			Home About us Contact

Northern Sardinia (northern + sardinia)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

Deformation during exhumation of medium- and high-grade metamorphic rocks in the Variscan chain in northern Sardinia (Italy)

GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009
Rodolfo Carosi
Abstract The Anglona and SW Gallura regions represent key places to investigate the tectonic evolution of medium- and high-grade metamorphic rocks cropping out in northern Sardinia (Italy). From south to north we distinguish two different metamorphic complexes recording similar deformation histories but different metamorphic evolution: the Medium Grade Metamorphic Complex (MGMC) and the High Grade Metamorphic Complex (HGMC). After the initial collisional stage (D1 deformation phase), both complexes were affected by three contractional deformational phases (D2, D3 and D4) followed by later extensional tectonics. The D2 deformation phase was the most significant event producing an important deformation partitioning that produced localized shearing and folding domains at the boundary between the two metamorphic complexes. We highlight the presence of two previously undocumented systems of shear belts with different kinematics but analogous orientation in the axial zone of Sardinia. They became active at the boundary between the MGMC and HGMC from the beginning of D2. They formed a transpressive regime responsible for the exhumation of the medium- and high-grade metamorphic rocks, and overall represent a change from orthogonal to orogen-parallel tectonic transport. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Larval habitats and seasonal abundance of Culicoides biting midges found in association with sheep in northern Sardinia, Italy

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
C. FOXI
Between January 2005 and December 2006, the larval habitats and seasonal abundances of 21 species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) found in association with livestock on a farm in northern Sardinia were studied. Culicoides were collected using two light traps (one placed in a sheep shed and the other near water ponds) and reared from mud collected in and along the margins of a small and a large water pond. The mammalophilic Culicoides imicola Kieffer and Culicoides newsteadi Austen were the most prevalent (>95%) of 20 species in the sheep shed, whereas the ornithophilic Culicoides univittatus Vimmer, Culicoides sahariensis Kieffer, Culicoides festivipennis Kieffer, Culicoides circumscriptus Kieffer and Culicoides cataneii Clastrier were most abundant in the traps set at the ponds (73%) and in 16 species of Culicoides reared from laboratory-maintained mud samples retrieved from three microhabitats (a non-vegetated pond shoreline, 20 cm above a pond shoreline, the shoreline of a secondary, permanently inundated, grass-covered pool). The species reared most abundantly from along the pond shoreline were C. festivipennis, C. circumscriptus and C. sahariensis, whereas those most prevalent at the grassed pool were C. cataneii and C. festivipennis. C. imicola was found to breed preferentially in mud 20 cm above the pond shoreline, whereas C. newsteadi was restricted almost entirely to the grassed pool, which had a high organic matter content. Using the light trap and adult emergence data, the seasonal abundance patterns of the eight species of Culicoides were determined. In general, there was good correspondence between light trap catches and emergence trends. Well-defined emergence peaks indicate four or five generations for C. festivipennis and C. circumscriptus and three generations for C. cataneii, C. newsteadi and Culicoides jumineri Callot & Kremer. The emergence trends for C. imicola and C. sahariensis were unimodal, but, because they stretched over several months, indicated that a number of overlapping generations had occurred. Adults of C. imicola were reared and captured only sporadically in the first half of the year, gradually building to a peak in autumn. Conversely, C. newsteadi was reared throughout the year and displayed three clearly defined peaks (in winter, spring and autumn); captures of C. newsteadi in the light traps peaked in May,June and again to a lesser extent in autumn. In Sardinia the late seasonal peak in the abundance of C. imicola occurs in synchrony with outbreaks of bluetongue (BT) in sheep, which is consistent with earlier findings elsewhere in the Mediterranean basin and in Africa that it is the principal vector of bluetongue virus (BTV). Although the status of C. newsteadi as a vector of BTV is not known, its low-level presence in winter and heightened abundances in spring may provide a pathway along which the virus can overwinter. [source]

The Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals

AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 4 2008
Giuseppe Notarbartolo-di-Sciara
Abstract 1.In February 2002, France, Italy and Monaco agreed to establish an international sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals. The resulting Pelagos Sanctuary encompasses over 87500 km2 of the north-western Mediterranean Sea, extending between south-eastern France, Monaco, north-western Italy and northern Sardinia, and surrounding Corsica and the Tuscan Archipelago. 2.The Pelagos Sanctuary illustrates how the tenets of Marine Protected Area (MPA) design can be reconciled with the dynamic nature of oceanic systems, because its spatial scale was defined by oceanographic and ecological considerations, specifically the location of the Ligurian permanent frontal system. 3.By expanding protective measures beyond national waters, the Pelagos Sanctuary also sets a precedent for the implementation of pelagic protected areas in the high seas. The Pelagos Sanctuary will contribute to the conservation of the Mediterranean Sea at two scales: (i) locally, by protecting important cetacean foraging and breeding grounds in the Ligurian Sea, and by providing ,umbrella' protection to other marine predators in this area; and (ii) regionally, by empowering other conservation measures, such as the Specially Protected Areas Protocol of the Barcelona Convention and the wider goals of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black and Mediterranean Seas (ACCOBAMS). 4.However, because few cetacean species are resident within the Sanctuary, their effective long-term conservation will require large-scale management and coordinated monitoring throughout the Mediterranean basin. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]