This corrects the article published on Journal of Limnology 2022;81(s2):2136. The Genbank accessi... more This corrects the article published on Journal of Limnology 2022;81(s2):2136. The Genbank accession numbers in the footnote of Table 1 are incorrect. The correct Table 1 footnote is: “PAN, Panperduto Dam; SL, Somma Lombardo; PV, Pavia; OG, Oglio River; *unique haplotypes, GenBank Acc. No. OQ676377-OQ676381.”
The southern Italian peninsula has been suggested to be an important European district for lampre... more The southern Italian peninsula has been suggested to be an important European district for lampreys’ genetic diversity. All lamprey species ever described throughout the Italian peninsula are protected within European legislation and listed in Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and Annex III of the Bern Convention (82/72/CEE) as species of conservation concern, and the Habitats Directive ensures the designation of “sites of community interest” (SICs) for threatened species. During a survey to collect preliminary data on lampreys’ presence in the Cilento, Vallo di Daino, and Alburni National Park (PNCV) located in the Campania region, where 28 sites of community interest (SICs) have been established by the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), two specimens of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus, Linnaeus, 1758) were detected for the first time. The specimens were genetically characterized through the sequencing of the mtDNA control region locus. The study highlighted the sig...
The Chilean fjord region includes many remote and poorly known areas where management plans for t... more The Chilean fjord region includes many remote and poorly known areas where management plans for the marine living resources and conservation strategies are urgently needed. Few data are available about the spatial distribution of its marine invertebrate fauna, prevalently influenced by complex interactions between biotic and abiotic factors, animal behavior and human activities. Patagonian fjords are a hotspot for finfish aquaculture, elevating Chile to the world's second producer of farmed salmon, after Norway, a condition that emphasizes the necessity to develop strategies for a sustainable aquaculture management. The present study focuses on the emblematic cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus, dwelling the Comau Fjord from shallow to deep waters, with the aim to illustrate population structure, demography and adaptation of the species and its potential use for the development of a sustainable conservation and management plan for human activities. The analyses of microsatell...
RIASSUNTO Studio preliminare della filogenesi del genere Barbus nel fiume Po Il genere Barbus è c... more RIASSUNTO Studio preliminare della filogenesi del genere Barbus nel fiume Po Il genere Barbus è caratterizzato da una complessa struttura tassonomica. Nel distretto ittiogeografico Padano-Veneto sono state identificate due specie autoctone: Barbus caninus, specie prettamente reofila, e Barbus plebejus, reofilo anch’esso, ma distribuito più a valle rispetto al primo; entrambi risultano presenti nel Fiume Po. Al fine di valutare le relazioni filogenetiche di queste due specie di barbo è stato effettuato uno studio preliminare tramite il sequenziamento del gene del citocromo b (1103 pb) del DNA mitocondriale. Gli alberi filogenetici ottenuti sono stati integrati e confrontati con i dati molecolari disponibili in GenBank.
Two fluviolacustrine lineages (SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus) of the Barbus genus have been recently ... more Two fluviolacustrine lineages (SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus) of the Barbus genus have been recently detected in the Apulia-Campania ichthyogeographic district (southern Italy). The aim of this study was to solve the taxonomic structure of these lineages by comparing them with the two already established Italian fluviolacustrine species B. plebejus and B. tyberinus through a more in depth molecular and morphological investigation. Genetic analyses were performed on both mitochondrial (Cytochrome b) and nuclear (Growth hormone paralog 2) DNA markers, and morphological analyses were carried out on specific age classes and purebred populations. Molecular analyses provided evidence of four evolutionary lineages at mitochondrial level within the Italian fluviolacustrine group, while nuclear dataset highlighted the strict evolutionary relation between B. plebejus sensu stricto and the new lineages, converged in the B. plebejus complex clade. The morphological analyses allowed to discriminate SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus from both B. plebejus and B. tyberinus. The new taxa differed for the greatest maximum body height and the longest pre-orbital distance respectively. Both the new lineages have longer ventral and pectoral fins than B. plebejus and B. tyberinus, a larger caudal fin than B. tyberinus and a lower number of scales along the lateral line than B. plebejus. Both molecular and morphological results allowed to consider the two southern Italian endemic lineages as distinct species. The formal description of the new species Barbus samniticus sp. nov. (i.e., SI1 Barbus) and the revalidation of Barbus fucini Costa, 1853 (i.e., SI2 Barbus) were thus proposed and, for both species, molecular and morphological diagnosis were provided. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Sediment flushing is currently performed to recover the storage capacity of small‐sized to medium... more Sediment flushing is currently performed to recover the storage capacity of small‐sized to medium‐sized reservoirs. However, its environmental impacts are not yet adequately quantified. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of a 3‐day sediment flushing from a small reservoir in the Italian Alps on downstream freshwater fauna. Biomonitoring was carried out in two streams. In the impounded stream, benthic macroinvertebrates were surveyed immediately below the flushed reservoir. In the receiving stream, where diluting flows were released to reduce the sediment concentration and deposition, fish and macroinvertebrates were monitored at two sites, one above and one below the stream junction. Above the stream junction, the only disturbance was the increase in streamflow, while the reach below the stream junction was perturbed by the increase in both streamflow and sediment load. At the site closer to the flushed reservoir, the benthic community was almost completely impaired after the o...
The Chilean Patagonia is a complex puzzle of numerous fjords, channels, bays, estuaries, and isla... more The Chilean Patagonia is a complex puzzle of numerous fjords, channels, bays, estuaries, and islands. The largest part of it is very remote, hampering the generation of scientific knowledge and effective management planning that could balance conservation of the marine resources with the increasing development of aquaculture activities. The present study focuses on the deep-water emergent cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus, dwelling in Chilean Patagonia, with the aim to illustrate its population genetic structure, demography and adaptation of the species along this coast. Microsatellite loci analysis included D. dianthus individuals from twelve sampling localities along bathymetric and oceanographic gradients from the latitude 40°S to 48°S. The results showed a lack of genetic structure with an asymmetric dispersion of individuals, and relevant heterozygosity deficiency in some populations. This study also analyses the natural and human impacts affecting the region (e.g., climat...
Local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can lead to environment-related morphological and gene... more Local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can lead to environment-related morphological and genetic variations in freshwater fish. Studying the responses of fish to environmental changes is crucial to understand their vulnerability to human-induced changes. Here, we used a latitudinal gradient as a proxy for past and present environmental factors and tested its influences on both genetic and morphological patterns. We selected as a suitable biogeographic model, the barbels, which inhabit 17 Adriatic basins of the central-southern Italian Peninsula, and explored association among attributes from genetic, morphological, and environmental analyses. The analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region evidenced a southward significant increase in the number of private haplotypes, supporting the isolation of the southernmost populations related to the Mio-Pleistocene events. In contrast, morphology was mainly affected by changes in the present environmental conditions. Particularly, the...
We provide a molecular study on peripheral populations of three closely related species of Africa... more We provide a molecular study on peripheral populations of three closely related species of African forest-dependent greenbuls: the generalist Eurillas latirostris and the specialists Phyllastrephus cabanisi and Arizelocichla nigriceps. These species co-occur within their range limits in the Kenyan Afromontane forest, Cherangani Hills. This forest has experienced drastic deforestation, which began about 50years ago, that is causing habitat fragmentation. The aims of this study, using the analyses of molecular tools, are twofold: (i) to provide evidence that functional traits (i.e., ecological attributes) may shape different genetic structure in peripheral populations and (ii) to identify the possible effects of forest fragmentation. Blood and plucked feathers were sampled from a total of 124 birds analysed using two molecular approaches: (i) sequencing of cytochrome b mtDNA and (ii) genotyping nuclear DNA at eight microsatellite loci. Molecular diversity indices, minimum spanning network and mismatch distribution analysis of mtDNA results indicated that the peripheral populations showed different demographic trends: a highly variable and bimodal pattern in forest specialist P.cabanisi, a less variable and unimodal pattern in forest generalist E.latirostris and in the montane specialist A.nigriceps. Although this is a pilot study on the Cherangani forest fragmentation, the nuclear results may not exclude the hypothesis of reduced connectivity in all forest-dependent greenbuls.Resume Nous apportons une etude moleculaire des populations peripheriques de trois especes de bulbuls etroitement liees, dependantes de la foret africaine: l'espece generaliste Eurillas latirostris et les especes specialistes Phyllastrephus cabanisi et Arizelocichla nigriceps. Ces especes coexistent, au sein de leur aire de repartition, dans la foret afromontagnarde kenyane des Cherangani Hills. Cette foret subit une deforestation dramatique, qui a commence il y a quelque 50ans et qui provoque une fragmentation de l'habitat. Le but de cette etude, qui utilise une analyse d'outils moleculaires, est double: i) apporter la preuve que des caracteristiques fonctionnelles (c. a d. ecologiques) peuvent modeler differentes structures genetiques dans des populations peripheriques et ii) identifier les effets possibles de la fragmentation forestiere. Du sang et des plumes ont ete preleves sur un total de 124 oiseaux analyses suivant deux approches moleculaires: 1) le sequencage de l'ADN mitochondrial (cytochromeb) et 2) le dechiffrage du genotype de l'ADN nucleaire de huit loci microsatellites. Les resultats des Indices de diversite moleculaire, du Reseau de recouvrement minimum, et de l'Analyse des ecarts de la distribution de l'ADNmt ont montre que les populations peripheriques presentaient des tendances demographiques differentes: un schema tres variable et bimodal chez l'espece specialiste de la foret P. cabanisi, un schema moins variable et unimodal chez la generaliste de la foret E.latirostris et chez la specialiste de montagne A. nigriceps. Bien que ceci soit une etude pilote de la fragmentation de la foret de Cherangani, les resultats nucleaires ne permettent pas d'exclure l'hypothese d'une connectivite reduite entre tous les bulbuls dependant de la foret
This corrects the article published on Journal of Limnology 2022;81(s2):2136. The Genbank accessi... more This corrects the article published on Journal of Limnology 2022;81(s2):2136. The Genbank accession numbers in the footnote of Table 1 are incorrect. The correct Table 1 footnote is: “PAN, Panperduto Dam; SL, Somma Lombardo; PV, Pavia; OG, Oglio River; *unique haplotypes, GenBank Acc. No. OQ676377-OQ676381.”
The southern Italian peninsula has been suggested to be an important European district for lampre... more The southern Italian peninsula has been suggested to be an important European district for lampreys’ genetic diversity. All lamprey species ever described throughout the Italian peninsula are protected within European legislation and listed in Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and Annex III of the Bern Convention (82/72/CEE) as species of conservation concern, and the Habitats Directive ensures the designation of “sites of community interest” (SICs) for threatened species. During a survey to collect preliminary data on lampreys’ presence in the Cilento, Vallo di Daino, and Alburni National Park (PNCV) located in the Campania region, where 28 sites of community interest (SICs) have been established by the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), two specimens of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus, Linnaeus, 1758) were detected for the first time. The specimens were genetically characterized through the sequencing of the mtDNA control region locus. The study highlighted the sig...
The Chilean fjord region includes many remote and poorly known areas where management plans for t... more The Chilean fjord region includes many remote and poorly known areas where management plans for the marine living resources and conservation strategies are urgently needed. Few data are available about the spatial distribution of its marine invertebrate fauna, prevalently influenced by complex interactions between biotic and abiotic factors, animal behavior and human activities. Patagonian fjords are a hotspot for finfish aquaculture, elevating Chile to the world's second producer of farmed salmon, after Norway, a condition that emphasizes the necessity to develop strategies for a sustainable aquaculture management. The present study focuses on the emblematic cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus, dwelling the Comau Fjord from shallow to deep waters, with the aim to illustrate population structure, demography and adaptation of the species and its potential use for the development of a sustainable conservation and management plan for human activities. The analyses of microsatell...
RIASSUNTO Studio preliminare della filogenesi del genere Barbus nel fiume Po Il genere Barbus è c... more RIASSUNTO Studio preliminare della filogenesi del genere Barbus nel fiume Po Il genere Barbus è caratterizzato da una complessa struttura tassonomica. Nel distretto ittiogeografico Padano-Veneto sono state identificate due specie autoctone: Barbus caninus, specie prettamente reofila, e Barbus plebejus, reofilo anch’esso, ma distribuito più a valle rispetto al primo; entrambi risultano presenti nel Fiume Po. Al fine di valutare le relazioni filogenetiche di queste due specie di barbo è stato effettuato uno studio preliminare tramite il sequenziamento del gene del citocromo b (1103 pb) del DNA mitocondriale. Gli alberi filogenetici ottenuti sono stati integrati e confrontati con i dati molecolari disponibili in GenBank.
Two fluviolacustrine lineages (SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus) of the Barbus genus have been recently ... more Two fluviolacustrine lineages (SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus) of the Barbus genus have been recently detected in the Apulia-Campania ichthyogeographic district (southern Italy). The aim of this study was to solve the taxonomic structure of these lineages by comparing them with the two already established Italian fluviolacustrine species B. plebejus and B. tyberinus through a more in depth molecular and morphological investigation. Genetic analyses were performed on both mitochondrial (Cytochrome b) and nuclear (Growth hormone paralog 2) DNA markers, and morphological analyses were carried out on specific age classes and purebred populations. Molecular analyses provided evidence of four evolutionary lineages at mitochondrial level within the Italian fluviolacustrine group, while nuclear dataset highlighted the strict evolutionary relation between B. plebejus sensu stricto and the new lineages, converged in the B. plebejus complex clade. The morphological analyses allowed to discriminate SI1 Barbus and SI2 Barbus from both B. plebejus and B. tyberinus. The new taxa differed for the greatest maximum body height and the longest pre-orbital distance respectively. Both the new lineages have longer ventral and pectoral fins than B. plebejus and B. tyberinus, a larger caudal fin than B. tyberinus and a lower number of scales along the lateral line than B. plebejus. Both molecular and morphological results allowed to consider the two southern Italian endemic lineages as distinct species. The formal description of the new species Barbus samniticus sp. nov. (i.e., SI1 Barbus) and the revalidation of Barbus fucini Costa, 1853 (i.e., SI2 Barbus) were thus proposed and, for both species, molecular and morphological diagnosis were provided. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Sediment flushing is currently performed to recover the storage capacity of small‐sized to medium... more Sediment flushing is currently performed to recover the storage capacity of small‐sized to medium‐sized reservoirs. However, its environmental impacts are not yet adequately quantified. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of a 3‐day sediment flushing from a small reservoir in the Italian Alps on downstream freshwater fauna. Biomonitoring was carried out in two streams. In the impounded stream, benthic macroinvertebrates were surveyed immediately below the flushed reservoir. In the receiving stream, where diluting flows were released to reduce the sediment concentration and deposition, fish and macroinvertebrates were monitored at two sites, one above and one below the stream junction. Above the stream junction, the only disturbance was the increase in streamflow, while the reach below the stream junction was perturbed by the increase in both streamflow and sediment load. At the site closer to the flushed reservoir, the benthic community was almost completely impaired after the o...
The Chilean Patagonia is a complex puzzle of numerous fjords, channels, bays, estuaries, and isla... more The Chilean Patagonia is a complex puzzle of numerous fjords, channels, bays, estuaries, and islands. The largest part of it is very remote, hampering the generation of scientific knowledge and effective management planning that could balance conservation of the marine resources with the increasing development of aquaculture activities. The present study focuses on the deep-water emergent cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus, dwelling in Chilean Patagonia, with the aim to illustrate its population genetic structure, demography and adaptation of the species along this coast. Microsatellite loci analysis included D. dianthus individuals from twelve sampling localities along bathymetric and oceanographic gradients from the latitude 40°S to 48°S. The results showed a lack of genetic structure with an asymmetric dispersion of individuals, and relevant heterozygosity deficiency in some populations. This study also analyses the natural and human impacts affecting the region (e.g., climat...
Local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can lead to environment-related morphological and gene... more Local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can lead to environment-related morphological and genetic variations in freshwater fish. Studying the responses of fish to environmental changes is crucial to understand their vulnerability to human-induced changes. Here, we used a latitudinal gradient as a proxy for past and present environmental factors and tested its influences on both genetic and morphological patterns. We selected as a suitable biogeographic model, the barbels, which inhabit 17 Adriatic basins of the central-southern Italian Peninsula, and explored association among attributes from genetic, morphological, and environmental analyses. The analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region evidenced a southward significant increase in the number of private haplotypes, supporting the isolation of the southernmost populations related to the Mio-Pleistocene events. In contrast, morphology was mainly affected by changes in the present environmental conditions. Particularly, the...
We provide a molecular study on peripheral populations of three closely related species of Africa... more We provide a molecular study on peripheral populations of three closely related species of African forest-dependent greenbuls: the generalist Eurillas latirostris and the specialists Phyllastrephus cabanisi and Arizelocichla nigriceps. These species co-occur within their range limits in the Kenyan Afromontane forest, Cherangani Hills. This forest has experienced drastic deforestation, which began about 50years ago, that is causing habitat fragmentation. The aims of this study, using the analyses of molecular tools, are twofold: (i) to provide evidence that functional traits (i.e., ecological attributes) may shape different genetic structure in peripheral populations and (ii) to identify the possible effects of forest fragmentation. Blood and plucked feathers were sampled from a total of 124 birds analysed using two molecular approaches: (i) sequencing of cytochrome b mtDNA and (ii) genotyping nuclear DNA at eight microsatellite loci. Molecular diversity indices, minimum spanning network and mismatch distribution analysis of mtDNA results indicated that the peripheral populations showed different demographic trends: a highly variable and bimodal pattern in forest specialist P.cabanisi, a less variable and unimodal pattern in forest generalist E.latirostris and in the montane specialist A.nigriceps. Although this is a pilot study on the Cherangani forest fragmentation, the nuclear results may not exclude the hypothesis of reduced connectivity in all forest-dependent greenbuls.Resume Nous apportons une etude moleculaire des populations peripheriques de trois especes de bulbuls etroitement liees, dependantes de la foret africaine: l'espece generaliste Eurillas latirostris et les especes specialistes Phyllastrephus cabanisi et Arizelocichla nigriceps. Ces especes coexistent, au sein de leur aire de repartition, dans la foret afromontagnarde kenyane des Cherangani Hills. Cette foret subit une deforestation dramatique, qui a commence il y a quelque 50ans et qui provoque une fragmentation de l'habitat. Le but de cette etude, qui utilise une analyse d'outils moleculaires, est double: i) apporter la preuve que des caracteristiques fonctionnelles (c. a d. ecologiques) peuvent modeler differentes structures genetiques dans des populations peripheriques et ii) identifier les effets possibles de la fragmentation forestiere. Du sang et des plumes ont ete preleves sur un total de 124 oiseaux analyses suivant deux approches moleculaires: 1) le sequencage de l'ADN mitochondrial (cytochromeb) et 2) le dechiffrage du genotype de l'ADN nucleaire de huit loci microsatellites. Les resultats des Indices de diversite moleculaire, du Reseau de recouvrement minimum, et de l'Analyse des ecarts de la distribution de l'ADNmt ont montre que les populations peripheriques presentaient des tendances demographiques differentes: un schema tres variable et bimodal chez l'espece specialiste de la foret P. cabanisi, un schema moins variable et unimodal chez la generaliste de la foret E.latirostris et chez la specialiste de montagne A. nigriceps. Bien que ceci soit une etude pilote de la fragmentation de la foret de Cherangani, les resultats nucleaires ne permettent pas d'exclure l'hypothese d'une connectivite reduite entre tous les bulbuls dependant de la foret
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