Mediterranean region Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The diversity of local Mediterranean food elements is not known in detail, but offers itself to search for new vegetables, salads, fruits and spices which could be used in to enrich diets outside their region of origin. Most amid those... more

The diversity of local Mediterranean food elements is not known in detail, but offers itself to search for new vegetables, salads, fruits and spices which could be used in to enrich diets outside their region of origin. Most amid those interesting local elements are edible wild plants and weeds. Ethnobotanical research has identified ca. 2,300 different plant and fungi taxa, which are gathered and consumed in the Mediterranean. Among these, 1,000 are only consumed in one single zone, therefore are strictly local. The percentage of local gathered food plant (GFP) taxa (present in 5 samples), is higher in the main centers of diversity at the periphery of the Mediterranean (Sahara, Alps, Caucasus, Canary Islands, the Levant). Islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Crete, Cyprus) also show a high proportion. Endemism of GFP taxa only accounts for a limited number of these ‘ethnobotanical endemics’ (only ca. 350 are endemic/ endangered species). On the other hand, only a few taxa – 30 occurring in...

In recent years, the growing awareness of the possibilities of biomimetic and adaptive materials in architecture has assumed a fundamental importance in the scientific domain, for the high performance of the building facades from an... more

In recent years, the growing awareness of the possibilities of biomimetic and adaptive materials in architecture has assumed a fundamental importance in the scientific domain, for the high performance of the building facades from an environmental point of view. To meet the housing and comfort needs in climates, such as the ones in the Mediterranean zones, characterized by ever-increasing temperatures, architectural technology must collaborate with nature in an even more decisive way, through increasingly smart and sustainable solutions. The paper reviews a collection of good practice examples of advances in material science, and the method used is to analyze the current performance of and building envelopes with smart facade skins, in order to suggest some potential applications in the Mediterranean basin and regions of the world with similar climatic characteristics. The latter case studies, especially, show built examples of adaptive buildings that could be adopted for use in Med...

Land-use/land-cover change is the most important factor in causing biodiversity loss. The Mediterranean region has been affected by antropic disturbance for thousands of years, and is, nowadays, one of the most significantly altered... more

Land-use/land-cover change is the most important factor in causing biodiversity loss. The Mediterranean region has been affected by antropic disturbance for thousands of years, and is, nowadays, one of the most significantly altered hotspots in the world. However, in the last years a significant increase in forest cover has been measured. These new patterns are independent from planned conservation strategies and appear to have a substantial impact on landscapes and biodiversity. We used three land-use/land-cover maps (from 1960 to 2000) covering the Italian peninsula to analyze the pattern of land-use/land-cover change. We measured an increase in forests, especially in mountains, an increase in artificial areas, especially in coastal zones, and a decrease in pastures. Intensively cultivated areas showed a limited decrease while extensively cultivated ones showed a marked decrease. In the same period mammal and bird species followed a similar pattern, with forest birds, ungulates and carnivores increasing, and typically Mediterranean species decreasing. We suggest that our results may provide important information, which could be useful for conservation planning in the entire Mediterranean hotspot. We suggest that an increasing conservation effort should be made to protect the Mediterranean-type forests and scrublands, as well as traditional agricultural practices. Moreover, future conservation efforts should consider the broad socio-political and ecological processes that are most likely to occur across the whole hotspot, especially along coastal areas, and the network of protected areas should be functionally integrated in a conservation strategy that includes the human-dominated landscape.

Seagrasses, marine flowering plants, are widely distributed along temperate and tropical coastlines of the world. Seagrasses have key ecological roles in coastal ecosystems and can form extensive meadows supporting high biodiversity. The... more

Seagrasses, marine flowering plants, are widely distributed along temperate and tropical coastlines of the world. Seagrasses have key ecological roles in coastal ecosystems and can form extensive meadows supporting high biodiversity. The global species diversity of seagrasses is low (< 60 species), but species can have ranges that extend for thousands of kilometers of coastline. Seagrass bioregions are defined here, based on species assemblages, species distributional ranges, and tropical and temperate influences. Six global bioregions are presented: four temperate and two tropical. The temperate bioregions include the Temperate North Atlantic, the Temperate North Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Temperate Southern Oceans. The Temperate North Atlantic has low seagrass diversity, the major species being Zostera marina, typically occurring in estuaries and lagoons. The Temperate North Pacific has high seagrass diversity with Zostera spp. in estuaries and lagoons as well as Phyllospadix spp. in the surf zone. The Mediterranean region has clear water with vast meadows of moderate diversity of both temperate and tropical seagrasses, dominated by deep-growing Posidonia oceanica. The Temperate Southern Oceans bioregion includes the temperate southern coastlines of Australia, Africa and South America. Extensive meadows of low-to-high diversity temperate seagrasses are found in this bioregion, dominated by various species of Posidonia and Zostera. The tropical bioregions are the Tropical Atlantic and the Tropical Indo-Pacific, both supporting mega-herbivore grazers, including sea turtles and sirenia. The Tropical Atlantic bioregion has clear water with a high diversity of seagrasses on reefs and shallow banks, dominated by Thalassia testudinum. The vast Tropical Indo-Pacific has the highest seagrass diversity in the world, with as many as 14 species growing together on reef flats although seagrasses also occur in very deep waters. The global distribution of seagrass genera is remarkably consistent north and south of the equator; the northern and southern hemispheres share ten seagrass genera and only have one unique genus each. Some genera are much more speciose than others, with the genus Halophila having the most seagrass species. There are roughly the same number of temperate and tropical seagrass genera as well as species. The most widely distributed seagrass is Ruppia maritima, which occurs in tropical and temperate zones in a wide variety of habitats. Seagrass bioregions at the scale of ocean basins are identified based on species distributions which are supported by genetic patterns of diversity. Seagrass bioregions provide a useful framework for interpreting ecological, physiological and genetic results collected in specific locations or from particular species.

BackgroundFungi strongly influence ecosystem structure and functioning, playing a key role in many ecological services as decomposers, plant mutualists and pathogens. The Mediterranean area is a biodiversity hotspot that is increasingly... more

BackgroundFungi strongly influence ecosystem structure and functioning, playing a key role in many ecological services as decomposers, plant mutualists and pathogens. The Mediterranean area is a biodiversity hotspot that is increasingly threatened by intense land use. Therefore, to achieve a balance between conservation and human development, a better understanding of the impact of land use on the underlying fungal communities

Leaf thickness plays an important role in leaf and plant functioning, and relates to a species' strategy of resource acquisition and use. As such, it has been widely used for screening purposes in crop science and community ecology.... more

Leaf thickness plays an important role in leaf and plant functioning, and relates to a species' strategy of resource acquisition and use. As such, it has been widely used for screening purposes in crop science and community ecology. However, since its measurement is not straightforward, a number of estimates have been proposed. Here, the validity of the (SLA x LDMC)(-1) product is tested to estimate leaf thickness, where SLA is the specific leaf area (leaf area/dry mass) and LDMC is the leaf dry matter content (leaf dry mass/fresh mass). SLA and LDMC are two leaf traits that are both more easily measurable and often reported in the literature. The relationship between leaf thickness (LT) and (SLA x LDMC)(-1) was tested in two analyses of covariance using 11 datasets (three original and eight published) for a total number of 1039 data points, corresponding to a wide range of growth forms growing in contrasted environments in four continents. The overall slope and intercept of the...

The aim of the present work is to make a detailed investigation of the dissemination and dispersion of the plants which were cultivated in Medea's garden of medical plants in Colchis. It was found that the plants in the Medea's... more

The aim of the present work is to make a detailed investigation of the dissemination and dispersion of the plants which were cultivated in Medea's garden of medical plants in Colchis. It was found that the plants in the Medea's garden were highly heterogeneous from the point of plant geography. Plants from humid and arid Mediterranean basin, Near, Minor and East Asia zones were found in Medea's garden. Among the most important were the plants of floristic centers of Mediterranean basin. Study of the botanical geographical aspects of medical plants gave us opportunities to establish optimal time of dissemination of medical plants diasporas in Colchis; this process is associated with climate oscillations of Holocene and intensive migrations of peoples of Mediterranean.

The decoupling of CAP payments leads production decisions and resources allocation to be more dependent on market prices and competitive advantages. The objective of this paper is to assess the effects of CAP trends on the montado/dehesa... more

The decoupling of CAP payments leads production decisions and resources allocation to be more dependent on market prices and competitive advantages. The objective of this paper is to assess the effects of CAP trends on the montado/dehesa traditional ecosystem of Mediterranean regions in terms of farm income, land, labour and capital. A positive mathematical supply model disaggregated by the montado agro-forestry production systems of the Alentejo region in southern Portugal is developed. The results show that decoupling payments of CAP have negative economic effects on agricultural activities and resource use. Agricultural income increases with single farm payments but the foreseen increases in prices do not compensate the loss of the Agenda 2000 area payments in terms of competitiveness. These results reinforce the need to promote alternative agricultural and non-agricultural activities and policies in Mediterranean rural European areas and regions.

• This study investigated the relationships between root structure and anatomy and whole-plant functioning in herbaceous species.• Fourteen annual and perennial species representative of a Mediterranean old-field succession were grown in... more

• This study investigated the relationships between root structure and anatomy and whole-plant functioning in herbaceous species.• Fourteen annual and perennial species representative of a Mediterranean old-field succession were grown in monocultures in a common-garden experiment. Whole-plant functioning was assessed by inherent relative growth rate (RGRmax), measured in standardized conditions, and maximum height (Hmax). Root tissue density (TMDr), considered as a major component of root structure, was measured on roots harvested within in-growth cores. Anatomical characteristics were analysed on cross-sectional areas (CSA).• TMDr was correlated positively with Hmax and negatively with RGRmax. Root CSA explained interspecific variation in Hmax but not that in TMDr and RGRmax. Root xylem CSA and xylem proportion in root CSA were positively correlated with TMDr and Hmax and negatively with RGRmax. Mean xylem vessel CSA did not account for variations in TMDr, Hmax and RGRmax.• These results suggested that RGRmax and Hmax are constrained by opposite root structural and anatomical traits, which have potential links with hydraulic conductance, support and longevity.This study investigated the relationships between root structure and anatomy and whole-plant functioning in herbaceous species.Fourteen annual and perennial species representative of a Mediterranean old-field succession were grown in monocultures in a common-garden experiment. Whole-plant functioning was assessed by inherent relative growth rate (RGRmax), measured in standardized conditions, and maximum height (Hmax). Root tissue density (TMDr), considered as a major component of root structure, was measured on roots harvested within in-growth cores. Anatomical characteristics were analysed on cross-sectional areas (CSA).TMDr was correlated positively with Hmax and negatively with RGRmax. Root CSA explained interspecific variation in Hmax but not that in TMDr and RGRmax. Root xylem CSA and xylem proportion in root CSA were positively correlated with TMDr and Hmax and negatively with RGRmax. Mean xylem vessel CSA did not account for variations in TMDr, Hmax and RGRmax.These results suggested that RGRmax and Hmax are constrained by opposite root structural and anatomical traits, which have potential links with hydraulic conductance, support and longevity.

Within the scope of the European project RUBIA (ICA3-2002-10023), research has been performed on the traditional use and handling of plant species in several Mediterranean countries, Albania, Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, and... more

Within the scope of the European project RUBIA (ICA3-2002-10023), research has been performed on the traditional use and handling of plant species in several Mediterranean countries, Albania, Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, and Spain. This paper synthesises the chief results related to the medicinal utilization of those plants.