168 research outputs found
Monitoring of alien aquatic plants in the inland waters of Sicily (Italy)
Updated and reliable data on the presence and distribution of alien aquatic
plant species in Sicily are lacking, and there is a need to fill this gap for a proper and
efficient management of freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. This paper reviews
the available knowledge about alien aquatic vascular plants in the inland waters of
Sicily (Italy). The aim is to provide an updated checklist, as a first step in the study of
the impact of those plants on the native species and ecosystems of this Mediterranean
island. The paper focuses on the strictly aquatic species (hydrophytes), excluding emergent
macrophytes. Four species were listed, all of them free-floating and with American
origin. Most of them occur within protected areas, and their introduction in the island
appears to be anthropogenic. A set of functional traits of the alien species, such as relative
growth rate, leaf mass per area, nitrogen and carbon content, were screened. These
traits are useful for assessing the species invasive potential compared to native ones
Floristic survey of the former royal hunting reserve of Renda, near Palermo (Sicily, Italy)
A mountainous area in western Sicily, where relic wood vegetation is still preserved notwithstanding past and present human pressure, is here analysed in order to prepare a checklist of its vascular flora. Field investigations allowed to compile a floristic inventory including 601 infrageneric taxa belonging to 304 genera and 80 families. Some remarks on the biological and chorological spectra are presented, and some measures to protect flora and vegetation are suggested, too
Brassica tardarae (Brassicaceae), a New Species from a Noteworthy Biotope of South-Western Sicily (Italy)
A new species of Brassica sect. Brassica is described here from Sicily (Italy), which is known to be one of the centers of the diversification of wild taxa of this group. The new species (named Brassica tardarae) is restricted to the carbonate cliffs in the Tardara Gorges between Menfi and Sambuca di Sicilia (Agrigento province), an area with a peculiar geological history and where another strictly endemic species was recently described. The morphological relationships between the new species and other similar taxa are discussed, and an analytical key to the Sicilian taxa belonging to the genus Brassica sect. Brassica is also provided
Chemical Constituents and Biological Properties of Genus Doronicum (Asteraceae)
The genus Doronicum, belonging to tribe Senecioneae (Fam. Asteraceae), is found mainly in the Asia, Europe and North Africa. This genus of plant has always been used in traditional medicinal treatments due to the many biological properties shown such as killing parasitic worms and for relieving constipation, as well as to improve heart health, to alleviate pain and inflammation, to treat insect bites, etc. According to the World Flora the genus Doronicum contains 39 subordinate taxa.[1-3] The purpose of this article, which covers data published from 1970 to 2021 with more than 110 articles, aims to carry out a complete and critical review of the Doronicum genus, examining traditional uses and reporting the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antitumor activity shown from crude extracts or essential oils, and from single isolated compounds. Furthermore, critical considerations of the published data have been highlighted by comparing them with the results obtained from species of other genus belonging to the Asteraceae family
Contribution to a Taxonomic Revision of the Sicilian Helichrysum Taxa by PCA Analysis of Their Essential-Oil Compositions
The chemical profile of the essential oils in ten populations of the genus Helichrysum Mill. (Asteraceae), collected in the loci classici of the nomenclatural types of the taxa endemic to Sicily, were analyzed. Our results confirm that the analysis of secondary metabolites can be used to fingerprint wild populations of Helichrysum, the chemical profiles being coherent with the systematic arrangement of the investigated populations in three main clusters, referring to the aggregates of H. stoechas, H. rupestre, and H. italicum, all belonging to the section Stoechadina. The correct nomenclatural designation of the investigated populations is discussed and the following two new combinations are proposed: Helichrysum preslianum subsp. compactum (Guss.) Maggio, Bruno, Guarino, Senatore & Ilardi and Helichrysum panormitanum subsp. latifolium Maggio, Bruno, Guarino, Senatore & Ilardi
Dianthus borbonicus (Caryophyllaceae), a new species from Sicily
Dianthus borbonicus a new species occurring in North-Western Sicily is described and illustrated. It is a rare chasmophyte
belonging to the D. sylvestris group, which is exclusive of a rupestrian stand near Rocca Busambra (Ficuzza). Its macro- and
micromorphological features (seed testa sculptures, and leaf anatomy), ecology, conservation status and a comparison with
the related species are provided too
The Essential Oil Compositions of Three Teucrium Taxa Growing Wild in Sicily: HCA and PCA Analyses
The chemical composition and the qualitative and quantitative variability of the essential oils of three taxa belonging to the Teucrium genus were studied. The investigated taxa, that grow wild in Sicily, were Teucrium flavum L. (section Chamaedrys (Mill.) Scheb.), Teucrium montanum and Teucrium capitatum L. of section Polium (Mill.) Scheb. Essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. In total, 74 compounds were identified. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were found to be the main group for T. flavum (48.3%). T. capitatum consisted essentially of monoterpene hydrocarbons (72.7%), with α-pinene (19.9%), β-pinene (27.6%) and sylvestrene (16.6%) as the most abundant compounds whereas ledene oxide (12.1%), epiglobulol (13.5%) and longifolenaldehyde (14.5%) were identified as the main constituents among the oxygenated sesquiterpenes (63.5%) of T. montanum. Furthermore, a complete literature review on the composition of the essential oils of all the other accessions of these Teucrium taxa, studied so far, was performed. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analyses (PCA) were used in order to demonstrate geographical variations in the composition of the essential oils
Ferulago nodosa subsp. geniculata (Guss.) Troia & Raimondo from Sicily: isolation of essential oil and evaluation of its bioactivity
Ferulago nodosa (L.) Boiss. (Apiaceae) is a species occurring in the Balkan-Tyrrhenian area. The object of the present study is Sicilian F. nodosa subsp. geniculata (Guss.) Troia & Raimondo, classified as an endemic F. nodosa subspecies. Aerial parts of this plant species were subjected to hydrodistillation to obtain an essential oil. A total of 93 compounds were identified with 2,3,6- trimethyl benzaldehyde (19.0%), spathulenol (9.0%), (E)-caryophyllene (5.4%), and caryophyllene oxide (5.4%) as the main components. The biological activities of F. nodosa essential oil were also investigated. This oil showed an interesting antioxidant potential in a 2,2′-Azino-bis(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) test (IC50 of 14.05 μg/mL). Additionally, hypoglycemic and antilipidemic effects were evaluated. Lipase enzyme was inhibited with an IC50 value of 41.99 μg/mL. Obtained data demonstrated that F. nodosa could be considered a promising source of bioactive compounds useful for the treatment and management of obesity
Preserving Hyblaean heritage: navigating conservation challenges in a dynamic landscape
The traditional rural landscape of the Hyblaean Region (SE-Sicily) bears extraordinary cultural, ecological and aesthetic interest. It holds important archaeological sites, reflecting human interactions with the ecosystems over generations, and serves as a living record of traditional farming practices that have preserved through the centuries an extraordinary floristic richness and the integrity of natural dynamic processes.
At best these contexts are protected by landscape or archaeological conservation acts, because regulations and indices that apply strictly naturalistic criteria are poorly suitable to identify rural landscapes as conservation targets, because they are mostly based on the occurrence of rare habitats and species or on vegetation structure and data collectors tend to overlook rural areas.
To fill this gap, besides of collecting new data, efforts should be made to include criteria related to landscape heterogeneity and to the integrity of ecosystem dynamics in the naturalness evaluation indices. This is particularly important because current mitigation strategies and regulatory frameworks tend to identify forest vegetation as the maximum expression of naturalness in the area, with a clear risk for the survival of cultural landscapes of great value, not only due to land abandonment but also to reckless interventions aimed at promoting the wood recovery
Chemical composition and broad-spectrum insecticidal activity of the flower essential oil from an ancient sicilian food plant, ridolfia segetum
Several species of the family Apiaceae are aromatic herbs that produce essential oils usable on an industrial scale for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food purposes. In particular, some essential oils, such as green insecticides for example, may replace synthetic insecticides, keeping most of their efficacy and avoiding environmental pollution or human poisoning. In the present study, we explored the insecticidal potential of Ridolfia segetum (L.) Moris essential oil (EO) against three different pests: Culex quinquefasciatus Say, Musca domestica L., and Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval). For this purpose, the EO was obtained by hydrodistillation of flowers and its composition was achieved by gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC/FID) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). This EO was rich in α-phellandrene (49.3%), β-phellandrene (9.2%), terpinolene (20.7%), and piperitenone oxide (5.9%). Concerning the mosquitocidal efficacy, the EO showed noteworthy toxicity against C. quinquefasciatus 3rd instar larvae, with a LC50 = 27.1 µL L−1 and LC90 = 42.5 µL L−1. Regarding M. domestica, a different toxicity of the R. segetum EO was found on male and female flies, calculating LD50 values of 10.5 and 50.8 µg adult−1, respectively. The EO was also toxic to S. littoralis 3rd instar larvae, achieving LD50 and LD90 values of 37.9 and 99.6 µg larva−1, respectively. Overall, this flower EO, extracted from a traditional Sicilian food plant, merits further investigation for the development of green insecticide formulations to be used in real world conditions, pending a careful assessment of non-target toxicity on beneficial organisms
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