Morphological and molecular responses of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus to highly contaminated marine sediments: The case study of Bagnoli-Coroglio brownfield (Mediterranean Sea)

none8noMarine sediments store complex mixtures of compounds, including heavy metals, organotins and a large array of other contaminants. Sediment quality monitoring, characterization and management are priorities, due to potential impacts of the above compounds on coastal waters and their biota, especially in cases of pollutants released during dredging activities. Harbours and marinas, as well as estuaries and bays, where limited exchanges of water occurr, the accumulation of toxic compounds poses major concerns for human and environmental health. Here we report the effects of highly contaminated sediments from the site of national interest Bagnoli-Coroglio (Tyrrhenian Sea, Western Mediterranean) on the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, considered a good model for ecotoxicological studies. Adult sea urchins were reared one month in aquaria in the presence of contaminated sediment that was experimentally subject to different patterns of re-suspension events (mimicking the effect of natural storms occurring in the field), crossed with O2 enrichment versus natural gas exchanges in the water. The development of embryos deriving from adult urchins exposed to such experimental conditions was followed until the pluteus stage, checking the power of contaminated sediment to induce morphological malformations and its eventual buffering by high oxygenation. Real-Time qPCR analysis revealed that the expression of several genes (among the fifty analyzed, involved in different functional processes) was targeted by contaminated sediments more than those exposed in oxygen-enriched condition. Our findings have biological and ecological relevance in terms of assessing the actual impact on local organisms of chronic environmental contamination by heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons affecting the Bagnoli-Coroglio area, and of exploring enhanced sediment and water oxygenation as a promising tool to mitigate the effects of contamination in future environmental restoration actions.embargoed_20220101Ruocco N.; Bertocci I.; Munari M.; Musco L.; Caramiello D.; Danovaro R.; Zupo V.; Costantini M.Ruocco, N.; Bertocci, I.; Munari, M.; Musco, L.; Caramiello, D.; Danovaro, R.; Zupo, V.; Costantini, M

Oxygen supersaturation mitigates the impact of the regime of contaminated sediment reworking on sea urchin fertilization process

Dismissed industrial plants with chronic environmental contamination globally affect all levels of biological organization in concert with other natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Assessing the impact of such perturbations and finding effective ways to mitigate them have clear ecological and societal implications. Through indoor manipulative experiments, we assessed here the effects of the temporal regime of reworking of contaminated sediment from the Bagnoli-Coroglio brownfield (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) on the fertilization process in Paracentrotus lividus. Adult sea urchins were kept for one month in tanks containing contaminated sediment that was re-suspended according to two temporal patterns of water turbulence differing in the time intervals between consecutive events of agitation (mimicking the storms naturally occurring in the study area) in seawater with natural vs. supersaturated oxygenation levels. At the end of the treatment, gametes were collected and used to test the hypothesis that the regime of contaminated sediment reworking negatively, but reversibly, affects morphological and physiological traits of the fertilized eggs. We found that aggregated events of sediment re-suspension had profound negative effects on gamete interactions and Ca2+ signaling at fertilization. The same experimental condition also inflicted marked ultrastructural changes in eggs. Importantly, however, such detrimental effects were inhibited by increased oxygenation. By contrast, the regime of sediment re-working with a longer interval between consecutive turbulent events had only marginal effects. Thus, the current and predicted changes of climate-related disturbance appear to modulate the biological effects of chronic contamination in post-industrial areas, suggesting that environmental rehabilitation via restoration of habitat-forming primary producers such as seagrasses or algal canopies could alleviate the pollutants’ effects on resident biota

Alpine ethnobotany in Italy: traditional knowledge of gastronomic and medicinal plants among the Occitans of the upper Varaita valley, Piedmont

A gastronomic and medical ethnobotanical study was conducted among the Occitan communities living in Blins/Bellino and Chianale, in the upper Val Varaita, in the Piedmontese Alps, North-Western Italy, and the traditional uses of 88 botanical taxa were recorded. Comparisons with and analysis of other ethnobotanical studies previously carried out in other Piemontese and surrounding areas, show that approximately one fourth of the botanical taxa quoted in this survey are also known in other surrounding Occitan valleys. It is also evident that traditional knowledge in the Varaita valley has been heavily eroded. This study also examined the local legal framework for the gathering of botanical taxa, and the potential utilization of the most quoted medicinal and food wild herbs in the local market, and suggests that the continuing widespread local collection from the wild of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood for preparing liqueurs (Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, and A. umbelliformis) should be seriously reconsidered in terms of sustainability, given the limited availability of these species, even though their collection is culturally salient in the entire study area

The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website

The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015

The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website

The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015

Effet des paramètres locaux sur le développement de la végétation dans le Vallon de St. Anna di Vinadio (Alpes Maritimes; Italie)

International audienceLa comparaison de l'enregistrement pollinique tardiglaciaire et holocène de deux sites (Laghi dell'Orgials, 2130 m, exp. S-O et Lago delle Fate, 2240 m, exp. E) localisés dans l'étage subalpin sur les deux versants du Vallon de St. Anna di Vinadio (Alpes Maritimes Italiennes) a permis de replacer l'évolution de la végétation de cet étage dans le cadre de son histoire régionale et de mettre en évidence les changements dus aux paramètres physiographiques et/ou à l'influence humaine. Au Tardiglaciaire les deux sites étaient environnés des steppes à Artemisia et situés au-dessus de la limite des arbres formée par les pins. La présence de feuillus mésophiles (Tilia, Ulmus, Quercus caducifolié) à basse altitude est perçue par un signal continu dès 12000 BP environ. Avec le passage à l'Holocène, les steppes à armoises sont remplacées par des pelouses à Poaceae. Des différences importantes caractérisent les deux sites au début de l'Holocène: Betula connaît un développement important dès 9700 BP à Fate tandis qu'à l'Orgials la présence de Larix est enregistrée avant 8000 BP. Les pourcentages élevés de Pinus antérieurs à 9000 BP doivent être attribués à des apports lointains dans les deux sites. Après 9000 BP une pinède subalpine se développe autour de Fate. Le développement de ces essences pionnières précède celui d'Abies dans l'étage montagnard, enregistré dans les deux sites autour de 8000 BP. À l'époque romaine (1875 BP) un déboisement important affectant les sapinières de l'étage montagnard et les pinèdes subalpines est responsable de l'ouverture du milieu. L'augmentation des Poaceae et de Rumex à cette époque traduit l'extension des pelouses pâturées à Nardus stricta et l'eutrophisation conséquente à la présence du bétail dans l'aire