Mediterranean Scenario Research Articles

Assessment of background dose rate on non-human biota in a Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystem.

The assessment of radiological impact to the environment is usually carried out by the dose rate estimation to hypothetical entities named Reference Animals and Plants (RAPs). There are many codes to carry out this assessment, which requires the definition of a scenario and using site-specific transfer parameters when possible. Transfer parameters present a geographical bias, as they are mostly derived from temperate and arctic climate datasets, but there is a scarcity of data for Mediterranean climates. In this study, a terrestrial Mediterranean scenario was defined using the distribution of activity concentrations of anthropogenic (90Sr, 137Cs) and naturally occurring radionuclides (40K, 210Pb, 210Po, 226,228Ra, 235,238U, 232Th) in Cáceres province (Spain). Site-specific transfer factors, CRwo-media, defined as the ratio between the concentration in the whole organism and the medium (soil in this case) were considered. Dose rate assessments for terrestrial RAPs were carried out using Tier 3 in ERICA Tool, ranging 0.23-3.73µGy/h which is below the screening level of 10µGy/h. Therefore, no harmful effects are expected to occur. Internal dose rate predominates over external one because the main contributors are naturally occurring radionuclides (in most cases 40K, 226,228Ra, 210Pb, 210Po), which are mostly α-emitting radionuclides. These results can be used for the evaluation of other radiological and nuclear installations in Mediterranean climates, as they set the background dose rate.

The distribution of environmental pressures from global dietary shift

Abstract The production and consumption of food is one of the main drivers of environmental change globally. Meanwhile, many populations remain malnourished due to insufficient or unhealthy diets. Increasingly, dietary shifts are proposed as a means to address both environmental and health concerns. We have a limited understanding of how dietary shifts could alter where food is produced and consumed and how these changes would affect the distribution of environmental pressures both globally and across different groups of people. Here we combine new food flow data linking producing to consuming country with environmental pressures to estimate how a global shift to each of four diets (Indian, EAT-Lancet, Mediterranean, and mean Food Based Dietary Guidelines) could affect environmental pressures at the global, country income group, and country level. Globally, cumulative pressures decrease under the Indian, EAT-Lancet, and Mediterranean scenarios and increase under Food Based Dietary Guidelines. On average, low income countries increase their cumulative consumption and production pressures while high income countries decrease their consumption pressures, and typically decrease their production pressures. Increases in low income countries are likely due to the nutritional inadequacy of current diets and the corresponding increases in consumption quantities with a shift to our diet scenarios. Despite these increases, we believe that three out four of our simulated dietary shifts can be seen as a net benefit by decreasing global pressures while low income countries increase pressures to adequately feed their populations. Additionally, considering principles of fairness applied, some nations are more responsible for causing historical environmental pressures and should shoulder more of the change. To facilitate more equitable shifts in global diets, resources, capacity, and knowledge sharing of sustainable agricultural practices are critical to minimize the increases in pressures that low income countries would incur to adequately feed their populations.

The Deep Past of the White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Mediterranean Sea: A Synthesis of Its Palaeobiology and Palaeoecology.

The white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, is the main top predator of the present-day Mediterranean Sea. The deep past of C. carcharias in the Mediterranean is witnessed by a rather conspicuous, mostly Pliocene fossil record. Here, we provide a synthesis of the palaeobiology and palaeoecology of the Mediterranean white sharks. Phenetically modern white shark teeth first appeared around the Miocene-Pliocene transition in the Pacific, and soon after in the Mediterranean. Molecular phylogenetic analyses support an origin of the Mediterranean white shark population from the dispersal of Australian/Pacific palaeopopulations, which may have occurred through the Central American Seaway. Tooth dimensions suggest that the Mediterranean white sharks could have grown up to about 7 m total length during the Pliocene. A richer-than-today marine mammal fauna was likely pivotal in supporting the Mediterranean white sharks through the Pliocene and most of the Quaternary. White sharks have seemingly become more common as other macropredators declined and disappeared, notwithstanding the concurrent demise of many potential prey items in the context of the latest Pliocene and Quaternary climatic and environmental perturbations of the Mediterranean region. The overall generalist trophic habits of C. carcharias were likely crucial for securing ecological success in the highly variable Mediterranean scenario by allowing the transition to a mostly piscivorous diet as the regional marine mammal fauna shrank.

Challenges of renewable energy communities on small Mediterranean islands: A case study on Ponza island

Italy has reconsidered incentives on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) to implement the EU clean energy transition and Renewable Energy Communities (REC). Legislation on RECs shifted the focus of incentives from production to self-consumptions. In this paper, the REC model is studied in a minor island disconnected from the national grid, with strongly seasonal energy load and water demand. This is a typical Mediterranean scenario where energy demand is covered by Diesel gensets and water supply is provided with tankers. The implementation of RES is investigated, exploiting the current REC model of incentives. Two sub-optimal REC configurations were defined using time-dependent simulations on pyRES, an in-house code for energy systems. Results show the economical unfeasibility of REC when there is a poor mix of users. In contrast, REC can achieve economic profitability including industrial demand of a desalination unit (DES). The increase of self-consumption guaranteed from the DES allows to increase the NPV of the community and results in major cuts in CO2 emissions (60% of those related to water supply and 10% of those from Diesel gensets) and a reduction of fuel costs of 22%. This method can be applied to investigate the performance of a REC in a local environment and help stakeholders in planning the expansions of RECs on the territory.

Euro-Med Abandoned Small(er) Towns. A landscape/ecological urbanism perspective for sustainable regeneration in Basilicata inlands

Inside a Mediterranean scenario of population asymmetries, this paper talks about and ongoing research that aims to highlight issues, identify a working method and tools able to support sustainable regenerative design strategies for abandoned historical small(er) towns and their landscapes, especially in inlands contexts. With these objectives, the research chooses Basilicata region, in the South of Italy, as emblematic for its structural marginality- morphological, infrastructural, social and economic -, bio-cultural diverse and diffused heritage and its seemingly unreversible depopulation process. Aging, low birth rates and high level of emigration has produced the abandonment of small(er) towns, of rural areas and, by the contrary, an increasing wilderness, changing the millennial settlement structure and impacting on socio-ecological resilience. Inside the theoretical framework of landscape/ecological urbanism and related design- oriented experimentations, the constellation of abandoned small(er) towns are interpreted as urban densities of a performative bio-cultural green infrastructure that could support, through design, the contemporary challenge of sustainable development, with a relational and glocal approach. Small(er) towns regeneration is view inside a more complex, interdisciplinary and holistic frame in which inter-scalarity, flux, dynamic and time variability are crucial. Performative bio-cultural green infrastructure, through the multiplication of public space, could support sustainable processes, in an ecological, economic and social sense. From an applicational point of view, the research intends to build a dynamic atlas for the regeneration of abandoned small(er) towns; the atlas is conceived both as a reading and a design tool able to support polyphonic and open process of sustainable regeneration.

Real-world outcomes of insulin pump compared to multiple daily injection therapy in adult type 1 diabetes mellitus patients in a Mediterranean scenario

To analyze the real-life outcomes of insulin pump therapy, as compared to multiple daily injection (MDI) treatment, in adult type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients from a tertiary diabetes care hospital in a Mediterranean scenario. Observational cross-sectional study regarding all T1DM patients on insulin pump therapy compared (1:1) with MDI-treated patients selected through simple random sampling from our database. Primary efficacy outcome was to describe glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) differences. Ninety patients were analyzed (male 53%). Mean age was 40.0 ± 14.4 years, and T1DM duration was 19.7 ± 11.8 years. Duration of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy was 5.6 ± 3.9 years, and most frequent indication (47%) for CSII treatment was HbA1c ≥ 53 mmol/mol (7%). More patients treated with CSII used interstitial glucose monitoring compared with MDI patients (73% vs. 20%, p < 0.001). Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) daily frequency was higher among insulin pump–treated patients compared with patients receiving MDI therapy (5.0 ± 2.2 times/day vs. 3.8 ± 3.2 times/day, p = 0.048). Glycated hemoglobin was lower among patients on insulin pump therapy compared with MDI-treated patients (54 ± 10 mmol/mol vs. 60 ± 13 mmol/mol, 7.1 ± 0.9% vs. 7.6 ± 1.2%; p = 0.038). Besides, patients on insulin pump showed less hypoglycemia frequency (6% vs. 11%, p = 0.006) and suffered less from frequent hypoglycemia (20% vs. 42%, p = 0.02). Patients using insulin pump therapy had a better glycemic control relative to the injection therapy cohort in a real-world Mediterranean scenario. Clinical Trials NCT03793283.

Uptake of atenolol, carbamazepine and triclosan by crops irrigated with reclaimed water in a Mediterranean scenario.

Water scarcity is a natural condition in the Mediterranean rim countries. In this region, reuse of reclaimed water (RW) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is becoming a potential source for highly water-demanding activities such as agriculture. However, the removal capacity of contaminants in regular WWTPs has been found to be limited. Considering a Mediterranean scenario, this research investigated the plant uptake and translocation of three representative pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) typically present in RW samples from a WWTP located in an urban area in Spain, and assessed the potential risk to humans from plant consumption. The RW samples were collected and analyzed for three representative PPCPs (atenolol -ATN-, carbamazepine -CBZ- and triclosan -TCS-). The target contaminants were also spiked at two levels in the RW samples to consider two worst-case scenarios. Three plant models (lettuce, maize and radish) were grown outdoors and irrigated with four treatments: tap water; RW samples, and the two spiked RW samples. Generally speaking, results revealed an efficient root uptake for the three PPCPs regardless of plant species and fortification level, and suggested an interaction effect of treatment and plant organ. Different bioaccumulation and translocation potentials of the three PPCPs were seen into the aerial organs of the plants. Overall, these observations support the idea that factors including the physico-chemical properties of the PPCPs and physiological plant variables, could be responsible for the differential accumulation and translocation potentials observed. These variables could be critical for crops irrigated with RW in regions with extended dry seasons, high solar incidence and low annual rainfall such as those in the Mediterranean rim where plants are subjected to high transpiration rates. However, the results obtained from this experimental approach suggested a negligible risk to humans from consumption of edible plants irrigated with RW samples with presence of PPCPs, despite the fact that the three representative PPCPs under study accumulated efficiently in the plants.

Free-Ranging Pig and Wild Boar Interactions in an Endemic Area of African Swine Fever.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is spreading throughout Eurasia and there is no vaccine nor treatment available, so the control is based on the implementation of strict sanitary measures. These measures include depopulation of infected and in-contact animals and export restrictions, which can lead to important economic losses, making currently African swine fever (ASF) the greatest threat to the global swine industry. ASF has been endemic on the island of Sardinia since 1978, the longest persistence of anywhere in Eurasia. In Sardinia, eradication programs have failed, in large part due to the lack of farm professionalism, the high density of wild boar and the presence of non-registered domestic pigs (free-ranging pigs). In order to clarify how the virus is transmitted from domestic to wild swine, we examined the interaction between free-ranging pigs and wild boar in an ASF-endemic area of Sardinia. To this end, a field study was carried out on direct and indirect interactions, using monitoring by camera trapping in different areas and risk points. Critical time windows (CTWs) for the virus to survive in the environment (long window) and remain infectious (short window) were estimated, and based on these, the number of indirect interactions were determined. Free-ranging pigs indirectly interacted often with wild boar (long window = 6.47 interactions/day, short window = 1.31 interactions/day) and these interactions (long window) were mainly at water sources. They also directly interacted 0.37 times per day, especially between 14:00 and 21:00 h, which is much higher than for other interspecific interactions observed in Mediterranean scenarios. The highly frequent interactions at this interspecific interface may help explain the more than four-decade-long endemicity of ASF on the island. Supporting that free-ranging pigs can act as a bridge to transmit ASFV between wild boar and registered domestic pigs. This study contributes broadly to improving the knowledge on the estimation of frequencies of direct and indirect interactions between wild and free-ranging domestic swine. As well as supporting the importance of the analysis of interspecific interactions in shared infectious diseases, especially for guiding disease management. Finally, this work illustrates the power of the camera-trapping method for analyzing interspecific interfaces.

Complementary assessment of As, Cu and Zn environmental availability in a stabilised contaminated soil using large-bore column leaching, automatic microcolumn extraction and DGT analysis

Soil pollution with trace elements is a concerning issue worldwide. Monitoring of soil pollution and remediation protocols need still from valid complementary analytical approaches able to detect changes in speciation and lability of metals in soils (e.g. stabilization or mobility). In this work, we compare three different analytical approaches to assess potential changes in environmental availability of Cu, As and Zn in a Mediterranean polluted soil that was amended with different combinations of iron sulphate and alkaline paper sludge waste. The studied methods were: (i) a standard large-bore flow-through column system (macrocolumn), (ii) an automatic dynamic flow-through microcolumn extraction system, and (iii) the diffusive gradients in thin gels technique (DGT). The three analytical approaches tested showed immobilization of Zn and Cu in contaminated mine soils after co-application of paper sludge and iron sulphate, but they differ quantitatively in terms of As mobility. Interconversion between oxidation states of inorganic As is observed to occur to a larger extent in macrocolumn. Because this may only occur in very specific Mediterranean scenarios (i.e. organic matter application to intermittently flooded mine soils), macrocolumn extraction procedures might not appropriately mimic the environmental availability of As in soils with organic amendments (e.g., paper sludge waste). Microcolumn leaching is the fastest screening tool to ascertain the efficiency of chemical amendments, but DGT is a good alternative with less technical demands.

The seagrass skeletal assemblage from modern to fossil and from tropical to temperate: Insight from Maldivian and Mediterranean examples

AbstractSeagrasses are marine angiosperms that form extensive submarine meadows in the photic zone where carbonate producing biota dwell as epiphytes on the leaves or as infaunal forms, and act as prolific carbonate sediment factories. Because seagrasses have a low preservation potential and records of exceptionally well‐preserved and plant material from marine settings are rare, these palaeoenvironments are difficult to identify in the rock record. Consequently, sedimentological and palaeontological proxies are the main indicators of the presence of seagrass‐dominated ecosystems. This work investigates the skeletal assemblage of Modern (Maldivian and western Mediterranean) and fossil (Eocene; Apula and Oman carbonate platforms and Oligocene; Malta platform) seagrass examples to characterize the skeletal assemblage of modern and fossil seagrasses. Two main types of grains, calcareous algae and foraminifera, constitute around 50% of the bioclastic sediment in both tropical Maldivian and temperate Mediterranean scenarios. However, in the tropical setting they are represented by green algae (Halimeda), while in the Mediterranean they are represented by corallinacean red algae. In contrast, in the Eocene examples, the foraminifera are the most conspicuous group and the green algae are also abundant. The opposite occurs in the Maltese Chattian, which is dominated by coralline algae (mean 42%), although the foraminifera are still abundant. It is suggested to use the term foralgal to identify the seagrass skeletal assemblage. To discriminate between red algae and green algae dominance, the introduction of the prefixes ‘GA’ (green algae) and ‘RA’ (red algae) is proposed. The investigated examples provide evidence that the green algae–foralgal assemblage is typical of tropical, not excessively dense seagrass meadows, characterized by a well‐illuminated substrate to support the development and calcification of the Halimeda thallus. Contrarily, the red algae‐foralgal assemblage is typical of high density tropical to subtropical seagrass meadows which create very dense oligophotic conditions on the sea floor or in temperate settings where Halimeda cannot calcify.

PeWEC: Experimental validation of wave to PTO numerical model

In recent years, several efforts have been performed in order to make Wave Energy Converters (WECs) sufficiently profitable and reliable, for their integration in the renewable energy mix. Looking at the European scenario, the development of technologies has been carried out by the countries bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, where a greater energy potential is available. However, a higher potential means also a stronger wave climate during storms, that may compromise the plants survivability. Looking at the Mediterranean scenario, the lower energy potential is balanced by milder extreme condition that should facilitate devices reliability in such conditions. The research activities described in the present work aims to develop a pendulum converter (PeWEC: Pendulum Wave Energy Converter) specifically designed for the Mediterranean Sea climate. In this work, the mathematical model describing the PeWEC dynamics is given, together with experimental tank testing performed on a 1:12 scale prototype. Experimental data recorded during the testing campaign are used to validate the numerical model previously described, both in regular and in irregular sea states. The numerical model proved to be in good agreement with the experimental data.

Meat consumption reduction in Italian regions: Health co-benefits and decreases in GHG emissions.

IntroductionAnimal agriculture has exponentially grown in recent decades in response to the rise in global demand for meat, even in countries like Italy that traditionally eat a Mediterranean, plant-based diet. Globalization related dietary changes are contributing to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases and to the global climate crisis, and are associated with huge carbon and water footprints.The objective of the study is to assess inequalities in health impacts and in attributable greenhouse gases-GHG emissions in Italy by hypothesizing different scenarios of reduction in red and processed meat consumption towards healthier consumption patterns more compliant with the recommendations of the Mediterranean food pyramid.MethodsWe used demographic and food consumption patterns from national surveys and risk relationships between meat intake and cardiovascular and colorectal cancer mortality from IARC and other meta-analyses.From the baseline data (year 2005–2006, average 406 gr/week beef and 245 gr/week processed meat), we considered hypothetical meat reduction scenarios according to international dietary guidelines such as the Mediterranean pyramid targets. For each geographical area (Northwest, Northeast, Centre, and South) and gender, we calculated the number of avoidable deaths from colorectal cancer, and cardiovascular disease among the adult population. Moreover, years of life gained by the adult population from 2012 to 2030 and changes in life expectancy of the 2012 birth cohort were quantified using gender-specific life tables.GHG emission reductions under Mediterranean scenario were estimated only for beef by applying the Global Warming Potential (GWP) coefficient to total consumption and to a low carbon food substitution in adult diet.ResultsThe deaths avoidable (as percentage change compared to baseline) according to the three reduction scenarios for beef consumption were between 2.3% and 4.5% for colorectal cancer, and between 2.1% and 4.0% for cardiovascular disease; higher benefits would be observed in Northwestern areas and among males. In parallel, 5% and 6.4% of colorectal cancer and CVD deaths would be avoided if the Italian population ate the advised quantity of processed meat. Life table analysis suggests that the scenario that is fully compliant with the Mediterranean diet model would save 5 million years of life lost prematurely among men and women over the next 18 years and would increase average life expectancy of future generations by over 7 months.Considering the environmental impact, emissions associated with the actual total intake of beef range from 12,900 to 21,800 Gg CO2 eq; emissions saved according to the Mediterranean scenario are in the range 8000–14000 Gg CO2 eq per year. The per capita reduction is 263 KgCO2eq/year/person with higher reductions in Northwestern and Central areas.ConclusionsIn Italy, scenarios for reducing beef consumption are consistent with significant health and environmental co-benefits on current and future generations. Results support introducing policies to promote healthier behavior towards red and processed meat in the adult population within an overall balanced and healthy dietary pattern. Interventions should address gender, vulnerable population groups, and geographical differences in order to be more effective.

Weed seedbank dynamics in Mediterranean organic horticulture

Managing weeds in organic cropping systems is notoriously difficult. We analyzed the seed bank dynamics in vegetable crop rotations carried out in both the typical Mediterranean scenarios of the open field and greenhouse. The lower seed bank detected in the greenhouse (about 53,000 seeds m−2) showed a higher emergence rate than the seed bank found in the open field, which was almost twice the size. This higher emergence rate was due both to: i) the more favorable temperature in the greenhouse, and ii) the less depth-mediated soil-imposed dormancy, due to the seed bank being at a lower depth as a result of minimum tillage. A strong infestation of Cyperus rotundus was found in the greenhouse again, due to the tuber arrangement in the shallowest soil layer (0–10cm). The ubiquitous and abundant Amaranthus retroflexus, taken as a model to investigate the dormancy-status of exhumed seeds showed that the lower emergence rate in the open field, was not due to dormancy but exclusively to depth-mediated soil inhibition. In addition, the calculation of various indexes of the weed seed bank botanical composition highlighted that the more quantitatively abundant greenhouse weed community was formed by more graminoid species (poaceae and cyperaceae), perennial species, C4 photosynthetic pathway species and by lower biodiversity. Lastly agronomic strategies are proposed which could improve the weed control sustainability in organic cropping systems.

The capability of Motorways of the Sea of being competitive against road transport. The case of the Italian mainland and Sicily

The paper deals with a quantitative analysis on the competitiveness of intermodal transport, based on Motorways of the Sea (MoS), in comparison with all-road transport. This analysis is applied to MoS routes connecting the Italian mainland with Sicily. The study involves: a detailed intermodal network model which compares monetary costs and travel times from all relevant origins in the mainland to all relevant destinations in Sicily; and a survey carried out at some representative trucking firms operating to/from Sicily. The aim of the interviews has been: on one side to make a comparison between the theoretical and actual mode of transport and routes taken, and in case they are different, to understand the reasons of the discrepancy; on the other side to determine what are the main aspects taken into account by trucking companies in their modal choice, in order to understand how the competiveness of MoS against road transport can be improved. The results of the analysis show that the modal choice is affected by several elements: monetary costs and travel times; reliability of MoS routes; availability of MoS routes; MoS routes frequencies; but it resulted from the interviews that monetary costs and travel times are the most important factors considered by trucking companies in the modal and route choice. This study has also shown that an improvement of MoS routes on the Italian Adriatic side is necessary: actually, a strong reason for which in Italy MoS traffic is still a small percentage of road traffic is the low number of MoS routes currently in operation and their low frequency. This analysis could help decision makers, and maritime operators, to efficiently invest in the improvement of MoS routes. Moreover, this analysis, developed for an Italian case study, can be applied to other European and Mediterranean scenarios.

Methodologies to obtain aerosol property profiles from three-wavelength elastic lidar signals

The Lidar/Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) and the Constrained Iterative Inversion (CII) procedure combined with a graphical aerosol classification framework (GF) have been used to analyse their ability in characterizing the altitude dependence of aerosol properties and evaluate their benefits and weaknesses. LIRIC and the CII technique rely on elastic lidar signals at 355, 532, and 1064 nm and collocated Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun/sky photometer measurements to retrieve aerosol parameter profiles at the lidar wavelengths. The aerosol GF relies on the combined analysis of the Ångström exponent at the wavelength pairs 355 and 1064 nm (A(355, 1064)) and its spectral curvature (ΔA = A(355, 532) – A(532, 1064)) to estimate the fine-modal radius and the 532 nm fine-mode fraction. The application of the LIRIC and CII-GF techniques to three selected case studies representative of Central Mediterranean aerosol scenarios has revealed that the differences between the aerosol products from LIRIC and the corresponding ones from the CII-GF procedure varied with altitude, increased with the lidar wavelength decrease, and were significantly large when aerosol from different sources and/or from different advection routes was located at the altitudes sounded by the lidar. The plot on the aerosol GF of A(355, 1064) versus the spectral curvature has indicated that the LIRIC constraint that the fine-modal radius is height independent may represent a weakness if aerosol types and hence aerosol size distributions vary with altitude. The use of lidar ratios (LRs) constant with altitude could represent one of the main weaknesses of the CII-GF technique. The combined use of both techniques should allow obtaining a better characterization of the altitude dependence of aerosol properties from three-wavelength elastic lidar signals.

Pieter Bevelander &amp; Bo Petersson (eds.), Crisis and Migration. Implications of the Eurozone Crisis for Perceptions, Politics, and Policies on Migration (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2014)

Nordicum-Mediterraneum has been dealing extensively and repeatedly with the international economic crisis that still engulfs much of the world. It is therefore consistent with the editorial choices of the journal to include this review, which tackles a recent volume published by the Nordic Academic Press (NAP) dealing with both Nordic and Mediterranean scenarios and originating from a two-day conference organised in 2012 by Malmö University in cooperation with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for European History and Public Spheres.

Economic and environmental impacts of dietary changes in Iran : an input-output analysis

Iran ' s simple and environmentally extended commodity by commodity input-output (IO) model was used to determine the impacts of dietary changes on the Iranian economy and on the environmental load. The original model is based on the status-quo diet and was modified to include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Mediterranean alternative dietary scenarios. A range of impacts occurred depending upon the relative changes in food items. The direction of changes was similar in the three alternative scenarios. The greatest and smallest impact occurred in the WHO and the Mediterranean scenarios respectively. Total changes in output in WHO, WCRF and Mediterranean dietary scenarios were calculated to be 7010.1, 4802.8 and 3330.8 billion Rials respectively. The outputs of rice, vegetables, fruit, bread and macaroni decreased, but those of live and other animal products increased. The output of non-food commodities and services increased as well. The environmental load increased for three dietary scenarios in comparison with the status-quo diet. The greatest and smallest environmental load occurred in WHO and Mediterranean dietary scenarios respectively. Thus, although dietary changes can have positive effects on economic output, in order to avoid negative environmental effects, it is necessary to consider strategies such as applying capabilities, particularly natural resources in an optimal healthy and environmentally diet, planning for improving forest covering and green space simultaneously with increasing economic activities and using indirect incentives, such as taxes and insurance, for promoting sustainable and healthy foods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Can Wild Ungulate Carcasses Provide Enough Biomass to Maintain Avian Scavenger Populations? An Empirical Assessment Using a Bio-Inspired Computational Model

BackgroundThe reduction in the amount of food available for European avian scavengers as a consequence of restrictive public health policies is a concern for managers and conservationists. Since 2002, the application of several sanitary regulations has limited the availability of feeding resources provided by domestic carcasses, but theoretical studies assessing whether the availability of food resources provided by wild ungulates are enough to cover energetic requirements are lacking.Methodology/FindingsWe assessed food provided by a wild ungulate population in two areas of NE Spain inhabited by three vulture species and developed a P System computational model to assess the effects of the carrion resources provided on their population dynamics. We compared the real population trend with to a hypothetical scenario in which only food provided by wild ungulates was available. Simulation testing of the model suggests that wild ungulates constitute an important food resource in the Pyrenees and the vulture population inhabiting this area could grow if only the food provided by wild ungulates would be available. On the contrary, in the Pre-Pyrenees there is insufficient food to cover the energy requirements of avian scavenger guilds, declining sharply if biomass from domestic animals would not be available.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results suggest that public health legislation can modify scavenger population trends if a large number of domestic ungulate carcasses disappear from the mountains. In this case, food provided by wild ungulates could be not enough and supplementary feeding could be necessary if other alternative food resources are not available (i.e. the reintroduction of wild ungulates), preferably in European Mediterranean scenarios sharing similar and socio-economic conditions where there are low densities of wild ungulates. Managers should anticipate the conservation actions required by assessing food availability and the possible scenarios in order to make the most suitable decisions.

‘Peninsula effect’ and Italian peninsula: matherials for a review and implications in applied biogeography

Biogeographia vol. XX VII - 2006 (Pubblicato il 30 dicembre 2006) Biogeografia deIl’Appenn/no centrale e settentrionale: trenfanni dopo ‘Peninsula effect’ and Italian peninsula: matherials for a review and implications in applied biogeography CORRADO BATTISTI Uflicio Comerwzzione Nzztum, Serz/izio Ambimte, Provincial di Roma, Vizz Til9urtimz 69], 00159 Roma {Ital}/),&#39; e—maz&#39;[: c. bzzttisti @p rozzimizz. ramzz. it Key words: patterns, processes, alfa and gamma diversity, Apennine effect, conservation SUMMARY ‘Peninsula effect’ (a reduction of species number from base to tip along the peninsulas, more evident when comparing this parameter versus equally-sized mainland regions) appeared to be not a general pattern, but an occasional phenomenon shown in some species assemblages (communities, taxocoenosis, ecological guilds) in specific contexts. These patterns can be different if related to different taxa, scales, ecological/taxonomic levels and no single theory was widely accepted to explain their causal processes. In this paper, an overview on a wide literature evidences as the causal factors/processes that might explain peninsular diversity patterns should be reconducted to following groups: 1) recent stochastic factorsl processes (equilibrium and derived island biogeography theories); 2) historical events as paleoclimate oscillations, paleogeographic and tectonic changes (‘diversity disequilibrium models’); 3) recent (deterministic) factors/processes (ecology, climate, geography), with a base—tip gradient; 4) anthropical recent factors/ processes (habitat fragmentation and disturbances), with a base—tip gradient. A cautionary approach is requested when comparing, along a peninsular gradient, data from cells or bands at regional/ landscape scale (‘Y-diversity level) or from single ecosystems/fragments (0t—diversity level) because causal factors could be different in explain the observed patterns (respectively, heterogeneity at landscape scale and equilibrium dynamics). Causal processes for ‘inland/peninsulas’ are different in respect to ‘oceanic/geographic’ ones and could be studied with a landscape ecology approach: therefore, we can introduce a ‘peninsular biogeographic theory applied to inland peninsular—shaped ecosystems’ analogously to ‘island biogeography theory applied to mainland’. The Italian peninsula shows a wide latitudinal range, a collocation in a specific Mediterranean scenario, a peculiar orographic pattern represented from Apennines (role as longitudinal &#39;bridge’ and as trasversal ‘barrier’). These specific features, analogously to others present in some peninsulas (e.g., ‘Everglades’ in Florida, ‘Central desert’ in Baja California’), affect the diversity patterns in many taxa, assemblages and single species. Peninsular data could be utilized in multiscale conservation strategies (from landscape to regional level) and this issue could be related to applied biogeography, other than to the descriptive and causal biogeography. A INTRODUCTION The analysis of distribution patterns of the species and groups and their causal processes appears the main research focus in macroecology and biogeography (e.g., from W/allace, 1876). ‘Peninsula effect’ (Simpson, 1964) is a Widely studied issue.

Multi-scale narratives from an IA perspective: Part II. Participatory local scenario development

This paper builds on Part I, where three European and Mediterranean scenarios were introduced. Theses scenarios can be typified as qualitative, integrated narrative storylines that describe three possible directions of future change until 2030. The main purpose of the paper is to summarise the methods and results of a series of stakeholder workshops held in the Guadalentín (Spain) and the Val d'Agri (Italy) to develop local scenarios, using the Mediterranean scenarios as boundary conditions. Two workshops were organised in both watersheds, employing different methods to develop short-term and long-term future outlooks. During the first workshop an exploratory forecasting methodology was employed. By means of a collage of images, stakeholders constructed three future images linked to three Mediterranean scenarios. In the second workshop, a discussion on the short-term outlook based on current trends was followed by a backcasting exercise. The various methods yielded highly complementary results, with detailed short-term developments, rather general yet highly creative visions of the long-term future, and a set of desirable futures. It is argued that such a mix of methods has increased the quality and comprehensiveness of the results. In any case, these efforts should be but the onset of long-term stakeholder participation.