The boat journey is central to the narrative of Mediterranean migration of the undocumented. While the boat itself is flimsy, fragile, unstable, it has powerfully captured the attention of the world—after all, its journey has produced recurring images of migrants washing up along southern Europe’s picturesque beaches in the archive of undocumented migration. As the…
Climate change presents an urgent global challenge, manifesting in rising temperatures and extreme weather events with severe societal impacts. The Eastern Mediterranean, warming faster than the global average, faces immediate repercussions. Climate literacy emerges as pivotal, empowering individuals to comprehend climate science and act accordingly. This study delves into climate literacy, attitudes, and ‘greening’ behaviours…
In 2016, a rising migration wave swept the Mediterranean area with numerous overcrowded makeshift transport boats crossing the Aegean Sea, with most arriving in Greece and thus, certain European countries started to close their borders. As a result, many refugees became trapped in northern Greece, unable to continue via the Balkan route to countries further…
Water supply for irrigation is a limiting factor for agriculture in Mediterranean countries. A strategy for increasing water availability proposes to use low quality water for irrigation to avoid irrigation with precious and high cost potable water. A drawback about using waste water is the potential heavy metal accumulation in soil and foodstuff. In this…
This chapter explores the growing threats faced by top predators in the Mediterranean Sea. Climate change, overfishing, and plastic pollution may affect their migration patterns and lead them to abandon established reproduction areas. For instance, tuna might not find its spawning grounds due to warmer water, sea turtles might fight against plastic debris to lay…
This study aims to use a rich, millennia-long anthracological dataset to observe the role of Olea europaea L. in the Early and Middle Holocene woody vegetation used by prehistoric groups in the circum-Aegean area. A synthesis of previous and new data obtained in the context of ERC project PlantCult, reflects variations in the distribution and…
Increased environmental concerns over the use of peat for seedling and sapling production has stimulated a quest to find peat alternatives to improve the sustainability of agroecological production systems in Mediterranean climates. This study aimed to develop the use of locally sourced recycled plant residues as effective alternatives to peat in horticultural growing media. The…
In this work, combined efforts by Greek and Turkish scientists produced an updated validated NIS inventory of the Aegean ecoregion, covering 120 years of records up to August 2024. Of the 342 NIS currently present in the Aegean Sea, the majority (281 species) have invaded the South Aegean, followed by the North Aegean (128 species…
Fire regime is predicted to change, particularly in Mediterranean climate regions, towards more severe and frequent fire events. From a predictive perspective, trait-based ecology offers a comprehensive framework to characterize vegetation responses to fire. Since fires induce erosion and decrease soil nutrients, species’ functional traits and their distribution at community level should reflect these changes….
Since the summer of 2015, the Greek island of Lesvos has been centre stage of the so-called refugee crisis and one of the sites where new EU policies for migration control have been tested and implemented. This combined study of jurisprudence with ethnographic fieldwork aims to understand the impact of the asylum regime on the…