Airborne concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor community environments in Italy

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - COVID-19 pandemic raised a debate regarding the role of airborne transmission. Information regarding virus-laden aerosol concentrations is still...     

Respective influence of habitat conditions and management regimes on prealpine calcareous grasslands

The calcareous grasslands of the south-western French Alps have been poorly studied, although they provide suitable habitat for rare plant species and communities. The separate and combined effects on calcareous grassland communities of habitat conditions (lithology, soil moisture) and management regimes (grazing intensity, cutting regime) were studied using constrained ordination techniques (canonical correspondence analysis with variance partitioning). Among the explanatory variables considered, the most important factor determining floristic composition was lithology, which explained 11.9% of floristic variability, followed by grazing intensity (6.0%). Additive effects of management and lithology explained 23.9% of floristic variability. Species niche amplitude was measured by conditional variances of samples along main ordination axes, in order to define adequate conservation management for the rarest short-lived species with narrow niche breadth on both habitat and management gradients.     

Biologic impact on the coastal belt of the province of Venice (Italy,Northern Adriatic Sea): preliminary analysis for the characterization of the bathing water profile

Background, aim and scope  

This paper presents a preliminary study of the water profile with reference to microbiological parameters, required by Directive 2006/07/EC (European Community 2006) concerning the management of bathing water quality, in the coastal belt of the Province of Venice (Italy, Northern Adriatic Sea). A historical database has been implemented with monitoring data for the period 2000–2006 (data on rivers, bathing and marine coastal waters and on the characterization of Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) discharges) from the institutional activity of Veneto Regional Environmental Prevention and Protection Agency (ARPAV). An integrated areal analysis for the microbiological investigation of homogeneous stretches along the coast of the Province of Venice was performed for a preliminary characterization of the bathing water profile considering water quality status and existing pressure sources.     

Balanus amphitrite (Cirripedia: Thoracica) — A potential indicator of fluoride,copper, lead,chromium and mercury in North Adriatic lagoons

The capacity of the barnacle Balanus amphitrite Darwin to accumulate pollutants above ambient levels was examined in two North Adriatic lagoons with respect to fluoride, copper, lead, chromium and mercury. Levels in soft tissues ranged from 138 to 312 ppm (dry weight) for fluoride, 41 to 109 ppm for copper, 7.1 to 11.7 ppm for lead, 2.10 to 3.89 ppm for chromium, and from 0.96 to 1.35 ppm for mercury. The concentration factor was of the order of 10² for fluoride, 10³ for copper, and possibly higher than 10³ for lead, chromium and mercury. The differences of about 2:1 in the fluoride and copper concentrations in the waters of the two lagoons were clearly reflected by the levels in the barnacles. B. amphitrite that had set on experimental panels had levels similar to those found in specimens collected from long-term natural populations as early as 42 days after immersion of the panels. Compared with literature data, the accumulation levels found in B. amphitrite for fluoride were among the highest known for invertebrates; the values for copper and lead were considerable, but exceeded by others published for B. balanoides; the results for chromium and mercury were one order of magnitude lower than values reported for other suspension-feeders or indicator organisms. B. amphitrite appears to possess most of the properties considered essential for a biological indicator. Eventual determination of the response time of the barnacle to changes in environmental level could profitably be carried out utilizing experimental panels.