Ricerc@Sapienza

The PREVIENI project (funded by the Ministry of Environment) investigated the exposure to endocrine disrupters in samples of human population and environmental biota in Italy. The environmental biomonitoring considered two Italian WWF Oasis, with the aim to compare the presence and effects of endocrine disruptors in organisms from two protected natural areas, respectively, upstream and downstream a chemical emission site. Chemical analysis of pollutants' tissue levels was made on tissues from earthworm, barbell, trout, and coot, selected as bioindicator organisms.

The effects of scuba diving activities on coralligenous concretions builders in the Mediterranean Sea are reported for a non-marine protected area (non-MPA). Five erect bryozoan species, which are particularly vulnerable due to their fragile structure, were investigated: Adeonella calveti, Myriapora truncata, Pentapora fascialis, Reteporella grimaldii, and Smittina cervicornis. These species were sampled at frequently and rarely visited diving sites to the maximum depths reachable with the most common recreational diving certifications (i.e., 40 m).

The interest in the ecological role of weed communities within arable fields has increased greatly in recent years. The aim of this work was to provide an original tool for arable land naturalness estimation, based on the many features of plants that colonize crops. Taking account of taxonomic, structural, chorological and ecological features of weed taxa as exoticism, Raunkier life-form and edaphic preference, a new index (Arable Land Naturalness Index – ALNI) was developed, which allowed for an evaluation score to be obtained for a given field.