Harmonized dataset of surface fuels under Alpine, temperate and Mediterranean conditions in Italy. A synthesis supporting fire management

Surface biomass characterization plays a key role in wildfire management. It allows classifying vegetation fuels flammability for fire risk analysis, to define silvicultural prescriptions for fire hazard reduction, to plan prescribed burning, or to model fire behavior and its effects, such as greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. To facilitate fuel classification and analysis of potential fire behavior and effects in Italy, we harmonized 634 measurements of surface wildland fuels from Alpine, temperate and Mediterranean environments. The dataset provides quantitative data for duff, fine dead fuels and downed woody material, live grasses and shrubs fuel components. Surface fuel data were harmonized by subdividing loads (Mg ha(-1)) to standard size classes for dead (0-6, 6-25 and 25-75 mm) and live (0-6, 6-25 mm) fuels, collecting percent cover and depth/height (cm) of the various fuel components, and classifying observations into 19 fuelbed categories. To ensure comparability with existing vegetation classification systems, we classified each observation according to the European Fuel Map, the Corine Land Cover classes (level IV), the European Forest Types, and the forest categories of the Italian National Forest Inventory. The dataset and a photo description of each fuelbed category are available as Supplementary material. This dataset is the first step to develop several products at the national scale such as: (i) fuel type classification and mapping; (ii) carbon stock and wildfire emission estimates; (iii) calibration of fuel models for the simulation of fire behavior and effects

Voluntary offsetting actions: SISEF congress at impact zero... appropriate choice?

Everyone have a carbon footprint. It represents the CO2 emission amount caused by the activities of a person during a specific interval time. The purpose of the study is to calculate CO2 emissions deriving from the VII SISEF Congress activities. The idea is to provide on add a value to the event through the realization of voluntary offsetting actions. These actions are local projects of sustainable forest management and tree plantation in order to improve carbon stock. Specifically, the emissions offset will be realized through direct actions: (1) a plantation of about 50 trees in the parking of STAT department of the University of Molise; (2) implementation of an arboretum in the Apennine flora Garden of Capracotta; and (3) a coppice conversion plan in Monte Vairano (Campobasso), owned by the University of Molise. The methodology foresaw the currently stored carbon baseline calculation and the expected time accumulation for the entire duration of the actions. The STAT Department of the University of Molise will bind its interventions in order to avoid additionality feature and will monitor over time to ensure the effects permanence in carbon storage. The total emissions calculations of Congress amounted to around 12 Mg CO2 and proposed offsetting actions largely exceed that value

Invalidation of the Transcriptional Modulator of Lipid Metabolism PPARβ/δ in T Cells Prevents Age-Related Alteration of Body Composition and Loss of Endurance Capacity.

Anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells (Tregs) are the most metabolically flexible CD4 <sup>+</sup> T cells by using both glycolysis and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) which allow them to migrate in tissues. With aging, Tregs accumulate in secondary lymphoid organs and are involved in impairment of skeletal muscle (SKM) regeneration and mass maintenance. In this study, we showed that a deletion of a FAO modulator, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta/delta (PPARβ/δ), specifically in T cells (KO-T PPARβ/δ), increased the number of CD4 <sup>+</sup> T cells at day 2 following a cardiotoxin-induced SKM regeneration. Older KO-T PPARβ/δ mice maintained a Tregs prevalence in lymph nodes similar to young mice. Surprisingly, KO-T PPARβ/δ mice were protected from the effects of age on lean and fat mass and endurance capacity. Our results lead us to propose an original potential role of T cell metabolism in the effects of aging on the maintenance of body composition and endurance capacity

Seasonality and microhabitat selection in a forest-dwelling salamander

Many small terrestrial vertebrates exhibit limited spatial movement and are considerably exposed to changes in local environmental variables. Among such vertebrates, amphibians at present experience a dramatic decline due to their limited resilience to environmental change. Since the local survival and abundance of amphibians is intrinsically related to the availability of shelters, conservation plans need to take microhabitat requirements into account. In order to gain insight into the terrestrial ecology of the spectacled salamander Salamandrina perspicillata and to identify appropriate forest management strategies, we investigated the salamander\u2019s seasonal variability in habitat use of trees as shelters in relation to tree features (size, buttresses, basal holes) and environmental variables in a beech forest in Italy.We used the occupancy approach to assess tree suitability on a nonconventional spatial scale. Our approach provides finegrained parameters of microhabitat suitability and elucidates many aspects of the salamander\u2019s terrestrial ecology. Occupancy changed with the annual life cycle and was higher in autumn than in spring, when females were found closer to the stream in the study area. Salamanders showed a seasonal pattern regarding the trees they occupied and a clear preference for trees with a larger diameter and more burrows. With respect to forest management, we suggest maintaining a suitable number of trees with a trunk diameter exceeding 30 cm. A practice of selective logging along the banks of streams could help maintain an adequate quantity of the appropriate microhabitat. Furthermore, in areas with a presence of salamanders, a good forest management plan requires leaving an adequate buffer zone around streams, which should be wider in autumn than in spring