Sharing and Distinction in Biodiversity and Ecological Role of Bryozoans in Mediterranean Mesophotic Bioconstructions

Bryozoan assemblages of three mesophotic habitats, recently found in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, were investigated in terms of species composition and diversity, colonial growth forms, and species ecological affinity, with the purposes to analyze variations and similarities between the different bioconstructions and to compare the mesophotic assemblages with those of other benthic habitats. Bryozoans came from three sites off the Apulian coast: Monopoli, 30–55-m depth, where scleractinians are dominant; Otranto, 45–64-m depth; and Santa Maria di Leuca, 45–70-m depth, where the bivalve Neopycnodonte cochlear is the main bioconstructor. A total number of 50 species of bryozoans were recorded, accounting for about 10% of the total number of Mediterranean species. Only few species were shared between the three sites, whereas a considerable pool of species was characteristic of each site. The β-diversity and Sörensen similarity analyses highlighted the highest similarity between the two southern sites, Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca, with respect to the northern site of Monopoli, in agreement with the hydrological pattern of the area. The encrusting zoarial type was the most abundant in each site, and few species with erect, celleporiform and petraliform colonies were found. The Sörensen similarity, based on data of zoarial forms composition, revealed values considerably higher than those based on species composition, thus highlighting the similar ecological role played by the bryozoans in all the sites. Moreover, significant differences between the mesophotic bryozoan assemblages and those of other benthic Mediterranean habitats were highlighted, showing higher affinity with the coralligenous and detritic sciaphilic habitats. The relevant ecological role of bryozoans as binders in the bioconstructions of the Mediterranean mesophotic zone has been exhibited.

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An inter-dependence of flood and drought: disentangling amphibian beta diversity in seasonal floodplains

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf16391 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (11) ◽

pp. 2115 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Leonardo F. B. Moreira ◽

Tainá F. Dorado-Rodrigues ◽

Vanda L. Ferreira ◽

Christine Strüssmann

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Quantitative Data ◽

Explanatory Variable ◽

Biotic Interactions ◽

Ecological Role ◽

Β Diversity ◽

Amphibian Community ◽

Dry Seasons

Species composition in floodplains is often affected by different structuring factors. Although floods play a key ecological role, habitat selection in the dry periods may blur patterns of biodiversity distribution. Here, we employed a partitioning framework to investigate the contribution of turnover and nestedness to β-diversity patterns in non-arboreal amphibians from southern Pantanal ecoregion. We investigated whether components of β-diversity change by spatial and environmental factors. We sampled grasslands and dense arboreal savannas distributed in 12 sampling sites across rainy and dry seasons, and analysed species dissimilarities using quantitative data. In the savannas, both turnover and nestedness contributed similarly to β diversity. However, we found that β diversity is driven essentially by turnover, in the grasslands. In the rainy season, balanced variation in abundance was more related to altitude and factors that induce spatial patterns, whereas dissimilarities were not related to any explanatory variable during dry season. In the Pantanal ecoregion, amphibian assemblages are influenced by a variety of seasonal constraints on terrestrial movements and biotic interactions. Our findings highlighted the role of guild-specific patterns and indicated that mass effects are important mechanisms creating amphibian community structure in the Pantanal.

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Ecological role of crop rotation in the efficient use of agricultural territories of the forest-steppe zone of the Volga region

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202020801014 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 208 ◽

pp. 01014

Author(s):

Alexander Toigildin ◽

Vladimir Morozov ◽

Mikhail Podsevalov ◽

Irina Toigildina ◽

Denis Ayupov

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Arable Land ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Steppe Zone ◽

Crop Rotations ◽

Volga Region ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

Ecological State ◽

Ecological Role

The article presents the results of a theoretical review of the role of the structure of cultivated areas and crop rotations in agriculture. Based on experimental studies, recommendations are given for optimizing the structure of cultivated areas and the system of crop rotations in the forest-steppe zone of the Volga region. The structure of sown areas and crop rotations should expand the species composition of cultivated crops, introduce intermediate crops. Our research shows that the structure of sown areas should reduce the proportion of pure fallow to 40% of the area with winter grain crops to increase the productivity of arable land, protect the soil from erosion, preserve and reproduce its fertility. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the area of perennial leguminous grasses and legume-cereal mixtures and bring their share to 25% of the cultivated area. This requires introducing grain-grass and fruit crop rotations, which will improve the ecological state of the soil and crops, and ensure the reproduction of soil fertility.

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Ecological Role of Exopolysaccharides of Bacillariophyta: A Review

International Journal on Algae ◽

10.1615/interjalgae.v19.i1.10 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 5-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

E. I. Shnyukova ◽

E. K. Zolotareva

Keyword(s):

Ecological Role

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ECOLOGICAL ROLE OF WATER–SOLUBLE ORGANIC SUBSTANCES (WOS) IN HUMUS FORMATION AND THE MIGRATION OF SUBSTANCES IN THE TAIGA REGION SOILS

Izvestiâ Timirâzevskoj selʹskohozâjstvennoj akademii ◽

10.26897/0021-342x-2018-4-32-45 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 32-45

Author(s):

I.M. YASHIN ◽

◽

R.A. ATENBEKOV ◽

V.A. CHERNIKOV ◽

I.I. VASENEV

Keyword(s):

Water Soluble ◽

Organic Substances ◽

Ecological Role ◽

Humus Formation

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Long-term dynamics and destruction of marsh vegetation in the Kolokolkova Bay of the Barents Sea

Vegetation of Russia ◽

10.31111/vegrus/2012.21.66 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 66-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

I. A. Lavrinenko ◽

O. V. Lavrinenko ◽

D. V. Dobrynin

Keyword(s):

Species Composition ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Mean Value ◽

Marsh Vegetation ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

The Mean ◽

Species Composition And Structure

The satellite images show that the area of marshes in the Kolokolkova bay was notstable during the period from 1973 up to 2011. Until 2010 it varied from 357 to 636 ha. After a severe storm happened on July 24–25, 2010 the total area of marshes was reduced up to 43–50 ha. The mean value of NDVI for studied marshes, reflecting the green biomass, varied from 0.13 to 0.32 before the storm in 2010, after the storm the NDVI decreased to 0.10, in 2011 — 0.03. A comparative analysis of species composition and structure of plant communities described in 2002 and 2011, allowed to evaluate the vegetation changes of marshes of the different topographic levels. They are following: a total destruction of plant communities of the ass. Puccinellietum phryganodis and ass. Caricetum subspathaceae on low and middle marches; increasing role of halophytic species in plant communities of the ass. Caricetum glareosae vic. Calamagrostis deschampsioides subass. typicum on middle marches; some changes in species composition and structure of plant communities of the ass. Caricetum glareosae vic. Calamagrostis deschampsioides subass. festucetosum rubrae on high marches and ass. Parnassio palustris–Salicetum reptantis in transition zone between marches and tundra without changes of their syntaxonomy; a death of moss cover in plant communities of the ass. Caricetum mackenziei var. Warnstorfia exannulata on brackish coastal bogs. The possible reasons of dramatic vegetation dynamics are discussed. The dating of the storm makes it possible to observe the directions and rates of the succession of marches vegetation.

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Healing Touch: Clothed Images of the Virgin in Early Modern Portugal

10.31338/2657-6015ik.29.7 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 51-78

Author(s):

Diana Pereira

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Reciprocal Relationship ◽

Physical Contact ◽

Religious Art ◽

Healing Touch ◽

Devotional Art ◽

Healing Power ◽

The Many ◽

Santa Maria

Over the last decades there was a growing interest in religious materiality, miraculous images, votive practices, and how the faithful engaged with devotional art, as well as a renewed impetus to discuss the long-recognized association between sculpture and touch, after the predominance of the visuality approach. Additionally, the neglected phenomenon of clothing statues has also been increasingly explored. Based on the reading of Santuario Mariano (1707–1723), written by Friar Agostinho de Santa Maria (1642–1728), this paper will closely examine those topics. Besides producing a monumental catalogue of Marian shrines and pilgrimage sites, this source offers a unique insight into the religious experience and the reciprocal relationship between image and devotee in Early Modern Portugal, and is a particularly rich source when describing the believers’ pursuit of physical contact with sculptures. This yearning for proximity is partly explained by the belief in the healing power of Marian sculptures, which in turn seemed to be conveniently transferred to a myriad of objects. When contact with the images themselves was not possible, devotees sought out their clothes, crowns, rosary beads, metric relics, and so forth. Items of clothing such as mantles and veils were particularly used and so it seems obvious they were not mere adornments or donations, but also mediums and extensions of the sculptures’ presence and power. By focusing on the thaumaturgic role of the statues’ clothes and jewels, I will argue how the practice of dressing sculptures was due to much more than stylistic desires or processional needs and draw attention to the many ways believers engaged with religious art in Early Modern Portugal.

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