Monitoring of coastal dunes habitats in Tuscany through the “MONITO-RARE” project

“MONITO-RARE” is a project involving Tuscany Region and Universities of Firenze, Siena and Pisa, aimed to improve the knowledge and develop monitoring methodologies for species and habitats included in Natura 2000 Network and considered of community interest, according to Art. 11 and Art. 17 of the Directive 92/43/EEC. Among the habitat of interest (Annex I), coastal sand dune is one of the most threatened by multiple human pressures (1, 2), such as pollution, coastal erosion, effects of global warming, farming practices, urban development, and pressure from tourism (3). As part of this project, was carried out a first year of monitoring of dunal habitats (Natura 200 code 2110, 2120, 2210, 2230, 2240, 2250* and 2260) in five SACs (Special Areas of Conservation) in order to cover different latitudes of Tuscany coast (“Dune litoranee di Torre del Lago/Selva Pisana”, “Tombolo da Castiglion della Pescaia a Marina di Grosseto”, “Dune costiere del Parco dell’Uccellina” and “Duna del Lago di Burano”). The coastal areas to the north and south of Arno basin are very different by climatic, geomorphologic (erosion) and anthropic factors. The northern coast is twice rainy as the southern one. Nevertheless, sand dune habitats are distributed in a fine scale mosaic, not distinguishable through aerial photos and maps. For this reason, we opted for a stratified sampling in three EUNIS habitat types (B1.3, shifting coastal dunes; B1.4, coastal stable dune grassland; B1.6, coastal dune scrub) for psammophilous vegetation. According to Sperandii et al. (4), we recorded these communities by 262 random plots of 2 x 2 m surface in which were surveyed pressures and threats, floristic composition and an estimate of abundance using a percentage cover scale ranging from 1 to 10. Our sampling is congruent with RanVegDunes (GIVD ID EU-IT-020), the first Italian database gathering standardized, randomly-sampled vegetation data in coastal dune environments. We detected significative differences in abundance and species composition between EUNIS habitat types, between SACs, and between habitat types within SACs. In particular, our data shows particular differences between communities of north and south of Tuscany: the northern SACs to Serchio river are heavily impacted by the presence of mass tourism, with bathing establishments, roads and human trampling. From these evidences can be deduced that trails installed within the DUNETOSCA Life Projects and aimed to reduction of tourism impact may be insufficient to reduce anthropic pressures in those contexts and adequate conservation strategies are required. 1) EEA (1999) State and pressures of the marine and coastal Mediterranean Environment. Environmental Issues Series, No. 5, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen 2) Barcelona Convention, Athens (2012) UNEP/MAP 2012. State of the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Environment https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/364/sommcer_eng.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y 3) Ciccarelli D. (2014) Environmental Management 54, 194–204 4) Sperandii M.G., Prisco I., Stanisci A., Acosta A.T.R. (2017) Phytocoenologia 47, 231–23

Enough Is Enough? Searching for the Optimal Sample Size to Monitor European Habitats: A Case Study from Coastal Sand Dunes

A robust survey method that samples the main characteristics of plant assemblages is needed to assess the conservation status of European habitat in the Natura 2000 network. A measure of variability, called pseudo-multivariate dissimilarity-based standard error (MultSE), was recently proposed for assessing sample-size adequacy in ecological communities. Here, we used it on coastal sand dune systems in three Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Tuscany. Our aim was to assess the minimum number of replicates necessary to adequately characterize sand dune environments in terms of differences between habitats and SACs, after a preliminary baseline assessment of plant diversity. Analysis of \u3b1 and \u3b2 diversity indicated that especially between habitats the three SACs protect different plant communities. The study of the MultSE profiles showed that the minimum number of replicates was related to habitat features and varied between 10 and 25 plots. Two-way PERMANOVA and SIMPER analysis on the full and reduced datasets confirmed that SACs and habitats host different plant communities, and that the contribution of the target species remained unchanged even with a reduced sample size. The proposed methodological approach can be used to develop cost-effective monitoring programs and it can be useful for plant ecologists and biodiversity managers for assessing ecosystem health and changes

Validation of the T-Lymphocyte Subset Index (TLSI) as a Score to Predict Mortality in Unvaccinated Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients

Lymphopenia has been consistently reported as associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several studies have described a profound decline in all T-cell subtypes in hospitalized patients with severe and critical COVID-19. The aim of this study was to assess the role of T-lymphocyte subset absolute counts measured at ward admission in predicting 30-day mortality in COVID-19 hospitalized patients, validating a new prognostic score, the T-Lymphocyte Subset Index (TLSI, range 0–2), based on the number of T-cell subset (CD4+ and CD8+) absolute counts that are below prespecified cutoffs. These cutoff values derive from a previously published work of our research group at Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy: CD3+CD4+ < 369 cells/µL, CD3+CD8+ < 194 cells/µL. In the present single-center retrospective study, T-cell subsets were assessed on admission to the infectious diseases ward. Statistical analysis was performed using JASP (Version 0.16.2. JASP Team, 2022, The Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Prism8 (version 8.2.1. GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA). Clinical and laboratory parameters of 296 adult patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 were analyzed. The overall mortality rate was 22.3% (66/296). Survivors (S) had a statistically significant lower TLSI score compared to non-survivors (NS) (p < 0.001). Patients with increasing TLSI scores had proportionally higher rates of 30-day mortality (p < 0.0001). In the multivariable logistic analysis, the TLSI was an independent predictor of in-hospital 30-day mortality (OR: 1.893, p = 0.003). Survival analysis showed that patients with a TLSI > 0 had an increased risk of death compared to patients with a TLSI = 0 (hazard ratio: 2.83, p < 0.0001). The TLSI was confirmed as an early and independent predictor of COVID-19 in-hospital 30-day mortalit

Itineraries of the Working Group for Vegetation Science of the Italian Botanical Society – 1 (2022): Excursion to the Egadi Islands, Mount San Giuliano and Mount Cofano (Trapani, western Sicily, Italy)

The results of the annual excursion of the Working Group for Vegetation Science of the Italian Botanical Society, held in the Egadi Islands, Mount San Giuliano and Mount Cofano (W Sicily) on April 23–27 2022, are presented. This paper includes: (1) general information on the visited sites; (2) geology and geomorphology; (3) climatology and bioclimatology with tables of climatic data; (4) description of the following five geobotanical itineraries – accompanied by 29 original vegetation relevés and 11 synthetic relevés, proceeding from different bibliographic references: (a) Mount San Giuliano; (b) Marettimo Island: coastal and sub-coastal stretch of the southern part, between Punta Bassana and Contrada Chiappera; (c) Marettimo Island: Case Romane, Mount Pizzo Falcone and the north-western coastal stretch; (d) Island of Levanzo; (e) Mount Cofano – with catenal pictograms of the vegetation, surveys and description of the plant communities and related syntaxonomic scheme; (5) list of the surveyed plant taxa, collected specimens and herbaria in which they are deposited. A new syntaxon is also described (Catapodio pauciflori-Moraeetum sisyrinchii ass. nova), referring to an ephemeral dry grassland located along the north-western coastal stretch of Marettimo. The new association is framed in the Plantagini-Catapodion balearici, alliance of the Stipo-Bupleuretalia semicompositi order of the class Stipo-Trachynietea distachyae (order Stipo-Bupleuretalia semicompositi, alliance Plantagini-Catapodion balearici). An original synoptic table, regarding 17 different plant communities with high frequency of Moraea sisyrinchium, provides a comparative framework of the new association with allied vegetation units so far described throughout the Mediterranean region. Syntaxonomical and nomenclatural remarks regarding the Mediterranean vegetation occurring in this territory are also given throughout the text. Some floristic updates for the study sites are also reported, including the discovery for the first time in Sicily of Lysimachia loeflingii

Shedding light on typical species : implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring

Genetic determinants in a critical domain of ns5a correlate with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients infected with hcv genotype 1b

HCV is an important cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCV NS5A domain‐1 interacts with cellular proteins inducing pro‐oncogenic pathways. Thus, we explore genetic variations in NS5A domain‐1 and their association with HCC, by analyzing 188 NS5A sequences from HCV genotype‐1b infected DAA‐naïve cirrhotic patients: 34 with HCC and 154 without HCC. Specific NS5A mutations significantly correlate with HCC: S3T (8.8% vs. 1.3%, p = 0.01), T122M (8.8% vs. 0.0%, p < 0.001), M133I (20.6% vs. 3.9%, p < 0.001), and Q181E (11.8% vs. 0.6%, p < 0.001). By multivariable analysis, the presence of >1 of them independently correlates with HCC (OR (95%CI): 21.8 (5.7–82.3); p < 0.001). Focusing on HCC‐group, the presence of these mutations correlates with higher viremia (median (IQR): 5.7 (5.4–6.2) log IU/mL vs. 5.3 (4.4–5.6) log IU/mL, p = 0.02) and lower ALT (35 (30–71) vs. 83 (48–108) U/L, p = 0.004), suggesting a role in enhancing viral fitness without affecting necroinflammation. Notably, these mutations reside in NS5A regions known to interact with cellular proteins crucial for cell‐cycle regulation (p53, p85‐PIK3, and β‐ catenin), and introduce additional phosphorylation sites, a phenomenon known to ameliorate NS5A interaction with cellular proteins. Overall, these results provide a focus for further investigations on molecular bases of HCV‐mediated oncogenesis. The role of these NS5A domain‐1 mutations in triggering pro‐oncogenic stimuli that can persist also despite achievement of sustained virological response deserves further investigation

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 11

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1

Carpobrotus acinaciformis vs Carpobrotus edulis: Are there any differences in their impact on coastal dune plant biodiversity?

Coastal sand dunes are widely acknowledged as fragile and dynamic ecosystems. Among the several threats affecting the native biodiversity of these systems, invasive plants are one of the most troubling ones. The genus Carpobrotus has been recognized as one of the most abundant invasive genera along the Mediterranean coast, particularly in coastal sand dunes. In Italy, two taxa belonging to this genus have been identified: C. edulis and C. acinaciformis. Given that the taxonomic identification of these two species is still subject of debate, we investigate whether there are differences concerning their ecology in terms of their impact on native plant communities in central Italy coastal dunes. To do so, we analyzed their relative impact on species richness, diversity and relative abundance. Vegetation sampling was carried out through paired-plots, comparing invaded to non-invaded plots. Although our results show a general decrease in native species richness in all the invaded plots, there were no significant differences between the richness and diversity of the native communities invaded by C. edulis and that of the communities invaded by C. acinaciformis, although slight differences on native species’ relative cover was observed. In addition, we observed a higher occurrence of C. edulis in the areas closer to the seashore. We conclude that even though there are no meaningful differences in the impacts of the two taxa on native biodiversity, further analyses are needed to exclude potential differences in their relative ecological adaptations to the changing abiotic conditions found along the coastal zonation

Studying local species assemblages of salt-affected vegetation for monitoring Natura 2000 habitats

This study aims to characterize saline habitats of the Tuscan coast based on the Natura 2000 Habitats Directive 92/43/ECC. These habitats include Atlantic salt meadows (1330), Mediterranean salt meadows (1410) Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (1420), and Mediterranean salt steppes (1510). We compiled vegetation data from a total of 418 plots carried out during our own fieldwork (N = 157) and published scientific literature (N = 261). We performed a Linear Discriminant Analysis to associate species to habitats and used the phi coefficient of association to identify diagnostic species of each habitat. For each habitat, we provide a regional syntaxonomic framework, constant species, cover coefficients, diagnostic species (phi) and “typical species”. We identified groups of species, that we called “local assembly of typical species”, composed by species with a phi coefficient > 20 and/or a cover coefficient > 50 that can be used to identify the habitats and to monitor their conservation status at the local level. This study revealed differences in the “local assembly of typical species” among habitats, characterized by fewer species in habitats 1420 and 1510, and many species in habitats 1410 and 1310. Our results showed that the habitat 1510 was recognizable only for the high cover value of Limonium narbonense and, at least in Tuscany, its syntaxonomic attribution to the order Limonietalia is uncertain. We tested this approach only for a few habitats, but a broader applicability based on other habitats is desirable