Fish assemblage response to environmental pressures in the Venice lagoon

1 - Venice lagoon (Italy), being a transitional water environment, is subjected to several environmental pressures of anthropogenic origin, with a likely impact on the overall ecological status of the system. 2 - Following the Water Framework Directive (WFD, Directive 2000/60/CE), water bodies are to be characterised by the pressures acting on them, and fish assemblages can be used as biological quality element of their ecological status. The Venice lagoon basin has been divided into 14 water bodies, belonging to 5 types, according to the national classification. 3 - With the aim of comparing the role of anthropogenic pressures and environmental background in affecting the lagoon fish assemblages, human pressures have been identified and their magnitude quantified in each lagoon water body, with particular reference to 3 pressure categories: pollution (including nutrient enrichment), direct pressures on the habitat and the living organisms (with particular regard to fishes), and indirect pressures deriving from ground occupation (adjacent land uses). 4 - Fish assemblage attributes (both taxonomical and functional), in sites located within 4 lagoon water bodies (fish samples were collected in 2001-2002 by using fyke nets), were related to the respective pressures acting on these water bodies, by taking into account also the contribution of natural environmental variability among the studied areas, including habitat diversity. 5 - Results showed similar significant effects of environmental background and anthropogenic pressures on the lagoon fish assemblages. This highlights the importance of controlling for environmental variability to allow the detection of the signal of human impact on biological assemblages when attempting at the evaluation of lagoon ecological status. © 2009 University of Salento - SIBA

Diet and diving behaviour of European Storm Petrels Hydrobates pelagicus in the Mediterranean (ssp. melitensis).

Unlike Atlantic populations, which feed on krill, Mediterranean populations feed mainly on pelagic fish Gymnammodites cicerellus. European Storm Petrels in the Mediterranean exploit pelagic fish which are taken by diving. This contrasts with the Atlantic populations which feed mainly on krill. Mediterranean birds also feed on Opossum Shrimps Mysidacea during short foraging trips made at night just outside the colony. Differences in diet between long and short foraging trips may be because adults have to forage for both themselves and their chicks

La pesca artigianale in laguna di Venezia. Guida di buone pratiche e tutela della biodiversità

Questa guida illustra i risultati del progetto “Valutazione e miglioramento del grado di sostenibilità ambientale della pesca artigianale nei siti Natura 2000 della laguna di Venezia - 02/AIRBC/2018”, intervento finanziato dal PO FEAMP 2014-2020, il cui obiettivo principale è stato quello di promuovere la sostenibilità ambientale della pesca tradizionale con reti fisse in laguna di Venezia in un’ottica di tutela della biodiversità lagunare. Il progetto ha previsto: • Il monitoraggio mensile delle attività di pesca tradizionale durante l’autunno 2020 e la primavera 2021, in tre differenti aree di pesca della laguna di Venezia. • La caratterizzazione ambientale delle aree di pesca, sia mediante il rilevamento dei principali parametri dell’acqua, sia mediante l’analisi di immagini satellitari ad alta risoluzione che hanno permesso di effettuare la mappatura dei diversi tipi di habitat. • La sperimentazione, in una delle tre aree di pesca, di attrezzi modificati al fine di migliorarne la selettività di cattura, per ridurre l’impatto sulle specie protette e sugli individui giovanili di specie di interesse per la pesca, e contenere gli effetti negativi della presenza della specie aliena invasiva Mnemiopsis leidyi (noce di mare) e dei rifiuti galleggianti. Le attività di monitoraggio hanno permesso di mappare la distribuzione e determinare la stagionalità delle catture della pesca artigianale nelle tre aree di pesca considerate, rilevando e quantificando l’eventuale presenza e abbondanza di specie aliene nel pescato. Questa attività ha permesso anche di monitorare i rifiuti che periodicamente risultano presenti nelle reti. La sperimentazione di attrezzi da pesca modificati ha permesso di valutarne l’efficacia in termini di riduzione degli impatti della pesca sulla biodiversità lagunare e sulle risorse biologiche stesse. Questi attrezzi si sono anche rilevati efficaci per ridurre l’impatto negativo della noce di mare sulla pesca artigianale con reti fisse. Tutte le attività sono state rese possibili grazie alla fattiva collaborazione dei pescatori professionisti operanti nelle tre aree di pesca considerate. I pescatori artigianali per primi riconoscono la diversità ambientale all’interno del bacino lagunare come uno dei fattori chiave per la loro attività. In questa guida ci si è soffermati particolarmente sul ruolo che le diverse caratteristiche delle acque, dei fondali e delle morfologie del paesaggio lagunare svolgono per le specie ittiche bersaglio della pesca, e di conseguenza sull’importanza di tutelare gli habitat di tali specie. La presenza pressoché costante e diffusa nel bacino lagunare dei pescatori artigianali fa di essi importanti presidii sul territorio, da sempre sensibili e attenti ai cambiamenti che continuamente avvengono in laguna. I pescatori, se adeguatamente motivati e incentivati, potrebbero contribuire alla gestione dell’ambiente lagunare, in particolare sia nell’ambito del monitoraggio e del controllo delle specie aliene, sia nella gestione dei rifiuti dispersi nell’ambiente. Lo scopo di questa guida è quello di mostrare le potenzialità della pesca tradizionale in laguna di Venezia, non solo come esempio di sfruttamento sostenibile delle risorse biologiche lagunari, ma anche come attività che può effettivamente contribuire ad una gestione ambientale finalizzata alla conservazione della biodiversità lagunare

Discovery of Yttrium, Zirconium, Niobium, Technetium, and Ruthenium Isotopes

Currently, thirty-four yttrium, thirty-five zirconium, thirty-four niobium, thirty-five technetium, and thirty-eight ruthenium isotopes have been observed and the discovery of these isotopes is discussed here. For each isotope a brief synopsis of the first refereed publication, including the production and identification method, is presented.Comment: To be published in Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Table

Linking pipefishes and seahorses to their habitat: implications for species conservation in the Venice lagoon

Seagrass meadows of the Venice lagoon (Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy) are spatially heterogeneous systems, with attributes such as degree of coverage and plant assemblages varying along multiple environmental gradients. They play a particularly relevant role in conservation of fish diversity, since they provide vital habitats for pipefish and seahorse species (family Syngnathidae). Aim of the study was to investigate the diversity of syngnathid assemblages in the Venice lagoon and link species distributions to habitat characteristics, in order to evaluate the importance of seagrass meadows of the lagoon for the conservation of these species. The analyses of this work are based on eight years of fish data collected between 2001 and 2014 in 186 shallow water sites across the entire lagoon. Water parameters, presence of macroalgae, seagrass presence and coverage, as well as meadows species composition, were considered as predictors in a modelling framework, to explain the distribution of each species. Overall, two species of seahorses and seven species of pipefishes including the Adriatic endemism Syngnathus taenionotus were found. Three species (S. abaster, S. typhle and Nerophis ophidion) were the most abundant, together accounting for 98% of total individuals caught. Both seagrass presence and its coverage resulted significant predictors, with densities of S. abaster, S. typhle, N. ophidion and Hippocampus guttulatus being positively associated with higher percentages of seagrass cover. In addition, some evidences suggested a different functionality of different meadow types in supporting both S. typhle and N. ophidion. The study highlighted the role of Venice lagoon as biodiversity hotspot for syngnathids, since it supports nine out of the 10 species known in the Mediterranean (with only S. phlegon being absent). Results also suggested the importance of habitat management, which should aim at compensating for seagrass habitat loss and therefore helping the conservation of syngnathid diversity in the Venice lagoon

Late Roman coarse ware at Aquileia, northern Italy.\u2028Between economic crisis and revival of tradition

Between 2009 and 2013 an \ue9quipe of the Padova University, in agreement with the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici of Friuli Venezia Giulia, conducted a research study aimed at reconstructing the historical and urban dynamics of a section of the residential quarter of the ancient colony of Aquileia. In particular the searches interested the \u201cfondi ex Cossar\u201d area, where a domus (of Tito Macro) has emerged in all its extension, which in its earlier phases presents a typical \u201cad atrio\u201d structure. The long-standing researches also gave the opportunity to investigate some contexts, that can be dated between the second half of the IV and the beginning of the VI century A.C., uncovering a group of extremely interesting fragments of coarse ware. In specific it is number of pots attributable, according to the thin section analysis, to different groups of fabric, that however share the same morphology, decoration and manufacturing techniques. The observation of the pottery and further X-ray analysis conducted on some samples, highlighted how these were made associating coiling and the use of the hand-wheel. According to the analyzed data, this type of production process in Aquileia is rarely documented on fragments of the imperial era, whereas it is widely present in the first phase of the occupation of the site, up until the use of the fast wheel became dominant. On the contrary, it seems that in the alpine arch regions the process of shaping by hand the pottery was maintained uninterrupted from the protohistoric age to the late antiquity, in parallel with the manufacturing with fast wheel. The return of aquileian potters to more archaic (therefore less effective on a qualitative level) production techniques, is a phenomenon that may have been determined by different reasons and historical dynamics. The crisis that struck the city in the late antiquity certainly played a central role. It also probably determined a reorganization of the productive system, following different methods from those typical of the roman kilns; probably these processes were not entirely unknown to the artisans from those regions in which coiling in the production of pots made of coarse ware was maintained