Cross-taxon relationships in Mediterranean urban ecosystem: A case study from the city of Trieste

Zara, Laura; Tordoni, Enrico; Castro-Delgado, Silvia; Colla, Andrea; Maccherini, Simona; Marignani, Michela; Panepinto, F.; Trittoni, Michele; Bacaro, Giovanni

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107538

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“… ichnusa based on voucher checked; Seifert 2018 , assuming Central-European records to represent A. subterranea ; Zara et al 2021 ; Bazzato et al 2022 ). Albeit rarely, at least A.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… ichnusa in Corsica and southern mainland France. More recently, only a few scattered records were published from mainland Italy, Sicily, and mainland Spain ( Schifani and Alicata 2018 ; García et al 2020 ; Schär et al 2020 ; Zara et al 2021 ; Bazzato et al 2022 ; Scupola et al 2022 ). However, a detailed picture of the distribution of A.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Schifani¹,

Alicata²,

Borowiec³

et al. 2023

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There are only two Aphaenogaster species from the subterranea group in the western Mediterranean: A. ichnusa Santschi, 1925, from south-western Europe, and A. subterranea (Latreille, 1798), also occurring in central and eastern Europe. Historically, the two species have been widely misunderstood: A. ichnusa was long considered a Sardinian endemic subspecies of A. subterranea, while its continental populations were misidentified as A. subterranea s. str. Recently, A. ichnusa was elevated to species rank and its worker caste was redescribed with that of A. subterranea, allowing for their correct identification. Yet their distribution was documented in detail only for France and Sardinia. Furthermore, no morphological characters were described to distinguish the males and queens of the two species. By investigating private and museum collections, 276 new records of A. ichnusa are provided here and 154 of A. subterranea from the western Mediterranean. Additionally, qualitative and quantitative morphological characters were combined to identify their males and queens. We present the new southernmost, easternmost, and westernmost distribution limits for A. ichnusa. Based on our results, this species is widely distributed in Italy and Catalonia (Spain), also occurring on several Mediterranean islands, avoiding areas with continental climate and high altitudes. Sicily is the only island to host the less thermophilous A. subterranea, which otherwise extends westward to Galicia (Spain). Sympatric occurrence is not rare along the contact zone. Additional natural history observations are reported regarding foraging habits, associated myrmecophiles, habitat preferences, and colony structure in the two species.

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“… ichnusa based on voucher checked; Seifert 2018 , assuming Central-European records to represent A. subterranea ; Zara et al 2021 ; Bazzato et al 2022 ). Albeit rarely, at least A.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Schifani¹,

Alicata²,

Borowiec³

et al. 2023

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“…Urban greenspaces including parks, gardens, vacant lots and wastelands are habitats for numerous wild species and thus a major source of biodiversity within cities (Dana et al, 2002; Meffert, 2017; Twerd & Banaszak‐Cibicka, 2019; Zara et al, 2021), providing important social and ecological benefits (Kim, 2016). In addition to maintaining biodiversity, greenspaces deliver other important ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycles, water regulation, pest control and pollination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous urban vegetation as an indicator of soil functionality and ecosystem services

Molina

Martín‐Sanz

Martínez

et al. 2023

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions: Our study focused on spontaneous vegetation in urban greenspaces in a Mediterranean city with the aim of relating plant community properties with ecological services along soil disturbance gradients. We asked which plant communities have the greatest plant biodiversity and soil carbon storage and the best-performing nutrient cycles and water regulation. Location: Madrid City (Central Spain).Methods: We studied four types of plant communities following soil disturbance gradients: vegetation on trampled soils, roadside vegetation, annual grasslands and perennial forbs. Regarding vegetation, we studied plant composition and productivity, plant diversity, plant growth forms and functional groups. Regarding soils, we determined soil organic carbon (TOC), available nutrients, the activity of seven enzymes relating to the main macronutrient cycles, and physical properties such as bulk density (BD) and soil water-holding capacity (WHC). We used one-way ANOVA to determine the influence of the plant community type on both soil and vegetation variables.Canonical correspondence analysis was performed to interpret the relationships between plant species assemblages with environmental gradients.Results: Perennial forbs showed greater biomass and developed on soils with the greatest TOC and available phosphorus. Annual grasslands displayed the highest plant diversity. Roadside vegetation developed on soils with higher phenoloxidase activity when compared to vegetation on trampled soils and annual grasslands. Vegetation on trampled soils developed on soils with lower WHC, lower beta-glucosidase, arylamidase and phosphatase activities and higher BD when compared to perennial forbs.Plant community distribution followed gradients most significantly associated with soil organic matter content, soil compaction and nutrient cycling performance. Conclusions:We conclude that plant communities are good indicators of ecosystem function and services which are unevenly distributed throughout urban habitats. The management in Mediterranean unmaintained urban greenspaces should be aimed at avoiding soil compaction to promote biodiversity, carbon storage and water regulation.

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“…This system uses the principles of selective thinning to remove the competitors of selected trees, freeing the crowns of "candidate" plants from competition for light (i.e., a positive selection). It recently proved to be effective in increasing stability and The analysis of the responses of different taxonomic groups to forest management is essential to understand the effects of the latter on biodiversity, and to develop species-based surrogates useful for a sustainable management of forest ecosystems Zara et al, 2021). Nevertheless, the most of the recent studies on monitoring rehabilitation or restoration of pine stands are based on the response of a single taxonomic group, usually vascular plants (Vrška et al, 2016;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The analysis of the responses of different taxonomic groups to forest management is essential to understand the effects of the latter on biodiversity, and to develop species-based surrogates useful for a sustainable management of forest ecosystems Zara et al, 2021). Nevertheless, most of the recent studies on monitoring rehabilitation or restoration of pine stands are based on the response of a single taxonomic group, usually vascular plants (Vrška et al, 2016;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silvicultural management does not affect biotic communities in conifer plantations in the short-term: A multi-taxon assessment using a BACI approach

Maccherini

Salerni

Mocali³

et al. 2021

Forest Ecology and Management

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Cross-taxon relationships in Mediterranean urban ecosystem: A case study from the city of Trieste

Cited by 12 publications

References 105 publications

Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Spontaneous urban vegetation as an indicator of soil functionality and ecosystem services

Silvicultural management does not affect biotic communities in conifer plantations in the short-term: A multi-taxon assessment using a BACI approach

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Cross-taxon relationships in Mediterranean urban ecosystem: A case study from the city of Trieste

Cited by 12 publications

References 105 publications

﻿Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

﻿Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Spontaneous urban vegetation as an indicator of soil functionality and ecosystem services

Silvicultural management does not affect biotic communities in conifer plantations in the short-term: A multi-taxon assessment using a BACI approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)