Climate and human impacts inferred from a 1500-year multi-proxy record of an alpine peatland in the South-Eastern Alps

Fracasso, Ilaria; Dinella, Anna; Giammarchi, Francesco; Marinchel, Nadia; Kołaczek, Piotr; Lamentowicz, Mariusz; Marcisz, Katarzyna; Łokas, Edyta; Miecznik, Magdalena; Bragazza, Luca; Girardi, Matteo; Ventura, Maurizio; Borruso, Luigimaria; Tonon, Giustino; Vernesi, Cristiano

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109737

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The number of ergot sclerotia were visually counted in 500 g grain samples randomly collected from each plot and expressed as g of sclerotia per kg of grain, according to the Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1399 of 24 August 2021(European Commission, 2021. The deoxynivalenol (DON) concentration was determined in whole-grain flour, using the ELISA method, by means of RIDASCREEN ® DON direct competitive immunoassays (R-Biopharm, Darmstadt, Germany), according to the method reported by Nguyen et al (2019).…”

Section: Sanitary Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rye ( Secale cereale L.) is a minor cereal crop that has been cultivated for centuries in mountainous ( Fracasso et al., 2022 ) and northern areas of Europe, where it has traditionally been used to provide flour, fodder and straw material for roof construction and basket making ( Gaetano et al., 2012 ). The greater adoption of rye in unfavorable environments than other cereal species is due to its better adaptation to infertile and sandy soils, low temperatures, and drought conditions, which leads to a higher yield potential than that of wheat under similar conditions ( Bushuk, 2001 ; Schittenhelm et al., 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The cultivation of rye in marginal Alpine environments: a comparison of the agronomic, technological, health and sanitary traits of local landraces and commercial cultivars

et al. 2023

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Rye is a secondary crop that is characterized by a higher tolerance to climatically less favorable conditions than other cereal species. For this reason, rye was historically used as a fundamental raw material for bread production and as a supply of straw in northern parts of Europe as well as in mountain environments, such as Alpine valleys, where locally adapted landraces have continued to be cultivated over the years. In this study, rye landraces collected in different valleys in the Northwest Italian Alps have been selected as the most genetically isolated within their geographical contexts and cultivated in two different marginal Alpine environments. The traits concerning their agronomy, mycotoxin contamination, bioactive content, as well as their technological and baking quality were assessed to characterize and compare rye landraces with commercial wheat and rye cultivars. Rye cultivars showed the same grain yield level as wheat in both environments. Only the genotype selected from the Maira Valley was characterized by tall and thin culms and a proneness to lodging, thereby resulting in a lower yield capacity. Among the rye cultivars, the hybrid one presented the highest yield potential, but also the highest susceptibility to the occurrence of ergot sclerotia. However, the rye cultivars, especially the landraces, were characterized by higher concentrations of minerals, soluble fibers, and soluble phenolic acids, and thus both their flours and breads had superior antioxidant properties. A 40% substitution of refined wheat flour with whole-grain rye flour led to a higher dough water absorption and a lower stability, thereby resulting in lower loaf volumes and darker products. Agronomically and qualitatively speaking, the rye landraces diverged significantly from the conventional rye cultivars, thus reflecting their genetic distinctiveness. The landrace from the Maira Valley shared a high content in phenolic acids and good antioxidant properties with the one from the Susa Valley and, when combined with wheat flour, turned out to be the most suitable for bread making. Overall, the results have highlighted the suitability of reintroducing historic rye supply chains, based on the cultivation of local landraces in marginal environments and the production of value-added bakery goods.

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Section: Sanitary Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cultivation of rye in marginal Alpine environments: a comparison of the agronomic, technological, health and sanitary traits of local landraces and commercial cultivars

et al. 2023

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“…This human impact has directly or indirectly driven major environmental changes on both a global and local scale (Allamano et al 2009;Fracasso et al 2022). Since 1950, to meet the growing needs of the growing human population, the world production of the chemical industry has increased about 50 times.…”

Section: The Interaction Of Humans and The Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for a sustainable solution to increasing chemical pollution

Rakowska

2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The growing world population and the development of civilization put pressure on the environment. Irreversible climate changes, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, land and water degradation, and food scarcity took place. Climate changes affect human health through extreme atmospheric phenomena or indirect effects of ecosystem disruption. The intensification of natural disasters increases the risk of technical failures, and the growing production and release of larger quantities and more new chemical compounds, with different hazard potentials, exceeds the environment’s adaptability and societies’ ability to monitor changes and conduct safety assessments. The article reviews the knowledge and approach to the possibility of reducing the risks and effects of events resulting from chemical pollution. As stated, prevention of further environmental degradation and increased preparedness for natural disasters caused by climate change is critical to public safety and requires contingency plans to continuously adapt to the changing frequency, intensity, and scale of natural disasters.

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“…Palaeobiological approaches based on ancient DNA (aDNA) have extensively been used to study the evolution of humans, animals, and plants (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Recent advances in sedimentary and environmental ancient metagenomics provided unprecedented time series resolution for understanding the evolution of flora and fauna without macroscopic remains such as bones or teeth (6)(7)(8)(9).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling the ancient fungal DNA from the Iceman’s gut

Oskolkov,

Sandionigi,

Göterström

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Here, we explore the possible ancient fungal species in the gut of Otzi, the Iceman, a naturally mummified human found in the Tyrolean Alps (border between Italy and Austria). While ancient DNA (aDNA) has been extensively used to study human, animal, and plant evolution, this research focuses on ancient microbial diversity, specifically fungi. Fungal DNA is often underestimated in metagenomic samples, however here we hypothesise the possibility of retrieving ancient fungal sequences from Otzi's gut. A robust bioinformatic pipeline has been developed to detect and authenticate fungal aDNA from stomach, small intestine, and large intestine samples. We revealed the presence of Pseudogymnoascus genus, with P. destructans and P. verrucosus as possible species, that were particularly abundant in the stomach and small intestine. We suggest that Otzi may have consumed these fungi accidentally, likely in association with other elements of his diet, and they thrived in his gut after his death due to their adaptability to harsh and cold environments. This research provides insight into the coexistence of ancient humans with specific fungal species and proposes and validates a conservative bioinformatic approach for detecting fungal aDNA in historical metagenomic samples.

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Climate and human impacts inferred from a 1500-year multi-proxy record of an alpine peatland in the South-Eastern Alps

Cited by 7 publications

References 91 publications

The cultivation of rye in marginal Alpine environments: a comparison of the agronomic, technological, health and sanitary traits of local landraces and commercial cultivars

The cultivation of rye in marginal Alpine environments: a comparison of the agronomic, technological, health and sanitary traits of local landraces and commercial cultivars

Searching for a sustainable solution to increasing chemical pollution

Unravelling the ancient fungal DNA from the Iceman’s gut

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