The University’s research activities are described for each department on the university website: www.unitus.it
The research activities that review the collection of the SMA are able to circumscribe the activities of the Botanical Garden, the Germplasm Bank, the Herbarium of the Thematic Section of Mycology of the National Museum of Antarctica “Felice Ippolito”, in addition to the research activities and dissemination carried out by the Museum of the City and Territory.
Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden of Tuscia, as following the institutional tasks which were assigned to them, in the last three years have carried out research activities, conservation, education and dissemination.
1 - MANAGEMENT OF THE COLLECTIONS AND CONSERVATION
In addition to routine maintenance of the botanical collections, the vegetable garden has increased the number of species and specimens belonging to the plant collections. In specific, there was achieved a new collection entitled "The sandy dune", in which a community of psammophilous (sand-loving) characteristic plants of the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy was reproduced. This collection consists of about 50 specimens belonging to 15 species. The plants and seeds were harvested from the natural environment. The plants were put in a bed directly near the dune; the seeds were cleaned, registered and stored at the Germplasm Bank of Tuscia, and used for the controlled breeding, with consecutive transport of the seedlings to the Botanical Garden, used for direct sowing. The species in the collection are: Pancratium maritimum L., Plantago coronopus L., Echinophora spinosa L., Calystegia soldanella (L.) Roem. & Schult, Eryngium maritimum L., Ammophila arenaria subsp. australis (Mabille) Lainz, Medicago marina L., Euphorbia paralias L. Ononis variegata L., Anthemis maritima L., Cyperus capitatus Vand., Centaurea sphaerocephala L., Silene colorata Poir., Helichrysum stoechas (L.) Moench., Elytrigia juncea (L.) Nevski. Of particular interest, two of the species are at risk of extinction in Italy: Crucianella maritima L. and Malcolmia littorea (L.) R. Br. The data in the collection has been computerized; the collection has been provided with identification tags and a descriptive panel.
The "Pteridophytes" collection has been enriched with about 40 specimens belonging to 20 species from our area and in part reproduced at the Germplasm Bank. In autumn 2014 these plants were planted in the area of the '"Arboretum", in proximity to the greenhouse of pteridophytes, where a moist environment has been achieved, suitable for their cultivation. The plants in the collection have been catalogued and provided with identification tag.
There are also has been new specimens introduced in the "Wild Orchids." In particular have been registered, categorized and placed in collections; 5 specimens of Orchis italica (Tarquinia-Macchia della Turchina), 8 of Ophrys bombyliflora (Vetralla-Stazzolette), 8 of Spiranthes spiralis (Vetralla-Stazzolette), 3 of D. maculata (chestnut of San Martino al Cimino), 3 of D. romana and 2 of Orchis mascula.
In the year 2014 relative data on the "Succulents" were, in part, computerized thanks to the project presented by the Museum System of the University of Tuscia in collaboration with 12 other museum Systems of University in Italy (Bari, Cagliari, Chieti-Pescara, Ferrara, Florence, Modena -Reggio Emilia, Parma, Perugia, Rome "La Sapienza", Salento, Siena and Tuscia) and were funded by the MIBAC through the project: The information technologies and new reality for knowledge, networking and promotion of scientific heritage: the role of the University Museums network. In addition, thanks to the award of a contract as an expert on succulents, there was an implementation of a taxonomic revision of 379 specimens and the subsequent registration of species lacking a tag or with nomenclature no longer current.
Moreover, thanks to a grant for postgraduate study lasting two months aimed to the computerization of data of the collections of the Botanical Garden, updating the relative data of the consecutive collections: "Garden for the insects"; "Pteridofite Collection"; "Garden of the Simple" (used for herbal therapy); "Garden of Utility"; "Wild Orchids"; "Lilies Collection"; "Arboretum Asia"; "Arboretum North America"; "Arboretum South America"; "Arboretum Europe"; "Deciduous forest".
In the year 2015, there was also the implementation of the restoration of the "Pond" collection through the sealing of the reservoir and the inclusion of new specimens of water lilies.
In the year 2013 there was realized a "Path for the visually impaired" thanks to the economic contribution of the Register of Subsidies and Savings from The Staff of the Bank of Italy.
2 - RICERCA NON TRADOTTO...DA TOGLIERE?
Negli anni 2012-2014 sono state effettuate ricerche relative al "Censimento, raccolta e conservazione delle principali specie allergeniche del verde urbano e peri-urbano di territori dell'Alto Lazio tirrenico", progetto finanziato dalla Fondazione CARICIV (Cassa di Risparmio di Civitavecchia.
Progetto MIUR per la diffusione della cultura scientifica (L. 6/2000) MIUR 2012, realizzato in collaborazione con la Banca del Germoplasma della Tuscia, da maggio 2013 ad aprile 2014 dal titolo “Conservazione ex situ di orchidee spontanee: didattica e divulgazione”.
Accordo annuale di collaborazione con La Societą Agricola Il Bagnaccio S.r.l. (VT) per il “recupero naturalistico di un’area degradata in prossimitą della sorgente termale del Bagnaccio per la conservazione ex situ di specie della flora autoctona del viterbese”, condotto in collaborazione con la Banca del Germoplasma della Tuscia (aprile 2015 - marzo 2016)
Germplasm Bank
The principal line of the bank is research, with Doctors some of which are fit for research (in Ecology for example, ecology and management of biollogical resources, and biology of evolution, and biochemistry) and various tests of degree by some ex-faculty of science MM. FF. NN. and of agrarian concern:
Herbarium
The Herbarium works side by side with the Botanical Garden as well as the Germplasm Bank in the implementation of activities that supplement the botanical studies curriculum (graduate and internship theses, creation of educational herbaria, initiatives for schools, etc.). From 2008-2011 the Herbarium was part of the Interdepartmental Center of the Botanical Garden.
The Collections
The Herbarium preserves exsiccata of vascular plants originating from Italy, mostly from Lazio and the province of Viterbo, as well as several countries within Europe and beyond, included within which are Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Morocco, and Kenya. Comprising part of what is held there, among other things, are individual essays or collections of certain importance relative to specimens cultivated at the Botanical Garden, to particular taxonomic groups (Viola, Rubus, Leguminosae, etc.), and to a vast pool of research chronicled by scientific publications that indicate the Herbarium of Tuscia as the depository of the plant samples cited in such research (ex: flora from the Caldera of Lake Vico, from Lamone, from R.N. Monte Rufeno, from the Suburban Park Marturanum of Barbarano Romano, and from the M. Casoli Reserve of Bomarzo); moreover, there have already been archived essays related to important floras, by now almost finished, such as that from the Park of Arcionello.
Among the entities preserved, there are Spergula pentandra L. (Caryophyllaceae), Vicia laeta, V. psiformis, V. pimpinelloides and V. sparsiflora Ten., Lupinus graecus Boiss. & Spruner (Leguminosae), Helianthemun aegyptiacum (L.) Miller (Cistaceae), Ludwigia palustris Elliott (Onagraceae), Hottonia palustris L. (Primulaceae), Chaenorhinum rubrifolium (Rob. et Cast.) Fourr. (Scrophulariaceae), Catananche lutea L. (Compositae), Orchis palustris (Miller) Crantz (Orchidaceae), Convolvulus meonanthus Hoffm & Link (Convolvulaceae), Viola hymettia Boiss. et Heldr. (Violaceae), as well as other specimens that are extremely rare or in danger of extinction. In addition to this main core of exsiccata related to specific scientific, floristic, and vegetative contributions and to graduate and doctorate theses, one can access essays derived from herborizations carried out during important excursions in Italy and abroad arranged by scientific society and international organizations; as a whole, the families most represented are legumes, composites, and graminee. The related essays can be referenced directly at the Herbarium or through the website (www.erbario.unitus.it).
The Museum was founded with the intent of being a scientific tool, to be informative and educational and to transmit the knowledge created by the civil community. In our case attracting attention to the crafts, to the material culture and the history of techniques related to the construction of the buildings that characterize our historical cities; as well as preserving the physical documents (objects) and search products (dissertation boards, models and more) that are the result of a heightened focus on this broad topic and that touch on the preservation and enhancement of our cultural heritage.
In recent years it has participated in the following projects:
Thematic section of Mycology of the National Museum of Antarctica “Felice Ippolito”
La collezione, unica al mondo, č nata alla fine degli anni ’80 come frutto delle ricerche micologiche svolte in Antartide nell’ambito del PNRA (Programma Nazionale per le Ricerche in Antartide); essa include campioni raccolti nel corso di oltre 20 anni di spedizioni italiane in Antartide, per la maggior parte provenienti dalle aree deglaciate della Terra Vittoria, e numerosi ceppi donati nel 2000 da I.E. Friedmann (Florida State University), lo scopritore della vita endolitica nei deserti.
Diverse linee di ricerca gravitano intorno alla collezione, tra cui ricordiamo gli studi di “biodiversitą ed evoluzione” e quelli di “adattamento e sopravvivenza”. In particolare i funghi meristematici neri sono oggetto di indagini molecolari basate sullo studio delle regioni ITS, LSU, SSU dell’rDNA nucleare e mtSSU dell’rDNA mitocondriale. Gli studi di filogenesi molecolare hanno consentito attualmente di descrivere 6 nuovi generi e 11 nuove specie e di far luce sui processi evolutivi che hanno portato all’adattamento in condizioni estreme. Inoltre, studi dedicati hanno dimostrato la capacitą di questi organismi in condizioni spaziali simulate e reali. Nell’ambito del programma LIFE (LIchens and Fungi Experiment), alcuni ceppi sono stati, infatti, esposti in condizioni spaziali reali per un periodo di 1,5 anni all’esterno della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale (ISS). Una volta recuperati, la loro sopravvivenza č stata testata attraverso analisi colturali, colorometriche e con tecniche di PCR. I risultati di questo esperimento costituiscono un contributo significativo al fine di chiarire la possibilitą di trasferimento interplanetario della vita.
Museum of the City and Territory
There are two publishing houses- Kappa Editions of Rome and the Publisher David Ghaleb Vetralla- who welcome the publication of the work both study and research which have grown around the MCT project.
The series "Museum of the City and Territory" published by Kappa, built its purpose from two divided sections, which appear in the proceedings of scientific conferences related to issues that echo those of the museum (like The ceramics of Rome and Lazio, I- VI, 1993 - 2009, and houses and medieval towers, I- IV, 1990-2013), or specific publications. The result of the theses was largely supported at the University of Rome " La Sapienza " and the University of Tuscia- Vt, like those inspired by the Iron and Metals section (the ironworks documents on the ancient industry of Ronciglione, 1995; the industrial area of factories in Subiaco, 1996; and the blacksmiths in Rome in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 1999) and section on clay (Furnaces and Clay in Rome from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, 1997; The bricks in the Middle ages: From production to the construction site, 2001). Today the series has been completely renewed and a new series has begun (nn.1-3, 2011 and 2014).
The series "Museum of the City and Territory" of the publishing house Davide Ghaleb, however, welcomes specific studies on the territory of Tuscia and has, in the Notebooks, a rich set of headlines with investigations ranging from the history of urbanism, art history, the history of architecture, and archeology (see the on-line catalog at www.ghaleb.it).
