PLANT AND ARTHROPOD COMMUNITIES OF ALPINE ICE-RELATED LANDFORMS: ECOLOGICAL AND BIOGEOGRAPHIC IMPORTANCE
type: CreativeWork
description: This PhD thesis is mainly organised as collection of research papers published, submitted, and in preparation. Chapter 1 outlines the state of the art, the main aims of the PhD project and the approaches used for reaching these objectives on peculiar study areas Chapter 2, “Vanishing habitats”, presents, as a first result, a scientific call for studying and monitoring glacial and periglacial habitats – refugia for a cold-adapted and threatened biodiversity - because of the lack of knowledge that still affects these habitats (Gobbi et al. 2021). The study points out the urgency in planning this research due to the risk of total disappearance of these habitats in the current scenario of global warming. Chapter 3, “Glacial and periglacial biodiversity”, is focused in analysing with multiple approaches the glacial and periglacial biodiversity. Studies 3.1-3.2 (Valle et al. 2022a-b) describe plants and arthropod communities of threatened glacial sites (Peirabroc, Clapier and Calderone glaciers) in peripheral mountain chains (Maritime Alps and Apennines, Italy, respectively). In these studies also important environmental parameters (e.g. debris thickness, soil temperatures and chemical parameters) have been correlated with biological communities. Study 3.3 focuses on glacial springtails and regards the description of a new species of ice-dwelling springtail from Calderone glacier (3.3, Valle et al. 2021). Studies 3.4-3.5 (Valle et al. 2020, Ornaghi et al. submitted) analyse the efficacy of cryophilic ground beetles (Carabidae: Nebrini) as ecological indicators of sub-superficial ice presence, through community, demographic (3.5) and morphometric (3.6) approaches. The paragraph 3.6 focuses on the biodiversity hosted by two of the few Dolomitic debris-covered glaciers, Sorapiss glaciers (Bernasconi et al. 2019). The last study (3.7, Fugazza et al. in submission) is a glaciological analysis that lays the foundations for studying in detail how the thickness of the stony debri…
abstract: This PhD thesis is mainly organised as collection of research papers published, submitted, and in preparation. Chapter 1 outlines the state of the art, the main aims of the PhD project and the approaches used for reaching these objectives on peculiar study areas Chapter 2, “Vanishing habitats”, presents, as a first result, a scientific call for studying and monitoring glacial and periglacial habitats – refugia for a cold-adapted and threatened biodiversity - because of the lack of knowledge that still affects these habitats (Gobbi et al. 2021). The study points out the urgency in planning this research due to the risk of total disappearance of these habitats in the current scenario of global warming. Chapter 3, “Glacial and periglacial biodiversity”, is focused in analysing with multiple approaches the glacial and periglacial biodiversity. Studies 3.1-3.2 (Valle et al. 2022a-b) describe plants and arthropod communities of threatened glacial sites (Peirabroc, Clapier and Calderone glaciers) in peripheral mountain chains (Maritime Alps and Apennines, Italy, respectively). In these studies also important environmental parameters (e.g. debris thickness, soil temperatures and chemical parameters) have been correlated with biological communities. Study 3.3 focuses on glacial springtails and regards the description of a new species of ice-dwelling springtail from Calderone glacier (3.3, Valle et al. 2021). Studies 3.4-3.5 (Valle et al. 2020, Ornaghi et al. submitted) analyse the efficacy of cryophilic ground beetles (Carabidae: Nebrini) as ecological indicators of sub-superficial ice presence, through community, demographic (3.5) and morphometric (3.6) approaches. The paragraph 3.6 focuses on the biodiversity hosted by two of the few Dolomitic debris-covered glaciers, Sorapiss glaciers (Bernasconi et al. 2019). The last study (3.7, Fugazza et al. in submission) is a glaciological analysis that lays the foundations for studying in detail how the thickness of the stony debri…
author: VALLE, BARBARA
language: eng
keywords: Settore BIO/07 - Ecologia, Settore BIO/03 - Botanica Ambientale e Applicata, Settore BIO/05 - Zoologia
date published: 2022-12-02
date modified: 2026-07-27T20:18:43Z
provider: Università degli Studi di Milano
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Università degli Studi di Milano

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/947188

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.13130/valle-barbara_phd2022-12-02