Small islands

SUMMARYProtected areas (PAs) have been selected using either subjective or objective criteria applied to an extremely limited subset of biodiversity. Improved availability of species distribution data, better statistical tools to predict species distributions and algorithms to optimize spatial conservation planning allow many impediments to be overcome, particularly on small islands. This study analyses whether 219 species are adequately protected by PAs on Pico Island (the Azores, Portugal), and if they are as efficient as possible, maximizing species protection while minimizing costs. We performed distribution modelling of species’ potential distributions, proposed individual conservation targets (considering the context of each species in the archipelago and their current conservation status) to determine the efficiency of current PAs in meeting such targets and identify alternative or complementary areas relevant for conservation. Results showed that current PAs do not cover all...

In the present study, human figure drawings (HFDs) of 47 highly gifted children and 73 non-gifted children aged 7 to 9 years were examined. The Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHDT) and Naglieri’s Draw a Person: A Quantitative Scoring System (DAP:QSS) were used. None of the instruments showed significant differences in drawing-IQ between the two groups of children. However, closer examination showed that different items were present in the HFDs of highly gifted and non-gifted children. Out of 135 found items, 30 items were considered to be ‘exceptional’ and a possible indicator for giftedness. These findings suggest that analyzing HFDs on item level may be more helpful in identifying highly gifted children than computing drawing-IQs.

Climate change, primarily driven by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial emissions, is having profound and far-reaching effects on the global environment. Among the most significant consequences of this climatic shift are coastal erosion and sea level rise, both of which pose severe threats to ecosystems, human settlements, and infrastructure. Coastal erosion, the process by which coastal land is worn away by natural forces like wave action and currents, is increasingly exacerbated by rising sea levels and intensified storm activity. As global temperatures rise, thermal expansion of seawater and the melting of

K-Ar system dating of phengitic mica is a powerful tool to determine cooling ages of HP?UHP metamorphic rocks. However, discordant ages in a same metamorphic unit have been often reported, particularly from rocks in Alpine-Himalayan type collisional metamorphic belts. For example, UHP-metamorphosed continental crust materials of the Dola Maira massif (western Alps, Italy) show the discrepancy due to the existence of excess argon in metamorphic minerals that has been inherited from the precursor rocks with polyphase metamorphic records. Over the last two decades, we have addressed an excess-argon free hypothesis in oceanic petrogenesis of Pacific-type convergent margins. According to the hypothesis, metamorphosed oceanic materials in Pacific-type HP metamorphic belts with only a monophase metamorphic records do not contain significant amount of excess 40Ar; in other words, the K-Ar system in syn-metamorphic phengitic mica is significantly reset during fluid-induced metamorphic recrys...

For more than a decade climate change has been the focus of much research and analysis. Despite the global implications of the problem the majority of research and analysis has involved researchers from industrialized countries. This paper analyzes how climate change research and analysis is performed in India, a major lesser-industrialized country. We explore the factors that play a role in shaping the capability of India to carry out, and respond to, climate change analyses. We also sketch out the links between national ...

The agenda explain the historical evolution of land uses in São Jorge Island (Azores- Portugal) between 15th-20th century.The economic exploitation of the island space prosecuted itself in simultaneous with his colony, one form to guarantee the auto supplying of the populations. First we assess the capacity of the island territory for different uses based on agronomic analysis and transform these capacities in attractiveness coefficients.Then we design a spatial interaction model with five different sectors which employment can be closely related with surface area, first to five zones in the island and within those zones to small plots of 1 hectare each.Finally we use historical data on population and main export crops in order to calibrate the model for each century. Therefore, based on data on the export crop and on the population it is possible to estimate the different land use of the island for all the sectors and to assess the carrying capacity of the island.

Historically, Sardinia island paid a developmental delay in relation to other Italian regions. Using orthophotos produced by aerial shots of the 1954-55, 1968, 1977 and 2006, was attempted to perform the analysis concerning changes in the landscape and contextual socio-economic changes occurred in the island over the past 55 years. Obiettivi Tali informazioni sono utili sia come ausilio alla pianificazione territoriale ed urbanistica, sia per la valutazione degli attori e dei risultati che i diversi interventi hanno avuto nel breve, medio e soprattutto nel lungo periodo. Inoltre, è auspicabile che questi risultati possano rendere possibile operare con maggiore consapevolezza le nuove scelte strategiche in funzione delle attitudini delle diverse zone ad affrontare, gestire e sviluppare determinate peculiarità o caratteristiche in rapporto alla propria storia e tradizione. Infatti spesso, in passato, sono state utilizzate metodologie di intervento, a sostegno o a supporto della occupa...

Mariella Totaro-Genevois, former professor at Sydney University and in the Department of Romance languages at Monash University, authored this book that poses three research questions:

1. How has Italy conveyed its language and culture to the outside world?";
2. Where does the Italian experience fit into the wider context and changed reality of Europe after unification?;
3.... [W]hat can be learned from the answers to such questions in relation to the Italian experience in Australia?

The author then proceeds to provide detailed responses to these questions.

Aim  We investigated the evolutionary relationships and historical biogeography of two lizard species (Anolis desechensis and Anolis monensis) endemic to small oceanic islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea.Location  Desecheo, Mona and Monito Islands, in the Mona Passage, and Puerto Rico, eastern Caribbean Sea.Methods  We reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of A. desechensis and A. monensis from DNA sequences of two mitochondrial genes using maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference and maximum parsimony methods. The ingroup included species from Puerto Rico (Anolis cooki, Anolis cristatellus), the Bahamas (Anolis scriptus), and the British Virgin Islands (Anolis ernestwilliamsi). We also constructed a median‐joining mutational network to visualize relationships among the haplotypes of A. cooki and A. monensis from Mona and Monito Islands.Results  The three phylogenetic methods suggested the same pattern of relationships. Anolis desechensis nests within A. cristatellus, and is m...

A synthetic and updated overview about the vascular flora and vegetation of the Island of Capo Passero (SE-Sicily) is provided. These data issue from two series of field surveys—the first carried out between 1997 and 2000, and the second between 2005 and 2019 and mostly focused on refining and implementing vegetation data. The current islet’s flora consists of 269 taxa, of which 149 (58%) are annual plants. The Mediterranean species are largely prevailing, 108 (40%) of which have a strictly Mediterranean biogeographical status. The comparison with a species list published in 1919 and updated in 1957 suggest that, despite the overall prevalence of anemochorous taxa, the vertebrate fauna represents an important vector for the plant colonization of the island, while the immigration of myrmechocorous taxa does not compensate the extinction rate. As many as 202 phytosociological relevés, 191 of which issue from original recent field surveys, enabled identifying 12 different plant communi...

The community's extreme perception of volunteerism (97%) for conservation on a small island relates to the limited resources and coastline vulnerability. This probably results in various types of citizen scientists associated with different coastal biodiversity projects. To elucidate these aspects, I explored the public's perception of participation in biodiversity conservation, the citizen science groups and their engagements (including pro le by gender, age, and frequency of activity), as well as the potential ecological drawback of the engagement (primarily involving Independent Citizen Scientists). Results suggest that the public has a high perception of willingness to participate in citizen science (with three Types of Citizen Scientists). Gender prevalence in the participation is evident (suggesting viable options of participation for both genders) while the age and frequency of activities suggest that younger and more active individuals are signi cantly present in one type (Independent Citizen Scientists). Data gathering and public services demonstrate the contribution of citizen science to productive coastal biodiversity engagements on the island, although a potentially misguided activity, is also identi ed. It is emphasized, however, that this does not discourage any type of citizen scientists. This study recommends policy formulation and extended interventions in the island's coastal biodiversity programs.

Abstract: The interaction of Mn with Ge quantum dots (QD), which are bounded by {105} facets, and the strained Ge wetting layer (WL), terminated by a (001) surface, is investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Mn is deposited on the Ge QD and WL surface in sub-monolayer concentrations, and subsequently annealed up to temperature of 400 C. Bonding and surface topography were measured with STM during the annealing process. Mn forms flat islands on the Ge {105} facet, whose shape and position is guided by the ...