Dangerous Risk Factors to be Considered for Proper Management of Agroecosystems

Our work aims to identify the main risks existing in the agroecosystems of southern Italy, providing, at the same time, information about innovative and fast methodologies. The goal is to understand the magnitude of the phenomena that could compromise them if no action is taken for water and soil matrices. Regarding the former we will consider plant protection product residues in water bodies and the importance of agroecosystems as source of microplastic pollution and their role as a vector of pollutants; regarding the latter, we will present a rapid and low-cost methodology to detect asbestos-containing materials and significantly transformed areas. Furthermore, indications are provided on how to implement effective monitoring plans in order to certainly identify the problem affecting one or more matrices and provide practical instructions to the administrators to implement the appropriate remediation strategies

Local knowledge to support environmental resource management in data-poor regions

EnThe importance of shared decision-making processes in water management derives from the awareness of the inadequacy of traditional–i.e.engineering–approaches in dealing with complex and ill-structured problems.It is becoming increasingly obvious that traditional problem solving and decision support techniques,based on optimisation and factual knowledge,need to be combined with stakeholder-based policy design and implementation.The aim of our research is the definition of a Community-based Decision Support System (CBDSS),able to facilitate integration of local and scientific knowledge.The system has been applied to support public involvement in the drawing up of the river Idro management plan

Do Freshwater Fish Eat Microplastics? A Review with A Focus on Effects on Fish Health and Predictive Traits of MPs Ingestion

Microplastics (MPs) have received increasing attention in the last decade and are now considered among the most concerning emerging pollutants in natural environments. Here, the current knowledge on microplastic ingestion by wild freshwater fish is reviewed with a focus on the identification of possible factors leading to the ingestion of MPs and the consequences on fish health. Within the literature, 257 species of freshwater fishes from 32 countries have been documented to ingest MPs. MPs ingestion was found to increase with rising level of urbanization, although a direct correlation with MPs concentration in the surrounding water has not been identified. MPs ingestion was detected in all the published articles, with MPs presence in more than 50% of the specimens analyzed in one study out of two. Together with the digestive tract, MPs were also found in the gills, and there is evidence that MPs can translocate to different tissues of the organism. Strong evidence, therefore, exists that MPs may represent a serious risk for ecosystems, and are a direct danger for human health. Moreover, toxicological effects have also been highlighted in wild catches, demonstrating the importance of this problem and suggesting the need for laboratory experiments more representative of the environmental situation

Artificial Intelligence and Water Cycle Management

Artificial intelligence applications play a crucial role in improving environmental quality from all points of view. Digital technologies have revolutionized our way of life as they are permeated to a capillary level in our daily life. On the other hand, the data produced every second cannot be managed by a human mind due to a certain physical and temporal impossibility, so artificial intelligence, algorithms written by men to perform human reasoning, they can accomplish this arduous task. In this chapter we will address the potential of artificial intelligence to process important amounts of data and analyze existing relationships also through a focus on the conservation capacity of one of the most precious resources: water

Monitoring of Temporary Ponds as Indicators of Environmental Quality

Temporary ponds represent a specific type of ecosystem extensively widespread worldwide. They are better known as copular pools, ephemeral waters, karst sinkholes, seasonal wetlands, and vernal pools. Among these, Mediterranean Temporary Ponds (MTPs) represent a priority habitat according to the Natura 2000 network of the European Union. Their main characteristic is represented by their depth of only a few centimeters and lack of communication with permanent water bodies. MTPs habitats are vulnerable to human activities, especially agriculture, and they are considered priority habitats to safeguard. Threats affecting this habitat are various and many and depend on specific site conditions, including intensive agriculture, tree planting, abandonment of traditional land use, and excessive grazing. In the present manuscript, we report the results of monitoring activity of some of these sites in Southern Italy aimed at understanding the ecological status of these ephemeral ecosystems with a specially developed methodology based on data integration

The monitoring of pesticides in water matrices and the analytical criticalities: A review

Abstract In this review, we examined the European legislative context on water protection concerning pesticide residues monitoring and the relevant National Action Plans and strategies that were undertaken in European countries to better identify and manage the problem in water bodies. Furthermore, we illustrated the development of analytical methodologies and criticalities connected to determine pesticide residues in water matrices, including sampling, sample preparation approaches, instrumental analyses and specific applications emphasising those works published after 2015. Details about sampling strategies, analytical feasibility, official methods, degradation products and behaviour in the environment for a subset of 160 pesticides are also provided

visual observations of floating macro litter around italy mediterranean sea

We report the results of a visual survey of floating natural (NML) and anthropogenic (AML) macro-litter (>2.5 cm) performed in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea during a dual-use campaign onboard the Italian Navy tall ship "Amerigo Vespucci" which circumnavigated the Italian peninsula during May-June 2016. The distribution, abundance and composition of floating marine litter were assessed using a 10 m fixed-width strip transect method. Over 88 h of transect counts were performed, for a total of 168 transects, covering an overall survey length of 1026.35 km. 4756 anthropogenic litter items were counted during the transects, 96.9 % of which were classified as plastic items. Floating litter was found throughout the entire study area with densities ranging from 0 to 9205 items/km2 and with a mean abundance of 492 AML items/km2 and 77 NML items/km2 across all surveyed locations. Maximum AML densities (>3500 items/km2) were recorded in the Adriatic Sea, while the lowest densities (<50 items/km2) were found along the coastline of Sardinia and in the Strait of Messina. Our results document the ubiquitous presence of floating plastic litter around the Italian peninsula and underline the need to expand our knowledge about the main sources, transport, accumulation and fate of marine litter in the entire Mediterranean region

Methodological approach for evaluating the geo-exchange potential: VIGOR Project

In the framework of VIGOR Project, a national project coordinated by the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources (CNR-IGG) and sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE), dedicated to the evaluation of geothermal potential in the regions of the Convergence Objective in Italy (Puglia, Calabria, Campania and Sicily), is expected to evaluate the ability of the territory to heat exchange with the ground for air conditioning of buildings. To identify the conditions for the development of low enthalpy geothermal systems collected and organized on a regional scale geological and stratigraphic data useful for the preparation of a specific thematic mapping, able to represent in a synergistic and simplified way the physical parameters (geological, lithostratigraphic, hydrogeological, thermodynamic) that most influence the subsoil behavior for thermal exchange. The litho-stratigraphic and hydrogeological database created for every region led to the production of different cartographic thematic maps, such as the thermal conductivity (lithological and stratigraphical), the surface geothermal flux, the average annual temperature of air, the climate zoning, the areas of hydrogeological restrictions. To obtain a single representation of the geo-exchange potential of the region, the different thematic maps described must be combined together by means of an algorithm, defined on the basis of the SINTACS methodology. The purpose is to weigh the contributions of the involved parameters and to produce a preliminary synthesis map able to identify the territorial use of geothermal heat pump systems, based on the geological characteristics and in agreement with the existing regulatory constraints

The Contribution of Open Source Software in Identifying Environmental Crimes Caused by Illicit Waste Management in Urban Areas

This study focuses on the analysis, implementation and integration of techniques and methods, also based on mathematical algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), to acquire knowledge of some phenomena that produce pollution with an impact on environmental health, and which start from illicit practices that occur in urban areas. In many urban areas (or agroecosystems), the practice of illegal waste disposing by commercial activities, by abandoning it in the countryside rather than spending economic resources to ensure correct disposal, is widespread. This causes an accumulation of waste in these areas (which can also be protected natural areas), which are then also set on fire to reduce their volume. Obviously, the repercussions of such actions are many. The burning of waste releases contaminants into the environment such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls and furans, and deposits other elements on the soil, such as heavy metals, which, by leaching and percolating, contaminate water resources such as rivers and aquifers. The main objective is the design and implementation of monitoring programs against specific illicit activities that take into account territorial peculiarities. This advanced approach leverages AI and GIS environments to interpret environmental states, providing an understanding of ongoing phenomena. The methodology used is based on the implementation of mathematical and AI algorithms, integrated into a GIS environment to address even large-scale environmental issues, improving the spatial and temporal precision of the analyses and allowing the customization of monitoring programs in urban and peri-urban environments based on territorial characteristics. The results of the application of the methodology show the percentages of the different types of waste found in the agroecosystems of the study area and the degree of concentration, allowing the identification of similar areas with greater criticality. Subsequently, through network and nearest neighbour analysis, it is possible to start targeted checks