1,721,134 research outputs found
Preface
No full textEnvironmental change relations in the Mediterranean Sea since its formation and all aspects of life in it and around its shores
Looks at ways the geology, currents and chemistry of the Sea have affected plant life, fauna and mankind from the distant past, through present patterns, towards likely future scenarios
Essential to researchers and advanced students focusing on the Mediterranean environment, biota, past, heritage and challenges laying ahead for its diverse dependents
This volume is an indispensable addition to the multidisciplinary coverage of the science of the Mediterranean Sea. The editors have gathered leading authorities from the fields of Marine Biology, Ecology, paleoclimatology, Chemical and Physical Oceanography, Zoology, Botany, Aquatic Photosynthesis, Socioeconomics, Mariculture, Mediterranean History and Science of Humanity.
Beginning with the birth of the Mediterranean Sea and its myths. From coral to fish, an introduction is given to its major inhabitants of plants and animals past and present. The chapters illustrate how organisms interact as part of the structure and function of the Sea's main ecosystems. The rise of the Mediterranean as the cradle of the Western Civilization leads to a discourse on the status of human interaction with the sea. Accelerating global climate change, water warming, ocean acidification and sea level rise, and analyses of their effects on key organisms, entire ecosystems and human socioeconomics are given. Forecasting and predictions are presented taking into account different future scenarios from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change).
The volume is richly illustrated in color, with an extensive bibliography. A valuable addition to the limited literature in the field, offering up-to-date broad coverage merging science and humanities.
Content Level » Research
Related subjects » Aquatic Sciences - Ecology - Environmental / Development / Agricultural Economic
The Mediterranean Sea. Its history and present challenges
No full textEnvironmental change relations in the Mediterranean Sea since its formation and all aspects of life in it and around its shores
Looks at ways the geology, currents and chemistry of the Sea have affected plant life, fauna and mankind from the distant past, through present patterns, towards likely future scenarios
Essential to researchers and advanced students focusing on the Mediterranean environment, biota, past, heritage and challenges laying ahead for its diverse dependents
This volume is an indispensable addition to the multidisciplinary coverage of the science of the Mediterranean Sea. The editors have gathered leading authorities from the fields of Marine Biology, Ecology, paleoclimatology, Chemical and Physical Oceanography, Zoology, Botany, Aquatic Photosynthesis, Socioeconomics, Mariculture, Mediterranean History and Science of Humanity.
Beginning with the birth of the Mediterranean Sea and its myths. From coral to fish, an introduction is given to its major inhabitants of plants and animals past and present. The chapters illustrate how organisms interact as part of the structure and function of the Sea's main ecosystems. The rise of the Mediterranean as the cradle of the Western Civilization leads to a discourse on the status of human interaction with the sea. Accelerating global climate change, water warming, ocean acidification and sea level rise, and analyses of their effects on key organisms, entire ecosystems and human socioeconomics are given. Forecasting and predictions are presented taking into account different future scenarios from the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change).
The volume is richly illustrated in color, with an extensive bibliography. A valuable addition to the limited literature in the field, offering up-to-date broad coverage merging science and humanities.
Content Level » Research
Related subjects » Aquatic Sciences - Ecology - Environmental / Development / Agricultural Economic
The Cnidaria, past, present and future. The world of Medusa and her sisters
No full textThis volume presents a broad panorama of the current status of research of invertebrate animals considered belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, such as hydra, jellyfish, sea anemone, and coral. In this book the Cnidarians are traced from the Earth's primordial oceans, to their response to the warming and acidifying oceans. Due to the role of corals in the carbon and calcium cycles, various aspects of cnidarian calcification are discussed. The relation of the Cnidaria with Mankind is approached, in accordance with the Editors' philosophy of bridging the artificial schism between science, arts and Humanities. Cnidarians' encounters with humans result in a broad spectrum of medical emergencies that are reviewed. The final section of the volume is devoted to the role of Hydra and Medusa in mythology and art
Preface
No full textIn the present volume, we exhibit a broad panorama of the current status of cnidarian research. On
the timescale, the cnidarians are traced from the earliest geological records of their place at the
very cradle of the evolution of multicellular organisms in the Earth’s primordial oceans, to their
response to present climate change effects in the warming and acidifying oceans. The latter aspects
are described on the molecular and physiological responses followed by resulting population level
effects. Their evolution is accompanied by their taxonomic diversification and geographic expansion,
including their present role among invasive species. Their acquisition of neural networks and
development of skeletal elements are described on the background of the evolutionary history of
these systems covering both evolutionary and ontogenetic analyses.
The uniquely widespread and intimate mutualistic symbiotic associations with algae is described in
taxa, such as jellyfishes and corals, revealing the roots of the dependence of so many cnidarian
species on photosynthesis. That allows their symbiotic algae – the zooxanthel- lae – to provide
most of the metabolic energy needs of the animal algae holobiont. Due to the dominant role of
corals in the biogeochemical carbon and calcium cycles, the various aspects of cnidarian
calcification are discussed in terms of accepted theories while exposing their difficulties.
The relation of the Cnidaria with mankind is approached on several levels, in accordance with the
editors’ philosophy of bridging the artificial schism between science, arts and humani- ties. On the
direct level, the various encounters with humans result in a broad spectrum of medical emergencies
of varying seriousness are reviewed. On a more detached level, humans from the very emergence of
our species were fascinated by corals, and various coralline orna- mental objects are found in
burial sites in coastal regions in all continents. Chapters are dedi- cated to the history of coral
harvesting down to current sustainable culture practices.
To the role of “Hydra” and “Medusa” in mythology, art and culture is devoted in the final section of
the volume.
That section closes the unique, topical, multi-level, interdisciplinary coverage of the wide-
spread, predominantly marine taxon, the Cnidaria. The present volume takes the reader through the
earliest evolution of the taxon and the ramification of its diversity. It proceeds to the group’s
molecular and genomic make-up, through its ecology and physiology, all the way to its use in
jewellery and invasion of human imagination in art and myth.
Bologna, Italy
Stefano Goffredo
Ramat-Gan, Israel
Zvy Dubinsk
Dubinsky, Z. (Editor). — Ecosystems of the World, volume 25, Coral Reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1990
No full textBourlière François. Dubinsky, Z. (Editor). — Ecosystems of the World, volume 25, Coral Reefs. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1990. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 46, n°4, 1991. pp. 386-387
CoralWarm: Corals and global warming: the Mediterranean versus the Red Sea [(FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement n: 249930]
No full textCoralWarm will generate for the first time projections of temperate and subtropical coral survival by
integrating sublethal temperature increase effects on metabolic and skeletal processes in Mediterranean and Red
Sea key species. CoralWarm unique approach is from the nano- to the macro-scale, correlating molecular events to
environmental processes. This will show new pathways to future investigations on cellular mechanisms linking
environmental factors to final phenotype, potentially improving prediction powers and paleoclimatological
interpretation. Biological and chemical expertise will merge, producing new interdisciplinary approaches for
ecophysiology and biomineralization. Field transplantations will be combined with controlled experiments under
IPCC scenarios. Corals will be grown in aquaria, exposing the Mediterranean species native to cooler waters to
higher temperatures, and the Red Sea ones to gradually increasing above ambient warming seawater. Virtually all
state-of-the-art methods will be used, by uniquely combining the investigators’ expertise. Expected results include
responses of algal symbionts’ photosynthesis, host, symbiont and holobiont respiration, biomineralization rates and
patterns, including colony architecture, and reproduction to temperature and pH gradients and combinations.
Integration of molecular aspects of potential replacement of symbiont clades, changes in skeletal crystallography,
with biochemical and physiological aspects of temperature response, will lead to a novel mechanistic model
predicting changes in coral ecology and survival prospect. High-temperature tolerant clades and species will be
revealed, allowing future bioremediation actions and establishment of coral refuges, saving corals and coral reefs
for future generations
Microendoliths of the Shallow Euphotic Zone in open and shaded habitats at 30o N - Eilat, Israel - paleoecological implications.
No full textThis study examines microendolithic community patterns in experimental carbonate blocks in shallow waters between 0 m and 30 m adjacent to Eilat, Israel. We set up two different habitats per depth: one in full light and one shaded. After 6 months of exposure we observed 23 species of which five are unknown to science and herein described as forms. Differences in community patterns between open and shaded habitats were clearly visible at 0 m, indistinct between 6 m and 15 m and indiscernible at 30 m. Three modern producers of key ichnotaxa were confirmed in our experiments within their paleobathymetrical range: Hyella balani (Fascichnus acinosus), Conchocelis (Palaeoconchocelis starmachii), and Ostreobium quekettii (Ichnoreticulina elegans). For Fascichnus dactylus we found six possible producers. We dismiss Scolecia filosa, Eurygonum nodosum and Rhopalia catenata as potential key ichnotaxa because of the broad bathymetrical range of their producer
The Mediterranean human population: an Anthropological Genetics perspective
No full textThe Mediterranean Sea has long been one of the most important and crowded natural hubs for the expansion of human genes and cultures, representing a tri-continental crossroads for human migrations since the first dispersals of anatomically modern humans out of Africa. Both its ancient and modern history, with its amazing chronicle of biological and cultural transitions, has substantially influenced the current patchwork of anthropological types existing within this area. For a deep dissection of this patchwork, Anthropological Genetics combines information related to the population dynamics able to shape the genetic structure
of human populations (i.e. geographical constraints, language, cultural, social and political barriers) to those provided by the powerful tools of molecular biology and population genetics. This comprehensive approach allows to trace genetic profiles of Mediterranean populations into the past to discover and reconstruct their origins and demographic histories, as well as their evolutionary relationships. Nevertheless, the genetic landscape of Mediterranean populations is far from being exhaustively drawn. Several Anthropological Genetics projects, basing on an even deeper genetic characterization of dense and accurately selected geographic samples, have been just launched and promise to shed new light on the pivotal role of the Mediterranean basin as a genetic barrier and/or a bridge between human groups characterized by different African, Near Eastern or European cultural backgrounds
- …
