Patterns and drivers of lichen species composition in a NW-European lowland deciduous woodland complex

© The Author(s) 2016. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor

A Learning Analytics Approach in Web-Based Multi-user Learning Games

Part 4: Games-Based Learning and GamificationInternational audienceAs technology changes, learning games are adapted to target audience and available devices. Analytics methods must keep up with keeping the learner in focus. This work presents the Multi-Touch Learning Game (MTLG) framework, designed to implement cross platform educational games with support for cooperative, collaborative and competitive settings. It shows adaption of a user-centred learning analytics data model, the learning data context model, to fit circumstantial requirements of multi-user settings on a shared device in games implemented using the MTLG framework. A first field study has been conducted, and the results, challenges and lessons learned are discussed

Freshwater lichens in springs of the eastern Italian Alps: floristics, ecology and potential for bioindication

Freshwater habitats of the Italian Alps are largely unexplored and further floristic-ecological surveys are needed to clarify the role of freshwater lichens in these environments. This applies especially to springs, since they seem to be suitable for a relatively high number of aquatic species due to their ecological stability. The present work is focused on springs in an alpine region, and is centered on: (a) floristics of freshwater lichens of the Italian Alps, (b) ecological and morphological information on potential indicator species for calcareous and siliceous springs. The study was carried out in the eastern Italian Alps on 36 perennial springs. Single springs proved to host a surprisingly low number of species, while at regional level the entire pool of investigated springs host a relevant lichen flora representing 45% of the freshwater lichens of the Italian Alps. One species is new to Italy and 3 are new to Trentino-Alto Adige. Biodiversity conservation measures should therefore be planned at regional level, including a whole network of sites in different altitudinal belts and with different substrates. Verrucaria elaeomelaena and V. funckii are the most frequent species on calcareous and siliceous springs respectively. They are suggested as potential indicator species, since they proved to be indicative of the main physical, ecological and hydrochemical features of their habitat. A detailed morphological description of these two species is also provided in order to enhance their identification by environmentalists

Lichens as bioindicators in freshwater ecosystems – challenges and perspectives.

This paper summarizes information on freshwater lichens in relation with their potential for bioindication, mainly pointing to ecological concepts and issues of practical relevance for promoting their inclusion in routine biomonitoring practices, thus contributing to a full implementation of the eu Water framework directive. Results highlight the sensitiveness of freshwater lichens to some factors which cannot be technically measured by singular visits, and have relevance for human planning purposes and environmental impact and risk assessment. however, a full inclusion of freshwater lichens in monitoring practices would benefit from further ecological research testing the influence of potentially meaningful ecological drivers and developing statistically robust sampling methods. This would allow the development of standard guidelines applicable across europe according to the policies of the eu Water framework directive. on the taxonomical side, further dNa-based revisions and the creation of a european checklist of freshwater lichens should provide the basis for developing modern identification tools. finally, it is suggested that the use of freshwater lichens in biomonitoring may be improved by model studies based on comparative trials of full, quantitative, species inventories at different spatial scales and by parallel simplified approaches with selected indicator species and morphological groups

LICHENS AS BIOINDICATORS IN FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS - CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

This paper &nbsp;summarizes information on freshwater lichens in relation with their potential for bioindication, mainly pointing to ecological concepts and issues of practical relevance for promoting their &nbsp;inclusion in routine biomonitoring practices, thus contributing to a full implementation of the EU Water Framework directive. Results highlight the sensitiveness of freshwater lichens to some factors which cannot be technically measured by singular visits, and have relevance for human planning purposes and environmental impact and risk assessment. However, a full inclusion of freshwater lichens in monitoring practices would benefit from further ecological research testing the influence of potentially meaningful ecological drivers and developing statistically robust sampling methods. This would allow the development of standard guidelines applicable across Europe according to the policies of the EU Water Framework directive. On the taxonomical side, further DNA-based revisions and the creation of a European checklist of freshwater lichens, should provide the basis for developing modern identification tools. Finally, it is suggested that the use of freshwater lichens in biomonitoring may be improved by model studies based on comparative trials of full, quantitative, species inventories at different spatial scales and by parallel simplified approaches with selected indicator species and morphological groups.</p