Priorities for Mediterranean marine turtle conservation and management in the face of climate change

As climate-related impacts threaten marine biodiversity globally, it is important to adjust conservation efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Translating scientific knowledge into practical management, however, is often complicated due to resource, economic and policy constraints, generating a knowledge-action gap. To develop potential solutions for marine turtle conservation, we explored the perceptions of key actors across 18 countries in the Mediterranean. These actors evaluated their perceived relative importance of 19 adaptation and mitigation measures that could safeguard marine turtles from climate change. Of importance, despite differences in expertise, experience and focal country, the perceptions of researchers and management practitioners largely converged with respect to prioritizing adaptation and mitigation measures. Climate change was considered to have the greatest impacts on offspring sex ratios and suitable nesting sites. The most viable adaptation/mitigation measures were considered to be reducing other pressures that act in parallel to climate change. Ecological effectiveness represented a key determinant for implementing proposed measures, followed by practical applicability, financial cost, and societal cost. This convergence in opinions across actors likely reflects long-standing initiatives in the Mediterranean region towards supporting knowledge exchange in marine turtle conservation. Our results provide important guidance on how to prioritize measures that incorporate climate change in decision-making processes related to the current and future management and protection of marine turtles at the ocean-basin scale, and could be used to guide decisions in other regions globally. Importantly, this study demonstrates a successful example of how interactive processes can be used to fill the knowledge-action gap between research and management.This work was conducted under FutureMares EU project that received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869300. The Mediterranean Marine Turtle Working Group was established in 2017 and is continuously supported by MedPAN and the National Marine Park of Zakynthos. The work of AC was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) under the “First Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty members and Researchers and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project Number: 2340).Peer reviewe

Gli esperimenti nucleari francesi in Polinesia: Liberté, Égalité, Radioactivité.

Quello degli esperimenti nucleari francesi in Polinesia è un capitolo della storia della Francia poco conosciuto, per quanto conclusosi soltanto nel 1996, e sul quale a tutt’oggi aleggiano misteri e ombre. Il presente lavoro si propone di indagare le motivazioni e il contesto internazionale che spinsero la Francia a dotarsi di un sistema di difesa autonomo il quale, prendendo avvio dalla Quarta Repubblica e passando dalla creazione della force de frappe gollista in nome della grandeur francese, è giunto con sorprendente continuità fino ai giorni nostri.Lo scritto analizza la situazione politica antecedente la creazione del Centre d’Expérimentation du Pacifique (CEP), le reazioni dei rappresentanti polinesiani alla sua installazione, le conseguenze che esso ha comportato a livello sanitario, ambientale e le enormi mutazioni che destrutturarono una società fino a quel momento basata sull’autosussistenza. Con la presa di coscienza dei danni provocati dalle sperimentazioni nucleari e termonucleari, avvenuta solo con il disastro di Černobyl', la comunità internazionale, della cui coscienza ecologista si fece portavoce soprattutto la Nuova Zelanda, avviò diverse modalità di contestazione, sopitesi soltanto nel 1996 con l’annuncio della fine delle esplosioni da parte di Chirac.È in seguito a tale contestazione che iniziarono a essere ideati i primi “dispositivi” di indennizzo, dei quali viene elaborata una breve analisi comparata. L’ultimo di questi è proprio quello francese, regolato dalla legge 2010-5 del 5 gennaio 2010, di cui si analizzano “punti di forza” e “debolezze applicative”. Stante la scarsità di fonti bibliografiche, la ricerca si è quindi rivolta all’“Observatoire des Armements”, ossia il più importante centro di ricerca francese sul militare nucleare e sul commercio delle armi con sede a Lione. Qui la candidata ha potuto non solo intervistare alcuni tra i più accreditati studiosi di questo ambito di ricerca, ma altresì consultare le maggiori opere in materia, riviste scientifiche specializzate, articoli della stampa internazionale, rapporti redatti da organizzazioni, documenti ufficiali, dossier governativi desecretati

Carbon sequestration and fertility after centennial time scale incorporation of charcoal into soil

The addition of pyrogenic carbon (C) in the soil is considered a potential strategy to achieve direct C sequestration and potential reduction of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, we investigated the long term effects of charcoal addition on C sequestration and soil physico-chemical properties by studying a series of abandoned charcoal hearths in the Eastern Alps of Italy established in the XIX century. This natural setting can be seen as an analogue of a deliberate experiment with replications. Carbon sequestration was assessed indirectly by comparing the amount of pyrogenic C present in the hearths (23.3+/-4.7 kg C m(-2)) with the estimated amount of charcoal that was left on the soil after the carbonization (29.3+/-5.1 kg C m(-2)). After taking into account uncertainty associated with parameters' estimation, we were able to conclude that 80+/-21% of the C originally added to the soil via charcoal can still be found there and that charcoal has an overall Mean Residence Time of 650+/-139 years, thus supporting the view that charcoal incorporation is an effective way to sequester atmospheric CO2. We also observed an overall change in the physical properties (hydrophobicity and bulk density) of charcoal hearth soils and an accumulation of nutrients compared to the adjacent soil without charcoal. We caution, however, that our site-specific results should not be generalized without further study

Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis results for the setimation of equation 3 parameters.

<p>Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis results for the setimation of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0091114#pone.0091114.e003" target="_blank">equation 3</a> parameters.</p

Total carbon and nutrient stocks in the control soils and charcoal hearths and the estimated amount added by carbonization calculated according to Eq. [2].

<p>Mean ± standard error (n = 3). Results of the comparison between control and charcoal hearth (p-value) are also reported.</p

Carbon content of charcoal produced from larch wood at different temperatures.

<p>Wood samples were collected in close proximity to the hearths. Charcoal was produced in a muffle furnace at 400°, 500° 600° and 860°C. Dashed lines represent 95% confidence interval. (Y = 26.9+0.15 X-9.2 10⁻⁵ X²; r² = 0.94; p<0.0001).</p

Description of larch forests considered as analogues of the larch forest harvested for charcoal production in Val di Pejo (mean ± standard error).

<p>Data were determined using LiDAR measurements <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0091114#pone.0091114-Tonolli1" target="_blank">[37]</a>.</p

Correlation between average annual atmospheric deposition of P, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na²⁺ (mg l⁻¹ y⁻¹) and the difference between the input of the same elements due to charcoal application in 1858 and the amount found today in hearth’s soils (Δelement, kg hearths⁻¹) (y = 2.50×–14.31, R² = 0.82, p = 0.035).

<p>Dashed lines represent 95% confidence interval.</p

Parameters, coefficients and variables used to estimate charcoal stability in soil (mean ± standard error; n = 3).

<p>Parameters, coefficients and variables used to estimate charcoal stability in soil (mean ± standard error; n = 3).</p

SEM micrographs showing the inner morphology of charcoal fragments and the absence of any microbes or plant debris.

<p>a) is a radial section b) a longitudinal section.</p