1,721,018 research outputs found
Parassitoidi di insetti di ecosistemi forestali: il caso dei ditteri tachinidi (Diptera: Tachinidae)
No full textLIFE17 ESC/IT/001 ''360 volunteers for monitoring forest biodiversity in the Italian Natura 2000 Network'': Layman's Report of LIFE ESC360
No full textThe Layman’s Report of the project LIFE17 ESC/IT/001 ‘‘LIFE ESC 360’’ - 360 volunteers for monitoring forest biodiversity in the Italian Natura 2000 Network has the main objective of sharing with the public the project experience and describe the different actions carried out.
The project stared in 2018, under the coordination of Arma dei Carabinieri - Comando Unità Forestali, Ambientali Agroalimentari - Raggruppamento Carabinieri Biodiversità. Associated beneficiaries of the project were: Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria - Centro di ricerca Difesa e Certificazione di Firenze (CREA-DC) and D.R.E.Am. Italia Soc. Coop.
LIFE ESC360 is a citizen science project aimed at engaging young volunteers (aged 18—30) in the monitoring of protected species and habitats in Italian Natura 2000 sites included in six Nature State Reserves managed by CUFA. After a period of training, the volunteers moved to their study area hosted in the Reserve managed by Carabinieri where they spent 2 months (42 working days). The field activities in charge of the volunteers included: the preparation of the surveys, survey sessions, collection and management of data, organisation of dissemination events. Each activity was guided and supported by the project staff.
A total of 8 volunteering shifts were completed with 345 volunteers engaged and more than 40 targets monitored, including habitats, plants, and animals (both protected and invasive).
At the end of the project (June 2022), a three-day final event was held, during which the former volunteers were celebrated, the project results were discussed at a scientific conference and the experiences and good practices were shared with other citizen science projects (book of abstracts at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7442508).
This Layman’s Report describes the activities mentioned above by providing a comprehensive overview of what LIFE ESC360 was and the achieved results.
The report has been developed with the contribution of all the project partners and it is available both in Italian and English languages.LIFE ESC360 was co-financed by the LIFE ESC Programme of the European Union.
Project n. LIFE 17/ESC/IT/001 https://www.life360esc.eu/it
Robber flies and hover flies (Insecta, Diptera, Asilidae and Syrphidae) in beech forests of the central Apennines: a contribution to the inventory of insect biodiversity in Italian State Nature Reserves
Full text linkThe present paper describes a sampling-event dataset on species belonging to two families of Diptera (Syrphidae and Asilidae) collected between 2012 and 2019 in two Italian beech forests located in the central Apennines. The reference dataset consists of an annotated checklist and has been published on Zenodo. Syrphidae and Asilidae are two widespread and key ecological groups, including predator, pollinator and saproxylic species. Despite their pivotal role in both natural and man-made ecosystems, these families are still poorly known in terms of local distribution and open-access sampling-event data are rare in Italy.This open-access dataset includes 2,295 specimens for a total of 21 Asilidae and 65 Syrphidae species. Information about the collection (e.g. place, date, methods applied, collector) and the identification (e.g. species name, author, taxon ID) of the species is provided. Given the current biodiversity crisis, the publication of checklists, sampling-event data and datasets on insect communities in open-access repositories is highly recommended, as it represents the opportunity to share biodiversity information amongst different stakeholders. Moreover, such data are also a valuable source of information for nature reserve managers responsible for monitoring the conservation status of protected and endangered species and habitats and for evaluating the effects of conservation actions over time
Spatial patterns of saproxylic beetles in a relic silver fir forest (Central Italy), relationships with forest structure and biodiversity indicators
No full textThe conservation of biological diversity is one of the main goals for managing forests in an ecologically sustainable way. Presence and abundance of microhabitats, such as tree cavities or bark pockets, can be conveniently used as indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of sustainable forest management measures. In Mediterranean forest ecosystems, the relationships between stand-structure attributes and species-diversity indicators are still poorly studied. We described the structural attributes, deadwood characteristics and microhabitat occurrence in a silver fir forest of Central Apennines (Italy), which has not been submitted to silvicultural interventions for several decades. We assessed linkages between these characteristics and the abundance, distribution and diversity of saproxylic beetle fauna. A systematic aligned sampling method was conduced on 240 ha, examining 50 plots of 530 m2 each. Saproxylic beetles were sampled using window flight traps and emergence traps in relation to abundance and species richness at the plot level, but also on decaying deadwood. The heterogeneity in types and frequencies of microhabitats, and the link between structural attributes associated with stand complexity and saproxylic species, were also analysed. With the aim of describing the complex saproxylic ecological network, beetle species were classified according to the type of interactions with wood and other insects fauna, but also in relation to the trophic guilds. Linear regressions were conducted for highlighting metric variability and relationships between parameters, while geostatistical analyses were used to describe the spatial variability of structural features and the spatial pattern of beetle distributions. Results of linear regression and geostatistical analysis showed how the saproxylic beetle community is influenced by the amount, type and stage of decay of deadwood, but also by the forest structural complexity and the occurrence of microhabitats. Gap dynamics and natural disturbances had effects on deadwood amounts and microhabitat abundance, which was significantly higher than in managed and structurally simplified forest stands. Most of the entomological variables (namely, Families, Species, Total individuals, Saproxylic individuals, Staphylinidae, Elateridae, Nothodes parvulus, Curculionidae, Ernoporus fagi, Phyllobius emery) were clumped, highlighting the existence of aggregation areas in the sampled forest. In several cases the insect distribution was linked to the spatial pattern of forest attributes, particularly deadwood components
Engaging me softly: Comparing social drivers for continuative citizens' participation in a long-term citizen science initiative on protected species monitoring
Full text linkThe engagement of volunteers in Citizen Science (CS) projects is a relevant issue that needs to be addressed to ensure long-term sustainability, scientific relevance, and public participation. Given this, the present paper analyses the social drivers of volunteers' involvement in a long-term CS initiative to monitor protected species and habitats all over Italian national territory. This initiative was initially born as the LIFE11 NAT/IT/000252 MIPP (Monitoring of Insects with Public Participation), then changed name to "InNat" benefitting from Italian national fundings, and it finally ended in 2024. Overall, it counts more than 1600 participants to whom a dedicated survey was submitted in 2022 to compare and analyse different factors potentially driving participation (potential enablers) and fostering engagement within the project. Based on the survey results (22.3% response rate of 1632 invitations sent), different drivers for participation are modelled (socio-demographic features, interest in scientific topics, environmental attitudes) considering the following main factors: (i) the level of commitment to the initiative, (ii) the seniority of the citizen scientist involved, (iii) the attitudes towards nature conservation and species monitoring, (iv) the value assigned to CS activities. In this context, socio-demographic variables have been compared to attitudes and practices connected to open-air monitoring activities (e.g., recording protected species and habitats by taking pictures in nature). The proposed analyses tackle a variety of cultural and social components as well as their relationship, highlighting some of the features (e.g., active interest in CS activities reverberating in both commitments to engage other volunteers and active search for CS initiatives) that characterize constant participation. We classified volunteers into two categories (i.e., Consistent Volunteers and Non-Consistent Volunteers), comparing these two categories along potential enablers of engagement. Results show homogeneity among volunteers for several parameters (e.g., similar education level, age, occupational status) but also differences in personal motivation and active interest in citizen science initiatives
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Editorial
Full text linkThe present Special Issue entitled “Italian Long-Term Ecological Research for understanding ecosystem diversity and functioning. Case studies from aquatic, terrestrial and transitional domains” is the first published collection of studies performed at LTER-Italy sites which address the diversity and dynamics of ecosystems in different domains in responses to natural and anthropogenic forcing
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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