Riparian vegetation plastic monitoring: A harmonized protocol for sampling macrolitter in vegetated riverine habitats.

Many studies highlighted that rivers transported land-based plastics to the sea. However, most of the litter remains stuck in the fluvial ecosystem, also blocked by vegetation. To date, research on riverine macrolitter focused on floating and riverbank monitoring, thus methods to sample riverbank and floating litter have been developed. Concerning rivers, few recent studies highlighted the role of riparian vegetation in entrapping plastics. Given that vegetation represents a large part of riverine ecosystems and that the dynamics of plastics entrapped by vegetation are neglected, it appears pivotal to study in more detail how vegetation contributes to plastic retention. However, as current protocols and guidelines considered only floating and riverbank plastics without providing standardized and updated strategies to monitor litter in vegetation, here we aimed to develop a new standardized protocol and tools to assess plastics in vegetation. Specifically, we focused on unveiling the three-tridimensional structure of vegetation in relation to plastic occurrence, while considering seasonal and hydromorphological aspects. To investigate the trapping effect of vegetation, we developed a three-dimensional vegetation structure index (3DVI) related to plastics. The 3DVI index considers plant structure (i.e., number of branches) and diversity (i.e., species). To test the 3DVI, we conducted an in-situ case study in central Italy. We found that both primary and secondary riparian vegetation blocked plastic litter. In detail, 3DVI correlated with the number of plastics, highlighting that the densest and most diverse communities trap more plastics. Furthermore, we provided for the first time the assessment of seasonality for the macroplastic entrapment by riparian vegetation and a preliminary quantification of wind-blown plastics. Our results should be of interest to promote the development of standardized and harmonized monitoring strategies for riparian habitat management and conservation.

Assessment of climate change effects on mountain ecosystems through a cross-site analysis in the Alps and Apennines.

Mountain ecosystems are sensitive and reliable indicators of climate change. Long-term studies may be extremely useful in assessing the responses of high-elevation ecosystems to climate change and other anthropogenic drivers from a broad ecological perspective. Mountain research sites within the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) network are representative of various types of ecosystems and span a wide bioclimatic and elevational range. Here, we present a synthesis and a review of the main results from ecological studies in mountain ecosystems at 20 LTER sites in Italy, Switzerland and Austria covering in most cases more than two decades of observations. We analyzed a set of key climate parameters, such as temperature and snow cover duration, in relation to vascular plant species composition, plant traits, abundance patterns, pedoclimate, nutrient dynamics in soils and water, phenology and composition of freshwater biota. The overall results highlight the rapid response of mountain ecosystems to climate change, with site-specific characteristics and rates. As temperatures increased, vegetation cover in alpine and subalpine summits increased as well. Years with limited snow cover duration caused an increase in soil temperature and microbial biomass during the growing season. Effects on freshwater ecosystems were also observed, in terms of increases in solutes, decreases in nitrates and changes in plankton phenology and benthos communities. This work highlights the importance of comparing and integrating long-term ecological data collected in different ecosystems for a more comprehensive overview of the ecological effects of climate change. Nevertheless, there is a need for (i) adopting co-located monitoring site networks to improve our ability to obtain sound results from cross-site analysis, (ii) carrying out further studies, in particular short-term analyses with fine spatial and temporal resolutions to improve our understanding of responses to extreme events, and (iii) increasing comparability and standardizing protocols across networks to distinguish local patterns from global patterns.

Influence of vitamin D levels on the cardiovascular profile of hypogonadal men.

PURPOSE: A large body of evidence suggests a role for vitamin D in conditioning cardiovascular risk. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that vitamin D might also play a role in influencing the metabolic profile of hypogonadal men. In this work, we aimed at evaluating if any relationship exists between vitamin D levels and cardiovascular parameters in male hypogonadism. METHODS: Hypogonadal patients attending our andrology unit were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical and biochemical parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: 103 patients were studied (51 non-diabetic and 52 diabetic subjects). Mean age of the whole sample was 65 years (standard error of the mean: 0.62). Significant correlations of age, total testosterone, parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcemia, and 25-OH vitamin D with the metabolic profile were found. In logistic regression models including age, total testosterone, PTH, calcemia and 25-OH vitamin D as independent variables, lower levels of 25-OH vitamin D were associated with high values of body mass index (BMI) [odds ratio (OR) 0.910, p 0.019], insulin (OR 0.918, p 0.034), homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index (OR 0.918, p 0.030), total cholesterol (OR 0.819, p < 0.001), triglycerides (OR 0.820, p < 0.001), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 0.923, p 0.034). In non-diabetic subjects, lower levels of 25-OH vitamin D were associated with high values of BMI, insulin, HOMA, triglycerides, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure. On the other hand, in diabetic subjects, lower levels of 25-OH vitamin D were associated with high values of total cholesterol and triglycerides. CONCLUSIONS: Our work shows the influence of vitamin D on cardiovascular profile in male hypogonadism. This effect seems to be more relevant in non-diabetic subjects. If these data were to be confirmed, vitamin D assessment might become mandatory in the clinical evaluation of cardiovascular profile in male hypogonadism.