Probabilistic network analysis of social-ecological relationships emerging from EU LIFE projects for nature and biodiversity: An application of ERGM models in the case study of the Veneto region (Italy)

Considering social-ecological relationships in managing protected areas is fundamental to ensuring effective biodiversity conservation and restoration governance. Network analysis offers valuable methods to disentangle intangible relations between and within the social and ecological systems. In this way, it could be possible to identify and integrate multiple social and ecological variables that inevitably affect collaborative environmental governance's effectiveness. Nevertheless, this research area is still nascent, with few methodologies and concrete applications reported in the scientific literature. With this study, we aim to propose a robust novel application of a network methodology to enrich the evaluation of the effectiveness of collaborative environmental governance for nature and biodiversity, which has been applied through the analysis of social-ecological relationships that emerged from EU-cofounded LIFE-NAT projects. Specifically, we focus on LIFE-NAT projects implemented in the Veneto Region (Italy) financed in the last programming period (2014–2020). Through formulating four research hypotheses to be tested through Exponential Random Graph Models, we analyze 13 LIFE-NAT projects involving 83 social actors and 29 Natura 2000 (N2000) sites composed of 57 protected habitats. Results show that LIFE-NAT projects in Veneto Region stimulate polycentric governance. Nevertheless, they still need to concretize a multi-actor and multilevel governance. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that selected LIFE-NAT projects implement activities in N2000 sites able to support ecological connectivity and synergies across marine, freshwater, and land habitats through the bridging role of forests, especially in estuarine and coastal areas

Collaborations in environmental initiatives for an effective gover- nance of social-ecological systems: What the scientific literature suggests.

Moving from the scientific literature on evaluation of environmental projects and programs, this study identifies how and under which conditions collaborations are considered effective for adaptive gover- nance of SES. The method adopted is a systematic literature review based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of 56 articles selected through specific queries on the SCOPUS database and published from 2004 to 2020. Results of the quantitative analysis underline conditions able to make collaborations effective for adaptive governance of SES: the importance of transdisciplinary research tackling both environmental and social sciences, the perceived urgency of stakeholders to tackle environmental challenges and consequently their inclusion in projects, the valorisation of different typologies of knowledge, and the adaptation to local culture and lifestyle. Results of the qualitative analysis provides specific recommendations for collaborations to be effective related to communication, equity, foresight, and respect, which need to be further strengthened. Multiplicity in visions and approaches should not be seen as a limit but as a resource able to stimulate creativity in social arrangements and environmental practices, making collaborations instrumental for the effectiveness of adaptive governance

Sustainable energy governance in South Tyrol (Italy): A probabilistic bipartite network model

At the national scale, almost all of the European countries have already achieved energy transition targets, while at the regional and local scales, there is still some potential to further push sustainable energy transitions. Regions and localities have the support of political, social, and economic actors who make decisions for meeting existing social, environmental and economic needs recognising local specificities. These actors compose the sustainable energy governance that is fundamental to effectively plan and manage energy resources. In collaborative relationships, these actors share, save, and protect several kinds of resources, thereby making energy transitions deeper and more effective. This research aimed to analyse a part of the sustainable energy governance composed of formal relationships between municipalities and public utilities and to investigate the opportunities to further spread sustainable energy development within a region. In the case study from South Tyrol, Italy, the network structures and dynamics of this part of the actual energy governance were investigated through a social network analysis and Bayesian exponential random graph models. The findings confirmed that almost all of the collaborations are based on spatial closeness relations and that the current network structures do not permit a further spread of the sustainable energy governance. The methodological approach can be replicated in other case studies and the findings are relevant to support energy planning choices at regional and local scales

Embryology of the spider crabs Leurocyclus tuberculosus (H. Milne-Edwards & Lucas 1842) and Libinia spinosa (H. Milne-Edwards 1834) (Brachyura, Majoidea)

The embryonic development of the spider crabs Leurocyclus tuberculosus and Libinia spinosa was described based on laboratory reared specimens. Living embryos were removed from female every 48 h and external morphometric traits, dimensions and development time were registered. Total development was divided into five periods based on: I) the cleavage, II) the embryonic primordium, III) the optic lobes, IV) the pigmentation in the optic lobes and V) the chromatophores. Different characteristics like spines, setae, telson morphology and processes, make both species distinguishable from the period III until hatching. Egg volume was greater in Leurocyclus tuberculosus than in Libinia spinosa. The duration of each period was not similar during development; while in L. tuberculosus the period II (morphogenesis) is the longest, in L. spinosa, the period IV (pigmentation) is the longest. Complete embryonic development at 14°C lasted 36 days in Leurocyclus tuberculosus and 57 days in Libinia spinosa. The knowledge about the embryonic development is essential for studies on reproduction and fundamental ecology of marine bottom invertebrates. It provides a useful tool to determine the time elapsed since spawning and the time remaining before hatching in live eggs, in ecological and comparative studies. Fil: Gonzalez Pisani, Ximena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Dellatorre, Fernando Gaspar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Laura Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biologia Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biologia Experimental. Laboratorio de Fisiologia de Crustáceos; Argentin

Social and technological innovations in forestry

In Europe, when referring to innovation in forestry, the dominant discourses mostly deal with technological innovation based on large-scale industrial investments. \u201cInnovation is rather often used synonymously with technological innovation (Kubeczko et al. 2006:706)\u201d. This is supported by a biased (limited) interpretation of the bioeconomy strategies, where attention is almost completely focused on the development of bio-refineries, i.e. on innovative plants that produce power, heat, a potentially large set of bio-chemicals and in some cases pulp, normally using huge amounts of low-value biomasses from agriculture, forestry or organic wastes (McCormick and Kautto 2013; Scarlat et al. 2015; Fund et al. 2015.). Also in the case of plants producing just bio-energy, the needs for industrial scale economies are creating a demand for woody biomass that is frequently not covered by the potential local supply, so industrial plants are located in proximity to port facilities with a process of internationalization not only of the investment capital, but also wood procurement (P\ufclzl et al. 2017). Moreover, although it has been pointed out \u201cthe need to focus on innovation as a socially embedded phenomenon that should stretch across all economic sectors, [this concept] has mostly been applied in policy practice in high-tech fields, often with a technological focus or bias (EU 2003; von Tunzelmann and Acha 2003)\u201d, rather than in forestry (Rametsteiner and Weiss 2003: 692). Other emerging and innovative initiatives, like for example the creation of nature-based businesses connected with the establishment of payment schemes for ecosystem (or environmental) services (PES) that try to obtain value from the management of public goods such as water, biodiversity, human wellbeing and others (e.g., Wunder 2005), are often not considered as strategic choices to be invested in for the development of national economies , despite their potential in rural development (e.g., by means of income generation and employment creation) and innovation (Matilainen et al. 2011; Slee 2011; O\u2019Driscoll et al. 2017; Tyrv\ue4inen et al. 2017). However, it was recently stressed that a new policy narrative is needed, that \u201cshould emphasise a sustainable and socially inclusive forest-based bioeconomy (Winkel 2017:153)\u201d, i.e. a holistic bioeconomy [\u2026] \u201cthat recognises and mobilises the entire spectrum of ecosystem services that Europe\u2019s forests can provide for the benefit of Europe\u2019s societies (Winkel 2017)\u201d. This chapter introduces and discusses the various implications of social and technological innovation on the forestry sector, especially in Europe. In the first section, links are made with the various components of globalization. In the second, both approaches are presented based on commonly used definitions. In the third, the two approaches are illustrated by means of concrete examples, while their pros and cons (in terms of positive and negative consequences) are pointed out and briefly compared. In the fourth section, insights into how to integrate the two approaches are proposed and discussed in relation to the current perspectives of globalization and future development. The special role that information technologies can play in the two cases is highlighted

Structures and dynamics of transnational cooperation networks: evidence based on Local Action Groups in the Veneto Region, Italy

The paper assesses the structures and dynamics of transnational cooperation projects promoted by Local Action Groups (LAGs) in different periods (from LEADER II to LEADER Axis) using Social Network Analysis (SNA) in a specific case study: the Veneto Region in Italy. The classical indexes of SNA have been critically examined, and the paper also presents innovative indexes that can capture the peculiarity of transnational cooperation: disaggregated densities of the network and transnational centrality of the node. These indexes are useful in order to quantify how transnational a network actually is, and to measure the power-information that each actor (LAG) can acquire through its transnational contacts. The methodology can become a tool for Managing Authorities to implement new forms of evaluation of transnational cooperation of LAGs

Criteri di buona governance in Leader: l\u2019autovalutazione dei Gruppi di Azione Locale

l principale obiettivo di questo lavoro \ue8 proporre una metodologia per l\u2019autovalutazione della capacit\ue0 del Gruppi di Azione Locale (Gal) di elaborare e gestire una strategia locale Leader secondo principi di buona governance. L\u2019approccio proposto, inizialmente sviluppato e testato in via preliminare con tecniche di ricerca qualitativa \ue8 qui perfezionato e integrato con il Common Assessment Framework (Caf), un modello di autovalutazione in uso da tempo presso organizzazioni pubbliche in Europa. Il sistema proposto si basa su un set d\u2019indicatori specifici di prestazione (performance) e di percezione del Gal capaci di correlare i principali elementi di una buona governance alle specificit\ue0 dell\u2019approccio Leader. Questo strumento pu\uf2 contribuire a migliorare l\u2019attivit\ue0 di monitoraggio gestionale e indirizzare criticamente le attivit\ue0 del Gal

The colonization of land by animals: molecular phylogeny and divergence times among arthropods

BACKGROUND: The earliest fossil evidence of terrestrial animal activity is from the Ordovician, ~450 million years ago (Ma). However, there are earlier animal fossils, and most molecular clocks suggest a deep origin of animal phyla in the Precambrian, leaving open the possibility that animals colonized land much earlier than the Ordovician. To further investigate the time of colonization of land by animals, we sequenced two nuclear genes, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and enolase, in representative arthropods and conducted phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses of those and other available DNA and protein sequence data. To assess the robustness of animal molecular clocks, we estimated the deuterostome-arthropod divergence using the arthropod fossil record for calibration and tunicate instead of vertebrate sequences to represent Deuterostomia. Nine nuclear and 15 mitochondrial genes were used in phylogenetic analyses and 61 genes were used in molecular clock analyses. RESULTS: Significant support was found for the unconventional pairing of myriapods (millipedes and centipedes) with chelicerates (spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, etc.) using nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Our estimated time for the divergence of millipedes (Diplopoda) and centipedes (Chilopoda) was 442 ± 50 Ma, and the divergence of insects and crustaceans was estimated as 666 ± 58 Ma. Our results also agree with previous studies suggesting a deep divergence (~1100 – 900 Ma) for arthropods and deuterostomes, considerably predating the Cambrian Explosion seen in the animal fossil record. CONCLUSIONS: The consistent support for a close relationship between myriapods and chelicerates, using mitochondrial and nuclear genes and different methods of analysis, suggests that this unexpected result is not an artefact of analysis. We propose the name Myriochelata for this group of animals, which includes many that immobilize prey with venom. Our molecular clock analyses using arthropod fossil calibrations support earlier studies using vertebrate calibrations in finding that deuterostomes and arthropods diverged hundreds of millions of years before the Cambrian explosion. However, our molecular time estimate for the divergence of millipedes and centipedes is close to the divergence time inferred from fossils. This suggests that arthropods may have adapted to the terrestrial environment relatively late in their evolutionary history

All that glitters is not gold:The effect of top-down participation on conservation knowledge, attitudes and institutional trust in a Central Indian tiger reserve

Researchers and policymakers emphasize that people\u2019s involvement in forest management can secure their support of conservation initiatives. However, the evidence on the effectiveness of top-down participation is weak. This study uses cross-sectional household data from 16 villages in the buffer zone of Pench Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) in India to contribute to the evidence base of such assumption. Using a propensity score matching to control for observable bias, we evaluate the effects of two state-driven incentive-based participatory projects, i.e. the Joint Forest Management and Ecodevel- opment, on selected social outcomes. Specifically, we measured local people conservation knowledge, biodiver- sity attitudes as well as trust in and satisfaction with the tiger reserve management authorities. We found that the effects of participatory management on conservation knowledge were positive, but negligible. We found no significant effects on local people\u2019s biodiversity attitudes,trust and satisfaction with the tiger reserve management authorities. Top-down and externally induced participation may explain our results. Our findings clearly indicate that the effectiveness of participatory conservation interven- tions is conditional on the level and nature of local par- ticipation. Top-down participatory projects may not be sufficient to generate local support of conservation and in some cases, they may even exacerbate local conflicts