Texte remanié de : Habilitationsschrift : ? : Universität Bielefeld : 1983. / Index.

Root-yield-1.06 is a major QTL affecting root system architecture (RSA) and other agronomic traits in maize. The effect of this QTL has been evaluated with the development of near isogenic lines (NILs) differing at the QTL position. The objective of this study was to fine map qroot-yield-1.06 by marker-assisted searching for chromosome recombinants in the QTL interval and concurrent root phenotyping in both controlled and field conditions, through successive generations. Complementary approaches such as QTL meta-analysis and RNA-seq were deployed in order to help prioritizing candidate genes within the QTL target region. Using a selected group of genotypes, field based root analysis by ‘shovelomics’ enabled to accurately collect RSA information of adult maize plants. Shovelomics combined with software-assisted root imaging analysis proved to be an informative and relatively highly automated phenotyping protocol. A QTL interval mapping was conducted using a segregating population at the seedling stage grown in controlled environment. Results enabled to narrow down the QTL interval and to identify new polymorphic markers for MAS in field experiments. A collection of homozygous recombinant NILs was developed by screening segregating populations with markers flanking qroot-yield-1.06. A first set of lines from this collection was phenotyped based on the adapted shovelomics protocol. QTL analysis based on these data highlighted an interval of 1.3 Mb as completely linked with the target QTL but, a larger safer interval of 4.1 Mb was selected for further investigations. QTL meta-analysis allows to synthetize information on root QTLs and two mQTLs were identified in the qroot-yield-1.06 interval. Trascriptomics analysis based on RNA-seq data of the two contrasting QTL-NILs, confirmed alternative haplotypes at chromosome bin 1.06. qroot-yield-1.06 has now been delimited to a 4.1-Mb interval, and thanks to the availability of additional untested homozygous recombinant NILs, the potentially achievable mapping resolution at qroot-yield-1.06 is c. 50 kb.

Durum wheat is the second most important wheat species worldwide and the most important crop in several Mediterranean countries including Italy. Durum wheat is primarily grown under rainfed conditions where episodes of drought and heat stress are major factors limiting grain yield. The research presented in this thesis aimed at the identification of traits and genes that underlie root system architecture (RSA) and tolerance to heat stress in durum wheat, in order to eventually contribute to the genetic improvement of this species. In the first two experiments we aimed at the identification of QTLs for root trait architecture at the seedling level by studying a bi-parental population of 176 recombinant inbred lines (from the cross Meridiano x Claudio) and a collection of 183 durum elite accessions. Forty-eight novel QTLs for RSA traits were identified in each of the two experiments, by means of linkage- and association mapping-based QTL analysis, respectively. Important QTLs controlling the angle of root growth in the seedling were identified. In a third experiment, we investigated the phenotypic variation of root anatomical traits by means of microscope-based analysis of root cross sections in 10 elite durum cultivars. The results showed the presence of sizeable genetic variation in aerenchyma-related traits, prompting for additional studies aimed at mapping the QTLs governing such variation and to test the role of aerenchyma in the adaptive response to abiotic stresses. In the fourth experiment, an association mapping experiment for cell membrane stability at the seedling stage (as a proxy trait for heat tolerance) was carried out by means of association mapping. A total of 34 QTLs (including five major ones), were detected. Our study provides information on QTLs for root architecture and heat tolerance which could potentially be considered in durum wheat breeding programs.

Several coralligenous reefs occur in the soft bottoms of the northern Adriatic continental shelf. Mediterranean coralligenous habitats are characterised by high species diversity and are intrinsically valuable for their biological diversity and for the ecological processes they support. The conservation and management of these habitats require quantifying spatial and temporal variability of their benthic assemblages. This PhD thesis aims to give a relevant contribution to the knowledge of the structure and dynamics of the epibenthic assemblages on the coralligenous subtidal reefs occurring in the northern Adriatic Sea. The epibenthic assemblages showed a spatial variation larger compared to temporal changes, with a temporal persistence of reef-forming organisms. Assemblages spatial heterogeneity has been related to morphological features and geographical location of the reefs, together with variation in the hydrological conditions. Manipulative experiments help to understand the ecological processes structuring the benthic assemblages and maintaining their diversity. In this regards a short and long term experiment on colonization patterns of artificial substrata over a 3-year period has been performed in three reefs, corresponding to the three main types of assemblages detected in the previous study. The first colonisers, largely depending by the different larval supply, played a key role in determining the heterogeneity of the assemblages in the early stage of colonisation. Lateral invasion, from the surrounding assemblages, was the driver in structuring the mature assemblages. These complex colonisation dynamics explained the high heterogeneity of the assemblages dwelling on the northern Adriatic biogenic reefs. The buildup of these coralligenous reefs mainly depends by the bioconstruction-erosion processes that has been analysed through a field experiment. Bioconstruction, largely due to serpulid polychaetes, prevailed on erosion processes and occurred at similar rates in all sites. Similarly, the total energy contents in the benthic communities do not differ among sites, despite being provided by different species. Therefore, we can hypothesise that both bioconstruction processes and energetic storage may be limited by the availability of resources. Finally the major contribution of the zoobenthos compared to the phytobenthos to the total energetic content of assemblages suggests that the energy flow in these benthic habitats is primarily supported by planktonic food web trough the filter feeding invertebrates.

Fino ad oggi i servizi sociali hanno offerto interventi e prestazioni di tipo riparatorio, con la frammentazione della domanda e di conseguenza l’individualizzazione dell’offerta. L’obiettivo è quello di svolgere una ricerca esplorativa di studio di casi, avendo come livello di indagine il micro (l’esperienza di attivazione di processi partecipativi nell’ambito dei servizi sociali e sociosanitari in unità ecologiche e non necessariamente in unità amministrative) con la messa a sistema di buone prassi partecipative attraverso la valutazione delle stesse. Questo lavoro ha visto la collaborazione della scrivente con l’Agenzia sociale e sanitaria della regione Emilia Romagna. / Up until today, social services have offered reparatory interventions and activities, which caused fragmentation of requests and therefore individualisation of the offer. The objective of this research is to explore different cases, with a perspective focused on a micro-level i.e. how participatory processes are started in the field of social and social health services in ecological and not necessarily administrative units, through good participatory practices characterised by their own evaluation. This research has been made in collaboration with “Agenzia sociale e sanitaria della regione Emilia Romagna”.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were initially created to protect the living, non-living, cultural and/or historical values from human activities. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992) has set a target of protecting 10% of the coastal and marine areas by 2020, which has led to a rapid increase in the creation of MPAs worldwide. Within this context, there is a growing concern regarding the number of efficient MPAs. One of the main issues is that biological or ecological features of marine species as well as ecosystem processes are not taken into account in MPA design. Deciding criteria for species management requires considerable information collected from a number of sources, including morphometric data, genetic data and distributional data. Morphometric tools are useful to study species taxonomy, or to provide information about the morphological variability, size and growth of the species, which is essential for MPA monitoring. Genetic tools can be use to resolve species taxonomy or population structure, allowing to estimate genetic diversity and connectivity of populations at different temporal and spatial scales. Both morphometric and genetic data used in combination provide a powerful tool that should be considered in MPA assessment. However, the accurate interpretation and the integration of this information into marine spatial planning is specially challenging. The aim of this PhD thesis was to develop a protocol for monitoring Marine Protected Areas by studying the morphology and genetics of two closely limpet species (Patella rustica and Patella caerulea) across MPAs in the Western Mediterranean sea. Overall, the results of this thesis provides support the inclusion of the morphological and genetic tools into management plans, and in the guidelines for the monitoring to improve and/or maintain MPA health and effectiveness.

Canopy-forming seaweeds are worldwide disappearing due to the combined effects of human activities and climate instabilities. Identifying the type and strength of interactions between multiple anthropogenic and natural stressors can help setting achievable management targets for degraded ecosystems and support ecological resilience through local actions. This thesis aimed to understand how algal forests change from extensive to degraded, and what factors can enhance the ability of forests to withstand or recover from stressors. I contributed to a systematic review to infer potential important synergistic stressors interactions driving the loss of canopy-forming seaweeds at a global level. We found that management of excess nutrient levels would provide the greatest opportunity for preventing the shift from canopy to mat-forming algae, because of the higher prevalence of synergistic interactions between nutrient enrichment with other local and global stressors. Then, I focused my attention on fucoid algae of the genus Cystoseira that are the most typical canopy-forming seaweeds in the Mediterranean Sea. I explored which environmental and anthropogenic factors can explain the current status of the intertidal Cystoseira populations. I found that coastal urbanization and nutrient concentration were the factors most related to the status of Cystoseira. Finally, I carried out a series of manipulative field experiments to explore the effects of nutrient enrichment and heat-wave events on intertidal C. compressa. The results showed that C. compressa is sensitive to heat-wave events and that local biodiversity and thermal history of the alga seem to play a role reducing or increasing respectively the impact of such extreme events. I also characterised the epiphytic bacteria associated to the surface of C. compressa and showed their potential influence on the responses of C. compressa to environmental stressors.

Natural systems face pressures exerted by natural physical-chemical forcings and a myriad of co-occurring human stressors that may interact to cause larger than expected effects, thereby presenting a challenge to ecosystem management. This thesis aimed to develop new information that can contribute to reduce the existing knowledge gaps hampering the holistic management of multiple stressors. I undertook a review of the state-of-the-art methods to detect, quantify and predict stressor interactions, identifying techniques that could be applied in this thesis research. Then, I conducted a systematic review of saltmarsh multiple stressor studies in conjunction with a multiple stressor mapping exercise for the study system in order to infer potential important synergistic stressor interactions. This analysis identified key stressors that are affecting the study system, but also pointed to data gaps in terms of driver and pressure data and raised issues for potentially overlooked stressors. Using field mesocosms, I explored how a local stressor (nutrient availability) affects the responses of saltmarsh vegetation to a global stressor (increased inundation) in different soil types. Results indicate that saltmarsh vegetation would be more drastically affected by increased inundation in low than in medium organic matter soils, and especially in estuaries already under high nutrient availability. In another field experiment, I examined the challenges of managing co-occurring and potentially interacting local stressors on saltmarsh vegetation: recreational trampling and smothering by deposition of excess macroalgal wrack due to high nutrient loads. Trampling and wrack prevention had interacting effects, causing non-linear responses of the vegetation to simulated management of these stressors, such that vegetation recovered only in those treatments simulating the combined prevention of both stressors. During this research I detected, using molecular genetic methods, a widespread presence of S. anglica (and to a lesser extent S. townsendii), two previously unrecorded non-native Spartinas in the study areas.

The subject of this work concerns the study of the immigration phenomenon, with emphasis on the aspects related to the integration of an immigrant population in a hosting one. Aim of this work is to show the forecasting ability of a recent finding where the behavior of integration quantifiers was analyzed and investigated with a mathematical model of statistical physics origins (a generalization of the monomer dimer model). After providing a detailed literature review of the model, we show that not only such a model is able to identify the social mechanism that drives a particular integration process, but it also provides correct forecast. The research reported here proves that the proposed model of integration and its forecast framework are simple and effective tools to reduce uncertainties about how integration phenomena emerge and how they are likely to develop in response to increased migration levels in the future.

L’avvento delle Information and Communication Technology (ICT) e successivamente quello di Internet nella sua evoluzione in Web 2.0 caratterizzato dall’insieme di tutte quelle tecnologie e applicazioni che permettono un alto grado di interattività tra utenti, ha portato alla diffusione della percezione di una realtà condivisa attraverso nuove possibilità e modalità di scambio comunicativo e socio-relazionale che hanno prodotto, e stanno tutt’ora producendo, sostanziali cambiamenti sul nostro essere sociali e relazionali. Ci troviamo infatti a vivere in quella che è stata definita la web society (Cipolla, 2013), la società dalla comunicazione in Rete, della socializzazione che vive e si dipana anche attraverso i social media. L’ipotesi generale che ha sostenuto l’intero lavoro qui esposto è che il web partecipi attivamente alla costruzione e al cambiamento delle dinamiche relazionali e sociali che caratterizzano il nostro fare società, attraverso l’offerta di una moltitudine di spazi interattivi mediante cui i soggetti riuscivano a soddisfare, ricercare, coltivare, mantenere ed ampliare le proprie relazioni sociali e affettive. Il lavoro qui esposto, ponendosi in un’ottica esplorativa presenta i risultati di una ricerca che ha permesso di mettere in luce e descrivere il rapporto della popolazione italiana, dai 14 ai 65 anni con internet e le innovazioni tecnologiche, gli stili di navigazione, l’utilizzo dei social network, la penetrazione dell’uso delle nuove tecnologie per svolgere determinate azioni socio-relazionali, ma anche il ruolo di internet all’interno delle relazioni amicali e di quelle sentimentali e le percezioni rispetto al rapporto internet e sessualità umana. Per raggiungere l’obiettivo si è adottata una metodologia mixed e sono stati utilizzati innovativi strumenti di indagine afferenti agli e-methods. / The work here Exposed, placing itself in a explorary perspective Presents the result That have allowed to put into light and describe the relationship of the Italian population, 14 to 65 years old with internet and Technological Innovations, the Styles of Navigation, the social network use, the rules and the penetration of ICT in specific socio-relational actions, but also the Role of the Internet in relationships with customers and friendship, on the sentimental relationship and perceptions to the rules of Internet on human sexuality. For do this we have adopted a mixed methodology and some of the innovative tools of the e-methods.