Checklists represent a basic tool for conservation and management of regional faunas. However, our knowledge on species composition in a territory changes over time due to species movements across borders, extinctions, introductions, as well as to new taxonomic evidence. We aimed to provide the most updated data on native and non-native species of mammals occurring, or that used to occur until recently, on the Italian political territory and seas. The checklist only includes species whose taxonomic status was explicitly agreed in the most recent peer-reviewed literature and based on the most updated taxonomic approaches. For each species, we provided the following information: scientific and common name, global and Italian range, relevant information for management and conservation (e.g. whether it is endemic, allochthonous, or listed in international regulations and red list assessments), as well as remarks on taxonomy and distribution. This new check list of Italian mammal fauna includes nine marine and 114 terrestrial species, belonging to seven orders (Erinaceomorpha, Soricomorpha, Chiroptera, Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Rodentia, Lagomorpha), and 28 families. Vespertilionidae represents the richest family (n=27 species), followed by Cricetidae (n=12) and Soricidae (n=11). The list includes 15–16 allocthonous species. Considering the relative small size of the country, Italy is confirmed as a hotspot of mammal diversity in Europe, hosting the highest species richness in relation to the total area.
Checklists represent a basic tool for conservation and management of regional faunas. However, our knowledge on species composition in a territory changes over time due to species movements across borders, extinctions, introductions, as well as to new taxonomic evidence. We aimed to provide the most updated data on native and non-native species of mammals occurring, or that used to occur until recently, on the Italian political territory and seas. The checklist only includes species whose taxonomic status was explicitly agreed in the most recent peer-reviewed literature and based on the most updated taxonomic approaches. For each species, we provided the following information: scientific and common name, global and Italian range, relevant information for management and conservation (e.g. whether it is endemic, allochthonous, or listed in international regulations and red list assessments), as well as remarks on taxonomy and distribution. This new check list of Italian mammal fauna includes nine marine and 114 terrestrial species, belonging to seven orders (Erinaceomorpha, Soricomorpha, Chiroptera, Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Rodentia, Lagomorpha), and 28 families. Vespertilionidae represents the richest family (n=27 species), followed by Cricetidae (n=12) and Soricidae (n=11). The list includes 15–16 allocthonous species. Considering the relative small size of the country, Italy is confirmed as a hotspot of mammal diversity in Europe, hosting the highest species richness in relation to the total area.
This review presents a multidisciplinary framework for integrating the ecological, regulatory, procedural and technical aspects of forest management for fi res prevention under Mediterranean environments. The aims are to: i) provide a foreground of wildfi re scenario; ii) illustrate the theoretical background of forest fuel management; iii) describe the available fuel management techniques and mechanical operations for fi re prevention in forest and wildland-urban interfaces, with exemplifi cation of case-studies; iv)allocate fi re prevention activities under the hierarchy of forest planning. The review is conceived as an outline commentary discussion targeted to professionals, technicians and government personnel involved in forestry and environmental management.
This review presents a multidisciplinary framework for integrating the ecological, regulatory, procedural and technical aspects of forest management for fires prevention under Mediterranean environments. The aims are to: i) provide a foreground of wildfire scenario; ii) illustrate the theoretical background of forest fuel management; iii) describe the available fuel management techniques and mechanical operations for fire prevention in forest and wildland-urban interfaces, with exemplification of case-studies; iv) allocate fire prevention activities under the hierarchy of forest planning. The review is conceived as an outline commentary discussion targeted to professionals, technicians and government personnel involved in forestry and environmental management.
On 11-12 November 2008, SUERF and Banque Centrale du Luxembourg organized a conference on Productivity in the Financial Services Sector on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg. The conference addressed three main themes: first, stylized facts on banks' productivity developments and the measurement of productivity; second, sources of productivity in banking; and third, the possible repercussions and consequences of the financial crisis on financial institutions' future productivity development. These three topics are taken up from various angles in the papers contained in the present volume, which represent a selection of the papers presented at the conference. Coming back to the three themes mentioned at the outset, the conference yielded some interesting results and raised many issues for further research. As regards theme 1, the papers presented overall suggest that financial integration in Europe has brought some, albeit according to some studies limited, convergence of bank efficiency among countries but on average productivity improvement has been weak. Various interesting attempts to capture banks' output were presented, but the various performance and efficiency measures yield different results. Linked to the difficulty of measuring the value of financial institutions' services, it remains far from clear what the "fair value" of a bank should be. This problem may also in part explain the very sharp ups and downs of bank stocks recently. Concerning theme 2, sources of productivity in financial services, several potentially important factors were mentioned: investments in ICT, investments in human resources, the quality of managers and remuneration policy, process effectiveness, mergers and acquisitions and economies of scale, privatizations, risk diversification versus regional and/or product specialisation, and risk-taking. Yet, no unambiguous picture emerged on which of these factors are most important. Regarding theme 3, the financial crisis may have far-reaching implications on our view of financial innovation and efficiency, on the way how to measure productivity appropriately as well as on the future development of financial institutions' productivity. First, the question arises whether the quest for productivity and profitability may under certain circumstances compromise the quality of banks' services (such as, e.g. the care invested into credit assessments and risk monitoring) and as a consequence put the stability of banks and the financial system at risk. As the recent crisis and its underlying causes suggest, there may at times be trade-offs between innovation and financial stability. If financial supervision and risk management do not keep up with financial innovation, the social value of such innovation may not be positive at all times. Financial innovation may also have blurred signals on banks? financial and risk positions, and thus have misled bank shareholders, clients and supervisors in their assessment of banks? business models and conduct of business. Second, the crisis might also affect banks? future performance: Increased government interference and stricter surveillance and capital adequacy rules might curb banks? profitability and efficiency, as measured by traditional performance indicators. However, the conventional measures of performance as presented and discussed at the conference - however varied and multifaceted they may be in trying to measure efficieny (i.e. the avoidance of unnecessary costs in the production process) and competition (the avoidance of inappropriately high profits) - basically seem to have a short-term focus. A longer-term perspective would also consider e.g. the financial institutions? solvency and the safety of deposits, as well as their stability and continued performance in periods of severe stress. Such extensions to the concept of ?performance? should certainly be explored more deeply in the light of the current crisis. In particular, bank efficiency should be considered by supervisors with a view to its influence on risk behaviour. The current debate on regulatory reform in response to the crisis also addresses the need for closer international coordination among supervisory regimes. Tighter regulatory coordination may, on the one hand, close regulatory loopholes, thus curbing banks? profit opportunities, at least in the short run. On the other hand, international harmonization of regulatory rules may generate considerable cost savings for internationally active financial institutions. By contributing to financial market integration it could also stiffen competition and in this way improve efficiency. A related issue is how the crisis will affect the size of banks in the future. Will consolidation in the sector ultimately result in fewer and bigger banks? Or will governments? and regulators? bad experience with institutions which are ?too big to fail? create pressure towards more and smaller institutions? The outcome of this may in turn have possible implications for competition and thus, ultimately, on future innovation, efficiency and productivity developments. Finally, in the coming months and years the issue of exit strategies from state intervention will have to be solved. In particular, how long should partial or full nationalisations of troubled banks last? Historical experiences vary, ranging from rather rapid re-privatisations in some cases to continued strong government influence decades. How can banks? increased reliance on government assistance be abolished and market-based incentives for productivity-enhancing strategies be restored, given the massive moral hazard created by the ? unavoidable ? government bail outs of banks? In conclusion, the conference demonstrated that various disciplines ? business administration, management, organisation and economics ? as well as different professional perspectives ? those of academia, practitioners and of policy makers ? need to be combined to do full justice to the complexity of the subject at hand. SUERF?s triple constituency and multiple-discipline approach again proved particularly suitable to approaching such a far-reaching topic.
This 26th dossier d'Agropolis is devoted to research and partnerships in agroecology. The French Commission for International Agricultural Research (CRAI) and Agropolis International, on behalf of CIRAD, INRAE and IRD and in partnership with CGIAR, has produced this new issue in the 'Les dossiers d'Agropolis international' series devoted to agroecology. This publication has been produced within the framework of the Action Plan signed by CGIAR and the French government on February 4th 2021 to strengthen French collaboration with CGIAR, where agroecology is highlighted as one of the three key priorities (alongside climate change, nutrition and food systems).
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine hospital services globally. This study estimated the total number of adult elective operations that would be cancelled worldwide during the 12 weeks of peak disruption due to COVID-19. Methods: A global expert response study was conducted to elicit projections for the proportion of elective surgery that would be cancelled or postponed during the 12 weeks of peak disruption. A Bayesian β-regression model was used to estimate 12-week cancellation rates for 190 countries. Elective surgical case-mix data, stratified by specialty and indication (surgery for cancer versus benign disease), were determined. This case mix was applied to country-level surgical volumes. The 12-week cancellation rates were then applied to these figures to calculate the total number of cancelled operations. Results: The best estimate was that 28 404 603 operations would be cancelled or postponed during the peak 12 weeks of disruption due to COVID-19 (2 367 050 operations per week). Most would be operations for benign disease (90·2 per cent, 25 638 922 of 28 404 603). The overall 12-week cancellation rate would be 72·3 per cent. Globally, 81·7 per cent of operations for benign conditions (25 638 922 of 31 378 062), 37·7 per cent of cancer operations (2 324 070 of 6 162 311) and 25·4 per cent of elective caesarean sections (441 611 of 1 735 483) would be cancelled or postponed. If countries increased their normal surgical volume by 20 per cent after the pandemic, it would take a median of 45 weeks to clear the backlog of operations resulting from COVID-19 disruption. Conclusion: A very large number of operations will be cancelled or postponed owing to disruption caused by COVID-19. Governments should mitigate against this major burden on patients by developing recovery plans and implementing strategies to restore surgical activity safely.