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Vegetation management of archaeological sites is a recurrent problem when considering the conservation of historic structures and biodiversity. In the UNESCO site of the Etruscan necropolis “La Banditaccia” (Cerveteri, Italy), several plants grow on the ancient tumuli, which are subjected to different management practices. In order to assess the influence of interventions on plant colonisation, a comparative analysis of several tumuli was performed, through structural, chorological, phytosociological and statistical evaluations. This investigation identified and defined an ecological gradient among the tumuli. The cover values of Therophytes and Hemicryptophytes decreased by half with regular cutting, while those of Geophytes and Phanerophytes increased. Mesophilic field plants (MFP), both ephemeral and perennial, represented the most abundant group. Mediterranean bushes and forests (MBF) showed a positive trend from the entrance to the last tumuli of the necropolis. This trend was clearly defined by PCA, and it seems community changes were caused by the absence of mowing activities and to a lower tourist frequentation. SIMPER analysis highlighted which species on each tumulus mainly influence their dissimilarity. This knowledge, when combined with the evaluation of the potential risk of the different plant communities growing on the tumuli, can help to identify the best management practices.

Running water habitats are among the most altered aquatic systems by human activities driving an increase in the organic components and the associated bacterial load as well. To contribute in improving the monitoring activities in running waters, here we tested the validity of the new Micro Biological Survey (MBS) method to specifically assess the bacterial load in running waters focusing on Total Viable Counts (at 22°C and 37°C) and Escherichia coli (at 44°C) in order to propose a new prognostic tool for watercourses. MBS method is an alternative colorimetric method for counting bacterial load in water and food samples that is easy to use and leads to a reliable and simple interpretation of results, being also faster and less expensive than traditional methods. Then, we compared MBS with the traditionally used reference method for the bacterial load, and with the most used biotic index for Italian watercourses based on the benthic invertebrates: the Extended Biotic Index (EBI). The last comparison was performed to validate the use of MBS in biomonitoring activities since the benthic invertebrate multi-species assemblage (and then EBI) alter own structure mainly depending on the organic component variation. During the first part of the study, the assessment of both linearity (regressions among bacterial concentrations) and accuracy (significant correlation between a measured value and a value used as reference) confirmed the validity of the MBS method. Second, the linear regressions between the three investigated microbial parameters vs. both physical-chemical descriptors and EBI, revealed the usefulness of MBS as a valid tool for routine microbiological analyses involved in rapid and easy field monitoring activities. This represents the first attempt to evaluate the river microbial status by exploiting the innovative MBS on running waters to propose it as new valuable monitoring tool in the biomonitoring field.

The island of Bali has several aga (indigenous) villages that have survived despite the pressures of an intense tourist industry and agricultural changes. A rich ethnobotanical culture persists, but the meaning of differences in traditional ethnobotanical knowledge (TEK) remains under-explored. We analyzed information obtained from interviews of inhabitants from diverse villages on food and nutraceutical plants to identify plant patterns, i.e., relevant plant groups with species sharing a similar occurrence. Through cluster analysis, we identified 12 main groups of species and found that species were grouped based on traditional knowledge and the use each community made of plants on the whole, and not on growth forms nor on specific uses. The frequency distribution of species clusters showed a bimodal trend, with several groups present only in few villages, and a few groups present in almost all villages. The latter are defined as “core groups,” and represent the shared TEK of each aga community. Other “satellite species groups” embodied in the local TEK were related to small isolated communities. Cultural erosion caused by modernization, with the consequent fragmentation of information, was judged to be one of the main causes of increasing TEK heterogeneity.

The regenerative ability of Hydra vulgaris was tested as potential biomarker for the development of a new eco-toxicological index. The test is based on the regeneration rate and the aberration frequency of the columna (body and adhesive foot) after separation from head and tentacles by a bistoury. Particularly, 45 columnae were submerged in the rearing solution (that is Hydra medium) to have control, and 285 in potential contaminated waters to have treatments, collected from 19 sites along 10 rivers in central Italy. ANCOVA and chi-square tests were used to compare values from each site to a laboratory control. Subsequently the values on regeneration rate and aberration frequency were inserted in a double entry matrix, where the match of the two entries in the matrix provides the score of the proposed Teratogenic Risk Index (TRI). Each score corresponded to one of the 5 teratogenic risk classes, to which a risk level was associated: from 1 (no risk) to 5 (very high risk). On the whole, 32% of the studied sites were classified as no teratogenic risk while the remaining showed a variable risk level from low to very high. This study proposed for the first time an early warning system to detect the presence of teratogens in running waters, providing a rapid and cost-effective evaluation method. Therefore, TRI may contribute to initiate adequate measures to manage riverine habitats, and to monitor the running water teratogenic status. Specifically, this index may provide the opportunity to identify the disturbance sources and then to drive the decisions, together with competent authorities, on the catchment and landscape management and on the possible use of waters for urban, agricultural, and industrial activities, since they may show significant effects on the human health.

We evaluated the importance of the freshwater grass shrimp Palaemonetes antennarius as trophic source for the lacustrine fish of the Lake Bracciano (Central Italy) analyzing 6120 stomach contents of 10 species. Shrimp was recorded for all size classes of the investigated species with a variation in frequency and abundance depending on seasons. P. antennarius was occasionally preyed by cyprinids, and systematically by small individuals of carnivorous fish. Our findings acquire more importance if we take the shrimps ecological niche into account, as it is potentially acting as detritivorous/generalist and predator of benthic invertebrates as well. This feeding behavior makes P. antennarius an important network ring, being a taxon that ought to receive the same attention recommended for other freshwater decapods as proposed for Austropotamobius pallipes and Potamon fluviatile.

The main aim of this study was to improve the knowledge about the concordance among macrophytes and macroinvertebrates to provide complementary information and facilitate the procedures for quality assessment of river ecosystems. Macrophytes and macroinvertebrates were collected in 11 sampling sites along a central Apennine calcareous river in October 2008 and June 2009. The concordance between the two biomonitoring groups was tested according to several environmental parameters. The comparison of the data matrix similarities by the Mantel test showed differences in the assemblage of macrophytes and macroinvertebrates along the river since correlation values were 0.04, p>0.05 in October 2008 and 0.39, p>0.05 in June 2009. The study revealed a lack of concordance between the two groups emphasizing the information provided by macrophytes and macroinvertebrates does not overlap in terms of response to environmental parameters. Indeed, the two different biological groups resulted useful descriptors of different parameters. Together, they could represent a complementary tool to reflect the river environmental quality.

Inland waters are constituted by a lot of seriously threatened habitats. The increasing need to safeguard these ecosystems led European Union Member States to propose the Water Framework Directive which decided the creation of homogeneous areas characterized by very similar geology, topography and climate, known as hydroecoregions (HER) and firstly proposed by the French National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (Cemagref). Watercourses reference conditions had to be defined within any HER in order to confront any sampling site. HERs are consistent with European scale maps but important local reinterpretations in order to define more precise boundaries and extensions for each hydroecoregion are required and this point constitutes the main goal of this manuscript.Latium is a climatically very homogeneous region and it’s roughly divided into three major portions confirming Cemagref’s proposal. Geological and topolographical maps were then used in order to achieve a more detailed characterization of this region in order to obtain a more defined map. All our results allow to better define similarities and differences both between streams and within the same stream allowing to entirely locate each water course within the same HER. It would be important to follow up this study by proposing a similar approach for the entire national territory based on an appropriate region knowledge.

Current evidence suggests that integrating diverse warning systems at different biological levels may not only increase the probability of detecting threats but also mitigate their impact. Here, we propose the use of both molecular and morphological descriptors at different biological levels in sessile bivalves (a suitable biological model in monitoring programs) to collect information on the ecosystem health of coastal marine habitats. In this context, studies may be implemented on biomarkers to exploit some population features, with the aim to propose an actual monitoring program that predictively would provide possible scenarios on the species fitness and ecosystem changes. Thus, the use of quality biotic elements may provide an objective environmental monitoring method and facilitate the development of sanitary, economic, and social strategies related to sustainable exploitation.