Rediscovering the scientific and didactic value of minor herbarium collections: the seeds and fruits collection by Gustavo Bonaventura

Seeds and fruits collections are very important from a systematic point of view and represent useful references in several disciplines and research fields. The Herbarium of Sapienza University of Rome (RO) hosts a Spermoteque/Carpoteque, which was organized by Gustavo Bonaventura (1902-1976). The purpose of this paper is to describe the heritage of Bonaventura's collection. It consists of 42 wooden boxes, globally hosting 3411 glass tubes containing seeds, fruits, and other materials. The collection was first of all catalogued; then, analysis were conducted regarding taxonomic composition, temporal and geographic coverage, institutions of provenience, collectors, content, and preservation status. The specimens refer to 2740 taxa, belonging to 890 genera and 135 families. Many genera of agricultural interest are present, each one with different cultivars. The collection spans across 130 years (1843-1975) and hosts specimens coming from all over the world. Materials were provided by several herbaria, botanical gardens and agrarian institutes, and by 50 collectors. The Bonaventura's collection is still a useful reference collection, testifying biodiversity over times and thus being useful for diachronic studies; moreover, it documents the interests of collectors and the past network activity between institutions

Benthic foraminifera as environmental indicators in extreme environments. The marine cave of Bue Marino (Sardinia, Italy)

The coast of the Gulf of Orosei (Sardinia, Italy) consists of impressive cliffs set up on dolostones and limestones characterized by wide karst systems connected to the sea. Marine caves, which are part of these system flooded by seawater through marine entrances, may be considered as extreme environments because of wide spatial and temporal environmental variability due to changing marine and terrestrial contributions. This study presents the results of the third survey carried out in summer 2016 in the Bue Marino cave, as part of a research project started in 2014 aimed at the application of Benthic Foraminifera (BF) as ecological indicators in Mediterranean marine caves for the identification of different habitats and their environmental interpretation. Sediment and water samples were collected from a total of 25 stations from two distinct sectors of the cave (North Branch and Middle Branch); sediments were analysed for living and dead BF and grain size, while Temperature, Salinity, pH and Dissolved Oxygen were measured in water samples collected close to sediment water interface. Two main foraminiferal assemblages, with distinct characteristics with respect to the typical Mediterranean shallow-water ones, were recognized by means of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling, and a Canonical Correspondence Analysis deduced their environmental significance. A well oxygenated, less saline environment with coarse bottom sediment, correlated with a mixed calcareous-agglutinated assemblage (Gavelinopsis praegeri, Rosalina spp., Eggerelloides advenus and Reophax dentaliniformis) with high species diversity (H-index 2.32–3.57) and low foraminiferal density, was exclusive of the North Branch. A scarcely oxygenated, more saline environment with fine bottom sediment enriched in vegetal debris was related to a prevalently agglutinated assemblage characterized by low species diversity (H-index 1.60–2.68), with high dominance of E. advenus (up to 83.6%) associated to Ammonia tepida, and high foraminiferal density, recognized in the Middle Branch. These different environments were interpreted considering the different modes of feeding the karst systems of the two branches. They also corresponded to two distinct ecozones, Entrance and Confluence, already recognized in earlier studies. The environmental significance of the foraminiferal ecozones recognized in this study and their comparison with the ones identified in the previous years, helped to consider the ecological zonation as a tool for detecting seasonal and, possibly, long term annual environmental variability in the marine system

Rate and duration of hospitalisation for acute pulmonary embolism in the real-world clinical practice of different countries : Analysis from the RIETE registry

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Erbario Anzalone: a collection of RO Herbarium with a great importance for the floristic knowledge of Lazio region

The Herbarium Museum of Sapienza University of Rome (RO) hosts over one million specimens, in several historical and contemporary collections. It is divided into six main Herbaria (Erbario Romano, E. Generale, E. Cesati, E. Montelucci, E. Anzalone, E. Bazzichelli), and several minor collections (1). The computerized cataloging of RO Herbarium collections, carried out for many years (2, 3), has produced a Filemaker Pro relational database (4), which hosts also georeferenced data from literature, and fields surveys. Databases allow various analyses on data, e.g. the taxonomic composition of the collections, their temporal and geographical coverage, and collectors’ activity. At the same time, catalogues of the collections and floristic atlases can also be produced. Erbario Anzalone is a relevant collection for the knowledge of the flora of central Italy. Bruno Anzalone (1921-2007), full professor from 1974 to 1996 at Sapienza University of Rome, is considered the greatest expert of regional flora in Lazio. The collection, placed in the Erbario Romano room of the Museum, hosts about 37,700 specimens of vascular plants. It is organized in 361 parcels, and arranged in alphabetical order according to family, genus, and species; the delimitation of families and genera follows Pignatti (5). The specimens collected in Lazio are separated from those collected in other areas. The specimens collected by Anzalone in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park are kept in a separate collection (43 parcels). The computerized cataloging of the materials, carried out from 2003 to 2014 with the supervision of the herbarium staff, was completed also thanks to the work of students, as the collection is also used for educational purposes. The nomenclatural update (6, 7) and the georeferencing of the materials is currently underway. The specimens belong to 180 families, and 997 genera. The most represented families are Asteraceae (4,539 specimens), Fabaceae (3,305), Apiaceae (2,174), Lamiaceae (1,718), Brassicaceae (1,677), Caryophyllaceae (1,470), Scrophulariaceae (1,373), Rosaceae (1,370), Poaceae (1,226), and Ranunculaceae (1,069). The most represented genera are Trifolium (552), Vicia (547), Centaurea (486), Ranunculus (455), Silene (452), Senecio (448), Carex (429), Euphorbia (370), Galium (355), and Quercus (335). Over 98% of the specimens were collected in Italy; 69% were collected in Lazio, 8% Trentino-Alto Adige, 7% Abruzzo, and 3% Marche. Anzalone collected about the 90% of the specimens (33,789); among the other 276 recorded contributors, the most active were Cesare Banchieri (682 specimens from Monte Cairo, Frosinone), Luigi Veri (404 specimens from the Ponziane islands), and Edda Lattanzi (356 specimens from different territories). The oldest specimen dates back to 1920, and the most recent one to 2004. The composition of the collection reflects the studies carried out by Anzalone throughout his career, testifying his interest in genera such as Astragalus, Centaurea (Fig. 1), Ferula, Pastinaca, Seseli, and the close relationship between Anzalone and his region. His intense activity, uninterrupted from 1940 to 2004, provided the essential data for drafting the vascular flora of Lazio (8), and for the geolocalised database that RO Museum is preparing (4). Within the database, the Erbario Anzalone provided valuable information on species distribution, useful to perform phytogeographical regionalisations (9), and to map rare, endemic, and endangered taxa (10)

A comparison between Laser Granulometer and Sedigraph in grain size analysis of marine sediments

A total of 24 sediment samples with wide dimensional, mineralogical and compositional range were considered, collected from 5 Italian coastal marine sites. The fine fraction (<63 μm) was analyzed using Laser Granulometer (LG) and X-ray Sedigraph (XS) in order to compare data and highlight potential differences. The unexpected variable sandy fraction in nearly all the samples was attributed to clay mineral aggregates. The highest sand percentages detected by XS were attributed to local compositional sediment features. An increase of 15–25% of clay in samples analyzed by XS was attributed to the different working principles of the considered devices. Nevertheless, final results succeeded in characterizing sediment texture and distribution as a function of water depth. In conclusion, it's important to select the analytical instrument according to the characteristics of sediments, to adjust the density of media solution for XS analysis, and to prevent aggregates formation for both XS and LG

Measuring anthropogenic impacts on an industrialised coastal marine area using chemical and textural signatures in sediments: A case study of Augusta Harbour (Sicily, Italy)

From the early 1950s until the late 1970s, Augusta Bay (Sicily, Italy) served as a major European (petro) chemical hub. It thereafter began a progressive decline as several crude oil refining and industrial plants closed due to the transfer of production cycles to other sites around the globe. As a result of the rapid and relatively uncontrolled post-WWII development of the site, several environmental studies identified significant contamination in sediments around the southernmost sector of the bay. The pollution was mainly due to barium (Ba) and mercury (Hg), attributable to the former chlor-alkali plant (1958–2003), and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The present study focuses on understanding the broad legacy of pollution across the whole harbour by systematically analysing 10 sediment cores collected in 2008 for contaminant concentration profiles of Hg, Ba, PCBs, HCB and grain-size variations. Pre-industrial environmental geochemical background conditions were identified using data from the deeper parts of cores. The results show that contamination has affected the entire harbour area to varying degrees, and this has allowed identifying contamination transfer, based on decreasing concentrations and related depths in the sediment cores from the southernmost sector to the central and northern area. A recent finding by the current researchers is that the construction of the dam/breakwater in the early 1960s, that largely coincided with the start of industrial inputs, led to the trapping of fine terrestrial sediment inside the harbour, particularly in the central and northern area. This trapped sediment provides a granulometric time marker in those cores. The presence of highly contaminated sediments inside the harbour represents a significant future liability unless remedial action is applied to remove the worst of the polluted sediment

Benthic foraminifera as proxies of marine influence in the Orosei marine caves, Sardinia, Italy

As a result of their location at the boundary between marine and continental domains, marine caves are affected by wide spatial and seasonal environmental changes. Only recently have benthic foraminifera been recognized as reliable indicators for the ecological zonation of these environments. The present study is focused on two marine caves of the Orosei Gulf, Sardinia, Italy: Bue Marino and Bel Torrente. It investigates the spatial and seasonal variability of benthic foraminiferal assemblages relative to sediment grain size and water parameters (temperature, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen) collected during two campaigns in August 2014 and April 2015. The results from 2014 have been partially published. Based on a comparison of the results of the two campaigns, the considerable reduction of foraminiferal abundance in Bel Torrente was deduced to occur because of the strong freshwater flows occurring during the rainy season; in Bue Marino, the less severe water flow allowed the identification of both living and dead foraminifera, although strongly reduced in number. These identifications allowed benthic foraminifera to be used to define the ecological zonation. Entrance, confluence, and transitional ecozones were identified in Bue Marino cave on the basis of species abundance. The second ecozone, not recognized in 2014, was correlated with plant debris at the confluence of the two cave branches. The other two ecozones, which are characterized by the faunal shift from hyaline- to agglutinated-prevalent assemblages, were attributed to the gradient of abiotic parameters detected from the outer to the inner portions of the cave. In both campaigns the same ecozones were recognized in terms of species composition, with exceptions being found to different extents as a result of seasonal variability. As the distribution of foraminiferal ecozones is conditioned by a decreasing gradient of marine influence, long-term monitoring may be regarded as a promising tool for future studies on sea-level change