1,721,145 research outputs found
Land degradation and Community Agricultural Policy: effects of alternative scenarios in an hydrographic basin of Basilicata Region (Italy)
No full textClimate change and water resources: The needs and constraints to adapt
No full textGlobal demand for water resources is increasing at a staggering rate, indeed in just the last decades the rate of demand for water has doubled that of population growth. Agriculture remains the largest global consumer of water resources and accounts for around 70% of all global freshwater withdrawals, the majority of which is used for irrigation. Climate change will exacerbate both the problem of water scarcity and increase the risk of water pollution as variations in precipitation and temperature patterns can have extreme knock-on effects to local hydro-geological cycles. Climate change threatens the already precarious situation of rural Mediterranean areas that are facing a forecasted increase in future demand for irrigated farmland. This paper concerns the adoption of innovations in the agricultural irrigation sector, specifically addressing this issue in a Mediterranean region, Campania, where the majority of agriculture is irrigated and highly dependent on water availability. In the Campania region there have been several initiatives/projects finalized at promoting irrigation advisory services to farmers in order to foster a more efficient use of water resources. Despite the wealth of scientific knowledge available, the diffusion of these innovative systems is still poor. The objectives of the paper are, therefore, to identify, firstly, the perception of climate change among farmers, if there are adaptive actions already in place, and, finally, to identify the barriers to the wider adoption of the advisory services available. Using a participatory approach, it is shown that the use of integrated tools, which direct farmers towards more sustainable irrigation practices and provide water authorities with support for irrigation scheduling, could help to bring the interests of water users (farmers) and water authorities more into line with one another and meet both economic and environmental sustainability goals
Sustainability patterns and policy fit: evidences from a mixed approach applied in a Euro-Mediterranean area (Alento basin, Campania region, Italy)
Full text linkA bio-economic model to simulate farmers behaviour in a Mediterranean desertification risky area: data needs and empirical evidences
Full text linkFarmers, actors that use soil at most, take decision on land use considering many aspects, from the strictly economics to the biological ones. Traditionally, behavioural models only consider markets factors combined such a manner to maximize a farm profit function. Differently from many other sectors, most European farms are managed by family, which often own the land they use. Given the small size, many of these family farms allow some of the family members to work outside the farm. Their decision on resource allocation is even more complex than the usual maximization process, tipycal of any enterprise. When soil degradation, or other environmental concerns, coming into account, then the behavioural patterns of this farmers became a very difficult task. By using the theory of Agricultural household model and empirical evidences on vegetation impact on soil degradation, a theoretical model has been developed and pre-assessed in a typical Mediterranean risky area. Then the interpreting and simulation ability and data need have been described
AN INDEX TO MEASURE RURAL DIVERSITY IN THE LIGHT OF RURAL RESILIENCE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEBATE
Full text linkDiversity has been extensively studied in ecological systems and its relationship with resilience has been well recognized. In social and ecological systems, in fact, diversity is considered key to determining resilience where resilience is defined as system’s capacity to learn and adapt in the face of internal or external perturbations.
However, although human and ecological systems are dynamic, interacting and interdependent, little attention has been given to social systems diversity and its implications. The interest in diversity and resilience of social-ecological systems is increasingly growing, particularly in the rural contexts, due to its possible effects on
social and economic development and livelihoods. In this paper we define an analytical tool, the Rural Diversity Index (RDI), to assess the role of natural, economic and social diversity in determining alternative rural socio-ecological developmental patterns. The application of the RDI in pilot areas of Southern Italy showed that, in specific socio-ecological systems, higher natural-socio-economic diversity leads to higher degree of rural development, as measured through standard socio-economic indicators
Identification and Functional Characterization of Toxoneuron nigriceps Ovarian Proteins Involved in the Early Suppression of Host Immune Response
No full text: Toxoneuron nigriceps (Viereck) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) is an endophagous parasitoid of the larval stages
of Heliothis virescens (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). During oviposition, T. nigriceps injects into the host body
the egg, the venom, the calyx fluid, which contains a Polydnavirus (T. nigriceps BracoVirus: TnBV), and the Ovarian
Proteins (OPs). OPs, originating from the ovarian calyx cells, are involved in the induction of precocious symptoms
in the host immune system alteration. To functionally characterize the OPs, we carried out two approaches. Firstly,
incubating hemocytes with OPs in toto, detecting several alterations on host cells: the OP injection induced an extensive
oxidative stress and a disorganization of actin cytoskeleton. These alterations can explain the loss of haemocyte
functionality (the reduction in encapsulation ability by the host) and the high-level of haemocyte mortality. Then, we
evaluated the effect of HPLC fractions deriving from in toto OPs. Among the 28 analyzed fractions, two fractions
caused a reduction in hemocyte viability and were tested to detect changes in hemocyte morphology and functionality.
In accordance with previous results, obtained with in toto OPs, the two fractions caused severe oxidative stress, actin
cytoskeleton disruption, loss of hemocyte encapsulation ability and high mortality rate. Moreover, a transcriptome and
proteomic approach was applied to identify the proteins of the two fractions: eight proteins that might be involved in the
observed host hemocyte changes were detected. Our findings will contribute to a better understanding of the ovarian
components and their role in parasitic wasp strategy to escape the host immune response
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