Best practices, errors, and perspectives of half a century of plant translocation in Italy.

Conservation translocations are becoming common conservation practice, so there is an increasing need to understand the drivers of plant translocation performance through reviews of cases at global and regional levels. The establishment of the Italian Database of Plant Translocation (IDPlanT) provides the opportunity to review the techniques used in 186 plant translocation cases performed in the last 50 years in the heart of the Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot. We described techniques and information available in IDPlanT and used these data to identify drivers of translocation outcomes. We tested the effect of 15 variables on survival of translocated propagules as of the last monitoring date with binomial logistic mixed-effect models. Eleven variables significantly affected survival of transplants: life form, site protection, material source, number of source populations, propagation methods, propagule life stage, planting methods, habitat suitability assessment, site preparation, aftercare, and costs. The integration of vegetation studies in the selection of suitable planting sites significantly increased the success of translocation efforts. Although posttranslocation watering had a generally positive effect on translocation outcome, other aftercare techniques did not always increase transplant survival. Finally, we found that how funds were spent appeared to be more important than the actual amount spent. Plant translocations in Italy and in the Mediterranean area should account for the complexity of speciation, gene flow, and plant migrations that has led to local adaptations and has important implications for the choice and constitution of source material.

Mejores prácticas, errores y perspectivas tras medio siglo de reubicaciones botánicas en Italia Resumen Las reubicaciones son una práctica cada vez más común en la conservación, por lo que hay una necesidad creciente por entender los factores del desempeño de las reubicaciones botánicas por medio de la revisión de casos regionales y globales. La creación de la Italian Database of Plant Translocation (IDPlanT) proporciona una oportunidad para revisar las técnicas usadas para los casos de reubicación de 186 plantas realizados durante los últimos cincuenta años en el centro del punto caliente de biodiversidad mediterránea. Describimos las técnicas y la información disponible en IDPlanT y usamos estos datos para identificar los factores involucrados en los resultados de las reubicaciones. Usamos modelos logísticos binomiales de efectos mixtos para analizar el efecto de 15 variables sobre la supervivencia de los propágulos reubicados a partir de la última fecha de monitoreo. Once de las variables afectaron de manera significativa la supervivencia de las plantas: forma de vida, protección del sitio, fuente de materiales, cantidad de poblaciones originarias, método de propagación, etapa de vida del propágulo, método de siembra, evaluación de idoneidad del hábitat, preparación del sitio, cuidados posteriores y costos. La integración de los estudios botánicos a la selección de los sitios idóneos para plantar aumentó el éxito de los esfuerzos de reubicación. Aunque el riego posterior a la reubicación tuvo un efecto positivo general sobre el resultado, las otras técnicas de cuidado posterior no siempre incrementaron la supervivencia de la planta reubicada. Por último, descubrimos que parece ser más importante cómo se utilizan los fondos que la cantidad actual empleada. Las reubicaciones botánicas en Italia y en el área del Mediterráneo deben considerar lo complejo de la especiación, el flujo génico y la migración botánica que han derivado en adaptaciones locales y que han tenido implicaciones importantes para la elección y constitución del material de origen.

Role of fibular autograft in ankle arthrodesis fixed using cannulated screws: a proportional meta-analysis and systematic review.

Ankle arthrodesis is commonly performed to treat end-stage ankle osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of fibular autograft might increase the fusion rate and decrease the complication rate in ankle arthrodesis (AA) fixed using cannulated screws. To perform this PRISMA-compliant proportional meta-analysis, multiple databases were searched for studies in which patients undergone AA (using exclusively cannulated screws and augmented with fibular bone graft) were followed. The characteristics of the cohort, the study design, surgical details, the nonunion and complication rate at the longest follow-up were extracted and recorded. The modified Coleman Methodology Score (mCMS) was applied to appraise the quality of studies. Two groups were built: arthrodeses fixed with screws combined with cancellous autograft (G1) and arthrodeses fixed with screws combined with cancellous autograft and augmented with a lateral fibular onlay (G2). A third group (arthrodeses fixed with screws and no graft, G3) was extracted from previous literature for a further comparison. Overall, we included 306 ankles (296 patients) from ten series (ten studies). In G1 and G2 there were 118 ankles (111 patients) and 188 ankles (185 patients), respectively. In patients where cancellous autograft was used, a further augmentation with a fibular lateral strut autograft did not change significantly the nonunion (4% [95% CI 1-9] in G1 vs. 2% [95% CI 0-5) in G2, p = 0.99) nor the complication rate (18% [95% CI 0-36] in G1 vs. 13% [95% CI 6-21) in G2, p = 0.71). Upon comparison with 667 ankles (659 patients, G3) in which arthrodeses had been performed without grafting, the nonunion and complication rates did not differ significantly either (pooled estimates: 3% [95% CI 1-3) in G1 + G2 vs. 3% [95% CI 2-4] in G3, p = 0.73 for nonunion; 15% [8-23] in G1 + G2 vs. 13% [95% CI 9-17] in G3, p = 0.93 for complications). In ankle arthrodesis fixed with cannulated screws combined with cancellous autograft at the fusion site, a construct augmentation with a distal fibular onlay strut graft positioned laterally at the ankle joint does not reduce the risk of nonunion or complication. In general, the use of bone graft does not influence significantly the nonunion nor the complication rate as compared to non-grafted screw-fixed ankle arthrodeses.Kindly check and confirm the corresponding author mail id is correctly identified.It's all correct.

Dune plants as a sink for beach litter: The species-specific role and edge effect on litter entrapment by plants.

Anthropogenic litter accumulates along coasts worldwide. In addition to the flowing litter load, wind, sea currents, geomorphology and vegetation determine the distribution of litter trapped on the sandy coasts. Although some studies highlighted the role of dune plants in trapping marine litter, little is known about their efficiency as sinks and about the small-scale spatial distribution of litter across the dune area. Here, we explore these gaps by analysing six plant species widespread in Mediterranean coastal habitats, namely Echinophora spinosa, Limbarda crithmoides, Anthemis maritima, Pancratium maritimum, Thinopyrum junceum, and Salsola kali. The present study analyses for the first time the capture of litter by dune vegetation at a multi-species level, considering their morphological structure. Data on plastic accumulation on dune plants were compared with unvegetated control plots located at embryo-dune and foredune belts. We found that dunal plants mainly entrapped macrolitter (> 0.5 cm). Particularly, E. spinosa, L. crithmoides, A. maritima and P. maritimum mostly accumulated litter in the embryo dune while T. junceum and S. kali entrapped more in the foredune area. Moreover, beach litter was mainly blocked at the edge of the plant patches rather than in the core, highlighting the 'Plant-edge litter effect'. As A. maritima and S. kali entrapped respectively more litter in embryo and foredune habitats, these species could be used to monitor and recollect litter. In this light, our findings provide further insight into the role of dune plants in the beach litter dynamics, suppling useful information for beach clean-up actions.