In ecology, photogrammetry is a crucial method for efficiently collecting non-destructive samples of natural environments. When estimating the spatial distribution of animals, detecting objects in large-scale imagery becomes essential. Deep learning-based object detection enables large-scale analysis but introduces uncertainty because detection probability depends on environmental and observational factors. To address detectio...

This study investigates the spatial distribution of wildfire counts for Italian municipalities, focusing on some challenges inherent to modelling spatially aggregated areal count data. Leveraging high-resolution satellite-derived fire data aggregated to administrative units, we model spatial dependence and heterogeneity using the Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) framework. Based on a single-season case study, the...

How do environmental and social factors shape the allocation of public funds for soil defense along Italy’s coastline? Coastal areas in Italy face increasing pressure from both environmental risk and human activities. Yet, despite the importance of soil defense for resilience and risk reduction, little is known about the spatial and temporal dynamics of public funding and the extent to which allocations reflect local environme...

Modelling sea conditions is a complex task that requires a comprehensive analysis, considering various influencing factors. Observed and unobserved factors jointly play a role in the definition of sea conditions. Here, we consider finite mixtures of generalized linear additive models for location scale, and shape (GAMLSSs) to capture the effects of both environmental variables and omitted variables, whose effects are summarize...

New cold‐water coral ( CWC ) sites were recorded along the Apulian margin (Central Mediterranean). The species composition and depth distribution of CWC s were updated. A distribution of the CWC sites coincident with the course of the dense‐water masses that flow between the Southern Adriatic and Northern Ionian was confirmed. The faunal assemblages of five of these CWC sites were investigated and compared using experimental l...