Estimating abundance and habitat suitability in a micro-endemic snake: the Walser viper

Recently described species suffer lack of information that hampers setting up appropriate conservation strategies. The situation is particularly complex with micro-endemic snakes, for which detection and monitoring are particularly challenging. The Walser viper Vipera walser is a recently described snake inhabiting a small area of the SW Italian alps. We combined information on species distribution with repeated monitoring to identify the areas most suitable for the species, and to obtain estimates of species abundance. Species distribution models were used to identify the topographical, climatic, and land-cover features related to the occurrence of vipers. Furthermore, repeated transects and N-mixture models were used to estimate abundance and to identify factors related to the variation of abundance. The available data suggested that the species has a disjunct range, with a Northern range of ~45 km2 , and a southern range of ~225 km2. Distribution models suggested that vipers are associated with areas with open egetation,altitude between 1300 and 2300 m, high precipitation, low forest cover, low slope, and southern aspect. N-mixture models confirmed very low detection probability of these vipers, and suggested that the species has a low abundance,with the highest abundance in south-facing plots. We provide the first quantitative information on habitats and abundance variation for Walser vipers. The broad confidence intervals of abundance estimates exemplify the complexity of providing range-wide measures of abundance for secretive species. Given the narrow range of these vipers, continuous monitoring is required to understand how they respond to ongoing environmental changes in mountainous areas

A new vertebrate for Europe: the discovery of a range-restricted relict viper in the western Italian Alps

We describe Vipera walser, a new viper species from the north-western Italian Alps. Despite an overall morphological resemblance with Vipera berus, the new species is remarkably distinct genetically from both V. berus and other vipers occurring in western Europe and shows closer affinities to species occurring only in the Caucasus. Morphologically, the new species appear to be more similar to V. berus than to its closest relatives occurring in the Caucasus, but can be readily distinguished in most cases by a combination of meristic features as confirmed by discriminant analysis. The extant population shows a very low genetic variability measured with mitochondrial markers, suggesting that the taxon has suffered a serious population reduction/bottleneck in the past. The species is extremely range-restricted (less than 500 km2) and occurs only in two disjunct sites within the high rainfall valleys of the Alps north of Biella. This new species should be classified as globally ‘endangered’ due to its small and fragmented range, and an inferred population decline. The main near-future threats to the species are habitat changes associated with reduced grazing, along with persecution and collecting

From cylindrical to non‐cylindrical foreland basin: Pliocene–Pleistocene evolution of the Po Plain–Northern Adriatic basin (Italy)

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Molecular weight distribution of crosslinked polymers produced in emulsion

A kinetic model for evaluating the chain length distribution of a branched polymer produced in emulsion was developed. Chain branching occurring through any intermolecular mechanism is considered, namely, crosslinking, chain transfer to polymer and propagation to terminal double bond. The model accounts for active chain compartmentalization and, when coupled to a model able to describe the evolution of the polymerization system, allows evaluation of the cumulative properties of the produced polymer both in the pregel and postgel phases. The numerical difficulties related to the description of a rather wide polymer chain population and of gel formation are overcome by using the 'numerical fractionation' technique. A parametric analysis of both instantaneous and cumulative properties is reported and discussed, with special attention to the role of radical compartmentalization in determining the molecular weight properties of a polymer produced in emulsion. Significant differences with the molecular weights computed using models developed for homogeneous :non compartmentalized) systems have been found. A comparison with the predictions of Flory's statistical theory is also reported in terms of gel point and gel weight fraction. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Museum specimens indicate genetic erosion in an endangered lizard

Genetic variability, one of the main factors that guarantees species persistence, and species’ conservation status are generally evaluated with indices calculated at the present time. Natural history collections might help compare historical and current genetic diversity so to identify major trends. Here we analysed museum specimens of the lizard Zootoca vivipara carniolica, with a specific and stringent protocol for degraded DNA, in order to contrast its past and current genetic variability, using fragments of one mitochondrial DNA gene. Part of the distributional range of Z. v. carniolica (Po Plain, Italy), heavily impacted by human activities, was investigated. We found two previously unknown haplotypes in populations that are extinct today, suggesting the loss of these haplotypes and thus an overall shrinking of genetic variability. We argue that these results, together with the increasing threats posed by climate and land use changes, suggest that specific conservation measures for the persistence of Z. v. carniolica in Northern Italian lowlands have to be considere

Nonlinear chain-length distributions in free-radical polymerization

By using results previously reported in the literature, the role and interactions of various termination mechanisms in determining the molecular weight distribution of nonlinear polymer chains produced by different processes are discussed. The analysis is focused on the instantaneous polydispersity of nonlinear chain distributions generated by chain transfer to polymer, cross-linking, and terminal double-bond propagation. Cumulative properties are considered, and criteria for the occurrence of polymer gelation for each of the above reactions are developed. Finally, the role of active radical compartmentalization, which is peculiar of emulsion polymerization, is discussed

A direct injection high-performance liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection for the determination of ethanol and methanol in plasma using an alcohol oxidase reactor

A highly sensitive reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for ethanol and methanol in plasma, using a post-column enzymic reactor with electrochemical detection, has been developed. The alcohols, separated on the column, were converted by immobilized alcohol oxidase into their respective aldehydes with formation of stoichiometric amounts of hydrogen peroxide, detected via oxidation at a platinum electrode. As the chromatographic column, two glass cartridges (150 mm x 3 mm I.D.) in series, packed with 10 microns HEMA-S 1000 packing, were used. Alcohol oxidase from Candida boidinii was immobilized onto HEMA-BIO 1000 VS-L (10 microns), packed in a 30 mm x 3 mm I.D. glass cartridge. The reaction product, hydrogen peroxide, was detected with an amperometric detector with a platinum electrode, operated at +500 mV vs. an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. A 20-microliters volume of ten-fold diluted plasma was injected without any pre-treatment. Under the described conditions, methanol and ethanol were well resolved from each other and from the "front" of the chromatogram. The limit of detection was ca. 2.5 nmol for ethanol and 0.6 nmol for methanol in plasma, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Excellent linearity was observed for ethanol, in the range 0.125-4 micrograms injected (r = 0.9999). In contrast, the response for methanol was markedly non-linear above 500 micrograms injected, presumably owing to progressive saturation of the reactor. The precision and accuracy of the assay were satisfactory, as was the reactor life (one month)

EVOLUZIONE TETTONO-SEDIMENTARIA DELLA SUCCESSIONE PLIO-PLEISTOCENICA NEL SETTORE DEL PIEMONTE CENTRO MERIDIOANALE

81 Riunione estiva della Società Geologica Italiana Torino, 10-12 settembre 2002 Cinematiche collisionali: tra esumazione e sedimentazion