1,721,114 research outputs found
The chorotypes of the Italian fauna.
No full textMemorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona 2. serie - Sezione Scienze della Vita 1
Acque temporanee: biodiversità, funzioni ecosistemiche, vulnerabilità e sensibilità ai cambiamenti climatici
Full text linkLe acque temporanee contribuiscono alla biodiversità regionale con una ricchezza specifica sproporzionatamente elevata in rapporto all’esigua superficie da esse occupata. Questa breve nota descrive le ragioni che determinano tale diversità biologica, analizza l’importanza delle acque temporanee come hotspot di biodiversità e sottolinea come questi ecosistemi rappresentino un valido strumento per valutare l’impatto delle attività umane sul Pianeta. In aggiunta, le acque temporanee sono particolarmente vulnerabili agli effetti del cambiamento climatico che ne influenza l’idroperiodo e ne riduce la numerosità sul territorio. Tali effetti accoppiati alla distruzione diretta operata dalle attività antropiche, causato da una mancanza di riconoscimento come ecosistemi acquatici dotati di biota particolarmente ricchi e diversificati, rischiano di causare la scomparsa di una parte considerevole di specie il cui ciclo vitale è strettamente dipendente dalla natura temporanea di questi ecosistemi. Per scongiurare una notevole erosione della diversità biologica delle acque interne italiane e per la tutela della biodiversità a livello regionale e nazionale è improcrastinabile una oculata gestione territoriale, volta a preservare ed eventualmente favorire la creazione di nuovi ecosistemi acquatici temporanei.Temporary waters: biodiversity, functional ecology, vulnerability and susceptibility to climate change. Temporary waters contribute to regional diversity disproportionately compared to the Earth’s surface they cover. This short note i) describes the reasons underlying this biological diversity, ii) analyzes the importance of temporary waters as hotspots of biodiversity and iii) stresses how these ecosystems represent a valuable tool to evaluate the impact exerted by human activities on our Planet. Moreover, temporary waters are strongly impacted by the climate change, which modifies their hydroperiod and reduces their territorial density. When these effects are coupled with direct destruction operated by human activities (they are hardly recognized as aquatic ecosystems with an extraordinary rich biota) a large portion of species, whose life cycles are strictly dependent upon the temporary nature of these ecosystems, is endangered. To decrease the risk of a significant decrease of biological diversity of Italian inland waters, and to safeguard regional and national biodiversity, a sound management of the whole territory, addressed to preserve the existing and eventually to create new temporary ecosystems, cannot be further delayed
Temporary waters: biodiversity, functional ecology, vulnerability and susceptibility to climate change
No full textTemporary waters contribute to regional diversity disproportionately compared to the Earth’s surface they cover. This presentation i) describes the reasons underlying this biological diversity, ii) analyzes the importance of temporary waters as hotspots of biodiversity, iii) stresses how these ecosystems represent a valuable tool to evaluate the impact exerted by human activities on our Planet, and iv) consider the possibility to extend the principles of the Integrated Lake Basic Management developed by ILEC in order to achieve a sustainable management of these ecosystems. Moreover, temporary waters are strongly impacted by the climate change, which modifies their hydroperiod and reduces their spatial density. When these effects are coupled with direct destruction operated by human activities (they are hardly recognized as aquatic ecosystems with an extraordinary rich biodiversity) a large portion of species, whose life cycles are strictly dependent upon the temporary nature of these ecosystems, is endangered. To lower the risk of a significant decrease of biological diversity of inland waters, and to safeguard biodiversity at different spatial scales (e.g. local, regional, national) a sound management of the whole territory, addressed to preserve the existing and eventually to create new temporary ecosystems, can not be further delayed
Microcharon novariensis, a new microparasellid isopod from groundwater in Italy (Crustacea, Isopoda, Janiroidea)
No full textAn annotated checklist and bibliography of the diaptomidae (copepoda, calanoida) of Italy, Corsica, and the maltese islands
Full text linkCalanoids of the family Diaptomidae are the most widespread copepods in the lentic inland waters of the Palearctic region. In Italy, studies on the family date back to the end of 19th century. Since then, several papers contributed to increase the knowledge on their presence, distribution, and ecological preferences. Nevertheless, new records for the area and the discovery of putative new species stress that the current knowledge on these inland water crustaceans is still far from being exhaustive. This paper presents an updated and annotated checklist and bibliography of the Diaptomidae of the Italian peninsula and surrounding islands, including Corsica and the Maltese islands, compiled through a critical review of the existing literature and carrying out further field research. The doubtful records reported in the literature are discussed and clarified. The updated checklist includes 30 diaptomid species and subspecies; among them, an alien species and three putative new species pending formal description are reported. About 20% of the observed species are endemic or subendemic to the study area. The faunal provinces ascribed to the Mediterranean limnofaunistic region host the highest species richness and contribute to the checklist with rare species and unique occurrences. The high species richness observed in the Mediterranean area supports the hypothesis of a long-lasting persistence of an ancient and peculiar copepod fauna
Classes Copepoda and Ichthyostraca
No full textThis chapter briefly reviews the taxonomy, biology, ecology, and morphological characters of freshwater crustaceans of the class Copepoda (orders Calanoida, Cyclopoida, Harapacticoida) and the parasitic Ichthyostraca of the subclass Branchiura (fish lice, order Arguloida) recorded in the Mediterranean Basin. Methods to properly collect, preserve, and study these crustaceans are reported. The main morphological characters, recorded from the literature and the authors' datasets, are used in an illustrated taxonomic key to the families and genera of the ordered Calanoida (7 families and subfamilies, 25 genera and subgenera), Cyclopoida (5 families and subfamilies, 26 genera and subgenera), and Harpacticoida (10 families, 41 genera and subgenera). The order Arguloida is represented in the study area by one family (Argulidae) and one genus
Stygobiotic crustacean species richness: a question of numbers, a matter of scale
No full textSpecies richness in ground water is still
largely underestimated, and this situation stems from
two different impediments: the Linnaean (i.e. the
taxonomic) and the Wallacean (i.e. the biogeographical)
shortfalls. Within this fragmented frame of
knowledge of subterranean biodiversity, this review
was aimed at (i) assessing species richness in ground
water at different spatial scales, and its contribution to
overall freshwater species richness at the continental
scale; (ii) analysing the contribution of historical and
ecological determinants in shaping spatial patterns of
stygobiotic species richness across multiple spatial
scales; (iii) analysing the role of b-diversity in shaping
patterns of species richness at each scale analysed.
From data of the present study, a nested hierarchy of
environmental factors appeared to determine stygobiotic
species richness. At the broad European scale,
historical factors were the major determinants in
explaining species richness patterns in ground water.
In particular, Quaternary glaciations have strongly
affected stygobiotic species richness, leading to a
marked latitudinal gradient across Europe, whereas
little effects were observed in surface fresh water.
Most surface-dwelling fauna is of recent origin, and
colonized this realm by means of post-glacial dispersal.
Historical factors seemed to have also operated
at the smaller stygoregional and regional scales, where
different karstic and porous aquifers showed different
values of species richness. Species richness at the
small, local scale was more difficult to be explained,
because the analyses revealed that point-diversity in
ground water was rather low, and at increasing values
of regional species richness, reached a plateau. This
observation supports the coarse-grained role of truncated
food webs and oligotrophy, potentially reflected
in competition for food resources among co-occurring
species, in shaping groundwater species diversity at the
local scale. Alpha-diversity resulted decoupled from
c-diversity, suggesting that b-diversity accounted for
the highest values of total species richness at the spatial
scales analysed
Discovery of a stygobiotic population of the epigean diaptomid calanoid Eudiaptomus intermedius (Steuer, 1897) in Central Italy
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