Increasing nutrient inputs over the last 500 years in an Italian low-impacted seagrass meadow.

Posidonia oceanica is a seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean and it has been widely used as a bioindicator. We studied the layers of a 500-year-old matte using a multiproxy approach (δC, δN, C and C and N concentrations in seagrass debris) in order to evaluate the potential of P. oceanica as a long-term environmental indicator of N pollution and CO emissions.

Radiocarbon dating of ivory: Potentialities and limitations in forensics.

The determination of the age of elephant ivory is a crucial aspect in the fight against illegal ivory trade which is still a relevant problem having triggered the decline of elephant populations due to poaching in different areas of the globe. Indeed, the absolute dating of the ivory allows, in forensics practice, to establish whether a determined sample or object was obtained and imported illegally, violating the international trade ban. In this frame the use radiocarbon dating has surely a great potential and is widely used.

Persistence of pristine deep-sea coral gardens in the Mediterranean Sea (SW Sardinia).

Leiopathes glaberrima is a tall arborescent black coral species structuring important facies of the deep-sea rocky bottoms of the Mediterranean Sea that are severely stifled by fishing activities. At present, however, no morphological in vivo description, ecological characterization, age dating and evaluation of the possible conservation actions have ever been made for any population of this species in the basin. A dense coral population was reported during two Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys conducted on a rocky bank off the SW coasts of Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea).