Growth responses of West-Mediterranean Pinus nigra to climate change are modulated by competition and productivity: Past trends and future perspectives

Positive and negative effects of climate change on forest growth have been observed in different parts of the world. However, much is still unknown about how forest structure and productivity might affect climate-growth relationships in the future. We examined the effects of climate, site quality, and competition on tree basal area growth of black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) between 1964 and 2005 in 21 sites in the Iberian Peninsula. We used a new approach to simultaneously account for climate-growth relationships, inter-annual growth variability, and stand structural changes, by fitting a linear mixed effects model (LMEM) for basal area increments (BAI) using climate data, tree-ring chronologies, and repeated forest inventory data. This approach showed the potential to improve our understanding of climate effects on tree growth and to include climate in empirical forest growth models. We used the LMEM to make projections of BAI growth under two CO₂ emission scenarios and two global circulation models (GCM). The main climate drivers for growth were precipitation from previous autumn to summer and winter temperature with a positive effect, and temperature in spring-summer which had a negative effect. Tree response to climate was modulated by stand conditions, tree competition, and productivity. The more productive stands showed greater ability to either maintain or increase growth at warmer spring-summer temperatures under different levels of autumn-summer precipitation. Growth projections showed important regional differences. In general, growth under future climate is predicted to decrease although moderate growth increases might be expected in the northern region for highly and moderately productive stands.     

Climate-growth variability in Quercus ilex L. west Iberian open woodlands of different stand density

? We present the longest tree-ring chronology (141 y) of Quercus ilex L. (holm oak), and discuss the species climate-growth relationships and the influence of stand density on tree sensitivity to climate.

? Similarly to Quercus suber L., the most influential climatic variables upon holm oak growth were late spring and early summer precipitation, which enhanced growth, and high temperatures in the previous August and current July, which negatively affected growth.

? High density stands responded to similar climatic factors as low density stands, but their response was generally weaker. Holm oak sensitivity to climate has increased in recent decades, which might be related to increasing temperatures in the region. Sensitivity was higher in low density stands. Additionally, the effect of summer stress on growth seems to have increased during the same period, similarly to other species in the Iberian Peninsula, suggesting that trees are more vulnerable to climatic changes.

? Stand density could buffer the response to climate by smoothing climatic extremes. Nevertheless, the effect of competition might reverse this positive effect at the individual tree level. Precautions should be taken before providing management guidelines regarding the effect of climate change and stand density on holm oak.

     

Durable resistance to the wheat rusts: integrating systems biology and traditional phenotype-based research methods to guide the deployment of resistance genes

Genes which confer partial resistance to the rusts in wheat figure prominently in discussions of potential durable resistance strategies. The positional cloning of the first of these genes, Lr34/Yr18 and Yr36, has revealed different protein structures, suggesting that the category of partial resistance genes, as defined by phenotype, likely groups together suites of functionally heterogenous genes. With the number of mapped partial rust resistance genes increasing rapidly as a result of ongoing advances in marker and sequencing technologies, breeding programs needing to select and prioritize genes for deployment confront a fundamental question: which genes or gene combinations are more likely to provide durable protection against these evolving pathogens? We argue that a refined classification of partial rust resistance genes is required to start answering this question, one based not merely on disease phenotype but also on gene cloning, molecular functional characterization, and interactions with other host and pathogen proteins. Combined with accurate and detailed disease phenotyping and standard genetic studies, an integrated wheat-rust interactome promises to provide the basis for a functional classification of partial resistance genes and thus a conceptual framework for their rational deployment.     

Prioritizing rat eradication on islands by cost and effectiveness to protect nesting seabirds

To prioritize conservation actions on Italian islands we used the case study of the eradication of the Black rat Rattus rattus to protect Cory’s shearwater Calonectris diomedea and Yelkouan shearwater Puffinus yelkouan. We evaluated for each island the effectiveness of rat eradication by means of two different indices, both based on the relative importance of the island’s nesting population of the two species at the national and regional scale, but differing in the parameters set at the divisor, i.e., respectively, the number of nesting pairs in rat-free islands and the number of islands occupied by shearwaters. We estimated analytically the monetary costs of rat eradication on each island. Islands at high risk of recolonization were excluded from further analyses, while costs and effectiveness of rat eradication were compared for the remaining islands. Rat eradication was most cost-effectively carried out on the island hosting the largest colony of P. yelkouan. Eradicating rats from all the islands in the ranking provided benefits to 63.9% of the Italian population of P. yelkouan, but only to 7.1% of that of C. diomedea. Comparing costs and effectiveness of all possible island combinations, ranging from a minimum budget of 50,000 € and a maximum of 1600,000 € (i.e. the cost for eradicating rats from all the listed islands), the maximum increase in effectiveness (marginal effectiveness) fell around a relatively small budget (200,000 €). For both species, when adopting the cost/effectiveness rankings, the number of pairs protected for 1000 € of investment was significantly higher than adopting rankings of effectiveness alone, demonstrating that conservation priorities are more efficiently identified by including monetary costs in the analysis.     

Simple confirmatory method for the determination of erythromycin residues in trout: a fast liquid-liquid extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

In recent years, erythromycin has received considerable attention for its therapeutic efficacy against some bacterial kidney diseases in aquaculture and, therefore, suitable and sensitive analytical methods to monitor erythromycin residues in fish are required. A fast sample treatment followed by an LC-ESI-MS/MS method is described for the purification, identification, and quantification of erythromycin A residues in fish. After two extractions with acetonitrile, samples were defatted with n-hexane, filtered, and analyzed by tandem mass spectrometry. Three characteristic transition reactions (m/z 734 --> 716, 734 --> 576, and 734 --> 558) in multiple reaction monitoring were tested for the determination and confirmation of erythromycin A. The method was in-house validated through the determination of precision, accuracy, specificity, stability, calibration curve, decision limit (CCalpha), and detection capability (CCbeta), in accordance with European Commission Decision 657/2002. The coefficients of variation ranged from 1.8 to 9.4% and from 7.5 to 10.9% for intra- and interday repeatability, respectively. Recovery data were also satisfactory, with values varying from 85 to 97%. The method was specific, stable, and robust enough for the required purposes. The calibration curve showed a good linearity in the whole range of the tested concentrations (0-1000 microg kg(-1)) with a correlation coefficient (r2) equal to 0.9956. CCalpha and CCbeta were found to be 220 and 238 microg kg(-1), respectively.     

Interactions between Soil,Leaves and Beans Nutrient Status and Dry Biomass of Beans and Pod Husk of Forastero Cacao: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

In cacao crop the understanding of the multiple relationships between bean and pod husk dry biomass and mineral nutrition in the soil-plant system is scarce. The main objective of this work is to verify the linear, bivariate and multivariate correlations between the mineral nutrient concentrations in the soil, leaves and beans of 53 cacao trees with known dry biomass of cacao beans and pod husk, and further graphically identifying the consistency of these information. For this study, soil samples, leaves and fruits (pod husk and beans) were collected from each cacao trees, for the analysis of nitrogen-N, phosphorous-P, potassium-K, calcium-Ca, magnesium-Mg, iron-Fe, manganese-Mn, zinc-Zn and cooper-Cu mineral nutrient concentrations. The interpretation of the results by the exploratory analysis technique linked to the linear correlation analysis proved to be an essential tool to support studies related to mineral nutrition in the soil-plant system. Foliar N concentration were directly related to the high and very high dry biomass classes of cacao beans. Levels of exchangeable Ca and Mg in the soil were inversely correlated with the dry biomass of cacao pod husk (DBCH), in contrast to results with the positive correlations of these nutrients in the leaves and cacao beans data sets. The foliar concentrations of Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu are shown to be more positively associated with DBCH than dry biomass classes of cacao beans. The concentrations of Fe, Mn and Cu in dry cacao beans show such similar pattern of association with dry biomass of pod husk and beans.     

Brucellosis: a short review of the disease situation in Paraguay

A short review of the brucellosis situation, its control and eradication programs are presented. Data from over 1.2 milliom samples collected from more than 50,718 groups of cattle over a period of over 20 years (1979–2000) illustrates that over the last few years the number of individual reactors remain constant at around 3–4%. The percentage of reactive groups of animals decreased over these years, reflecting a better disease management and possibly an improved general education, handling of information on the immune (vaccination) status of animals and testing practices. Reported zoonotic cases are presented, as well as control and eradication programs, including utilization of vaccines.     

Molecular survey of selected viruses in Pudus (Pudu puda) in Chile revealing first identification of caprine herpesvirus—2 (CpHV-2) in South American ungulates

Viral diseases jeopardize the health of wildlife in Chile. However, this country lacks health surveillance programs that allow for defining preventive measures to tackle such diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and the genetic diversity of pestivirus, herpesvirus and adenovirus in pudus from Chile. Blood samples from wild (n=34) and captive (n=32) pudus were collected between 2011 and 2019 and analyzed through consensus PCR. All the samples were negative to pestivirus and adenovirus. Herpesvirus was confirmed in four captive, and one wild pudu. All four zoo animals share the same sequence for both polymerase and glycoprotein genes. Both sequences share a 100% identity with caprine herpesvirus-2, classifying them in the same cluster as the Macavirus group. In turn, novel sequences of the polymerase and glycoprotein B genes were obtained from the wild pudu. Our study reports the first evidence of CpHV-2 infection in Chile and South American ungulate populations. Further research will be necessary to assess the pathogenicity of CpHV-2 in this species. It is also urgently recommended that molecular, serological and pathological screening should be conducted in Chilean wild and captive pudus to understand the impact of the herpesvirus on their populations.