The full extent of the ecological threat posed by non-native invasive leguminous N-fixing trees to Italian ecosystems has not been thoroughly documented at the national level. This study, conducted by the Working Group on Alien Species of the Italian Botanical Society, aims to develop a comprehensive dataset that provides information on invaded and non-invaded areas, supporting multi-scale ecological analyses on the impact of...

Quarry and mining ponds are often considered environments of poor quality or marginal for biodiversity conservation, as they pose a risk to human’s health and wildlife. Conversely, once abandoned, they could be recolonised naturally and provide ecosystem services (ES), by, for example, improving water quality and providing new habitats. We visited 34 quarry and 14 mining ponds in Sardinia to gather information about their gene...

Physical fitness has been extensively shown to strongly associate with general health status and major health risks. Here we tested the ability of a novel estimate of fitness age (FitAge) to differentiate aging trajectories. This study aimed at (1) testing the ability of FitAge to differentiate aging patterns among decelerated, normal, and accelerated agers in selected health domains, (2) estimating the risk for developing maj...