover, our work aims to draw the attention of the scientific community to the seismotectonics of a region in which the seismic hazard is largely considered medium to low despite the occurrence, one century ago, of one of the most destructive earthquakes that have struck the Italian peninsula, the 1920 Fivizzano EQ, with an estimated Mw 6.5 similar to the main shock of the 2016 Central Italy seismic sequence.&#160;

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Proximity tourism and cultural amenities: Evidence from a regional museum card

Tourism Economics ◽

10.1177/1354816619890230 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 135481661989023

Author(s):

Enrico Bertacchini ◽

Massimiliano Nuccio ◽

Alessandra Durio

Keyword(s):

Extensive Literature ◽

Cultural Institutions ◽

Data Set ◽

Heritage Sites ◽

Home Based ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Cultural Amenities ◽

Surrounding Areas ◽

Rural Destinations ◽

The City

Although cultural tourism has generated extensive literature, it has often overlooked proximity tourism practices and the determinants of visits to near-home cultural amenities, often located in rural destinations with lower market appeal. This article investigates visiting behaviors and characteristics of intra-regional flows from urban settings toward museums and heritage sites located in surrounding areas. We use a unique transactional data set of about 76,000 subscribers to a regional museum card in Piedmont (Italy) to analyze visiting patterns in the 2011–2014 period from the city of Turin to out-of-town cultural institutions. Our empirical analysis shows that being male, having lower socioeconomic status, visiting home-based museums, and loyalty to the card program are the most relevant factors explaining propensity to out-of-town visits. At the same time, a clear polarization of visits between a limited number of cultural attractors and the tail of minor heritage sites suggests that differences in museum characteristics can generate distinct motivations for visits to the two types of cultural institutions. From a policy perspective, although a definitive evaluation of the effect of the museum card on proximity tourism cannot be undertaken, findings suggest that bundle of minor attractions and major urban museums can generate indirect network advantages, foster cultivation of taste, and eventually stimulate both the demand for regional destinations and the development of original cultural programs.

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EFFECT OF SEED SOURCE ON GROWTH OF GIANT WILDRYE (Elymus cinereus) AT TWO ELEVATIONS IN INTERIOR BRITISH COLUMBIA

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.4141/cjps90-068 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 70 (2) ◽

pp. 551-554 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. W. HALL ◽

D. G. STOUT ◽

B. BROOKE

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

High Altitude ◽

Seedling Establishment ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Initial Growth ◽

Growth Forms ◽

Forage Crop ◽

Reciprocal Transplants ◽

Altitude Adaptation ◽

Low Altitude

Giant wildrye (Elymus cinereus Scribn. & Merr.) plants grown from seed obtained at two altitudes (346, 930 m) were transplanted to two sites (346, 900 m) and observed for 3 yr. Plants from the low altitude source produced more dry matter at both sites. More plants from the low altitude source produced seed heads at the low altitude site but seed head production of plants from the two sources was similar at the high altitude site. Provided studies of germination, seedling establishment and initial growth at different elevations were favorable, seed from low altitude sources could be used indiscriminately for establishing stands of giant wildrye. This would greatly simplify the use of giant wildrye as a forage crop in areas where varying altitude was of concern.Key words: Elymus cinereus, altitude adaptation, growth forms, reciprocal transplants, ecotypes

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magic, Roman

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8279 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Gordon

Keyword(s):

Late Antiquity ◽

World View ◽

Effective Means ◽

Central Italy ◽

Religious Activities ◽

Ruling Elite ◽

Roman Religion ◽

Literary Genres ◽

The Republic ◽

Surrounding Areas

Roman religion has conventionally been understood as a civic or “polis” religion in which the population performed the same rituals, attended the same festivals, and believed in the same divinities, an image conveyed by the extant Roman historians (including the Greek Polybius) and the antiquarian tradition. This convention has successfully obscured the fact that the range of religious activities in the City, to say nothing of the surrounding areas of central Italy, was in reality always far wider. More neutrally, we may view the religious field at Rome as a site of constant, if intermittent, conflict over effective means of relating to the other world and the legitimate use of religious knowledge, conflict that parallels in a different key the disputes over proper religious observance that took place within the ruling elite itself and its various priestly colleges. If the larger category of dismissal was superstition, the narrower and still more negative one was magical practice. There were however several sub-classes here, of which witchcraft and sorcery were but two. Over the thousand years of knowable Roman history, which saw a single city extend its political and extractive reach to a maximum of 4.4 megametres and then decline, the understanding of magic as malign (i.e., witchcraft/sorcery) altered in often dramatic ways, beginning with anxieties typical of agrarian communities, and culminating in Late Antiquity in charges of lese-majesty at court and routinized attempts at revenge by rival rhetors, to which we can add the deployment of allegations of magic by Christian hardliners in attacking paganism and heretics. A significant process in this history was the gradual appropriation over the last hundred and fifty years of the Republic of a term (magia) and its associated stereotypes from the Hellenistic Greek world, which together provided a medium, widely exploited in a variety of literary genres, for re-figuring the social disruptions that attended the violent self-destruction of the aristocratic régime and remained thereafter a powerful imaginative resource for constructing a variety of boundaries around a moral centre, claimed to be steady but in fact altering very considerably under shifting political, social, and religious conditions. Magic was thus not simply a medium for accusation but also a metaphor and social figuration; it thus played a significant role in the long-term legitimation of the self-styled dominant religious order. Moreover, since marvel, transformation, and the uncanny likewise belonged to the same semantic field, magic helped sustain the fecund irrationality indispensable to a polytheistic world-view.

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Check-list of Vertebrates in the “Tenuta dei Massimi” nature reserve (Rome, central Italy) with some remarks on local conservation priorities

Natural History Sciences ◽

10.4081/nhs.2014.23 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 25 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Corrado Battisti

Keyword(s):

Nature Reserve ◽

Central Italy ◽

Conservation Priorities ◽

Check List ◽

Local Conservation ◽

Mosaic Landscape ◽

Data Set ◽

Species Of Conservation Concern ◽

Bibliographic Data ◽

Conservation Concern

We reported a complete check-list of Vertebrates for the “Tenuta dei Massimi” nature reserve, a protected area well representing a remnant agro-forest heterogeneous mosaic landscape of the “Campagna Romana”. Data were obtained from a large original and bibliographic data-set on a large time-span (1991-2012). This reserve represents an area with a high value of species richness when compared to the surrounding metropolitan areas, also including a large number of species of conservation concern at different scales. We obtained evidences for the occurrence of 141 species (one fish, six amphibians, 12 reptiles, 101 birds, 21 mammals). Among them, some species are of conservation concern at European, regional or local scale. Further research should be focused on a set of fragmentation-sensitive species to verify the long-term viability of their local small populations [e.g. Hyla intermedia Boulenger, 1882, Bufo lineatus Ninni, 1879, Muscardinus avellanarius (Linnaeus, 1758), Sorex samniticus Altobello, 1926)].

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Physico-chemical and sensory interactions of arabica coffee genotypes in different water regimes

The Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.1017/s0021859621000198 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

D. S. Ferreira ◽

J. F. T. do Amaral ◽

L. L. Pereira ◽

J. M. S. Ferreira ◽

R. C. Guarçoni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Block Design ◽

Data Set ◽

Arabica Coffee ◽

Water Regimes ◽

Physical Chemical ◽

Randomized Block Design ◽

Physico Chemical ◽

Sensory Interactions ◽

Specialty Coffee ◽

Low Altitude

Abstract The production of specialty coffee has several factors and parameters that are added up in the course of production, so that the quality is expressed in the act of consumption. Based on this scenario, this study included the analysis of ten genotypes of arabica coffee, the materials being subjected to irrigated and rainfed water regimes, in a low altitude region, to identify responses for sensory and physical–chemical quality. The genotypes were evaluated in a split-plot scheme with a randomized block design, with three replications. Arabica coffee fruits were harvested with 80% cherry seeds and processed by the wet method. Subsequently, the characteristics related to physical–chemical and sensory analyses were evaluated. The genotypes of the Paraíso group showed great variability for the physical–chemical and sensory variables for rainfed and irrigated regimes. The genotypes of the Catuaí group, however, showed less variability for sensory characteristics in both cultivation environments and for physical–chemical characteristics in the irrigated regime. In the sensorial data set, the genotypes Catuaí 144 CCF and Catuaí 144 SFC (when irrigated) and Paraíso H 419-3-3-7-16-2, Paraíso H 419-3-3-7-16-11 and Catucaí 24-137 (rainfed cultivation), are more favourable to the production of specialty coffee at low altitude.

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