Coralligenous habitat in the northern Adriatic Sea: an overview

The rocky outcrops irregularly scattered in the sandy‐muddy sea bed of the Northern Adriatic, formed by a base rock and a superimposed concretion of vegetal and animal organisms, are considered an infralittoral coralligenous habitat, according to the most recent definition. In the last four decades, research has mainly concentrated on their geology because of the question of the origin of the base rock – very similar to beachrock – which has only recently been attributed to sedimentary cementation induced by methane seeps. Studies on their macrobenthic assemblages have also been published recently, but true comparisons among them are difficult because they mostly refer only to a few selected phyla or to short‐term observations. Very few papers deal with the whole of the animal and plant communities, including all taxonomic groups and the most important environmental variables. On the basis of the literature data concerning several outcrops in the Gulf of Venice, we suggest that the Adriatic reefs differ slightly from the classic deeper coralligenous assemblages around the Mediterranean coast because they have smaller concretions of algae builders. We also suggest that the Northern Adriatic coralligenous reefs are younger than the other reefs occurring in the Mediterranean Sea.     

Short time-scale impacts of hydropeaking on benthic invertebrates in an Alpine stream (Trentino,Italy)

The impact of a single hydropeaking event was studied in the Alpine stream Noce Bianco. Four stations were selected, one upstream and three, respectively, at 0.25, 6, and 8 km downstream from a hydropower plant. We collected drifting invertebrates during a planned water release that increased the discharge 7-fold. At the onset of the hydropeaking wave the number of invertebrates lost from the riverbed per minute to the drift increased 9-fold at the first downstream station and the same effects propagated 8 km downstream. The drift was composed mainly of aquatic insect larvae (Chironomidae, Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera Baetidae, and Psychodidae, with Chironomidae as the most abundant taxon at all stations) and partly by larval and adult riparian insects, and by Oligochaeta, which were particularly abundant at the station 6 km downstream. We monitored drift for 30 min from the start of the water release: peaks in drifting invertebrates occurred within 5–10 min of the beginning of the hydropeaking wave, and most of the invertebrates were washed out within the first 15 min of the water release. The different timeframes were possibly due to habitat preferences (most of the taxa that increased in the drift at the arrival of the wave were associated with algae and organic debris, which were washed off quickly by the increase in discharge) and/or behavioral adaptations (other taxa initially resisted the shear stress and began to drift with a delay of 5–10 min). The temporal pattern and drift composition corresponded well with those reported in literature, and indicate that repeated high-flow events of similar magnitude cause considerable losses from benthic populations to drift.     

Strategies to Make Methods Based on Flow Injection Analysis Greener

The implementation of flow injection analysis (FIA) systems and correlated techniques in the laboratory routine provides an increase of analytical throughput and the reduction of risks of analyte losses and contamination. Naturally, it contributes to the reduction of reagent consumption and minimization of waste generation. This paper presents and discusses an overview of the main strategies adopted to make methods based on FIA systems more environmentally friendly, and offers a review of these methods that covers the period from January 2002 to December 2019. Strategies based on reagent management (adoption of procedures without reagents, replacement of toxic reagents, recycling and reuse of reagents and, use of immobilized reagents), the online waste treatment, and the improvements of FIA systems (flow system configurations that avoid reagent wastage, use of green detectors, automation, and miniaturization) are approached in this perspective.     

Geographical ecology of the symbiotic crabs Libinia ferreirae and Libinia spinosa: Distributional patterns in south and south-eastern coast of Brazil

The Brazilian coast is home to two species of Majoid crabs: Libinia ferreirae and Libinia spinosa, with similar habits, as they live in symbiosis with the jellyfish Lychnorhiza lucerna during their juvenile stage and dwell on the bottom of the ocean near the coast when adults. This study investigated the spatial and temporal distribution of L. ferreirae and L. spinosa during different ontogenic phases on the south and south-eastern coast of Brazil, between latitudes 22º and 27ºS. Our results showed that both species have different distributions during their development in the three studied regions. Libinia ferreirae were more abundant associated with jellyfish, and L. spinosa were more abundant in the free-living phase. Environmental factors, especially temperature and salinity, for associated and free-living crabs, respectively, are the main factors that need to be supported for the establishment of these specimens. We were able to identify that the presence or absence of hosts (given the ecological interactions between the species) is determinant in finding the associated crabs. Geographical variations (morphology of the regions, marine currents and the strength of the tide) are linked directly to the movement of the jellyfish hosts to the coast, influencing the abundance of L. fereirae and L. spinosa populations and affecting their distribution patterns. We can infer that both species are connected with other populations because of the association with the jellyfish, crabs could be passively transported along the south and south-eastern coast of Brazil, maintaining the connection between metapopulations.     

Multi-frame and multi-dimensional historical digital cities: the Como example

In this article, we present the realisation of a multi-frame and multi-dimensional WebGIS that allows users to simultaneously analyse a specific portion of the Earth taking into account the historical information, too. Two graphical panels have been realised: one for the usual 2D view and one for a more realistic 3D view. Both panels display historical maps of the city, the current orthophoto and the digital topographical map. The 3D frame is based on NASA World Wind, an open source virtual globe from where 3D buildings are shown extruding the 2D shapes using their mean height. Thanks to a specifically designed graphical user interface, it is also possible to dynamically thematise the buildings on the globe according to different criteria (e.g. the construction time span) so that only the geometries fulfilling the request are turned on. Within the proposed application, a synchronisation between the two panels has been implemented, in order to maintain a constant alignment of the two viewers. The application is also open to the time dimension. In fact, assigning to each geometry two dates (e.g. ‘year of construction’ and ‘year of demolition’), it is possible to dynamically view how buildings have changed over time, both in their shape and height. Future developments of this work will concern the possibility of implementing a city model with a higher level of detail.     

Active and break phases of the South American summer monsoon: MJO influence and subseasonal prediction

The role of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) in producing active and break periods of the South American (SA) monsoon and the performance of the ECMWF and NCEP models in predicting these periods at multiweek lead times are assessed. Two monsoon indices, based on precipitation and wind, are proposed to characterize these periods. The models represent well the observed association of active and break monsoon days with large scale convection and circulation anomalies. Although reproducing approximately the distribution of active and break days proportions in each phase of the MJO cycle, models produce a phase shift between observed and simulated distributions because they establish the teleconnection between Central Pacific and South America, as well as its impacts, sooner than in observations. The predictive skill of both rainfall and wind anomalies is limited to about 2 weeks, with the monsoon wind index displaying higher correlation score till week 3. The forecast performance is apparently not affected by initialization on active or break monsoon days. However, it is higher for prediction of lower precipitation in break days than heavier rainfall in active days. Wind is much better predicted than rainfall for active days, which could be used for extreme rainfall events forecast. Although relatively small at shorter lead times, the MJO contribution is the major source of rainfall predictability after week 3. To improve the multiweek prediction of SA monsoon, models need not only to predict correctly the MJO phase, but also to reproduce in the right phase the MJO-related SA rainfall anomalies.

     

Experimental analysis of tidal network growth and development

In this paper we present the results of a first series of laboratory experiments carried out in a large experimental apparatus, aimed at reproducing a typical lagoonal environment subject to tidal forcings. The experiments were designed in order to improve our understanding of the main processes governing tidal network initiation and its progressive morphodynamic evolution. During the experiments we observed the growth and development of tidal networks and analyzed their most relevant geomorphic features, taking into account the role played by the characteristics of the tidal forcing in driving the development of channeled patterns. The synthetic networks displayed geomorphic features which compare favorably with those of actual networks, showing that our experimental framework proves useful for analyzing the processes governing the formation and evolution of tidal channel networks. In particular, the synthetic networks develop via headward growth driven by the exceedance of a critical bottom shear stress, and display width-to-depth ratios and seaward exponential widening in accordance with observational evidence. Furthermore experimental networks reproduce statistical network characteristics of geomorphic relevance, such as the exponential probability distribution of unchanneled path lengths.     

Bed evolution measurement with flowing water in morphodynamics experiments

A new approach for the profiling of movable sediment beds in laboratory experiments is presented. It couples a triangulation laser sensor and an ultrasonic level transmitter, and allows a non‐intrusive, fast and accurate measurement of bed topography without stopping the experimental runs. The distortion of the laser beam due to the refraction at the water surface is corrected by contemporaneously measuring the elevation of the water surface through the ultrasonic level transmitter and taking advantage of geometrical relations involving the water depth, distance of the sensors from the water surface, and the angles that the emitted laser beam forms with the vertical before and after refraction. Several tests, under either still‐ or flowing‐water conditions, as well as increasing/decreasing water surface elevation, were carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the measurements. These tests indicate that good‐quality measurements are obtained for flow depths in the range 0 < D < 60 mm, typical of morphodynamic laboratory experiments. Finally, two relevant applications to movable bed experiments carried out under either lagoonal or fluvial conditions are presented that show the effectiveness of the proposed profiling technique. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The nationalization of electoral change in a geographical perspective: the case of Italy (2006–2008)

This paper assesses the nationalization of electoral change in a setting of major changes at the party level. After discussing the theoretical difference between the configuration of the electorate and its movement, the Italian case is examined. In order to check whether strategic voting dynamics took place between the 2006 and 2008 Italian Parliamentary elections, the swing voters’ estimates are obtained. After having shown that the Italian electorate behaved strategically, we investigated whether the swing had a national or a territorial pattern. The findings show that the switching occurred in Italy between the 2006 and the 2008 elections can be considered national.