Impacts of Wildlife on Agriculture: A Spatial-Based Analysis and Economic Assessment for Reducing Damage

Over the last few years, the impacts of wildlife on agriculture have constantly been growing, in particular in areas close to woodland and in hunting ban zones (“refuge effect”). Public administrations have difficulty in meeting the growing requests for crop damage compensation. The development of appropriate measures to control this trend—starting from the understanding of the dynamics concerned—is crucial. The aim of this study was, therefore, to analyze damage at regional scale and define common local actions. In particular, the study involved different steps that define a spatial-based classification of risk levels, integrating statistical methods (principal component analysis and receiver operating characteristic) with multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) in a geographic information system (GIS). It turns out that, in the study area, the very high-risk zones affect 8.83% of used agricultural areas; about 97% of them concentrated in the first 400 m from the most suitable habitats. A selected cluster of 11 test areas within these zones allowed us to assess the cost-effectiveness of integrated prevention and control actions (IPCA) with respect to the compensation of the damage. The analysis shows cost of IPCA to be nearly twice the actual cost incurred by the public administration to compensate partially the damage. The comparison with the estimated damage shows the overall economic convenience of the proposed investment with significant differences depending on the areas. Thus, we suggest reaching an “agro-ecological” balance starting from actions on specific areas; if they produce the desired effects, they could be progressively extended to other areas with gradual investments (adaptive management).

     

Experimental solidification of anhydrous latitic and trachytic melts at different cooling rates: The role of nucleation kinetics

Two sets of cooling experiments were run at atmospheric conditions for two anhydrous starting latitic and trachytic melts: 1) five cooling rates (25, 12.5, 3, 0.5, and 0.125 °C/min) between 1300° and 800 °C, and 2) a 0.5 °C/min cooling rate from 1300 °C with quench temperatures at 1200°, 1100°, 1000° and 900 °C. Trachytic run-products are invariably glassy. Nucleation is also suppressed in the latitic run-products at the three highest cooling rates. Conversely, in the 0.5 and 0.125 °C/min runs, latites have a crystal content of  90 vol.%. The phases are: plagioclase, clinopyroxene, glass and iron-bearing oxide (in order of abundance). The variable quench temperatures, investigated by coupling experiments with Pt wire and Pt capsule sample containers in set 2, again did not produce crystallization of trachyte, whereas latitic samples are characterized by  10 vol.% of oxides, pyroxenes and plagioclase (in order of appearance), at temperature < 1000 °C. Effects of (preferential) heterogeneous nucleation on sample holders, of superheating degree, and chemical species loss during cooling are absent for both melt compositions. The difference of solidification paths between these two silicate melts can be ascribed only to their small chemical differences. In comparison with calculated equilibrium conditions all the experimental latitic and trachytic run-products revealed strong kinetic effects, interpretable in the light of the nucleation theory. The glass-forming ability (GFA) of trachyte is higher, whereas their critical cooling rate (Rc) is lower (< 0.125 °C/min), in comparison to latitic melts (Rc > 0.5 °C/min). The experimental results carried out in this study can be applied to lava flows and domes; trachytic lavas are able to flow for longer period with respect to latitic ones in a metastable condition. Glass-rich terrestrial lavas, i.e. obsidians, can be the result of sluggish nucleation kinetics due to the relative high polymerisation of evolved silicate melts.     

The Estimation of Secondary Production of the Marine Bivalve Spisula subtruncata (DA COSTA) in the Area of the Po River Delta

Abstract. The secondary production of Spisula subtruncata (somatic production) is calculated in the framework of a benthic monitoring study in a coastal area. The temporal trends of density, biomass and growth increments are examined in the three year-classes present. These are compared to certain physical and chemical parameters.     

Evidence of magmatic CO2-rich fluids in peraluminous graphite-bearing leucogranites from Deep Freeze Range (northern Victoria Land,Antarctica)

Fine-grained peraluminous synkinematic leuco-monzogranites (SKG), of Cambro-Ordovician age, occur as veins and sills (up to 20–30 m thick) in the Deep Freeze Range, within the medium to high-grade metamorphics of the Wilson Terrane. Secondary fibrolite + graphite intergrowths occur in feldspars and subordinately in quartz. Four main solid and fluid inclusion populations are observed: primary mixed CO₂+H₂O inclusions + Al₂SiO₅ ± brines in garnet (type 1); early CO₂-rich inclusions (± brines) in quartz (type 2); early CO₂+CH₄ (up to 4 mol%)±H₂O inclusions + graphite + fibrolite in quartz (type 3); late CH₄+CO₂+N₂ inclusions and H₂O inclusions in quartz (type 4). Densities of type 1 inclusions are consistent with the crystallization conditions of SKG (750°C and 3 kbar). The other types are post-magmatic: densities of type 2 and 3 inclusions suggest isobaric cooling at high temperature (700–550°C). Type 4 inclusions were trapped below 500°C. The SKG crystallized from a magma that was at some stage vapour-saturated; fluids were CO₂-rich, possibly with immiscible brines. CO₂-rich fluids (±brines) characterize the transition from magmatic to post-magmatic stages; progressive isobaric cooling (T<670°C) led to a continuous decrease off _{O 2} can entering in the graphite stability field; at the same time, the feldspars reacted with CO₂-rich fluids to give secondary fibrolite + graphite. Decrease ofT andf _{O 2} can explain the progressive variation in the fluid composition from CO₂-rich to CH₄ and water dominated in a closed system (in situ evolution). The presence of N₂ the late stages indicates interaction with external metamorphic fluids.Contribution within the network Hydrothermal/metamorphic water-rock interactions in crystalline rocks: a multidisciplinary approach on paleofluid analysis. CEC program: Human Capital and Mobility     

Asteroid “clans”: Super-families or multiple events?

Among the recently determined asteroid families (Zappala' et al., 1992) a number of very large clusterings are recognized. Some of them agglomerate few families previously identified as single groupings. In most cases, the new big families (called clans) seem to be composed by different sub-clusterings connected each other by very narrow bridges. In the present paper we analyze their possible origin and evolution: a primordial single event followed by subsequent collisions of the fragments, a super-catastrophic original impact or different collisional events overlapping by chance.     

A semi-analytic method for pole determination of asteroids

A semi-analytic method, obtained collecting amplitude-aspect and magnitude-aspect relations, is given in order to deduce the pole coordinates of asteroids. The accuracy of this method (5–10°), which needs some restrictive hypotheses, seems to be sufficient for statistical purposes. Possible ambiguities on the results could be resolved by comparison with other methods (like photometric astrometry), which start from different observational data and follow different procedures.     

Multi-criteria Evaluation of Bran Use to Promote Circularity in the Cereal Production Chain

Natural Resources Research - A reliable and realistic subsurface resource spatial modeling is a common and critical task for geosciences projects (mining, petroleum and environmental) because the...