Aquatic Macrophytes Occurrence in Mediterranean Farm Ponds: Preliminary Investigations in North-Western Sicily (Italy)

Mediterranean wetlands are severely affected by habitat degradation and related loss of biodiversity. In this scenario, the wide number of artificial farm ponds can play a significant role in the biodiversity conservation of aquatic flora. In the present contribution we show the preliminary results of a study on Mediterranean farm ponds of north-western Sicily (Italy), aimed to investigating the environmental factors linked to the occurrence of submerged macrophytes (vascular plants and charophytes). We studied the aquatic flora of 30 ponds and determined the chemical and isotopic composition of their water bodies on a subset of the most representative 10 sites. Results show that (1) farm ponds host few but interesting species, such as Potamogeton pusillus considered threatened at regional level; (2) Chara vulgaris, C. globularis and P. pusillus behave as disturbance-tolerant species, occurring both in nitrates-poor and nitrates-rich waters, whereas Stuckenia pectinata and Zannichellia palustris occur only in nitrates-poor waters. Although farm ponds are artificial and relatively poor habitats, these environments seem to be important for the aquatic flora and for the conservation of the local biodiversity, and can give useful information for the use of macrophytes as bioindicators in the Mediterranean area.

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Land molluscs from the Isola delle Femmine Nature Reserve (north-western Sicily, Italy) (Gastropoda Architaenioglossa Pulmonata)

BIODIVERSITY JOURNAL ◽

10.31396/biodiv.jour.2021.12.3.589.624 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 589-564

Author(s):

Ignazio Sparacio ◽

Salvatore Surdo ◽

Roberto Viviano ◽

Fabio Liberto ◽

Agatino Reitano

Keyword(s):

Nature Reserve ◽

Western Sicily ◽

North Western ◽

Land Molluscs

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5th-Century BC Himera and the Campanian Connection: Petrographic and Archaeological Studies on Western Greek Amphorae from Poseidonia and Elea Unearthed in the Necropolis of Himera

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min10030227 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 227 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alberto De Bonis ◽

Verena Gassner ◽

Theodoros Ntaflos ◽

Maria Luigia Rizzo ◽

Roman Sauer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Mediterranean ◽

Polarised Light ◽

Depth Study ◽

Local Reference ◽

Western Sicily ◽

Transport Amphorae ◽

North Western ◽

Reference Samples ◽

Petrographic Investigation

Within the frame of an in-depth study of the corpus of about 560 western Greek transport amphorae (6th–5th century BC) yielded from excavations at the necropolis of the Dorian-Chalcidian colony of Himera in North-western Sicily, one of the most interesting issues consists in the determination of their provenance. Based on archaeological considerations, nearly 100 items have been attributed to southern Campania, specifically to Poseidonia and Elea. The present paper proposes a detailed combined archaeological-archaeometric investigation of 16 samples discovered at Himera and one at Jerba (Tunisia), of presumed Campanian provenance, compared with 4 local reference samples from Poseidonia and 6 samples of western Greek amphorae found at Pithekoussai and Elea, attributed to Poseidonia by previous archaeometric analysis. All samples have been submitted to a macroscopic fabric examination according to the standard methods of FACEM (Fabrics of the Central Mediterranean) and to petrographic investigation (polarised light microscopy) and digital image analyses of microstructures. Our study points to a Campanian provenance of the investigated amphorae and their distinction in a large group from Poseidonia and a small group from Elea. The identification of a numerous assemblage of 5th century BC Poseidonian transport vessels at Himera substantially underlines an earlier hypothesis about its ‘Campanian connection’ and allows for the reconstruction of an important Tyrrhenian commercial axis.

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Movements and residence time of spiny lobsters, Palinurus elephas released in a marine protected area: an investigation by ultrasonic telemetry

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s002531540601407x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 86 (5) ◽

pp. 1101-1106 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

V.M. Giacalone ◽

G. D'Anna ◽

C. Pipitone ◽

F. Badalamenti

Keyword(s):

Marine Protected Area ◽

Marine Reserve ◽

Spiny Lobster ◽

Release Site ◽

Diel Activity ◽

Ultrasonic Telemetry ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Entire Duration ◽

Western Sicily ◽

North Western

Marine reserves and restocking initiatives are sometimes used as a tool to enhance spiny lobster stocks. In such initiatives it is crucial to follow the movement of lobsters once they are released at sea in restocking experiments.This paper presents the results of the application of an ultrasonic telemetry system to the monitoring of 11 lobsters (90±14 mm mean carapace length) released in the Capo Gallo-Isola delle Femmine Marine Reserve in north-western Sicily, central Mediterranean. The system comprised transmitters glued onto the lobster carapace, and manual as well as automated receivers to locate tagged animals. The data (i.e. number of detected signals) were tested to assess any difference in the diel activity of lobsters. The field study lasted 79 days in total. Lobsters remained in the study area for periods ranging from a few hours to the entire duration of the study. The longest distance travelled by a tagged lobster was 2.2 km. The number of signals varied significantly across the day, with the highest value recorded in the full-light hours (1000–1500), but they were not sufficient to assess clearly the diel activity of the released lobsters.The interpretation of data suggests that: (1) released lobsters preferred a deeper habitat than that of the release site; and (2) the lobsters that reached a rough rocky area with available shelters settled there, while those that did not meet such a habitat soon moved out of hydrophone detecting range.

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SIMILARITIES IN THE SURNAMES OF ISLAND AND CONTINENTAL POPULATIONS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN AREA

Journal of Biosocial Science ◽

10.1017/s0021932007002465 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 359-377 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E. LUCCHETTI ◽

M. TASSO ◽

P. PIZZETTI ◽

S. DE IASIO ◽

G. U. CARAVELLO

Keyword(s):

Genetic Analysis ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Recent History ◽

Local Populations ◽

The North ◽

The Matrix ◽

Mediterranean Regions ◽

Geographical Position ◽

North Western

SummaryThis paper compares the structures of the surnames of 75 municipal populations living in six north-western Mediterranean regions. Its purpose is to unravel the relations between the local populations in Corsica and Sardinia and the links between these populations and those living in the Italian and French continental territory. On the basis of the matrix of similarity of surnames, some topological representations have been drafted showing the above-mentioned relations between populations under the light of their geographical position, their recent history and studies of genetic analysis. Corsica has an eterogeneous surname structure and evident similarity of the north with Tuscany and some centres of continental France. When only the populations of Sardinia were taken into consideration, it emerged that they differ among each other in relation to their geographical position and their history; when, instead, they were considered in relation to other populations outside the island, it was possible to observe that they form a highly different cluster. This study also identified many differences in the analysed geographical areas of Sardinia. In the minor islands – Elba, Giglio, Capraia – the structure of the surnames has a Tuscan origin as well as some similarity with other geographically distant areas, as in the case of the island of Giglio, if compared with some communities of Liguria.

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Key scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of high economic importance in a Mediterranean area: host plants, bio-ecological characteristics, natural enemies and pest management strategies – a review

Plant Protection Science ◽

10.17221/53/2016-pps ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 53 (No. 1) ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Mansour Ramzi ◽

Grissa-Lebdi Kaouthar ◽

Suma Pompeo ◽

Mazzeo Gaetana ◽

Russo Agatino

Keyword(s):

Pest Management ◽

Host Plants ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Economic Importance ◽

Scale Insects ◽

Economic Losses ◽

Planococcus Citri ◽

Present Contribution ◽

Saissetia Oleae

Key scale insects that have long been considered as having high economic importance in Tunisia and for which several research studies and pest management programs have been undertaken include the mealybug species Planococcus ficus (Signoret) and Planococcus citri Risso, the soft scale Saissetia oleae (Olivier) and the armoured scale Parlatoria ziziphi (Lucas). The host plants, bio-ecological aspects, auxiliary fauna of each of the aforementioned species as well as the related economic losses and pest management strategies adopted are explored and discussed. Among these species, P. ficus is considered herein as the most economically important in Tunisia. Still, the present contribution constitutes the first review article on key scale insects infesting plants in the South Mediterranean Maghreb area.

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Gastropods from the Jurassic neptunian sills of Rocca Busambra (north‐western Sicily, Italy): Patellogastropoda, Pleurotomarioidea, Scissurelloidea, Fissurelloidea and Eucycloidea

Papers in Palaeontology ◽

10.1002/spp2.1258 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

János Szabó ◽

Maria Alessandra Conti ◽

Stefano Monari ◽

Jobst Wendt

Keyword(s):

Western Sicily ◽

North Western

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Coastal climatology of the North-Western Mediterranean area for long-term and short-term risk assessment.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19382 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Carlo Brandini ◽

Stefano Taddei ◽

Valentina Vannucchi ◽

Michele Bendoni ◽

Bartolomeo Doronzo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

High Resolution ◽

Mediterranean Area ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Climate Trends ◽

Short Term ◽

The North ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

North Western

In this work we present the results obtained through a dynamic downscaling of the ERA5 reanalysis dataset (hindcast) of ECMWF, using high-resolution meteorological and wave models defined on unstructured computation grids along the Mediterranean coasts, with a particular focus on the North-Western Mediterranean area. Downscaling of the ERA5 meteorological data is obtained through the BOLAM and MOLOCH models (up to a resolution of 2.5 km) which force an unstructured WW3 model with a resolution of up to 500 m along the coast. Models were validated through available meteorological stations, wave buoy data and X-band wave radars, the latter for the purposes of wave spectra validation.On the one hand, this allowed, by extracting the time series of some attack parameters of the waves along the coast, and according to the type of coast (rocky coasts, sandy coasts, coastal structures etc.), to compute the return periods and to characterize the impact of any individual storm.&#160;On the other hand, it is possible to highlight some trends observed in the last 30 years, during which recent research is showing an increasing evidence &#160;of some changes in global circulation at regional to local scales. These changes also include effects of wind rotation, wave regimes, storm surges, wave-induced coastal currents and coastal morphodynamics. For example, in the North-Western Mediterranean extreme events belonging to cyclonic weather-types circulation with stronger S-SE components (like the storm of October 28-30th 2018 and many others), rather than events associated with perturbations of Atlantic origin and zonal circulation, are becoming more frequent. These long-term wind/wave climate trends can have consequences not only in the assessment of long-term risk due to main morphodynamic variations (ie. coastal erosion), but also in the short-term risk assessment.This work was funded by the EU MAREGOT project (2017-2020) and ECMWF Special Project spitbran &#160;&#8220;Evaluation of coastal climate trends in the Mediterranean area by means of high-resolution and multi-model downscaling of ERA5 reanalysis&#8221; (2018-2020).

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Status of plankton diversity and biological productivity of Sahastradhara stream at Uttarakhand, India

Journal of Applied and Natural Science ◽

10.31018/jans.v4i1.231 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 96-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

D. S. Malik ◽

Umesh Bharti

Keyword(s):

Green Algae ◽

Habitat Degradation ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Ecological Indicator ◽

Biological Productivity ◽

Present Contribution ◽

Blue Green Algae ◽

Wiener Diversity Index ◽

Plankton Diversity

The present contribution encompasses on plankton and biological productivity as ecological indicator for identifying the ecological quality of Sahastradhara stream (between 27 km stream stretches), located in the Doon Valley of Garhwal region in India. Monthly sampling from all the sampling sites was made for a period of 12 months (May 2009 – April 2010) at 9:00-11: 00 AM. A total of 40 taxa from different classes of plankton and zooplankton were reported. The phytoplankton (32 sp.) was found being the most abundant taxa than zooplankton (9 sp.) inSahastradhara stream. Fluctuation in the phytoplankton density was recorded highest (1536 unit/l) during winter and lowest (20 unit/l) during monsoon. Zooplanktons were reported to be maximum (147 unit/l) during summer and minimum (3 unit/l) during monsoon. The total diatoms were reported highest (1022unit/l) during starting the winter and lowest (4 unit/l) during monsoon. Green algae and blue green algae were reported to be maximum during winter and minimum during summer. The Shannon-wiener diversity index calculated for the density ofBacillariophyceae (0.2180-0.366), Chlorophyceae (0.208-0.367) and Cyanophyceae (0.391-0.366) and correlation was made between Plankton biomass and physico-chemical parameters to analyses the relative features of the both variables. The density of plankton and biological productivity were influenced by disturbances in the photic zone and indiscriminate anthropogenic activities for tourist development resulted aquatic habitat degradation in stream ecosystem.

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