Mediterranean Land Research Articles

Shifting the Sands – Early Islamic Modification of the Caesarea Sandy Lowlands into Plot-and-Berm Water-Harvesting Agroecosystem

ABSTRACT During the Early Islamic period, several emerging agricultural innovations enabled the cultivation of summer crops in unproductive Mediterranean lands. This necessitated the development of water harvesting methods. This study delves into the creation of the Plot-and-Berm (P&B) agroecosystem along the sandy coast of Caesarea, Israel. From the early tenth century to the mid-twelfth century, coeval to the later part of the Early Islamic period and the beginning of the Crusader period, a 1.5 km2 P&B agroecosystem was constructed and maintained. Remarkably, this system still dominates the landscape. The agroecosystem’s expansion was controlled by regional hydrological, geological, and climatic factors. Anthropogenic sedimentary units include the anthrosol found within the plots and anthrosediment within the berms with densely added refuse. Sedimentological and mineralogical analysis of the anthrosol and anthrosediment unveils the additives of calcitic fine-grains, likely originating from nearby kilns. The arrangement of these fine grains amidst quartz particles fills pore spaces, reducing the hydraulic conductivity of the natural sand. Similar to other sandy agricultural systems, morphological and sedimentological adaptations were employed to sustain a pattern of annual crop yields, by capturing rainfall water for crop cultivation during the rainy season, while high groundwater levels facilitated summer cultivation.

Thermal Impact and the Relevance of Body Size and Activity on the Oxygen Consumption of a Terrestrial Snail, Theba pisana (Helicidae) at High Ambient Temperatures.

Metabolism, mainly driven by oxygen consumption, plays a key role in life, as it is one of the main ways to respond to extreme temperatures through internal processes. Theba pisana, a widespread Mediterranean land snail, is exposed to a wide range of ambient temperature. In this species the oxygen consumption was tested as a response variable by multiple regression modelling on the "explanatory" variables shell-free mass, temperature, and relative humidity. Our results show that the oxygen consumption of T. pisana can be well described (73.1%) by these three parameters. In the temperature range from 23 °C to 35 °C the oxygen consumption decreased with increasing temperature. Relative humidity, in the range of 67% to 100%, had the opposite effect: if it increases, oxygen consumption will increase as well. Metabolism is proportional to an individual's mass to the power of the allometric scaling exponent α, which is between 0.62 and 0.77 in the mentioned temperature range. CT scans of shells and gravimetry revealed the shell-free mass to be calculated by multiplying the shell diameter to the third power by 0.2105. Data were compared to metabolic scaling exponents for other snails reported in the literature.

Agricultural Intensification and the Evidence from Offsite Survey Archaeology

The enhancement of crop yields through manuring has been attested since early farming prehistory in many parts of the world. This article reviews the history of research into the potential archaeological evidence for this practice in Europe, the Mediterranean lands and the Near East. The focus is on the interpretation of ceramic data recovered in surface field surveys conducted since 1950 and what sorts of activities may be plausibly inferred from them. The article examines the origins of the model, objections to it, and recent analyses which again strengthen it. A particular case-study analyses the evidence for the protohistoric and early historic periods in Greece. The methodological and empirical arguments tend to strongly reaffirm the importance of artificial manuring in agrarian regimes of all periods, and its significance in furthering understandings of economic and demographic history and prehistory.

Dominant controls of cold-season precipitation variability over the high mountains of Asia

A robust understanding of the sub-seasonal cold season (November–March) precipitation variability over the High Mountains of Asia (HMA) is lacking. Here, we identify dynamic and thermodynamic pathways through which natural modes of climate variability establish their teleconnections over the HMA. First, we identify evaporative sources that contribute to the cold season precipitation over the HMA and surrounding areas. The predominant moisture contribution comes from the mid-latitude regions, including the Mediterranean/Caspian Seas and Mediterranean land. Second, we establish that several tropical and extratropical forcings display a sub-seasonally fluctuating influence on precipitation distribution over the region during the cold season. Many of them varyingly interact, so their impacts cannot be explained independently or at seasonal timescales. Lastly, a single set of evaporative sources is not identifiable as the key determinant in propagating a remote teleconnection because the sources of moisture anomalies depend on the pattern of sub-seasonally varying dynamical forcing in the atmosphere.

Аrhitektura v izkustvoto—izkustvo v arhitekturata

<i>Аrhitektura v izkustvoto—izkustvo v arhitekturata</i>

Species–area relationship and small‐island effect of vascular plant diversity in a young volcanic archipelago

AbstractAimsAeolian islands form an active volcanic archipelago. By using updated vascular plant checklists for islands and islets, we tested four hypotheses: (i) Island species–area relationship (ISAR) of alien species has lower c‐ and higher z‐values than native species, (ii) islands with active volcanoes have lower species richness than expected for native and alien species, (iii) ISAR of native species shows lower c‐ and higher z‐values than ISARs of Mediterranean land bridge archipelagos and (iv) species richness of smaller islets is independent of area.LocationAeolian Archipelago, Mediterranean Basin.TaxonVascular plants, identified and named according to the Flora of Italy (Pignatti et al., 2017–2019).MethodsChecklists of native and alien plant species were obtained for eight islands and 24 islets. ISARs were fitted by the Arrhenius power function () and used to test the first two hypotheses. The third hypothesis was tested by comparing ISAR of Aeolian Archipelago to those from other central and eastern Mediterranean archipelagos. The fourth hypothesis was tested by fitting models defining the presence and limit of the small‐island effect.ResultsThe checklists included 894 species—749 native and 145 alien. ISARs fitted well for native and alien species and resulted in typical values of c and z parameters. The first and second hypotheses were supported by model fitting. The third hypothesis was not confirmed by the comparison of the ISAR of the Aeolian Archipelago with other archipelagos. The small‐island effect predicted by the fourth hypothesis was supported using S versus LogA for both native and alien species, while for native species it was supported also using the log transformation of the Arrhenius model.Main conclusionsWe reported a first comprehensive analysis of plant species richness in the unique Aeolian Archipelago, verifying typical ISARs, no peculiarity with respect to land bridge archipelagos and a somewhat unclear signal for the small‐island effect.

Settlement on Lusignan Cyprus after the Latin Conquest

In the article “Settlement on Lusignan Cyprus after the Latin Conquest: The Accounts of Cypriot and other Chronicles and the Wider Context” the narratives of various chronicles of the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries on settlement in Cyprus in the years following the Latin conquest, from the end of the twelfth to the early thirteenth century, will be examined and compared. The details provided by the chronicles, where the information given derived from, the biases present in the various accounts, the extent to which they are accurate, especially in cases where they are corroborated or refuted by documentary evidence, will all be discussed. The chronicles that will be referred to are the thirteenth century continuation of William of Tyre, that provides the fullest account of the settlement of Latin Christians and others on Cyprus after the Latin conquest, the fifteenth century chronicle of Leontios Makhairas, the anonymous chronicle of ‘Amadi’ that is probably dateable to the early sixteenth century although for the section on thirteenth century Cypriot history it draws on earlier sources and the later sixteenth century chronicle of Florio Bustron. Furthermore, the Chorogra a and the Description of Stephen de Lusignan, two chronicles postdating the conquest of Cyprus by the Ottoman Turks in 1570, will also be referred to on the subject of settlement in thirteenth century Cyprus. By way of comparison, the final part of the paper examined the extent to which the evidence of settlement in other Mediterranean lands derives chiefly from chronicles or from documentary sources. In conclusion, it can be stated that the various accounts of settlement on Cyprus following its cession to King Guy of Jerusalem in 1192 show differences in terms of the value of the fiefs, the geographical regions from which the settlers came and the types of properties which were granted to them. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem resembles Cyprus in that the source material for early Latin settlement is narrative, not documentary. But this is not the case for the Venetian Crete and the Hospitaller Rhodes, where the source materials recording the arrival of the first Latin settlers are wholly documentary.

ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY TO DESERTIFICATION WITH MEDALUS MODEL IN GIS IN MAYMONA PROJECT- SOUTH OF IRAQ

The objective of this study was to identify the locations sensitivity to land desertification based on the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) approach by the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the south of Maysan governorate at Iraq for mapping environmentally sensitive areas to desertification. Three indicators, which included climate, vegetation, and soil, were employed to estimate the ESAI and then to classify the land in critical, fragile potentially, and non-influenced sensitive areas. The results of the soil quality index (SQI) indicated that 25% of the studied area was classified as moderate quality and 21% was low quality while 54% was very low quality. Vegetation qualities were classified into moderate and low quality 19% and 81%, respectively, and climate quality was classified as moderate.

An Integrated Traits Resilience Assessment of Mediterranean fisheries landings.

An increasing number of studies have been examining the functional configuration of biological communities or ecosystems using biological traits. Here, we investigated the temporal dynamics and resilience of the traits composition in Mediterranean fisheries landings over 31years (1985-2015). We transcribed the FAO Mediterranean landings dataset for 101 marine species into a dataset of 23 traits related to the life cycle, distribution, ecology and behaviour. Mediterranean mean Sea Surface Temperature (SST) was evaluated as a potential driver of the traits composition. Trait dynamics were evaluated both individually and holistically by developing an Integrated Traits Resilience Assessment (ITRA). ITRA is a variation of the Integrated Resilience Assessment (IRA), a method to infer resilience dynamics and build stability landscapes of complex natural systems. Changes in landings trait dynamics were documented both for individual traits and for the entire traits 'system', and a relevant regime shift was detected in the second half of the 1990s. The traits system switched to higher optimal temperature, more summer spawning, shorter life span, smaller maximum size, shallower optimal depth and planktivorous diet. This shift was found to be a lagged discontinuous response to sea warming, which gradually eroded the resilience of the original state of the traits system, leading it into a new basin of attraction. The inclusion of ecological/response traits (related to environmental preferences) in our analyses indicates potential mechanisms that explain the observed shift, while changes in functional/effect traits indicate potential impacts on ecosystem functioning. Our findings suggest that changes in the Mediterranean ecosystems are evidently larger than previously thought, with profound implications for the management of this highly impacted sea. ​.

Olive groves around the lake. A ten-thousand-year history of a Cretan landscape (Greece) reveals the dominant role of humans in making this Mediterranean ecosystem

The reconstruction of millennial-scale interactions between ecosystems and societies can provide unique and valuable references for understanding the creation of cultural landscapes and help elucidate their value, weaknesses and legacies. Among the most emblematic forms of Mediterranean land use, olive groves and pastoralism have occupied a prominent place. Therefore, it is vital to know when, how, and with what ecological consequences these practices were established and developed. Located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea, Crete is the largest island of Greece. The island is characterised by a long human history of land use, but our understanding of past environmental changes for the entire Holocene is fragmentary. This paper presents a new investigation of Lake Kournas in Crete, where recent coring provided a 15-m sequence covering ten millennia of land cover and land-use history. The study of this new core involves the analysis of the sediment dynamics, flood deposits, pollen, diatoms, fungal and algal remains, and microcharcoals. Results show that ecosystem development near Lake Kournas was not a linear process. They reveal linkages and feedbacks between vegetation, biodiversity, fire, human impact, erosion, and climate change. A possible human occupation and agro-pastoral activities around the lake may have been detected as early as 9500 cal BP, perhaps in a transitional phase between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic. At 8500 cal BP, climatic conditions may have promoted the expansion of the evergreen oak woodland. However, human impact was probably the most important driver of ecosystem change with the establishment of an agro-system after 8000 years ago. Thereafter, the trajectory of Kournas’ lake and catchment ecosystems from the Mid to Late Holocene follow the rhythm of land-use change. Among the traditional Mediterranean land uses, olive cultivation locally played a major role in the socio-ecosystem interactions, providing economic benefits but also destabilising soils. During the last six millennia, three main phases of olive cultivation occurred during the Final Neolithic-Minoan period, the Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine (HRB) period and Modern times. Along with the changing land use under the successive political and economic influences rules, the resilience capacities of vegetation permitted it to shift back to higher biodiversity again after decreasing phases. Forest vegetation was always able to recover until the onset of the Venetian period (13th century), when woodlands were dramatically reduced. Only during the past century has forest vegetation slightly recovered, while the flood regime had already been altered during previous centuries. During the past 100 years, biodiversity markedly declined, probably in response to the industrialization of agriculture.

Geospatial analysis of desertification vulnerability using Mediterranean desertification and land use (MEDALUS) model in Kebbi State, Nigeria

Geospatial analysis of desertification vulnerability using Mediterranean desertification and land use (MEDALUS) model in Kebbi State, Nigeria

Mediterranean land system dynamics and their underlying drivers: Stakeholder perception from multiple case studies

• Land system dynamics from seven Mediterranean case studies are discussed. • Despite the diversity of contexts captured, transversal patterns were found. • Data shows disconnection between expected and desired futures. • Territorial actors can identify opportunities and actions towards desired futures. • Embedding actors within dynamics enables to frame local actions as drivers of change.

Assessment of Spatial Plan Quality Based on Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract&#x0D; The island of Bali and its surroundings are part of Indonesia's seismotectonic. This area is traversed by the Mediterranean land line and subduction zone caused by the collision between the Eurasian Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Such conditions have been faced by Bali Island as one of the regions that has a high level of seismicity. Hazard potencies in Bali Island especially Karangasem Regency effects disaster prone level. The high level of disaster prone in Karangasem Regency requires disaster preparedness in pre disaster step. Emergency, rehabilitation, and reconstruction responses are not effective responses because these steps need expensive funding and investment. Preparedness efforts in pre-disaster are carried out through enhancement of quality spatial plans based on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Spatial plan contains spatial pattern (land use) plan and development of mitigation infrastructure to reduce disaster risk. Research objectives is resulting a guideline for Karangasem Regency Government to implement spatial planning based on DRR. The research assesses quality spatial plans based on hazard potential and DRR that uses scoring method according to availability and complatility criteria. The result is quality level of Karangasem Spatial Plan and recommendation to improve spatial plan quality based on DRR.&#x0D; Keywords: Disaster, Mitigation, and Spatial

Modulation of the Occurrence of Heatwaves over the Euro-Mediterranean Region by the Intensity of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability

AbstractThe influence of the Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) and its amplitude on the Euro-Mediterranean summer climate is studied in two climate models, namely CNRM-CM5 and EC-Earth3P. Large ensembles of idealized experiments have been conducted in which North Atlantic sea surface temperatures are relaxed toward different amplitudes of the observed AMV anomalies. In agreement with observations, during a positive phase of the AMV both models simulate an increase (decrease) in temperature of 0.2°–0.8°C and a decrease (increase) in precipitation over the Mediterranean basin of 0.1–0.2 mm day−1 (northern half of Europe) compared to a negative phase. Heatwave durations over the Mediterranean land regions are 40% (up to 85% over the eastern regions) longer for a moderate amplitude of the AMV. Lower and higher amplitudes lead to longer durations of ~30% and ~100%, respectively. A comparison with observed heatwaves indicates that the AMV can considerably modulate the current anthropogenically forced response on heatwaves durations depending on the area and on the AMV amplitude. The related anticyclonic anomalies over the Mediterranean basin are associated with drier soils and a reduction of cloud cover, which concomitantly induce a decrease (increase) of the latent (sensible) heat flux, and an enhancement of the downward radiative fluxes over lands. It is found that both tropical and extratropical forcings from the AMV are needed to trigger mechanisms, which modulate the atmospheric circulation over the Euro-Atlantic region. The amplitude of the local climate response over the Mediterranean basin evolves linearly with the amplitude of the AMV. However, the strength of this relationship differs between the models, and depends on their intrinsic biases.

Mapping the geographic origin of captive and confiscated Hermann’s tortoises: A genetic toolkit for conservation and forensic analyses

The illegal trade has been threatening tortoise populations worldwide for decades. Nowadays, however, DNA typing and forensic genetic approaches allow us to investigate the geographic origin of confiscated animals and to relocate them into the wild, providing that suitable molecular tools and reference data are available. Here we assess the suitability of a small panel of microsatellite markers to investigate patterns of illegal translocations and to assist forensic genetic applications in the endangered Mediterranean land tortoise Testudo hermanni hermanni. Specific allelic ladders were created for each locus and tested on several reference samples. We used the microsatellite panel to (i) increase our understanding of the population genetic structure in wild populations with new data from previously unsampled geographic areas (overall 461 wild individuals from 28 sampling sites); (ii) detect the presence of non-native individuals in wild populations; and (iii) identify the most likely geographic area of origin of 458 confiscated individuals hosted in Italian seizure and recovery centers. Our analysis initially identified six major genetic clusters corresponding to different geographic macro-areas along the Mediterranean range. Long-distance migrants among wild populations, due to translocations, were found and removed from the reference database. Assignment tests allowed us to allocate approximately 70 % of confiscated individuals of unknown origin to one of the six Mediterranean macro-areas. Most of the assigned tortoises belonged to the genetic cluster corresponding to the area where the respective captivity center was located. However, we also found evidence of long-distance origins of confiscated individuals, especially in centers along the Adriatic coast and facing the Balkan regions, a well-known source of illegally traded individuals. Our results clearly show that the microsatellite panel and the reference dataset can play a beneficial role in reintroduction and repatriation projects when confiscated individuals need to be re-assigned to their respective macro-area of origin before release, and can assist future forensic genetic applications in detecting the illegal trade and possession of Testudo hermanni individuals.

New records of the Mediterranean land snail Massylaea vermiculata (O. F. Müller, 1774) in Hungary and Slovakia

The Mediterranean Massylaea vermiculata (O. F. Müller) is reported from Slovakia for the first time (two sites), and from Hungary for the first time since the 1980 record. There is a reason to suspect the existence of further, yet undetected, specimens or even populations in Central Europe. Based on the dynamics of similar invasions of terrestrial molluscs, we expect that in 2–3 decades the species may become locally abundant and widespread in both the Hungarian and the Slovak capitals.

Plants of the same place do not have the same metabolic pace: soil properties affect differently essential oil yields of plants growing wild in semiarid Mediterranean lands

The chemical composition and structure of the soil strongly affect the growth and development of plants. Ecophysiologically, the effects of soil are translated in changes in plant primary and secondary metabolism. Among the secondary metabolites of plants affected by soil properties are essential oils. In this work, we resume our study on the effect of soil properties on the accumulation of essential oils in two spontaneous plants growing in Algerian semiarid region: Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Thymus algeriensis Boiss & Reut. after studying the effect of climate on these plants in the same period (2010–2014) and at the same collection site in our previous study. The results showed significant differences (P < 0.001) between the oil contents during the period of the study in both plants. The yield of oils was significantly affected by the soil parameters. The pH, total calcium carbonate (CCE), active calcium carbonate (ACCE), and N:P ratio exhibited significant positive correlation (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05) with Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil amount contrary to total nitrogen and salinity that had negative effects. Regarding Thymus algeriensis, the pH, salinity, and N:P ratio had a significant positive effect (P < 0.001) on the content of essential oil. However, CCE, ACCE, and carbon exerted negative effects on oil amount.

ASSESSMENT AND MAPPING OF DESERTIFICATION USING SOIL QUALITY INDICATORS FOR SOME PARTS OF IRAQ

This study was conducted to assess desertification for dry lands in some parts of Iraq. The study area located between longitudes 43025- 41" - 460 28- 01" E and latitudes 340 18- 35" - 360 20- 56" N with an area of 26500Km2which include some parts of the governorates of Sulaimani, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Erbil in Iraq. Eighty nine surface soil samples were taken, air dried, sieved through a 2 mm sieve and then analyzed for some physical and chemical properties. Desertification is assessed according to Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use model (MEDALUS). ArcGIS 10.2 was used to analyze and prepare the layers of soil quality maps. In turn the geometric mean of all six quality maps was used to generate a single desertification status map .In calculating the weight of the soil quality indicator SQI it seems that it was divided into two classes, firstly, class 2(moderate quality) with an area of 25147 km2, which occupied 95% of the study area and the rest is class3 (low quality) with an area of ​​1309 km 2 which equal to 5% of the total area.

Włoskie inicjacje Aleksandra Wata

The article presents the stages of Aleksander Wat’s first journey to Italy in 1949 – starting from Venice, through Florence and Rome, finishing in Naples and Capri. Most of all, the article interprets the poetic records of the places visited by the poet and his impressions written down in letters. As a result, what the journey to Italy becomes for Wat is not only a discovery of the beauty of landscape and the plenty of art, but, most importantly, an experience of physical contact with the Mediterranean land, an initiation into the fascinating witnessing of the incarnation of cultural tradition into a visible landscape, a sensual initiation into the legacy of the Mediterranean. The coda of the text is his unexpected reminiscence from the first journey to Italy recorded in a social realist drama.

A Sicilian–Cretan biogeographical disjunction in the land snail genusCornu(Gastropoda: Helicidae)

AbstractWe report an unusual biogeographical disjunction between the western and the eastern Mediterranean region. Cornu (Gastropoda: Helicidae) is a western Mediterranean land snail genus. It includes Cornu (Cornu) aspersum, which originated in north-western Africa and was distributed by humans for food or accidentally, first throughout the Mediterranean region and, subsequently, to all continents except Antarctica. It also includes three species belonging to the subgenus Erctella, which are all endemic to Sicily. We discovered a new species of Cornu on the Greek island of Crete. The morphological and molecular genetic analyses showed that the species from Crete is a disjunct representative of the subgenus Erctella. We hypothesize that the disjunction originated by a long-distance dispersal event of the ancestors of the Cretan species from Sicily by birds or by sea currents, perhaps facilitated by a tsunami or a similar event. The Cretan lineage separated from the Sicilian species in the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene. This divergence time is compatible with the hypothesis that the ancestor of Cornu cretense sp. nov. was washed from Sicily to Crete by the Zanclean flood that refilled the Mediterranean basin after it had dried up during the Messinian salinity crisis.