The main objectives of this review are: 1) the compilation and updating of a reference database for Italian saproxylic beetles, useful to assess the trend of their populations and communities in the next decades; 2) the identification of the major threats involving the known Italian species of saproxylic beetles; 3) the evaluation of the extinction risk for all known Italian species of saproxylic beetles; 4) the organization of an expert network for studying and continuous updating of all known species of saproxylic beetle species in Italy; 5) the creation of a baseline for future evaluations of the trends in biodiversity conservation in Italy; 6) the assignment of ecological categories to all the Italian saproxylic beetles, useful for the aims of future researches on their communities and on forest environments. The assessments of extinction risk are based on the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria and the most updated guidelines. The assessments have been carried out by experts covering different regions of Italy, and have been evaluated according to the IUCN standards. All the beetles whose larval biology is sufficiently well known as to be considered saproxylic have been included in the Red List, either the autochthonous species (native or possibly native to Italy) or a few allochthonous species recently introduced or probably introduced to Italy in historic times. The entire national range of each saproxylic beetle species was evaluated, including large and small islands; for most species, the main parameters considered for evaluation were the extent of their geographical occurrence in Italy, and the number of known sites of presence. 2049 saproxylic beetle species (belonging to 66 families) have been listed, assigned to a trophic category (Table 3) and 97% of them have been assessed. On the whole, threatened species (VU + EN + CR) are 421 (Fig. 6), corresponding to 21 % of the 1988 assessed species; only two species are formally recognized to be probably Regionally Extinct in Italy in recent times. Little less than 65% of the Italian saproxylic beetles are not currently threatened with extinction, although their populations are probably declining. In forest environments, the main threats are habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution due to the use of pesticide against forest pests, and habitat simplification due to economic forest management. In coastal environments, the main threats are due to massive touristic exploitation such as the excess of urbanization and infrastructures along the seashore, and the complete removal of woody materials as tree trunks stranded on the beaches, because this kind of intervention is considered an aesthetic amelioration of seaside resorts. The number of species whose populations may become impoverished by direct harvest (only a few of large forest beetles frequently collected by insect traders) is very small and almost negligible. The Red List is a fundamental tool for the identification of conservation priorities, but it is not a list of priorities on its own. O...

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The fundamental ecological significance of deadwood decomposition in forests has been highlighted in several reviews, some conclusions regarding silviculture being drawn. Old-growth forests are natural centres of biodiversity. Saproxylic fungi and beetles, which are vital components of these ecosystems, occupy a variety of spatial and trophic niches. Fungal and beetle diversity on coarse woody debris (CWD) was analysed in 36 forest sites in the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, Italy. The data were analysed by DCA and Spearman's rank correlation. The results provide empirical evidence of the existence of a pattern of joint colonization of the woody substrate by fungi and beetles, which includes an assemblage of reciprocal trophic roles within fungal/beetle communities. These organisms act together to form a dynamic taxonomical and functional ecosystem component within the complex set of processes involved in wood decay. The variables most predictive of correlations between management-related structural attributes and fungal/beetle species richness and their trophic roles for old-growth forest are: number of logs, number of decay classes and CWD total volume. Deadwood spatiotemporal continuity should be the main objective of forest planning to stop the loss of saproxylic fungal and insect biodiversity.

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In questa nota si presenta un aggiornamento dei dati sui coleotteri saproxilici inclusi in Direttiva Habitat presenti nel territorio del Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga. Sono state censite cinque specie, Rhysodes sulcatus, Lucanus cervus, Osmoderma eremita, Cerambyx cerdo e Rosalia alpina, per ognuna delle quali, oltre a riportarne i dati di cattura e bibliografici a noi noti, se ne discute brevemente il significato ecologico e conservazionistico. Lucanus cervus è qui citato per la prima volta dell’Abruzzo e, assieme a Rhysodes sulcatus e C. cerdo, anche per il territorio dell’area protetta. Il rinvenimento di R. sulcatus risulta particolarmente significativo sia per la rarità della specie, sia perché il reperto qui riportato ne conferma la presenza nell’Italia peninsulare.

Resource allocation decisions are a fundamental class of problems common throughout a business and therefore are found throughout business school curricula. Entrepreneurs must allocate capital, financiers must allocation cash, and production managers must create the best mix of multiple-use resources. Within this context, a business school's curriculum, instructional materials, and learning processes must consider the implications of individual decision making. Our traditional instructional content and delivery methods may effectively teach how to set up a decision "problem" and how to obtain an optimal answer. Yet, we may not be teaching a key underlying factor: that entrepreneurs, managers, and future leaders appear to have implicit cognitive biases, which discount information and skew individual decision making. The results of this study demonstrate that a phenomenon known as the "illusion of control" presents a fundamental challenge to the efficacy of formalized educational programs on decision making. TradeSmith was designed as a problem-based learning exercise to elicit for the illusion of control in a basic, resource allocation, decision environment. The subjects in this study demonstrate a decision-making pattern consistent with the "illusion of control" phenomenon. Finally, by revealing individuals' implicit design-making paradigms, TradeSmith helps them experience key issues for managerial decision making.

INtRoDUzIoNEIl Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga (Fig. 1) si estende per circa 149.000 ettari nell'Appennino centrale, a cavallo delle regioni Marche, Lazio e Abruzzo. E' il terzo Parco Nazionale italiano per estensione, dopo il Parco Nazionale del Pollino (Appennino calabro-lucano) e il Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni (Appennino campano). Il territorio dell'area protetta è caratterizzato dalla presenza di tre gruppi montuosi principali: la catena del Gran Sasso nel settore centro-meridionale, costituita da rocce calcaree e dolomitiche, il gruppo dei Monti Gemelli nel settore nord-orientale, anch'esso di natura calcarea, e il massiccio dei Monti della Laga nel settore centro-settentrionale, costituito da rocce marnoso-arenacee. La massima elevazione è rappresentata dal Corno Grande (2912 m s.l.m.), che è anche la vetta più alta della catena appenninica.Gli ambienti forestali occupano oltre il 60% (circa 87.000 ettari) della superficie totale dell'area protetta e, analogamente ad altri gruppi montuosi