1,721,066 research outputs found
Contributo alla conoscenza della biodiversità macroalgale delle Aree Marine Protette liguri.
No full textSuperficial algae as environmental quality indicators: application of a G.I.S. to the Portofino Promontory Park.
No full textColonization Processes and the Role of Coralline Algae in Rocky Shore Community Dynamics
No full textRecovery from disturbance is an important attribute of community dynamics. Temperate rocky shores will expe- rience increases in both the type and intensity of impacts under future expected global change. To gauge the community response to these potential changes in the disturbance regime it is important to assess space occu- pancy and the temporal dynamics of key species over the recovery process. We experimentally disturbed repli- cated 1 m2 plots in the lower intertidal at 5 sites along the Ligurian rocky coast (North-western Mediterranean) and assessed early succession processes over 18 months. To identify colonisation processes and role of key spe- cies in affecting species richness on recovery trajectories, we monitored species composition at the cm-scale along fixed transects within the plots. Our results highlighted the role of a limited number of taxa in driving the recovery of species richness across sites, despite site variation in community composition. Settlement of new propagules and overgrowth were the principal pathway of space occupancy. We detected an important role for coralline algae, particularly the articulated Corallina elongata, in promoting the colonisation of a diverse range of colonists. The present study highlights the important role played by calcifying coralline macroalgae as substrate providers for later colonists, favouring recovery of biodiversity after disturbance. This pivotal role may be compromised in a future scenario of elevated cumulative disturbance, where ocean acidification will likely depress the role of coralline algae in recovery, leading to a general loss in biodiversity and community complexit
Effects of ocean acidification and diet on thickness and carbonate elemental composition of the test of juvenile sea urchins
No full textContinuous anthropogenic CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and uptake by the oceans will cause a reduction of seawater pH and saturation state (U) of CaCO3 minerals from which marine calcifiers build their shells and skeletons. Sea urchins use the most soluble form of calcium carbonate, high-magnesium calcite, to build their skeleton, spines and grazing apparatus. In order to highlight the effects of increased pCO2 on the test thickness and carbonate elemental composition of juvenile sea urchins and potential differences in their responses linked to the diet, we performed a laboratory experiment on juvenile Paracentrotus lividus, grazing on calcifying (Corallina elongata) and non-calcifying (Cystoseira amentacea, Dictyota dichotoma) macroalgae, under different pH (corresponding to pCO2 values of 390, 550, 750 and 1000 matm). Results highlighted the importance of the diet in determining sea urchin size irrespectively of the pCO2 level, and the relevance of macroalgal diet in modulating urchin Mg/Ca ratio. The present study provides relevant clues both in terms of the mechanism of mineral incorporation and in terms of bottom-up processes (algal diet) affecting top-down ones (fish predation) in rocky subtidal communities
Cascading Effects of Ocean Acidification in a Rocky Subtidal Community
No full textTemperate marine rocky habitats may be alternatively characterized by well vegetated macroalgal assemblages or barren grounds, as a consequence of direct and indirect human impacts (e.g. overfishing) and grazing pressure by herbivorous organisms. In future scenarios of ocean acidification, calcifying organisms are expected to be less competitive: among these two key elements of the rocky subtidal food web, coralline algae and sea urchins. In order to highlight how the effects of increased pCO2 on individual calcifying species will be exacerbated by interactions with other trophic levels, we performed an experiment simultaneously testing ocean acidification effects on primary producers (calcifying and non-calcifying algae) and their grazers (sea urchins). Artificial communities, composed by juveniles of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and calcifying (Corallina elongata) and non-calcifying (Cystoseira amentacea var stricta, Dictyota dichotoma) macroalgae, were subjected to pCO2 levels of 390, 550, 750 and 1000 matm in the laboratory. Our study highlighted a direct pCO2 effect on coralline algae and on sea urchin defense from predation (test robustness). There was no direct effect on the non-calcifying macroalgae. More interestingly, we highlighted diet-mediated effects on test robustness and on the Aristotle’s lantern size. In a future scenario of ocean acidification a decrease of sea urchins’ density is expected, due to lower defense from predation, as a direct consequence of pH decrease, and to a reduced availability of calcifying macroalgae, important component of urchins’ diet. The effects of ocean acidification may therefore be contrasting on well vegetated macroalgal assemblages and barren grounds: in the absence of other human impacts, a decrease of biodiversity can be predicted in vegetated macroalgal assemblages, whereas a lower density of sea urchin could help the recovery of shallow subtidal rocky areas affected by overfishing from barren grounds to assemblages dominated by fleshy macroalgae
Climate change and warm-water species at the northwestern boundary of the Mediterranean Sea.
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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
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
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