Soil function assessment in high-mountain environments: Testing the SEPP tool in a ski resort in the Italian Alps

Soil function assessment (SFA) plays an important role in evaluating the impact of management practices, land-use changes and construction work. The Soil Evaluation for Planning Procedures (SEPP) tool is one of the few existing SFA tools that allow automated SFA. It was originally developed to address land-use planning issues, which traditionally play a minor role in high-mountain areas. Hence, the SEPP tool has not yet been applied to such environments. In this study, we tested the SEPP performance on high-mountain soils previously altered by construction work and land-use changes. Specifically, we evaluated soil data from 16 ski runs and 16 paired control sites in the Italian Alps, aiming to reflect land-use-driven differences in soil properties in the SFA results. The study revealed options to adapt SEPP assessment methods if high-mountain soils with special characteristics (e.g. shallowness or high coarse fragment content) are investigated. The main adaptation options are the consideration of further soil parameters and the adjustment of thresholds of function fulfilment levels. However, the assessment results of the current SEPP version already reflect the most relevant impacts of ski run construction on the soils in the study area: fulfilment of some of the soil functions was impaired and that of others improved, while most remained at a comparable level. We conclude that SFA with the SEPP tool provides valuable support for the evaluation of construction projects and land-use change in high-mountain environments. However, the significance of SFA can be improved by considering the intrinsic properties of high-mountain soils.     

Glycerol in ovo feeding as an energy substrate improves performance of broilers from young breeders

Glycerol is one of the substrates used for glycogen production by the chicken embryo, which is the predominant energy source during the last days of incubation and during hatching. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the in ovo feeding (IOF) of glycerol in the light and heavy broiler eggs derived from breeders of two different ages. Two experiments, with 672 eggs each, were carried out. The only difference between the experiments was breeder age: 32 weeks old in Exp. I and 60 weeks old in Exp. II. A completely randomized experimental design in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement was applied. Treatments consisted of three glycerol IOF doses (0, 6, or 12 mg/ml) and two egg weights (light or heavy). Incubation parameters, glycogen reserves and live performance parameters (1–7 days of age) were evaluated. Hatch of fertile eggs, embryo mortality after IOF and the number of early‐hatching chicks were not affected by the treatments in both experiments. Hatchlings from heavy eggs (68.03 ± 0.64 g) laid by young breeders and receiving 6 mg glycerol/ml showed higher liver glycogen levels than those injected with 0 or 12 mg/ml. Glycerol IOF of embryos from young breeders increased feed intake and weight gain at 7 days of age, independently of egg weight. However, different glycerol dosages had no effect on the performance of the progeny of 60‐week‐old breeders. These results show that glycerol may be used as an IOF ingredient without affecting incubation parameters. The chickens from young breeders had greater glycogen deposition with inoculation of 6 mg/ml of glycerol and better performance with glycerol administration. However, glycerol IOF did not improve the performance of the progeny of 60‐week‐old breeders. Therefore, glycogen IOF may be recommended for eggs laid by young breeders.     

Calcium chloride washing of calcareous sediment from a freshwater canal: effect on the removal of potentially toxic elements and water aggregate stability

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Canal dredging and shaping produce considerable amounts of sediments whose reuse on- and off-site depends on their pollution level. This study explores the...     

Diachronic analysis of individual-tree mortality in a Norway spruce stand in the eastern Italian Alps

? Understanding tree mortality processes across time requires long term studies. Spatiotemporal patterns of mortality in a 200 years-old mono-layered Norway spruce stand were evaluated to determine what factors affected individual-tree mortality.

? We performed an analysis on two surveys (1993 and 2005) in a 1-ha permanent plot in the Paneveggio forest (Eastern Italian Alps). Tree diameter and age distribution between surveys were compared. We examined spatial patterns of living and dead trees before 1993, in 1993 and in 2005 using univariate and bivariate Ripley’s K(d) function, and a kernel estimator of local crowding. A logistic model was used to assess the effects of diameter, age, recent growth and competitive pressure on tree mortality.

? Spatial pattern analysis indicated mortality was associated to tree neighbourhood (neighbour effect at 2–5 m). An increment of regularization of tree spatial pattern occurred due to density-dependent mortality. Logistic regression showed tree diameter and recent growth were determinant on mortality risk during the monitoring period.

? Even if the stand is relatively aged, mortality dynamics are those typical of stem exclusion stage. Mortality was related to competitive dynamics, and small suppressed trees with slow growth rate had higher probability to die.

     

Production,Characterization and Biocompatibility of Marine Collagen Matrices from an Alternative and Sustainable Source: The Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Collagen has become a key-molecule in cell culture studies and in the tissue engineering field. Industrially, the principal sources of collagen are calf skin and bones which, however, could be associated to risks of serious disease transmission. In fact, collagen derived from alternative and riskless sources is required, and marine organisms are among the safest and recently exploited ones. Sea urchins possess a circular area of soft tissue surrounding the mouth, the peristomial membrane (PM), mainly composed by mammalian-like collagen. The PM of the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus therefore represents a potential unexploited collagen source, easily obtainable as a food industry waste product. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to extract native collagen fibrils from the PM and produce suitable substrates for in vitro system. The obtained matrices appear as a homogeneous fibrillar network (mean fibril diameter 30–400 nm and mesh < 2 μm) and display remarkable mechanical properties in term of stiffness (146 ± 48 MPa) and viscosity (60.98 ± 52.07 GPa·s). In vitro tests with horse pbMSC show a good biocompatibility in terms of overall cell growth. The obtained results indicate that the sea urchin P. lividus can be a valuable low-cost collagen source for mechanically resistant biomedical devices.     

Infestation potential of Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) in different natural populations of Castanea sativa Miller: an experimental ex situ test

The Asian chestnut gall wasp was accidentally introduced in Italy in 2002 and spread across Europe in the following years, becoming a serious threat for chestnut cultivations and rural economies of many countries. Exploring the variation in susceptibility of the host genetic resources is crucial to face the spreading of this pest. We used an experimental approach for testing the differential susceptibility within and between populations of European chestnut. For doing this, we compared both the infestation level and the rate of immune individuals in trees from populations of Spain, Italy, and Greece. We found that the level of infestation is not significantly different in the different provenances but that a higher rate of immune trees occur in Greece. Our results suggest that two different contingents of trees compose Greek populations: one major group of trees with the same susceptibility as the other populations and a second minor group of trees resistant to gall wasp infestation. Our data lay the basis for improving the currently adopted measures to mitigate gall wasp impacts.     

Furosine: a suitable marker for assessing the freshness of royal jelly

Fifteen commercial samples of royal jelly, consisting of 10 imported samples, and 5 samples of known origin obtained freshly harvested from beekeepers, were analyzed for protein, lysine, and furosine content. In addition, a commercial sample of royal jelly, at the beginning of its commercial shelf life, was stored for 10 months both at 4 degrees C and at room temperature in order to assess the development of the Maillard reaction (furosine) and relative nutritional damage (blocked lysine). The commercial royal jelly products contained different amounts of furosine, ranging from 37.1 to 113.3 mg/100 g protein, evidence of different storage times and conditions. The average furosine content of the royal jelly samples of known origin and harvesting was significantly lower than that of the imported samples (41.7 versus 73.6 mg/100 g protein, respectively). With regard to shelf life, furosine content increased significantly from 72.0 mg/100 g protein to 500.8 mg/100 g protein after 10 months of storage at room temperature, while it increased to a much lower level (100.5 mg/100 g protein) when the royal jelly was stored at 4 degrees C. However, nutritional damage, expressed as blocked lysine (calculated indirectly from the furosine content), was minor or negligible, 11.9 and 2.3% of total lysine, in samples stored at room temperature and at 4 degrees C, respectively. Lysine was determined by an innovative procedure based on high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The results showed that furosine is a suitable index for assessing the quality and freshness of royal jelly.