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Report on time trends and spatial patterns of ecosystem chemistry
No full textStatus and trend of the chemistry of atmospheric deposition, soil solutions and foliar tissue in the Italian plots of the ICP Forests network were analysed. The examination and statistical assessment of temporal trends depicting the chemical aspects of forest ecosystem evolution could obtain a series of useful results. Nevertheless, statistical processing required use of high power tools, such as the Seasonal Mann-Kendall Test (SKT), to obtain significant results. It is anticipated that further progress, i.e. in modelling phenomena, will require further appeal to some of the most sophisticated statistical tools, as outlined by previous essays. The need to push statistical processing arises from strong inter-annual variability of parameters; mainly driven by meteorological phenomena, this variability is further compounded by complex responses of forest ecosystems, which also show internal change processes, such as ongoing species replacement (site EMI1) and, likely, general aging of monitoring sites. The resulting limitations to statistical analysis stress importance of long, continuous time series, and then the value of the existing system. The clearest temporal trends outlined by this analysis were those concerning the reduction in acidifying SO4-S deposition and the reactions of soil chemistry to such reduction. Decrease in acidifying sulphate deposition could be detected in most sites having shown high deposition levels in past years: also, the time component of such reduction could be evidenced as being most marked in the early part of the time series. Reaction of soils to such decreasing acidifying load was evidenced in multiple cases; at this stage, the prevailing response appears to be a reduction in the leaching of base cations from soil, a result which is in line with analogous results from the European network. Increases in soil solution pH were also detected in several cases. An equally clear result was the prevailing absence of a time trend in acidifying nitrogen deposition, confirming hypotheses based on the absence of any significant reduction in emissions. It was also verified that the soil acidifying potential of this kind of air pollution is equal, or greater, than that of sulphate deposition. Sites bearing high N load were definitely at variance for the soil response, failing to show any hint of recovery and being rather marked by stable, or intensifying, trends of base cation leaching and decreasing soil solution pH. Another time trend compounding soil reactions was a diffuse and significant trend of reduction in base cation deposition, which naturally tends to slow down ecosystem response to decreasing acidifying load, by concomitantly reducing external contributions to ecosystem buffering capacity. As for leaf nutrients, several time trends were observed and some of them were coherent over several sites for a given tree species. In particular, Nitrogen was decreasing in several beech and spruce sites and Sulphur was decreasing in most oak (Q. cerris) and spruce sites. The negative trend for S could be related with the reduction in acidifying SO4-S deposition discussed above. While the negative trend for N is coherent with the observed deterioration of the nutritional status of European forests. Particular care will be devoted to Nitrogen decrement because of its important role in tree growth. Spatial variability and distribution of ecosystem conditions Among the studied parameters, SO4-S deposition was the only one showing clear, regionalized, spatial trends. For this parameter, anyway, the network was able to show that, for central-southern Italy, there exists an SO4-S source not foreseen by the general models for Europe. This takes the form of significant inputs of sulphate salts, coming from both sea-spray aerosol and atmospheric dust of supposed African origin. As this kind of deposition comes, essentially, in the form of salts, it is not acidifying. Its amount is visibly strongly variable between years, likely influenced by shifting atmospheric circulation patterns. Such variability made time series analysis more difficult. More or less homogeneous distribution of N pollution sources across the nation caused, instead, N depositions to be essentially spatially random. Local changes of N deposition with time are most likely to be attributed, again, to changes in atmospheric circulation, changing allocation of a substantially stable pollution pool between different areas. Soil response to nitrogen deposition appears to be mostly conditioned by the amount and efficiency of such deposition. A significant part of N deposition is actually utilised by the forest ecosystem, producing increasing growth and biomass. Consequently, simple deposition data do not fully predict soil response and, especially, the highly important risk of nitrogen export from the soil-plant system. Full evaluation of the effects of N deposition is best obtained by taking account of the growth response; it was found that the standard European method of Critical Load (CL) estimation, taking into account forest growth, is a better predictor of the risk of nitrogen export to water bodies. Exceedance of CL in the monitoring sites has demonstrated to be a highly efficient predictor of N export from soils. Essentially, it clearly appears that all sites with significant CL exceedance export a significant amount of N out of the soil. This results outlines the importance of integrated monitoring of different parameters, in order to obtain accurate assessments of pollution risks. Other sources of variability between sites were more linked to the specific character of the forest and soil system in each sites. The most relevant examples include the much more intense cycling of base cations in Quercus sites, the differences in SO4-S retention due to soil properties, the kind of response to decrease acidifying load, whether decrease in BC leaching or increase in soil solution pH, which appear to be influenced by the size and availability of the BC pool in each soil
Effects of UV radiation and rainfall reduction on carbon and nitrogen levels in a Mediterranean shrub community before and after a controlled fire
No full textThis study assesses the role of UV radiation on C and N cycles of a Mediterranean shrubland before and after a fire, and whether this role can be altered by water availability. In a field experiment, naturally growing vegetation was subjected to UV-A+UV-B exclusion, UV-B exclusion or near-ambient UV-A+UV-B exposure in combination with two precipitation regimes (natural or reduced rainfall), along with an experimental fire around the middle of the three years of the study. Different parameters related with C and N levels were measured at soil (0-5 and 5-10 cm), litter and plant level throughout the experiment. UV-A exposure increased soil moisture whereas UV-A+UV-B stimulated soil respiration under reduced rainfall. At 5-10 cm depth, but only before the fire, UV-A exposure increased soil ?-glucosidase activity, while UV-A+UV-B reduced it. Mainly under reduced rainfall, plant exposition to UV-B increased foliar C content before the fire and ?15N in Arbutus unedo after the fire. These findings suggest contrasting UV-A and UV-B effects on C and N cycles, often mediated by precipitation levels, together with a homogenizing effect of the perturbation. We are grateful to: UdG (ASING2011/3), Spanish Government (CGL2010-22283 and CGL2010-18546) and Gavarres Consortium (Girona, Spain)
Fifteen new earthworm mitogenomes shed new light on phylogeny within the Pheretima complex
No full textThe Pheretima complex within the Megascolecidae family is a major earthworm group. Recently, the systematic status of the Pheretima complex based on morphology was challenged by molecular studies. In this study, we carry out the first comparative mitogenomic study in oligochaetes. The mitogenomes of 15 earthworm species were sequenced and compared with other 9 available earthworm mitogenomes, with the main aim to explore their phylogenetic relationships and test different analytical approaches on phylogeny reconstruction. The general earthworm mitogenomic features revealed to be conservative: all genes encoded on the same strand, all the protein coding loci shared the same initiation codon (ATG), and tRNA genes showed conserved structures. The Drawida japonica mitogenome displayed the highest A + T content, reversed AT/GC-skews and the highest genetic diversity. Genetic distances among protein coding genes displayed their maximum and minimum interspecific values in the ATP8 and CO1 genes, respectively. The 22 tRNAs showed variable substitution patterns between the considered earthworm mitogenomes. The inclusion of rRNAs positively increased phylogenetic support. Furthermore, we tested different trimming tools for alignment improvement. Our analyses rejected reciprocal monophyly among Amynthas and Metaphire and indicated that the two genera should be systematically classified into one
The Role of Art in Society with Particular Reference to the Problem of Violence
No full textAccording to the Latin poet Virgil, art is capable of revealing to us what no science can ever reveal to a human mind. In the last few decades, though timidly, also scientific research has suggested that a close, active, participatory, and positive contact with art can be particularly beneficial in humans\u27 efforts to attain a deeper and broader comprehension of reality. Violence, or, more exactly, unjustified violence, basically rests on an irrational and short-sighted analysis and interpretation of reality. It is here assumed that the experience of art can provide a powerful contribution to the analysis and comprehension of reality, and to the efforts to avoid resorting to unjustified violence, and to address conflicts constructively. The psychological processes relating to the experience of art and to its connections with violence are described. It is also pointed out that this theoretical perspective does not fully coincide with the theoretical theses underpinning art therapy. As a matter of fact, in this paper art is not considered as a mere therapeutic instrument, a perspective that might implicitly suggest the idea of art as an "objective and physical" entity from which, through specific techniques, human beings can almost automatically draw a greater capacity to understand reality. Instead, in this context, an attempt has been made to consider art and the relationship with art in their more complex, deeper, and partly still unexplored aspects, where neither art or the individual is "at the service" of the other. Some suggestions are presented aiming to explain why this theoretical approach might be particularly helpful in order to better understand and countervail violence
Known from a handful of specimens: analyzing the worldwide patterns of occurrence and conservation of rodents and shrews recorded only from the type locality
No full textTraditionally, conservation research has not focused on Rodentia and Soricomorpha, and many species are known from a handful of specimens and the type locality only (few and type locality species (FETP)). Here we studied the patterns of occurrence of FETP rodents and soricomorphs in relation to geographical area and vegetation zones and report some conservation considerations. Overall, 91 species of Rodentia and 19 species of Soricomorpha were selected. There was a positive correlation between number of species per genus and number of FETP species in each genus. The majority of FETP rodents occur in the Neotropical, Afrotropical and Oriental regions, and soricomorphs in the Afrotropical and Oriental regions. Higher numbers of FETP rodent species occurred in Argentina and Indonesia. There was a positive relationship between species richness of rodents per country and number of FETP species. In terms of habitat type, FETP species of rodents and soricomorphs showed similar patterns, with most species being found in rainforest. The great majority of selected species of both groups were Data Deficient (DD), with Critically Endangered (CR) accounting for 16.5% of Rodentia and 5.3% of Soricomorpha. Overall, IUCN threatened species mostly occur in the Neotropical region, followed by the Afrotropical region. It is urged that IUCN authorities should promptly revise all FETP species and their precautionary CR status, at least when a reasonable timespan (i.e., >25 years) has passed since the last records
Caratterizzazione di farine per l\u27impiego in mangimistica ottenute a partire da larve di Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae)
No full textInsects as alimentar foo
Decreasing Fires in Mediterranean Europe
No full textForest fires are a serious environmental hazard in southern Europe. Quantitative assessment of recent trends in fire statistics is important for assessing the possible shifts induced by climate and other environmental/socioeconomic changes in this area. Here we analyse recent fire trends in Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy and Greece, building on a homogenized fire database integrating official fire statistics provided by several national/EU agencies. During the period 1985-2011, the total annual burned area (BA) displayed a general decreasing trend, with the exception of Portugal, where a heterogeneous signal was found. Considering all countries globally, we found that BA decreased by about 3020 km2 over the 27-year-long study period (i.e. about -66% of the mean historical value). These results are consistent with those obtained on longer time scales when data were available, also yielding predominantly negative trends in Spain and France (1974-2011) and a mixed trend in Portugal (1980-2011). Similar overall results were found for the annual number of fires (NF), which globally decreased by about 12600 in the study period (about -59%), except for Spain where, excluding the provinces along the Mediterranean coast, an upward trend was found for the longer period. We argue that the negative trends can be explained, at least in part, by an increased effort in fire management and prevention after the big fires of the 1980\u27s, while positive trends may be related to recent socioeconomic transformations leading to more hazardous landscape configurations, as well as to the observed warming of recent decades. We stress the importance of fire data homogenization prior to analysis, in order to alleviate spurious effects associated with non-stationarities in the data due to temporal variations in fire detection efforts
Demonstrators Assessment
No full textWork Package 8, titled Demonstrators, aimed at providing support to the technical and research work packages for better focusing on their activities, and at assessing the applicability, acceptance and effectiveness of the proposed solutions. An early validation was carried out considering the first running instance of the Learn PAd platform available (since 06 November 2015). A group of users, sampled from both project demonstrators (EPBR and SUAP), tested the Learn PAd platform and provided us with feedback and comments to improve it. From a methodological perspective, in the early validation we run a questionnaire and collected technical and detailed opinions from a focus group with influential people, skilled in computer science or in education. In this deliverable we present the aims, setting and results of the final validation run on the latest running instance of the Learn PAd platform available, which includes all the Learn PAd definitive components. From a methodological perspective, in the final validation we submitted a questionnaire ex-ante to assess learners\u27 competences and experiences, and a questionnaire ex-post to assess their possible improvements in knowledge, skills and competence, acquired at the conclusion of a training session lasting two working weeks (since 14 September 2016). The ex-post questionnaire also aimed at surveying the degree of user satisfaction and engagement and at asking their opinion regarding usability, efficacy and completeness of the Learn PAd Platform. The final validation involved 61 users (31 learners were involved in using the Learn PAd platform and 30 learners, referred to as the matching control group, worked within another regional e-learning platform called MARLENE)
Demonstrators Populated Learning Platform
No full textDeliverable D8.3 consists of the final version of the Learn PAd content for the two demonstrators developed in the project: European Project Budget Report (EPBR), and Sportello Unico Attivita Produttive (SUAP). The deliverable is of software and report nature. In this brief document we provide a mapping to places from where the official released version of content at M24 can be retrieved. We also include information on how such contents can be accessed. In particular, we refer to both the Learn PAd Modeling Environment and the Learn PAd Learning Platform
A Learning Architecture for Complex Organization
No full textModern organizations are challenged to understand and put in action latest procedures and rules in order to constantly improve their service quality while coping with quickly changing contexts and decreasing resources. Such are defined by means of several kind of models that are in general quite interrelated. In this paper, we propose a Learning Architecture using Zachman Framework that allows us to define relations among these models and permits us to handle with huge amount of informations and resources in an organized way. Furthermore, the architecture enables process-driven learning and improvement through enriched models with contextual knowledge in terms of documentation and resources