A ricardian analysis of the impact of climate change on permanent crops in a mediterranean region

This is the first study which explores the impact of climate change in Sicily, a small Mediterranean region of Southern Europe. According to research, Mediterranean area has shown large climate shifts in the last century and it has been identified as one of the most prominent “Hot-Spots” in future climate change projections. Since agriculture is an economic activity which strongly depends on climate setting and is particularly responsive to climate changes, it is important to understand how such changes may affect agricultural profitability in the Mediterranean region. The aim of the present study is to assess the expected impact of climate change on permanent crops cultivated in Sicilian region (Southern Italy). By using data from Farm Accountancy Data Network and Ensembles climatic projections for 2021-2050 period, we showed that the impact of climate change is prominent in this region. However, crops respond to climatic variations in a different manner, highlighting that unlike the strong reduction in profitability of grapevine and citrus tree, the predicted average Net Revenue of olive tree is almost the same as in the reference period (1961-1990)

Good, Safe and Fair: Quality Perception and Consumer Demand of Locally Produced Beef in Southern Italy

The increasing concern amongst consumers regarding the safety and quality of the beef that they buy is the result of food scares that have characterized the beef market in the last two decades. These scares, together with environmental and ethical concerns, caused consumers to reflect upon the quality of the beef they eat. The aim of this paper is to identify which quality characteristics influence the incidence of local beef consumption on the total consumption of beef. It is assumed in this study that such choice is a response to a process of quality evaluation, which occurs combining specific quality attributes and socially constructed food quality criteria strictly linked to a socially fair dimension of local productions. Consumers who habitually purchase local beef at the butcher shops were the focus of our empirical strategy. Data were collected by administering a face-to-face questionnaire to 160 consumers in Sicily (Southern Italy), right after their purchases at the butcher shops. The results of this study suggest some implications in defining locally produced beef quality, making more accurate strategies possible when supporting the spread of production and consumption of beef at the local level.La pr\ue9occupation croissante des consommateurs \ue0 l'\ue9gard de la salubrit\ue9 et de la qualit\ue9 de la viande bovine qu'ils ach\ue8tent est le r\ue9sultat des crises alimentaires qui ont caract\ue9ris\ue9 le march\ue9 de la viande bovine ces deux derni\ue8res d\ue9cennies. Ces craintes, s\u2019ajoutant aux pr\ue9occupations environnementales et \ue9thiques, ont amen\ue9 les consommateurs \ue0 r\ue9fl\ue9chir \ue0 la qualit\ue9 de la viande qu\u2019ils consomment. Le but de cet article est d'identifier les caract\ue9ristiques de qualit\ue9 qui influencent l'incidence de la consommation de viande bovine locale sur la consommation totale de viande bovine. Dans cette \ue9tude, nous avan\ue7ons qu\u2019un tel choix est une r\ue9ponse \ue0 un processus d'\ue9valuation de la qualit\ue9 qui combine attributs de qualit\ue9 sp\ue9cifiques et crit\ue8res de qualit\ue9 alimentaire construits socialement, strictement li\ue9s \ue0 une dimension socialement \ue9quitable des productions locales. Nous avons focalis\ue9 notre strat\ue9gie empirique sur les consommateurs ayant l\u2019habitude d\u2019acheter de la viande locale dans les boucheries. Les donn\ue9es ont \ue9t\ue9 collect\ue9es \ue0 l\u2019aide d\u2019un sondage direct aupr\ue8s de 160 consommateurs en Sicile (Sud de l'Italie), juste apr\ue8s leur achat dans les boucheries. Les r\ue9sultats de cette \ue9tude sugg\ue8rent certaines implications dans la d\ue9finition de la qualit\ue9 de la viande bovine produite localement, permettant d\u2019\ue9tablir des strat\ue9gies plus pr\ue9cises pour soutenir l\u2019expansion de la production et la consommation de viande bovine \ue0 l\u2019\ue9chelle locale

Quality determinants and effect of therapeutic properties in honey consumption. An exploratory study on italian consumers

Nowadays, more and more consumers show a growing interest in healthy food products that may help to maintain or improve human health, such as honey. Honey has always represented a fundamental component of traditional medicine in many world cultures. However, only thanks to several studies carried out in the last years, its use is considered as an alternative and complementary medicine, namely apitherapy. In this way, honey is recognized increasingly by consumers not only as a natural alternative to refined sugar but as healthy food, as shown by determining an increase of its consumption worldwide. This study aims to explore the consumers’ determinants of honey consumption, trying to understand whether, and how much, therapeutic properties of honey aect the Italian consumers’ choices. The findings of this study, although exploratory, provide information on which quality characteristics influence honey consumption in Italy, revealing that, among quality attributes, the therapeutic properties of honey play an important role in aecting consumers’ behavior, followed by income, variety and taste. This could have some implications for producers and marketers as this information could contribute to defining eective marketing strategies for communicating to consumers the quality attributes of honey and its therapeutic benefits

The willingness to pay of Sicilian consumers for a wine obtained with sustainable production method: An estimate through an ordered probit sample-selection model

The growing presence of Sicilian sustainable wine has pushed the research group to investigate and analyse the consumers' behaviour and their potential willingness to pay a premium price for the wine obtained through sustainable production processes. The analysis of the consumer's behaviour towards the wine made with sustainable production methods is carried out in order to provide potentially useful indications to Italian and in particular Sicilian wine enterprises regarding the production and marketing strategies to undertake in a future perspective. This study shows the result of an empirical investigation on the consumption of sustainable wine in Sicily. Through the Ordered (demographic profile, preference and attitudes), which influence the consumers' choices regarding sustainable wine. The assessment, based on the submission of a questionnaire, has highlighted the willingness to pay a premium price on the part of the 546 consumers interviewed. The study points out that the knowledge of sustainable production methods significantly influences the decision to support a premium price for wine consumption. This attests to the fact that a more attentive and informed consumer is ready to pay more for products obtained according to the principles of environmental sustainability

Implementation of green harvesting in the Sicilian wine industry: Effects on the cooperative system

This paper contributes to assessing the effectiveness of the GH measure to contribute in reducing the supply of wine grapes, and thus contrasting the fall of wine prices in those years when especially abundant productions are expected. By analysing the application of this measure to the Sicilian wine sector during the three-year period (2010-2012), we assess its effects on the regional wine cooperative system. The results from the analysis of the statistical data show that the GH measure was successful in terms of the number of applications, the supported area and financial expenditures, and contributed with other factors to determining a reduction in wine grape production. The empirical survey shows that GH has been contributing to contrast the fall of wine prices in this region and helping the recovery of the wine market. However, an increase in operating costs as well as difficulties in the planning activities of the cooperatives has been recorded

Methodological approaches to the valuation of forest ecosystem services: An overview of recent international research trends

Forests represent the most important source of ecosystem services (ES) on a global level both for the production of goods and for the provision of services and externalities, nevertheless scientific research in the economic field is lacking. Currently the number of documents relating to ES is 16 673, of which only 1 379 concern the forestry sector. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of scientific research trends in the field of economic evaluation of forest ecosystem services (FES). To this end, an on-line bibliographic survey was carried out on the main scientific search engines, which made it possible to quantify the works and at the same time to detect the main evaluation methods used for the different FES. This survey allowed to collect 93 articles meeting the search criteria: the most active continents were Europe and Asia, whereas most of the articles focused on the joint evaluation of provisioning, regulation and cultural services, even if a good number of them only concerned cultural services. The most widely used valuation methodologies were the contingent valuation among the stated preference techniques and the market price among direct observation criteria

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF SOFT-BOTTOM IN HAIFA BAY (ISRAEL): AMPHIPOD ASSEMBLAGES

Ecological information concerning amphipods and representation of their spatial distribution through GIS provides an estimate of local environmental quality

The Doctor Is In(ternet): The Mediating Role of Health Anxiety in the Relationship between Somatic Symptoms and Cyberchondria

Cyberchondria is a dysfunctional behavioral pattern characterized by an excessive and anxiety-amplifying engagement in searching for reassuring health information on the Internet. Research demonstrated that somatic symptoms and health anxiety might foster maladaptive health-related behaviors, such as cyberchondria. However, the relationships between somatic symptoms, health anxiety, and cyberchondria have been scarcely examined. Accordingly, this study aimed to test the mediating effect of health anxiety on the association between somatic symptoms and cyberchondria. Four hundred and thirty-one adults from the community (158 males, 36.66%), aged between 18 and 74, were recruited via an online survey. Participants completed self-report measures of somatic symptoms, health anxiety, and cyberchondria. A mediation analysis demonstrated that the severity of somatic symptoms predicted increased levels of cyberchondria and that health anxiety partially mediated this association. Therefore, interventions aimed at decreasing health anxiety may also play a role in decreasing the risk of developing cyberchondria

Urban landscape evolution as a consequence of an invasive pest: The case of a small sicilian town

The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), after its accidental introduction in Italy in 2005, determined a progressive disruption of Canary palms mostly in the central and southern regions. As it is difficult to undertake the management of this pest, the possibility of substituting the killed/symptomatic palms with other ornamental trees has been recently discussed. In this context, understanding the citizens' needs about green areas can improve the management of public parks and urban greening. Involving citizens on the natural resource management using public participation processes is crucial. The case study of a small town of Sicily (Italy) was treated and the spread of this pest was monitored. Moreover, the possibility of substituting the killed palms with other ornamentals was discussed by involving a sample of the population through a direct survey aimed at detecting the preferences in respect to certain tree species (as potential substitutes of the killed palms) listed in a questionnaire administered face-to-face. The citizen's samples showed great interest in the green areas (97%) and indicated a traditional Mediterranean plant as Nerium oleander as the preferred palm substitute candidate

DNA-Barcoding to solve the tricky case of co-occuring Sabellaria (ANNELIDA) species in the Mediterranean Sea

Intraspecific morphological variation of key taxonomic features is probably responsible for frequent misidentification of Sabellaria (Lamarck, 1818) species. This is the case of Sabellaria alcocki Gravier, 1906 whose Mediterranean records probably refer to juveniles of S. spinulosa (Leuckart, 1849). We hereby provide molecular tools (DNA barcoding) to improve correct delimitation of the Mediterranean species of this genus