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Australian acacias are popularly known as plants showing beautiful flowers, but they have also been introduced to Europe for reforestation purposes in areas suffering frequent fires or in sand dunes. Unfortunately they turned out to be aggressive invaders and are today the subject of different lines of research. One involve their reproduction: Acacias are full or partial self-incompatible, the result of self-pollination often showing deleterious recessive genes in the population and a decrease in fertility and in general vigour. Cross-pollination is the rule: at their home range, cross-pollination is ascribed to the activity of birds, attracted by extrafloral nectar, and, to a smaller extent, to rare bee visits to inflorescences. A project, involving different research groups, started back in 2012 to address the above question and deepen the understanding of how these species establish a functional relationship with the pollinators needed for their successful reproduction. Data have been collected in three countries so far, on different species: Acacia dealbata, A. pycnantha, and A. longifolia. Field observations have been conducted to identify potential pollinators and their activity on flowers. Results indicate that the honeybee is the main pollinator attracted by these species, and that in certain circumstances it already developed a precise strategy to exploit all the resources offered by the alien plant. A special role is played by extrafloral nectaries (EFN), usually known as related to mutualisms with ants. EFN evolution and role need to be discussed further. Understanding plant-pollinator interactions is crucial when addressed to alien invasive species: indeed, the presence of attractive exotic plants may turn the interest of pollinators away from native plants. Moreover, we have to take into account actual pollinator decline, climate change scenarios and influence and pressure of economic processes.

The human microbiome has recently become a valuable source of information about host life and health. To date little is known about how it may have evolved during key phases along our history, such as the Neolithic transition towards agriculture. Here, we shed light on the evolution experienced by the oral microbiome during this transition, comparing Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers with Neolithic and Copper Age farmers that populated a same restricted area in Italy. We integrate the analysis of 76 dental calculus oral microbiomes with the dietary information derived from the identification of embedded plant remains. We detect a stronger deviation from the hunter-gatherer microbiome composition in the last part of the Neolithic, while to a lesser extent in the early phases of the transition. Our findings demonstrate that the introduction of agriculture affected host microbiome, supporting the hypothesis of a gradual transition within the investigated populations.

A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and animals, the precise use of the sticks is unclear. Here we discuss about the role played by the hominins at the site: paleobiological and taphonomic evidence indicates that the elephants died by a natural cause and were butchered soon after their death. The associated paleontological and archeological evidence from this site provides fresh insights into the behavior of early Neanderthals in Central Italy. The discovery of Poggetti Vecchi shows how opportunistically flexible Neanderthals were in response to environmental contingencies.

International audience; The present study is a review of the archaeobotanical analyses carried out in the last decade at the three ancient Roman port/dock system sites of Pisae, Portus, and Neapolis. Pollen, plant macrofossils (leaf, wood, seed/fruit macroremains) and wood constituting the shipwrecks were considered, and the results, partly unpublished, integrated and interpreted. Waterlogged sediments from these port areas turned out to be particularly suited for archaeobotanical analysis and opened new perspectives in ancient harbour studies. This is the first time that a synthesis of archaeobotanical data from Italian archaeological sites of the same typology is attempted for the Roman period. The disparate sampling strategies and available materials for macrofossil analysis in the various sites – cores in Portus, short sediment sequences in Pisae, and single visible hand-collected macroremains in Neapolis – conditioned the results obtained for these remains, making the comparison among sites a particularly difficult task. The urgency of establishing a common protocol between archaeologists and archaeobotanists is thus emphasized. The plant micro-and macrofossils highlight that in Roman times the landscape of the Italian coasts between Pisa and Naples was formed by deciduous oak plain forests (whose relicts are preserved in some protected areas, like in Parco Nazionale del Circeo, south of Rome and along the coast of the Pisan plain, in the Migliarino San Rossore Regional Park) with prevalence of mesophilous elements. The Mediterranean vegetation was not widespread as expected and maquis was limited to small areas by the coast. Surprisingly, mountain elements such as beech and silver fir were not so rare in pre-Roman times, suggesting that these trees could have occupied wider areas than at present. Besides food plant remains typical of the Roman age, the port sediments also preserved seeds, fruits and leaves of the wild vegetation. Comparing the results obtained by palynology with the shipwreck wood study showed that the boats were prevailingly built with local timber, often with conifers. The use of silver fir, though never very frequent, still confirms the preference of shipbuilders for this timber, which was not always available in the close surroundings of the three sites.