Crown bulk density and fuel moisture dynamics in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis> stands are neither modified by thinning nor captured by the Forest Fire Weather Index

Key message

No temporal change was recorded during summer in fuel availability in Pinus pinaster stands, contrary to predictions from the Forest Fire Weather Index. Also, thinning had no mid-term effect on fuel moisture or canopy structure.

Context

Forest fires are a major problem in Mediterranean countries. Management actions, such as fuel reductions, are one of the main tools to diminish fire risk, but the midterm efficacy of such tools remains largely untested with empirical data.

Aims

Here, we test for midterm effects of thinning on fuel moisture and crown bulk density in P. pinaster stands and whether temporal variations in fuel moisture correlated with predictions from the Fire Weather Index, a commonly used index on fire risk, and its components.

Methods

We compared fuel moisture over a fire season and crown bulk density in nine pairs of thinned/unthinned plots 7 years after treatments were applied.

Results

We observed that fuel moisture remained stable during a fire season, as a likely result of drought-induced physiological adjustments, including stomatal regulation and others, which allow leaves to maintain a large humidity even during drought, and that thinning had no midterm effect on fuel moisture or crown bulk density. Moreover, the Fire Weather Index and its components displayed different temporal dynamics than those observed in fuel moisture.

Conclusion

These results are important as they indicate that thinning may only have a limited, short-term impact towards diminishing the potential for crown fire spread in these stands and that current indices to evaluate fire risk may require a re-evaluation.

     

An insight on the ethylene biosynthetic pathway of two major fruit postharvest pathogens with different host specificity: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium digitatum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium expansum</Emphasis>

Although several studies have reported the stress-induced ethylene burst occurring in fruit in response to pathogen attack, relatively little is known about the role of this hormone in the fungal metabolism of many postharvest pathogens. To gain further knowledge, we investigated the ethylene production capacity and which ethylene biosynthetic pathways (including the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), the 2-oxoglutarate (OXO) and the 2-keto-4-methylthiobutyric acid (KMBA) pathways) were used under different in vitro conditions by Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium expansum. Both pathogens were capable of producing ethylene in vitro using different pathways but were dependant on the growing conditions. For instance, both the KMBA and the OXO pathways seemed to be responsible for ethylene biosynthesis in P. digitatum when grown in more stressful conditions (limited surface and nutrient availability as in PDA tubes), while only the KMBA pathway seemed to be activated under other culture conditions (i.e. on PDA plates) or when the fungal mycelium was placed within aqueous solutions containing ethylene precursors. In contrast, the KMBA appeared to be the exclusive pathway responsible for ethylene production by P. expansum yet only when the fungal mycelium was in contact with aqueous solutions containing ethylene precursors. In both pathogens, ethylene production seemed to be synchronized with certain stages of fungal growth rather than conidiation, suggesting a putative role of this hormone in fungal metabolism.     

A Survey of Trunk Disease Pathogens within Rootstocks of Grapevines in Spain

Grapevine trunk disease pathogens, and specifically Petri disease pathogens, can be spread by planting infected plants. Due to the increasing incidence of Petri disease and other young grapevine declines reported lately in Spain, a sampling of plants used before for new vineyards were carried out in 2002 and 2004. A total number of 208 plants (grafted and non grafted) were collected, of which 94 plants (45.2%) were infected with at least one of the following pathogens: Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, and species of Phaeoacremonium, Botryosphaeria, Cylindrocarpon, and Phomopsis. Species of the genera Phaeoacremonium and Botryosphaeria isolated in 2004 were identified using morphological and molecular characters. Species of Phaeoacremonium identified were P. aleophilum and P. parasiticum; and those of Botryosphaeria were B. obtusa, B. dothidea and B. parva. This is the first report of P. parasiticum and B. parva occurring on grapevines in Spain. Distribution of pathogens within the plants was studied in 2004. Phaeomoniella chlamydospora was not detected in the graft union of any plant; however, species of Botryosphaeria and Phomopsis were detected along the plant, but mainly in the graft union; Phaeoacremonium aleophilum was detected along the grafted plants, but not in rooted rootstocks. The results suggest that infected plants used for new plantings in Spain are an important source of primary inoculum of the pathogens associated with grapevine trunk diseases in the field.     

Volatile emission after controlled atmosphere storage of Mondial Gala apples (Malus domestica): relationship to some involved enzyme activities

Mondial Gala apples were harvested at commercial maturity and stored at 1 degrees C under either air or controlled atmosphere (CA) conditions (2 kPa O2/2 kPa CO2 and 1 kPa O2/1 kPa CO2), where they remained for 3 or 6 months. Data on emission of selected volatile esters, alcohol precursors, and activity of some aroma-related enzymes in both peel and pulp tissues were obtained during subsequent shelf life of fruit and submitted to multivariate analysis procedures. CA storage caused a decrease in the emission of volatile esters in comparison to storage in air. Results suggest that lessened ester production was the consequence of modifications in activities of alcohol o-acyltransferase (AAT) and lipoxygenase (LOX) activities. For short-term storage, inhibition of lipoxygenase activity in CA stored fruit possibly led to a shortage of lipid-derived substrates, resulting in decreased production of volatile esters in spite of substantial ester-forming capacity that allowed for some recovery of fruit capacity for ester emission during the shelf life. For long-term storage, strong inhibition of AAT activity in CA stored fruit in combination with low LOX activities resulted in unrecoverable diminution of biosynthesis of volatile esters.     

Cattle Grazing Fails to Control Shrub Encroachment in Mediterranean Landscapes

The Common Agricultural Policy supports the use of free-ranging cattle herds to control woody encroachment and fire hazards in Europe. There is, however, little empirical evidence about the effectiveness of extensive grazing to preserve open landscapes in the Mediterranean Basin. In this work, we evaluated the effects of extensive beef cattle grazing on the vegetation structure in a Mediterranean ecosystem using a twofold framework: 1) analyzing temporal changes in the forest, shrub, and grassland cover in areas under different grazing pressures for 16 yr (1993 ? 2009) and 2) studying diet selection to assess the impact of cattle on the local Mediterranean vegetation. Our landscape structure analyses revealed a remarkable change in land cover over the study period. However, woody community dynamics seemed to be more related to natural vegetation succession than to cattle effects. Extensive grazing seemed to preserve grasslands but only at high stocking rates. On the other hand, the diet analyses supported the lack of a role for cattle in encroachment control. Beef cattle diets were based on herbaceous plants (59%) with lower contribution of woody ones (41%). Cattle only showed a significant preference (P < 0.05) for few woody species (Erica multiflora, Olea europaea, Quercus ilex, and Rosmarinus officinalis), mostly at high-density stocking rates. Hence, our results support the idea that extensive cattle grazing alone exerts a negligible effect on shrub encroachment and thus on the risk of fire in the studied Mediterranean area. We urge a redesign of current research to truly integrate extensive cattle grazing as High Nature Value farming in European policies to successfully meet its putative goals, such as shrub encroachment control and wildfire risk prevention.     

Genetic parameter estimation and implementation of the genetic evaluation for gaits in a breeding program for assisted-therapy in donkeys

Genetic analyses in donkeys are likely to face compromises in terms of sample size and population structure. This study aims at implementing a suitable model to estimate breeding values and genetic parameters for gaits in Andalusian donkeys. Empirical observation revealed that ambling donkeys (showing a slightly uneven, non-isochronous 1–2, 3–4 lateral sequence gait) did not walk (i.e. presented an isochronous, even 1-2-3-4 sequence gait) and vice versa. However, the two donkey groups could trot, equally. In this study, 2700 gait records were registered from 300 donkeys. The sample included 1350 gait records from 169 ambling/trotting donkeys and 1350 gait records from 131 walking/trotting donkeys. Fixed effects included year, season, sex, farm/owner, husbandry system, weather, ground type and appraisers. Weight and age were included as covariates. MTDFREML software was used to estimate (co)variance components, genetic parameters and predict breeding values and their accuracies in both sets, separately. Gaits’ heritability?±?SE estimates were 0.56?±?0.155, 0.53?±?0.317 and 0.67?±?0.166 for amble, walk and trot, respectively. Genetic correlations were 0.31?±?0.216, 0.42?±?0.115 and 0.28?±?0.178, for amble and walk, amble and trot and walk and trot, respectively. Not all gaits are suitable to treat every human sensomotor condition. We developed a locomotion selection index, assessing the relative loss/gain in index accuracy when each gait modality was excluded to develop different gait specific therapeutic lines to genetically select the best performing donkeys from each gait modality. Our results suggest that gait genetic lines could be developed and may be potential selection criteria to consider in assisted-therapy donkey breeding programs.     

Growth patterns and morphology of fine roots of size-controlling and invigorating peach rootstocks

We compared growth patterns and morphology of fine roots of size-controlling and invigorating peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) rootstocks. Peach trees were grafted on five rootstocks: a vigorous control (Nemaguard), three intermediate vigor rootstocks (K119-50, P30-135 and Hiawatha), and a semi-dwarfing rootstock (K146-43). Minirhizotron tubes were installed at the base of trees on each rootstock and root images captured with a minirhizotron digital camera system. Number, visible length, and diameter of new roots were recorded at fixed soil depths from April 19, 2000 to December 19, 2001. Root diameter, specific root length, root tissue density and root length density were also measured periodically for each rootstock on roots collected from in-growth cores. Rootstocks had similar seasonal patterns of new root production. Fine root production was lowest in winter and appeared to decline during the final stages of fruit growth. A rootstock with almond in its genetic background (K119-50) produced the greatest quantity of fine roots and had the greatest number of new roots below 69 cm, whereas there were no differences among the other four rootstocks in the total number of roots produced. Rootstock K146-43 had thicker fine roots than the other rootstocks. Independent of rootstock, fine roots produced during spring had greater specific root length than those produced later in the season. The seasonal pattern of fine root production did not appear to be associated with the previously reported effects of these dwarfing rootstocks on shoot growth and stem water potential early in the growing season.