Newly collected morphobathymetric and seismic reflection data from the Valli di Comacchio coastal lagoons, south of the Po River delta (Northeast Italy), combined with historical, remote sensing, and geodetic data highlight a complex geological evolution during the Holocene, strongly affected by anthropic control. All data allowed us to define the present-day depositional environment of the lagoons and reconstruct their recent (late Pleistocene/Holocene) geo-history. We focused on the effects of the anthropic impacts in modifying the pristine environments created by the Holocene transgression along the Adriatic Sea coast, at the mouth of a major river. They include land reclamation works, artificial damming, channel excavations, fluvial diversions, and a recent (last decades) increase in subsidence rate due to gas and water withdrawals. Despite the development of economic activities, which promoted occupation and exploitation of this area in the last millennia, the post-Glacial evolution of the lagoons shows the important role of inherited morphological features, such as sand ridges and barriers. This complex and relatively well-documented evolution makes the Comacchio lagoons a unique example of deep connections between natural processes and long-term human controls, offering insights into the management policies of these important and delicate environments challenged by global changes.

Children's understanding on the origin of food is nowadays affected by marketing and advertisements. Horticultural gardens in school may improve children's knowledge about nutrition and the importance of the proper use of natural resources. Simplified soilless gardens may represent an extremely effective educational tool since they allow practical descriptions of biological and biochemical processes related to plant life and growth. Furthermore, due to their independence from fertile soils, the high planting density, and the low labor requirement they represent a viable solution for most urban schools. Starting from 2012, the Giardini in Rete project aims at the introduction of a simplified soilless garden in a secondary school of Bologna to promote biodiversity and urban green landscape. In the present paper the model for setting up a didactic hydroponic vertical garden and the students' responses are addressed.

The present work, focusing on the theme of food production and consumption in urban areas, analyses the relationships among three factors: city, human well-being and ecosystems. A case study was carried out addressing the quantification of the potential of rooftop vegetable production in the city of Bologna (Italy) as related to its citizens’ needs. Besides the contribution to food security of the city, the potential benefits to urban biodiversity and ecosystem service provision were estimated. The methodology consisted of: 1) experimental trials of potential productivity of simplified soilless systems in rooftop gardens (RTGs); 2) detection of all flat roofs and roof-terraces and quantification of the potential surfaces that could be converted into RTGs; 3) identification of the city’s vegetable requirements, based on population and diet data; 4) calculation of the proportion of vegetable requirement that could be satisfied by local RTG production; 5) identification of other benefits (improvement of urban biodiversity through the creation of green corridors and estimation of carbon sequestration) associated with the increased area of urban green infrastructure (GI). According to the present study, RTGs could provide more than 12,000 t year−1 vegetables to Bologna, satisfying 77 % of the inhabitants’ requirements. The study also advances hypotheses for the implementation of biodiversity roofs enabling the connection of biodiversity rich areas across and close to the city: these would form a network of green corridors of over 94 km length with a density of about 0.67 km km−2.

In Northern Italy from 2000 to 2008, many spring bee mortalities were clearly linked to sowing of maize seeds dressed with insecticides. In the present study, we investigated the effects on honey bees of clothianidin derived from maize seed-dressing (Poncho (R)) in laboratory (test by indirect contact) and in semi-field conditions. Despite the reduction of dust dispersion due to the application of the best available sowing techniques (pneumatic seeder equipped with deflector, improvement of seed-dressing quality) our results showed negative effects on honey bees at individual level. In semi-field study, no effect was observed at the colony level despite the high bee mortality rate for 2-3 days after dust application. However, we can expect a colony decline and low honey production if this high forager mortality rate lasts for longer than 10 days. Such a situation is possible if the sowing period lasts several days as in the Po Valley, where the landscape is characterized by extended maize cultivation.Specific methodologies to assess the effects of dust have never been included in the official guidelines for the evaluation of side-effects of plant protection products on honey bees. For this reason, suitable and standardized methods for testing in laboratory and in semi-field conditions the effects on honey bees of contaminated dust dispersed during sowing were evaluated.

Le esperienze degli orti fuori suolo e degli orti idroponici semplificati in particolare, illustrate in questo articolo, nascono come risposta alle criticitŕ che affliggono l'orticoltura urbana, la quale come ribadisce la FAO costituisce una misura fondamentale per contrastare l'incremento o lo sviluppo di sacche di povertŕ estrema ed appaiono di grande interesse sociologico per gli impatti che hanno sulla comunitŕ. L'esperienza di Teresina qui illustrata svela, infatti, come gli orti "fuori terra" oltre che rispondere alle criticitŕ dell'orticoltura urbana, rientrano in modelli di sviluppo locale capaci di promuovere percorsi di promozione delle persone e delle comunitŕ, promuovendo cosě inclusione e coesione sociale.