•Key biodiversity parameters by EFTs enable question-driven monitoring in SFM.•Data are interpreted taking into account ecological differences between EFTs.•Forest area dominated by native vs. ...introduced tree species is tracked over time.•Baselines calibrated to EFTs allow to monitor progress in biodiversity conservation.
Since 2003 the MCPFE-Forest Europe process has adopted a set of Pan-European Indicators that has become a policy instrument to monitor, evaluate and report progress towards sustainable forest management (SFM). Two new experimental tools have been introduced in the framework of the «State of Forests and Sustainable Forest Management in Europe 2011»: (i) pilot reporting by 14 classes of European Forest Types (EFTs) for a selection of quantitative SFM indicators; (ii) key parameters for monitoring progress for all quantitative indicators.
The main aim of this paper is to discuss whether reporting by EFTs of key forest biodiversity-related parameters can improve the way forest biodiversity conservation policy targets are addressed and evaluated in Europe. Accordingly, data on SFM indicators for a sample of European countries (ranging from 6 to 28, depending on indicators) have been processed and analyzed in a pilot study using a question-driven approach, so that information from monitoring could direct policy action.
The main findings show that:
–forest area has been significantly increasing (>0.2% per year) in the period 2000–2010; however, annual changes in forest cover by EFTs reveal a polyedric picture at country level, in terms of gain and loss of forest habitat dominated by native and introduced tree species;
–old even aged forests (>140 yrs) are fairly consistent (>5%) only in a few countries and limited to specific EFTs;
–in naturally species-poor EFTs (e.g. Boreal forest, Alpine coniferous forest, Broadleaved evergreen forest) single species stands cover from 15–100% of the total area, while in species rich EFTs (e.g. Mesophytic deciduous forest, Thermophilous deciduous forest) the maximum share of single species is in the order of 30%;
–deadwood amount ranges from 9 to 26 m3ha−1, a value which is however far below natural reference values found in European old growth forests (160 m3 ha−1).
Findings from this test demonstrate that reporting of key forest biodiversity-related parameters by EFTs enables question-driven monitoring in many ways: (i) reporting by EFTs helps to interpret the variability in the values taken by the indicators explicitly considering ecological differences between EFTs; (ii) temporal trends in forest area can be interpreted in terms of expansion or loss of forest habitats dominated by native and introduced tree species; (iii) progress in implementing biodiversity friendly strategies (e.g. increasing share of old even aged forests, promotion of multispecies stands and accumulation of deadwood) can be quantitatively evaluated against baselines.
Discovered in late 1960, azoles are heterocyclic compounds class which constitute the largest group of available antifungal drugs. Particularly, the imidazole ring is the chemical component that ...confers activity to azoles. Triazoles are obtained by a slight modification of this ring and similar or improved activities as well as less adverse effects are reported for triazole derivatives. Consequently, it is not surprising that benzimidazole/benzotriazole derivatives have been found to be biologically active. Since benzimidazole has been widely investigated, this review is focused on defining the place of benzotriazole derivatives in biomedical research, highlighting their versatile biological properties, the mode of action and Structure Activity Relationship (SAR) studies for a variety of antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and even antitumor, choleretic, cholesterol-lowering agents.
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•We report the versatile biological properties of benzotriazole derivatives.•Benzotriazole is evaluated as lonely pharmacophore or fused in polycyclic systems.•Benzotriazole is often used as bioisosteric replacement of some triazolic systems.•Fusion of benzotriazole with quinolones modified their drug mode of action.•Benzotriazol acrylonitriles demonstrated a potent tubulin inhibition.
Every year approximately half a million hectares of land are burned by wildfires in southern Europe, causing large ecological and socio-economic impacts. Climate and land use changes in the last ...decades have increased fire risk and danger. In this paper we review the available scientific knowledge on the relationships between landscape and wildfires in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on its application for defining landscape management guidelines and policies that could be adopted in order to promote landscapes with lower fire hazard. The main findings are that (1) socio-economic drivers have favoured land cover changes contributing to increasing fire hazard in the last decades, (2) large wildfires are becoming more frequent, (3) increased fire frequency is promoting homogeneous landscapes covered by fire-prone shrublands; (4) landscape planning to reduce fuel loads may be successful only if fire weather conditions are not extreme. The challenges to address these problems and the policy and landscape management responses that should be adopted are discussed, along with major knowledge gaps.
► We reviewed landscape–wildfire relationships in Southern Europe. ► Recent land cover changes contributed to increase fire hazard in the last decades. ► Large wildfires are becoming more frequent. ► Increased fire frequency is creating landscapes covered by fire-prone shrublands. ► Landscape planning to reduce fire hazard works only if fire weather is not extreme.
Abstract
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are one of the most relevant phenomena for space weather. Moreover, CMEs can negatively affect essential services and facilities. Therefore, to protect society, ...we require well-grounded knowledge of the physics that governs the propagation of CMEs from near the Sun to the orbit of Earth. In this work, we deduce expressions to approximate the main forces that affect the dynamic coupling between CMEs and the surrounding solar wind. Therefore, we explore the CME–solar wind dynamic coupling from a magnetohydrodynamic perspective, which, combined with a few reasonable assumptions, allows us to obtain expressions for the thermal and magnetic pressure forces, viscous and dynamic drag, and gravity. We simultaneously use our expressions to compute the trajectories of 34 Earth-directed CMEs. Our results, which are compared with in situ data, show significant quantitative consistency; our synthetic transits closely mimic their in situ observed counterparts. We conclude from our results that magnetic, thermal, and dynamic drag significantly surpass the other forces such as dynamic agents of CMEs in the interplanetary medium. In addition, we find that the initial relative speed of CMEs and solar wind is a determinant factor for the dynamic behavior of CMEs. In other words, subsonic CMEs are initially mostly affected by magnetic and thermal pressure forces, whereas super-magnetosonic CMEs are initially governed by inertial drag.
Stream interaction regions (SIRs) dominate the large‐scale solar wind dynamics during the minimum of the solar cycle. The interaction of SIRs with the magnetosphere causes most of geomagnetic storms ...during this epoch. We used in‐situ solar wind observations at 1 AU to study 62 SIRs detected in the interval 2007–2008 (minimum of cycle 23) and 61 SIRs in the interval 2018–2019 (minimum of cycle 24). We compared distinct characteristics of SIRs, such as the solar wind streams velocities, the presence of forward and/or reverse shocks (RS), SIR radial widths, the relative position of the stream interface within the SIRs, SIR latitudinal orientation, and the geoeffectiveness. There were more geomagnetic storms driven by SIRs in cycle 23 than in cycle 24. The pattern of fast solar wind streams in cycle 23 tended to be faster than in cycle 24. We found more SIRs with RS in cycle 23 than in cycle 24. For the geoeffective SIRs, the momentum flows from the fast solar wind to the slow solar wind, as well as their stream interface is closer to the SIR front. Coronal holes associated with SIRs registered in cycle 23 tended to be wider in longitude near the solar equator and/or at midlatitudes. We did not find a clear relation between the geoeffectiveness of the SIRs and their latitudinal inclinations.
Key Points
Stream interaction regions at 1 AU had different characteristics in solar cycle minimum 23 and 24
We found differences in their patterns of solar wind streams, the presence of shock waves, and the relative position of their stream interface
Stream interaction regions were more geoeffective in the minimum of solar cycle 23 than in the minimum of cycle 24
In recent history, both a growing awareness of how scientific and societal uncertainty impacts management decisions and of the intrinsic value of nature have suggested new approaches to forest ...management, with a growing debate in forest science over the need for a paradigmatic shift from the classic conventional world view, based on determinism, predictability, and output-oriented management, towards a world view that has roots in complex adaptive systems theory and is consistent with a nature-based ethic. A conceptual framework under this context is provided by systemic silviculture. In this discussion, we analyze how this approach can be linked to three fundamental moments of the history of forestry and forest science: the Dauerwald theory, Gurnaud's control method, and the origins of environmental ethics. Relationships with the recent history of forest management science and current research perspectives are also highlighted.
Land take due to urbanization triggers a series of negative environmental impacts with direct effects on quality of life for people living in cities. Changes in ecosystem services are associated with ...land take, among which is the immediate C loss due to land use conversion. Land use change monitoring represents the first step in quantifying land take and its drivers and impacts. To this end, we propose an innovative methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on ecosystem services (in particular, C loss) under multi-scale contexts. The devised approach was tested in two areas with similar sizes, but different land take levels during the time-span 1990–2008 in Central Italy (the Province of Rome and the Molise Region). The estimates of total coverage of built up areas were calculated using point sampling. The area of the urban patches including each sampling point classified as built up areas in the year 1990 and/or in the year 2008 is used to estimate total abundance and average area of built up areas. Biophysical and economic values for carbon loss associated with land take were calculated using InVEST.
Although land take was 7–8 times higher in the Province of Rome (from 15.1% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2008) than in Molise region, our findings show that its relative impact on C storage is higher in the latter, where the urban growth consistently affects not only croplands but also semi-natural land uses such as grasslands and other wooded lands. The total C loss due to land take has been estimated in 1.6millionMg C, corresponding to almost 355 million €.
Finally, the paper discusses the main characteristics of urban growth and their ecological impact leading to risks and challenges for future urban planning and land use policies.
•We tested a new methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on C storage.•The ecological impact of urban growth derives from the previous land use.•C loss increases with the naturalness of the territory.•Different urban assets may imply different forms of land take containment.
Right ventricular (RV) functional reserve affects functional capacity and prognosis in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PAH associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-PAH) has a ...substantially worse prognosis than idiopathic PAH (IPAH), even though many measures of resting RV function and pulmonary vascular load are similar. We therefore tested the hypothesis that RV functional reserve is depressed in SSc-PAH patients.
RV pressure-volume relations were prospectively measured in IPAH (n=9) and SSc-PAH (n=15) patients at rest and during incremental atrial pacing or supine bicycle ergometry. Systolic and lusitropic function increased at faster heart rates in IPAH patients, but were markedly blunted in SSc-PAH. The recirculation fraction, which indexes intracellular calcium recycling, was also depressed in SSc-PAH (0.32±0.05 versus 0.50±0.05; P=0.039). At matched exercise (25 W), SSc-PAH patients did not augment contractility (end-systolic elastance) whereas IPAH did (P<0.001). RV afterload assessed by effective arterial elastance rose similarly in both groups; thus, ventricular-vascular coupling declined in SSc-PAH. Both end-systolic and end-diastolic RV volumes increased in SSc-PAH patients to offset contractile deficits, whereas chamber dilation was absent in IPAH (+37±10% versus +1±8%, P=0.004, and +19±4% versus -1±6%, P<0.001, respectively). Exercise-associated RV dilation also strongly correlated with resting ventricular-vascular coupling in a larger cohort.
RV contractile reserve is depressed in SSc-PAH versus IPAH subjects, associated with reduced calcium recycling. During exercise, this results in ventricular-pulmonary vascular uncoupling and acute RV dilation. RV dilation during exercise can predict adverse ventricular-vascular coupling in PAH patients.
Scleroderma-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) is a rare disease characterized by a very dismal response to therapy and poor survival. We assessed the effects of up-front ...combination PAH therapy in patients with SSc-PAH.
In this prospective, multicenter, open-label trial, 24 treatment-naive patients with SSc-PAH received ambrisentan 10 mg and tadalafil 40 mg daily for 36 weeks. Functional, hemodynamic, and imaging (cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiography) assessments at baseline and 36 weeks included changes in right ventricular (RV) mass and pulmonary vascular resistance as co-primary endpoints and stroke volume/pulmonary pulse pressure ratio, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, 6-minute walk distance, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide as secondary endpoints.
At 36 weeks, we found that treatment had resulted in significant reductions in median (interquartile range IQR) RV mass (28.0 g IQR, 20.6-32.9 vs. 32.5 g IQR, 23.2-41.4; P < 0.05) and median pulmonary vascular resistance (3.1 Wood units IQR, 2.0-5.7 vs. 6.9 Wood units IQR, 4.0-12.9; P < 0.0001) and in improvements in median stroke volume/pulmonary pulse pressure ratio (2.6 ml/mm Hg IQR, 1.8-3.5 vs. 1.4 ml/mm Hg IQR 8.9-2.4; P < 0.0001) and mean ( ± SD) tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (2.2 ± 0.12 cm vs. 1.65 ± 0.11 cm; P < 0.0001), 6-minute walk distance (395 ± 99 m vs. 343 ± 131 m; P = 0.001), and serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (647 ± 1,127 pg/ml vs. 1,578 ± 2,647 pg/ml; P < 0.05).
Up-front combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil significantly improved hemodynamics, RV structure and function, and functional status in treatment-naive patients with SSc-PAH and may represent a very effective therapy for this patient population. In addition, we identified novel hemodynamic and imaging biomarkers that could have potential value in future clinical trials. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01042158).
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