Papers by Federico Vessella
Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer-Verlag Ber... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your work, please use the accepted author's version for posting to your own website or your institution's repository. You may further deposit the accepted author's version on a funder's repository at a funder's request, provided it is not made publicly available until 12 months after publication.
Landscape research, Jul 13, 2024
The study of landscape evolution in areas characterised by long-term anthropic presence needs a m... more The study of landscape evolution in areas characterised by long-term anthropic presence needs a multidisciplinary approach, including the investigation of historical cartography. This work highlights the effectiveness of coupling the old cadastres and land registers within a GIS platform to reconstruct a digitised land use map to be compared with present-time data. The method proposed here can be applied wherever historical maps are available. The case study, I am going to discuss, is in Central Italy (Rieti) and the Gregorian Cadastre of the Papal State (1819) is chosen to be georeferenced and vectorised. The quality-quantitative results depict a rural world with few remnants from the past, with significant landscape changes compared to modern data. These findings provide relevant information for planning processes, nature conservation, and land management.
Rendiconti online Società Geologica Italiana, Oct 31, 2023
Numerous geological risks characterise urban areas, one of the most undervalued of which is the s... more Numerous geological risks characterise urban areas, one of the most undervalued of which is the sinkhole risk connected to underground cavities. In the Lazio Region, the subsoil of many beautiful art cities like Rieti and Viterbo is rich in underground cavities, mainly anthropogenic because of their thousand-year history and the geological substrate’s peculiar characteristics. These cavities have very different ages and types, the oldest dates back to the Etruscan and Archaic times. However, their excavation continued uninterrupted during the Roman and Medieval times until the Second World War, when many were readapted as bomb shelters. An interdisciplinary approach that combines geological and geotechnical aspects integrated by geophysics with historical and archaeological data in a GIS project can allow an efficient census of these cavities, defining not only their morphology and their functions but also hypothesising their continuation in unexplored or collapsed traits. Such a census is indispensable to estimate and, therefore, mitigate the sinkhole’s risk and better define risk, including the seismic response of a subsoil articulated and altered by many levels of underground cavities.
Forests, 2018
Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered some the main threats to biodiversity. Original for... more Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered some the main threats to biodiversity. Original forests have suffered an accentuated fragmentation and agricultural homogenization, leaving only some areas of natural vegetation, relegated to strongly anthropized disconnected patches (island forests, IFs) in a hostile matrix. These patches of original vegetation could be the key for the design and management of ecological corridors to promote species migration, an essential strategy for meeting the consequences of Global Change. This study proposes a comparative analysis of the fragmentation and connectivity of IFs of Quercus in two typically Mediterranean areas of predominantly agricultural use: the Guadalquivir valley (Spain) and the Apulia region (Italy). A retrospective comparison is also carried out in the Guadalquivir valley. The aim is to develop an objective new methodology to locate the patches of most interest using quantitative and qualitative data. Reference cartography of current island forests of Quercus species was developed from several digital sources and validated with orthoimages and field observations. Fragmentation analysis was based on graph structures using the software Conefor 2.6, a reliable tool for assessment of the role of patches in the landscape. Area and distance were used as node and connector values. Dispersion distance was established as 500 m, based on the maximum dispersion of acorns. Results indicate that the Guadalquivir valley has suffered an intensive fragmentation in recent decades. Both the Guadalquivir and Apulia regions host some IFs with the relevant potential to contribute as core habitats in the creation of connections to other natural protected sites. Many residual IFs in the landscape could contribute as stepping stones in the design and management of ecological corridors. Our methodology highlights the value of IFs to develop assessment strategies using homogenized available digital cartography and common criteria for the dispersion distances in graph theory analysis. The application of this new methodology could help in the management of protected sites using highly fragmented areas to allow the species movement through inhospitable landscapes in a unique opportunity to connect the different protected areas. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
TURKISH JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 2016
Introduction Oaks constitute a major group of trees and shrubs of highly important biodiversity v... more Introduction Oaks constitute a major group of trees and shrubs of highly important biodiversity value that are regrouped under the genus Quercus L. (Fagaceae), out of which 30 are found in the Euro-Mediterranean region (Govaerts and Frodin, 1998; Denk and Grimm, 2010). Lebanon is considered a biodiversity hotspot of the East Mediterranean Basin and a habitat for 7 oak taxa (Abi Saleh et al., 1976; Tohmé and Tohmé, 2014). The high polymorphism and the occurrence of hybrids amongst oak species resulted in a series of taxonomy and nomenclature revisions, with an undetermined number of synonyms, subspecies, and varieties that often changed since the first elaborated oak list of Lebanon (Mouterde, 1966; Bussoti and Grosoni, 1998). To avoid any confusion, the 7 taxa identified by previous works conducted in Lebanon (Mouterde, 1966; Tohmé and Tohmé, 2014) are detailed and referred to by their accepted names in the World Checklist of Selected Plant families (WCSP), based on Govaret and Frodin (1998), and the International Plant Names Index (http:// www.ipni.org/index.html). Note that the WCSP and Roskov et al. (2015) mention the presence of additional oak taxa; however, these were not described by previous Lebanese authors, nor found during our field survey. The following species were therefore considered in this study: Quercus calliprinos Webb syn. Quercus coccifera L., Q. cedrorum Kotschy syn. Q. petraea subsp. pinnatiloba (K.Koch), Q. cerris L., Q. infectoria Olivier, Q. ithaburensis Decne., Q. look Kotschy, and Q. pubescens Willd. subsp. Pubescens, which is the accepted name of Q. pinnatifida Gmel. referred to by Mouterde (1966) as a synonym of Q. lanuginosa Lam. (Govaerts and Frodin, 1998). In addition, we identified 3 hybrids similar to those in Turkey cited by Menitsky (2005): Q. cerris L. × Q. infectoria Olivier, Q. infectoria Olivier × Q. petraea (Matt.) Lieb., and Q. brantii Lindley × Q. infectoria Olivier, herein after noted respectively as Q. cerris × infectoria, Q. infectoria × cedrorum, and Q. brantii × infectoria. Many of these taxa occur in edge conditions, or in disjoined azonal areas of distribution, when compared to the species area of distribution, sensu Gaston (1991) in latitudinal, longitudinal, or altitudinal ranges. In most cases, these fragmented populations are remnants of forests resulting from anthropogenic activities shaping the landscape (Talhouk et al., 2005; Jomaa et al., 2009). Few investigations have been done to date to determine the ecological or bioclimatic characterization of tree species, namely oaks, in Lebanon and the Levant
Atti del Secondo Congresso Internazionale di Selvicoltura = Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Silviculture, 2015
Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana, 2023
Historical cartography is a pivotal factor to reconstruct land use. The Gregorian
Cadastre is th... more Historical cartography is a pivotal factor to reconstruct land use. The Gregorian
Cadastre is the first attempt at a geometric-parcel cadastre of the Papal State
(realised since 1820 but in force from 1835). The comparison between the
Gregorian Cadastre, the first edition of the Topographic Map of Italy (1875-
1903), and its later edition (1940) allowed us to reconstruct many useful details
for understanding the spatial planning of intensively anthropised lands during the
19th and 20th century.
The study case is the Rieti plain, occupied mainly by the Lacus Velinus in ancient
times. Large-scale hydraulic works were made to drain the plain since Roman
times, starting from the work of the Consul Curio Dentato in 271 B.C., with works
that have continued up to our times. Despite these continuous reclamations, the
plain is subject to high hydro-geological risk. Reconstructing the recent evolution
of the hydrographic network of the Rieti plain is a potential tool to mitigate the
flood risk and better understand the geology of Rieti’s urban area.
Flora, 2018
The seven oak species present in Lebanon show taxonomic ambiguity partly due to their great morph... more The seven oak species present in Lebanon show taxonomic ambiguity partly due to their great morphological variability among and within species. Very few investigations were conducted on oaks in Lebanon despite the presence of endemic species, and none tried to discriminate these according to their morphology, nor to determine subspecies or identify eventual hybrids. In this study 1328 leaves and 550 fruits were collected covering the whole range of oak species over the Lebanese territory; 24 leaf and 6 fruit traits were recorded and analyzed in order to differentiate among species, to define missing gaps for certain subspecies and to discriminate eventual hybrids and their possible parents. Environmental conditions were attributed in each sampling location to study the effect of selected environmental factors on leaf traits. PCA results showed that several leaf and fruit traits differ significantly among species, and that species leaf characteristics override the environmental influence. The interval between central nerve and apical leaf nerve, interval between apical and basal lobes, scale length and cupule diameter are the main contributors to differentiation among taxa. Oak species were grouped according to the 3 subgenus sections and species and subspecies were discriminated mainly according to fruit traits variance. Three potential hybrids were identified, with intermediate morphology or closer to one of their parents. Variation of morphological traits were discerned according to biogeographical gradients, and varied from one species to another.
B. Schirone, F. Vessella and M.C. Varela. 2019. EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conserv... more B. Schirone, F. Vessella and M.C. Varela. 2019. EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conservation and use for Holm oak (Quercus ilex). European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN), European Forest Institute. 6 pages. <strong>ISBN 13</strong>: 978-952-5980-62-2 <strong>Abstract:</strong> These Technical Guidelines are intended to assist those who cherish the valuable holm oak genepool and its inheritance, through conserving valuable seed sources or use in practical forestry. The focus is on conserving the genetic diversity of the species at the European scale. The recommendations provided in this module should be regarded as a commonly agreed basis to be complemented and further developed in local, national or regional conditions. The Guidelines are based on the available knowledge of the species and on widely accepted methods for the conservation of forest genetic resources
Land Use Policy, 2022
Localization is one of the main critical factors that influence the value creation process and pe... more Localization is one of the main critical factors that influence the value creation process and performance of a business. Choosing a location to start a business often influences the consequent access to a series of resources and services essential to its development, becoming a key element for its survival. This is even more evident in mountain areas, which are conditioned by key factors such as low population density, the large extension of the territories, the constraints of the infrastructure and transport systems, the presence of protected areas, as well as the attractiveness exercised by larger neighboring centers. This research aims to demonstrate how geographic context and altitude influence the distribution of businesses, revealing entrepreneurial clusters that have the characteristics of mountainousness. Following the Kernel density method for geolocation, the study proposes an original geospatial analysis to characterize the distribution of the enterprises and context of the central Apennines, considering the relationship between the altimetric location and the macro classification by product category, expressed by Nace Section. The study shows articulated areas of concentration and aggregation of mountain enterprises, five primary clusters and six secondary clusters. The former are characterized by a greater density of aggregation influenced by morphological characteristics of the area; the latter better explain the entrepreneurial dynamics and the distribution of the enterprises within the Nace sections, linked to the concept of altitude.
Forests, 2022
The Mediterranean Basin is frequently stricken by huge disasters, and it represents an important ... more The Mediterranean Basin is frequently stricken by huge disasters, and it represents an important biodiversity hotspot. Designing a synthetic approach, which is user-friendly with a low cost, that aims to summarize the main climatic factors that determine vegetation geographical ranges is a strategic solution to plan forest restoration actions and quickly act in cases of urgency. Here, we propose an updated version of the Emberger Index, applied to Quercus suber, an emblematic species of many ecosystems in the Mediterranean. Our investigation couples the latest spatially continuous climatic data, a high-resolution distribution map, and modelling techniques. The results evidence the effective benefits of the updated process, with insights into the optimal climatic requirements of a species within its real spatial domain, including projections for the next decades and the detection of putative refugia. Those outputs were not possible before because of a lack of data covering a certain ...
A key factor to reduce soil erosion and soil instability is the conservation of forest areas. In ... more A key factor to reduce soil erosion and soil instability is the conservation of forest areas. In the last years, in all Europe, forest logging has increased. The Italian situation is paradigmatic because more than 70% of the broadleaved forests are managed as coppices and new exploitations concerning biomass for energy production have tripled since 2001. The common coppicing method leaves standards uniformly distributed on the ground, but this geometry has proven to not play an effective role in soil erosion control. In this paper, we propose a different method for coppicing geometry, aimed to decrease the soil erosion risk. In particular, the theoretical framework of the model is presented here, employing the USLE framework and discussing a real case study, while the results of the experimental tests, which are in progress, will be discussed in future papers. The theoretical results seem to demonstrate the method’s validity, which is expected to reduce soil erosion amount in the ra...
Sumarski List, 2018
The “green oak” is a well-known specific individual oak tree of unknown origin growing near Zadar... more The “green oak” is a well-known specific individual oak tree of unknown origin growing near Zadar in Croatia. Depending on the authors, it was described either as a hybrid taxon between Quercus cerris L. and Q. ilex L. (named Q. × viridis Trinajstic) or alternatively as a presumed hybrid between Q. cerris and Q. suber L. To finally resolve the origin of this taxon, we performed molecular analyses and investigated the phylogenetic relationships between the “green oak” and other closely related oak taxa from the surrounding area, including all putative parental species. A total of 16 individuals representing nine Quercus L. taxa were investigated based on both plastid (trnK-matK and trnH-psbA) and nuclear (5.8S + ITS2) DNA sequence variation. Placement of the green oak in the phylogenetic relationships between the studied oak taxa does not support Q. ilex as one of its parental species but rather indicates that this taxon is in fact Q. crenata Lam., reaffirming previous alternative hy...
Supplement, 2017 difficulties mediated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and depressive ... more Supplement, 2017 difficulties mediated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and depressive and anxious symptoms. Difficulties in emotion regulation (β = .560, p<.001) and negative affect (β = .715, p< .001) significantly mediated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, difficulties in emotion regulation (β = .488, p<.001) and negative affect (β = .570, p<.001) significantly mediated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and depressive symptoms. However, positive affect was not a significant mediator for sleep and anxious symptoms (β =-.046) or depressive symptoms (β =-.062, all ps>.05). Conclusion: Emotion regulation and negative affect both play significant roles in the relationship between insomnia symptoms and mental health. Results highlight the potential importance of emotional functioning in understanding insomnia and psychological disorders. Potential clinical implications for insomnia are discussed. Support (If Any
Forests, 2021
Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered some the main threats to biodiversity. Original for... more Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered some the main threats to biodiversity. Original forests have suffered an accentuated fragmentation and agricultural homogenization, leaving only some areas of natural vegetation, relegated to strongly anthropized disconnected patches (island forests, IFs) in a hostile matrix. These patches of original vegetation could be the key for the design and management of ecological corridors to promote species migration, an essential strategy for meeting the consequences of Global Change. This study proposes a comparative analysis of the fragmentation and connectivity of IFs of Quercus in two typically Mediterranean areas of predominantly agricultural use: the Guadalquivir valley (Spain) and the Apulia region (Italy). A retrospective comparison is also carried out in the Guadalquivir valley. The aim is to develop an objective new methodology to locate the patches of most interest using quantitative and qualitative data. Reference cartography of cu...
International Journal of Green Technology, 2020
Plant factories are closed growing systems producing high-quality vegetables during the whole yea... more Plant factories are closed growing systems producing high-quality vegetables during the whole year, due to an artificial control of the cultivation environment (i.e. light intensity, photoperiod, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, relative air humidity, culture substrata). Presently, no plant factories producing forest species are available. The first European project focusing on this topic was the European project Zephyr, started in 2012 and concluded in 2016. For each of the species to be cultivated the most suitable values of temperature, relative air humidity, photoperiod and light quality have to be selected according to data from literature and field surveys. While the optimal values of the former three above mentioned parameters for a target species are easily achievable, the definition of the best quali-quantitative light conditions for its growth is a challenging hint. In this work, specific light needs, in terms of photoperiod, light quantity and quality, for seed germination and seedling development of cork oak have been studied. To reproduce optimal light conditions in a controlled environment, these parameters were analyzed in a nursery and in a greenhouse, and, for comparison, in a mature cork forest in Central Italy (Viterbo). Germination resulted to occur both in sunny and shaded areas. Clouds effect was analyzed in an open area showing a significant reduction of light intensity (up to 90 %) without great variations in light quality. Commercial lights provide spectra which are quite different from the spectrum of the sun, especially for higher values of PAR. To evaluate the effects of different spectra on germination and seedling development, 7 light sources were tested for cork oak propagation with a photoperiod of 12L 12D. Data were compared to those collected into the forest. Germination and seedling development resulted to be speeded up under all artificial conditions. This may be caused by the specific artificial light spectra but, above all, by the constant values of temperature and photoperiod that modify radically the plant phenology.
Šumarski list, 2018
The "green oak" is a well-known specific individual oak tree of unknown origin growing near Zadar... more The "green oak" is a well-known specific individual oak tree of unknown origin growing near Zadar in Croatia. Depending on the authors, it was described either as a hybrid taxon between Quercus cerris L. and Q. ilex L. (named Q. × viridis Trinajstić) or alternatively as a presumed hybrid between Q. cerris and Q. suber L. To finally resolve the origin of this taxon, we performed molecular analyses and investigated the phylogenetic relationships between the "green oak" and other closely related oak taxa from the surrounding area, including all putative parental species. A total of 16 individuals representing nine Quercus L. taxa were investigated based on both plastid (trnK-matK and trnH-psbA) and nuclear (5.8S + ITS2) DNA sequence variation. Placement of the green oak in the phylogenetic relationships between the studied oak taxa does not support Q. ilex as one of its parental species but rather indicates that this taxon is in fact Q. crenata Lam., reaffirming previous alternative hypothesis that the green oak is a hybrid between Q. cerris and Q. suber. We therefore confirm the presence of Q. crenata in the Croatian flora and based on historical literature survey, we explore and discuss the implication of its occurrence and possible hybridogenic origin in the Croatian territory.
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Papers by Federico Vessella
Cadastre is the first attempt at a geometric-parcel cadastre of the Papal State
(realised since 1820 but in force from 1835). The comparison between the
Gregorian Cadastre, the first edition of the Topographic Map of Italy (1875-
1903), and its later edition (1940) allowed us to reconstruct many useful details
for understanding the spatial planning of intensively anthropised lands during the
19th and 20th century.
The study case is the Rieti plain, occupied mainly by the Lacus Velinus in ancient
times. Large-scale hydraulic works were made to drain the plain since Roman
times, starting from the work of the Consul Curio Dentato in 271 B.C., with works
that have continued up to our times. Despite these continuous reclamations, the
plain is subject to high hydro-geological risk. Reconstructing the recent evolution
of the hydrographic network of the Rieti plain is a potential tool to mitigate the
flood risk and better understand the geology of Rieti’s urban area.
Cadastre is the first attempt at a geometric-parcel cadastre of the Papal State
(realised since 1820 but in force from 1835). The comparison between the
Gregorian Cadastre, the first edition of the Topographic Map of Italy (1875-
1903), and its later edition (1940) allowed us to reconstruct many useful details
for understanding the spatial planning of intensively anthropised lands during the
19th and 20th century.
The study case is the Rieti plain, occupied mainly by the Lacus Velinus in ancient
times. Large-scale hydraulic works were made to drain the plain since Roman
times, starting from the work of the Consul Curio Dentato in 271 B.C., with works
that have continued up to our times. Despite these continuous reclamations, the
plain is subject to high hydro-geological risk. Reconstructing the recent evolution
of the hydrographic network of the Rieti plain is a potential tool to mitigate the
flood risk and better understand the geology of Rieti’s urban area.