Scientific Results

This catalogue is obtained by conducting a systematic literature review of scientific studies and reviews related to monitoring, forecasting, and simulating the inland water cycle. The analysis maps scientific expertise across research groups and classifies findings by the type of inland water studied, application focus, and geographical scope. A gap analysis will identify missing research areas and assess their relevance to policymaking.

ID â–˛ Type Year Authors Title Venue/Journal DOI Research type Water System Technical Focus Abstract Link with Projects Link with Tools Related policies ID
publications-2351 Peer reviewed articles 2021 Biagetti Stefano, Ruiz-Giralt Abel, Madella Marco, Khalid Magzoub Mongeda, Meresa Yamane, Haile Gebreselassie Mulubrhan, Veesar Ghulam Mohiuddin, Alam Abro Tasleem, Chandio Amin & Carla Lancelotti No Rain, No Grain? Ethnoarchaeology of Sorghum and Millet Cultivation in Dryland Environments of Sudan, Pakistan, and Ethiopia Ethnoarchaeology 10.1080/19442890.2022.2059994 Data Management & Analytics Uncategorized No abstract available 759800
publications-2352 Peer reviewed articles 2023 Celine Kerfant, Javier Ruiz-Pérez, Juan José García-Granero, Carla Lancelotti, Marco Madella, Emma Karoune A dataset for assessing phytolith data for implementation of the FAIR data principles Scientific Data 10.1038/s41597-023-02296-8 Data Management & Analytics Uncategorized AbstractPhytolith research contributes to our understanding of plant-related studies such as plant use in archaeological contexts and past landscapes in palaeoecology. This multi-disciplinarity combined with the specificities of phytoliths themselves (multiplicity, redundancy, naming issues) produces a wide variety of methodologies. Combined with a lack of data sharing and transparency in published studies, it means data are hard to find and understand, and therefore difficult to reuse. This situation is challenging for phytolith researchers to collaborate from the same and different disciplines for improving methodologies and conducting meta-analyses. Implementing The FAIR Data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) would improve transparency and accessibility for greater research data sustainability and reuse. This paper sets out the method used to conduct a FAIR assessment of existing phytolith data. We sampled and assessed 100 articles of phytolith research (2016–2020) in terms of the FAIR principles. The end goal of this project is to use the findings from this dataset to propose FAIR guidance for more sustainable publishing of data and research in phytolith studies. 759800
publications-2353 Peer reviewed articles 2023 Alessandra Varalli, Francesca D'Agostini, Marco Madella, Girolamo Fiorentino, Carla Lancelotti Charring effects on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values on C4 plants: Inferences for archaeological investigations Journal of Archaeological Science 10.2139/ssrn.4366223 Data Management & Analytics Groundwater No abstract available 759800
publications-2354 Peer reviewed articles 2023 Abel Ruiz-Giralt, Laurie Nixon-Darcus, A. Catherine D’Andrea, Carla Lancelotti On the verge of domestication: early use of C₄ plants in the Horn of Africa Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 10.1073/pnas.2300166120 Simulation & Modeling Groundwater The earliest evidence of agriculture in the Horn of Africa dates to the Pre-Aksumite period (ca. 1600 BCE). Domesticated C3cereals are considered to have been introduced from the Near East, whereas the origin (local or not) and time of domestication of various African C4species such as sorghum, finger millet, or t’ef remain unknown. In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of microbotanical residues (starch and phytoliths) from grinding stones recovered from two archaeological sites in northeastern Tigrai (Ethiopia), namely Mezber and Ona Adi. Together, both sites cover a time period that encompasses the earliest evidence of agriculture in the region (ca. 1600 BCE) to the fall of the Kingdom of Aksum (ca. 700 CE). Our data indicate that these communities featured complex mixed economies which included the consumption of both domestic and wild plant products since the Initial Pre-Aksumite Phase (ca. 1600 to 900 BCE), including C3crops and legumes, but also C4cereals and geophytes. These new data expand the record of C4plant use in the Horn of Africa to over 1,000 y. It also represents the first evidence for the consumption of starchy products in the region. These results have parallels in the wider northeastern African region where complex food systems have been documented. Altogether, our data represent a significant challenge to our current knowledge of Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite economies, forcing us to rethink the way we define these cultural horizons. 759800
publications-2355 Peer reviewed articles 2019 Carla Lancelotti, Stefano Biagetti, Andrea Zerboni, Donatella Usai, Marco Madella The archaeology and ethnoarchaeology of rain-fed cultivation in arid and hyper-arid North Africa Antiquity 10.15184/aqy.2019.109 Data Management & Analytics Groundwater Abstract 759800
publications-2356 Peer reviewed articles 2022 Francesca D’Agostini, Vincent Vadez, Jana Kholova, Javier Ruiz-Pérez, Marco Madella, and Carla Lancelotti Understanding the Relationship between Water Availability and Biosilica Accumulation in Selected C4 Crop Leaves: An Experimental Approach Plants 10.3390/plants11081019 Data Management & Analytics Uncategorized Biosilica accumulation in plant tissues is related to the transpiration stream, which in turn depends on water availability. Nevertheless, the debate on whether genetically and environmentally controlled mechanisms of biosilica deposition are directly connected to water availability is still open. We aim at clarifying the system which leads to the deposition of biosilica in Sorghum bicolor, Pennisetum glaucum, and Eleusine coracana, expanding our understanding of the physiological role of silicon in crops well-adapted to arid environments, and simultaneously advancing the research in archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies. We cultivated ten traditional landraces for each crop in lysimeters, simulating irrigated and rain-fed scenarios in arid contexts. The percentage of biosilica accumulated in leaves indicates that both well-watered millet species deposited more biosilica than the water-stressed ones. By contrast, sorghum accumulated more biosilica with respect to the other two species, and biosilica accumulation was independent of the water regime. The water treatment alone did not explain either the variability of the assemblage or the differences in the biosilica accumulation. Hence, we hypothesize that genetics influence the variability substantially. These results demonstrate that biosilica accumulation differs among and within C4 species and that water availability is not the only driver in this process. 759800
publications-2357 Peer reviewed articles 2023 D'Agostini Francesca, Ruiz-PĂ©rez Javier, Madella Marco, Vadez Vincent, Kholova Jana, Lancelotti Carla Phytoliths as indicators of plant water availability: The case of millets cultivation in the Indus Valley civilization Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2022.104783 Isotopic composition of nitrogen species in groundwater under agricultural areas: A review Groundwater No abstract available 759800
publications-2358 Peer reviewed articles 2023 Alemseged Beldados; Abel Ruiz-Giralt Burning questions: Experiments on the effects of charring on domestic and wild sorghum Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104170 A spatial approach to identify priority areas for pesticide pollution mitigation Groundwater No abstract available 759800
publications-2359 Peer reviewed articles 2021 Abel Ruiz-Giralt, Charlène Bouchaud, Aurélie Salavert, Carla Lancelotti, A. Catherine D’Andrea Human-woodland interactions during the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods in northeastern Tigray, Ethiopia: insights from the wood charcoal analyses from Mezber and Ona Adi Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 10.1007/s00334-021-00825-2 Simulation & Modeling Groundwater No abstract available 759800
publications-2360 Peer reviewed articles 2021 Stefano Biagetti; DĂ©bora Zurro; Jonas Alcaina-Mateos; Eugenio Bortolini; Marco Madella Quantitative Analysis of Drought Management Strategies across Ethnographically-Researched African Societies: A Pilot Study Land 10.3390/land10101062 A review of threats to groundwater quality in the anthropocene Groundwater In this paper, we present a pilot study aimed at investigating the impact of subsistence strategies and environmental pressure on the distribution of ethnographically documented strategies to cope with drought and its effects across 35 current societies in Africa. We use freely accessible ethnographic databases to retrieve data on how a number of African societies deal with the circumstances of drought, and ascertain the impact of geography on their distribution in order to measure possible relationships between them, a set of subsistence choices, and proxies of environmental constraints. We use Canonical Correspondence Analysis to explore the emerging patterns and find that subsistence strategy strongly impacts the choice of drought management strategies, especially if considered with a proxy of local environmental condition. Spatial proximity and aridity per se have only marginal impact, highlighting other relevant processes of cultural transmission that at least partly transcend (a) the intensity of human interaction over geographic gradients and (b) local adaptation primarily dependent on water availability. This study supports the wide applicability of quantitative and replicable methods to cross-cultural evidence on a variety of adaptive strategies and uses ethnographic data to propose new hypotheses that can inform future archaeological research by showing recurrent and non-case-specific choices highlighting resilient practices and adaptive behaviour in Africa. 759800