1,720,963 research outputs found
Removal of airborne particulate matter by vegetation in an urban park in the city of Rome (Italy). An ecosystem services perspective
Full text linkPollution, in particular airborne particulate matter (PM), has been recognized as serious threat to human health. Vegetation may contribute to reduce PM concentration, improving environmental and life quality of inhabitants, especially of those living in urban areas, also delivering important Ecosystem Services to human communities. Here are presented some results of a more extensive research project, aimed to explore the effect of urban vegetation on PM concentrations. The study has been carried out in the year 2012 in Villa Ada, an historical park located north of Rome, surrounded by densely built areas and by high-traffic density roads. An experimental measurements campaign of PM concentrations was conducted. We adopted a simplified model for the estimation of the potential PM10 deposition to vegetation. The results showed that trees may effectively abate suspended particles, with evergreen broadleaf trees being most effective in the summer, reducing the average air concentration of PM10. During the year 2012, the woody vegetation of Villa Ada removed in total 4417.2 kg of PM10, and the gross value of this benefit can be estimated as equal to $ 80746. This study confirms the strategic role played by green infrastructures in supporting and improving the provision of important Ecosystem Services in urban areas
Foreste urbane e servizi ecosistemici: abbattimento del particolato aerodisperso (PM10) e tipologia di vegetazione, in contesto urbano e periurbano nell’area metropolitana di Roma
No full textResponse of Brachypodium distachyon (L.) Beauv to ozone exposure in controlled environment; a pilot experiment
No full textResearches in Castelporziano test site: ecophysiological studies on Mediterranean vegetation in a changing environment
No full textUrbanization processes increased dramatically in the past century leading to the emission of large quantities of air pollutants over relatively small areas. The consequent high concentration of pollutants and particulate matter (PM) have clear detrimental effects not only on human health, but also on urban and peri-urban vegetation. In this context, the Castelporziano Presidential Estate, a protected natural area located at the southeastern edge of the large conurbation of Rome (Italy), represents an ideal site to study the interaction between vegetation and atmospheric pollutants. Here we present an overview of the international field campaigns carried out in Castelporziano during the past 20 years, and of the ongoing research activities aimed to understanding the role of the estate in the provision of ecosystem services to the Metropolitan area of Rome. The exposure and potential detrimental effects of air pollutants such as tropospheric ozone and PM on natural vegetation have been assessed, investigating also the potential capacity of vegetation to ameliorate air quality under Mediterranean climatic condition. The results show that a correct assessment of the Ecosystem Services (ESs) provided by Mediterranean vegetation must consider the functional strategies that different species adopt to cope with drought stress, including the species-specific response of stomatal conductance to atmospheric water pressure difference, as well as the length of the drought period and its inter annual variability. Our results highlight the need to adopt managements strategies to mainten and implement the ESs provided by the important peri-urban natural area of Castelporziano
Phytotoxic ozone effect on selected plant species in a standardized experimental design
No full textThe most phytotoxic atmospheric pollutant is ozone which represents a stress factor for Forest species and for the growth and the production of many plant species used in agriculture, resulting in great economic loss. Experimental protocols for passive and active biomonitoring studies to assess plant injury induced by ozone have been adopted by the United Nations/Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) International Cooperative Programme (ICP-Crops), which aims to quantify crop responses to ozone, contributing to the determination of critical levels for this pollutant. Since 1988, our research group has participated in the ICP-Crops programme, conducting studies in the area of Rome with the aim of characterising the ecophysiological response to tropospheric ozone of species of agrarian interest. In this context, in 1997-1998 we have conducted studies on clones (an ozone-sensitive, NC-S clone, and an ozone resistant, NC-R clone) of Trifolium repens L. cv. Regal at the Botanical Garden of the "La Sapienza" University of Rome, in accordance with the ICP-Crops standard protocol. During the studies, environmental parameters and ozone concentrations were measured. In clover clone experiments, comparison of the two clones in 1997-98 experimental periods revealed both morphologic and biochemical differences associated with the response to tropospheric ozone. The results relative to visible injury, peroxidase activity and chlorophyll content confirmed the greater sensitivity of the NC-S clone to tropospheric ozone
Il Progetto PRIN “TreeCity”: Servizi Ecosistemici offerti dal verde urbano e cambiamento globale nell’area Metropolitana romana
No full textLe foreste urbane rivestono un ruolo di particolare importanza, in quanto forniscono servizi ecosistemici (SE) fondamentali quali il miglioramento della qualità dell'aria tramite la rimozione di inquinanti atmosferici. In diverse aree urbane del mondo, tra cui Roma, é stato stimato che la riduzione dell'inquinamento atmosferico da parte della vegetazione ha un impatto positivo sulla salute umana (riduzione della mortalità e morbilità). Il mantenimento di questi SE è collegato alla biodiversità
funzionale della vegetazione urbana che, a sua volta, risente della presenza di fattori di stress naturali e antropici. “TreeCity - Progettare la città verde nell'era del cambiamento globale: funzioni degli alberi urbani e loro adattabilità nelle future condizioni climatiche” è un progetto interdisciplinare finanziato nell’ambito del PRIN 2010-2011, e vede la partecipazione di 8 unità nazionali, coordinate dal Dipartimento di Coltivazione e Difesa Delle Specie Legnose dell’Università di Pisa. Il Progetto è finalizzato ad aumentare le conoscenze sul ruolo della vegetazione arborea in ambiente urbano, in relazione anche ai previsti cambiamenti climatici. Viene illustrato l’approccio sperimentale utilizzato e i risultati preliminari ottenuti dalla UR UNIROMA nei primi sei mesi di attività progettuale
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
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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