A Spatially and Temporally Disaggregated Anthropogenic Emission Inventory in the Southern Balkan Region

ICP Forest Monitoring data collected for more than 10 years made it possible to analyse key factors responsible for changes in forest conditions on a regional European scale. Observation routines may vary between different countries, which makes it difficult to gain more insight into stress-effect relationships. The effects on defoliation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) of air concentrations and wet deposition of acidifying compounds, as well as effects of meteorological, site, stand and tree variables were investigated in Lithuania to test the hypothesis that spatial and temporal changes in pine defoliation were closely associated with atmospheric inputs of acidity. Over the period 1994–2004 crown defoliation of more than 8,000 pine trees was monitored in totally 45 stands distributed among three National Parks, where Integrated Monitoring Stations were situated. Air concentrations of SO2, and $ {\text{SO}}^{{{\text{2 - }}}}_{{\text{4}}} $ and $ {\text{NH}}^{{\text{ + }}}_{{\text{4}}} $ deposition, as well as spring and summer precipitation and mean winter temperature were shown to be the key factors affecting defoliation. The acidifying compounds accounted for nearly 58% of the variance in pine defoliation. Meteorological factors increased the degree of explanation to 65%, and stand and site variables to 79%.     

Testing Taylor's Power Law association of maize interplant variation with mean grain yield

Plant-to-plant variability is a crop stability component. The objective of this study in maize (Zea mays L.) was to test the validity of the theoretical background of the hypothesis that the coefficient of variation (CV) for grain yield per plant and mean yield are connected exponentially, following the Taylor's Power Law (TPL) Model. Field experimentation was conducted across two sites, two seasons, and two planting densities. Densities were the main plots, corresponding to the typical practice of 8.89 plants m^–2 (TCD) and the low-input optimal of 5.33 plants m^–2 (LCD), while hybrids were the subplots. Data from 26 subplots in the first site averaged CV values of 22.6% at the TCD and 21.9% at the LCD, and mean yields of 19.1 and 13.9 t ha^–1, respectively, following the TPL Model. The same was true for the second site, with average CVs and means of 41.5% and 14.3 t ha^–1 at the TCD and 36.8% and 11.5 t ha^–1 at the LCD. A test was performed on the simple correlation between the logarithms of variances and their respective means to investigate whether there is a systematic variance dependence on mean, thus questioning the reliability of TPL. The validity of TPL was verified in the first site. Nevertheless, there was a systematic dependence of yield variance on mean yield in the second site, implying that the CV-yield correlation might be not biologically meaningful. Conversion of the variance to remove its dependence on the mean did not validate the CV-yield negative relationship, meaning that caution is needed when interpreting the CV as a stability index for intra-crop variation. Whether the determinant factor of invalidity of TPL was the extensive intra-crop variation in the lower yielding second site can be assessed in future research.     

Expert knowledge for translating land cover/use maps to General Habitat Categories (GHC)

Monitoring biodiversity at the level of habitats and landscape is becoming widespread in Europe and elsewhere as countries establish international and national habitat conservation policies and monitoring systems. Earth Observation (EO) data offers a potential solution to long-term biodiversity monitoring through direct mapping of habitats or by integrating Land Cover/Use (LC/LU) maps with contextual spatial information and in situ data. Therefore, it appears necessary to develop an automatic/semi-automatic translation framework of LC/LU classes to habitat classes, but also challenging due to discrepancies in domain definitions. In the context of the FP7 BIO_SOS (www.biosos.eu) project, the authors demonstrated the feasibility of the Food and Agricultural Organization Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) taxonomy to habitat class translation. They also developed a framework to automatically translate LCCS classes into the recently proposed General Habitat Categories classification system, able to provide an exhaustive typology of habitat types, ranging from natural ecosystems to urban areas around the globe. However discrepancies in terminology, plant height criteria and basic principles between the two mapping domains inducing a number of one-to-many and many-to-many relations were identified, revealing the need of additional ecological expert knowledge to resolve the ambiguities. This paper illustrates how class phenology, class topological arrangement in the landscape, class spectral signature from multi-temporal Very High spatial Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery and plant height measurements can be used to resolve such ambiguities. Concerning plant height, this paper also compares the mapping results obtained by using accurate values extracted from LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) data and by exploiting EO data texture features (i.e. entropy) as a proxy of plant height information, when LIDAR data are not available. An application for two Natura 2000 coastal sites in Southern Italy is discussed.     

Productivity of two stevia varieties under reduced irrigation and fertilization inputs

A 3-year field study was conducted in central Greece to determine the productivity of two stevia [(Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni] varieties (‘Morita’ and ‘Candy-stevia’) under normal and reduced irrigation (100% and 75% of the evapotranspiration) and fertilization [1:0.8:1.1 or 1:0.4:0.8 N:P:K ratio in the first year and only N fertilization (100% or 74% of the recommended rate) in the second and third years] inputs. Averaged across years, stevia cv. Morita achieved greater dry leaf yield (3.48 t ha^?1) than the cv. Candy-stevia (2.85 t ha^?1). Irrigation and fertilization inputs did not significantly affect stevia cv. Morita dry leaf and steviol glycosides (stevioside plus rebaudioside-A) yields; however, decreasing irrigation and fertilization caused slight reduction of cv. Candy-stevia yields. In cv. Morita leaves, the concentrations of stevioside and rebaudioside-A ranged from 5.97% to 7.78% and 3.73% to 4.79%, respectively, while the corresponding concentrations in cv. Candy-stevia leaves were 8.21–9.36% and 3.89–6.33%. Conclusively, both stevia varieties could achieve satisfactory dry leaf biomass and steviol glycosides yield, even when grown under reduced irrigation (at 75% of evapotranspiration) and reduced N fertilization (74% of the recommended rate). Thus, stevia could represent an alternative crop to tobacco in the Mediterranean conditions.     

Utilisation of wood biomass residues from fruit tree branches,evergreen hardwood shrubs and Greek fir wood as raw materials for particleboard production. Part A. Mechanical properties

This paper investigates the potential of utilising wood biomass from fruit tree branches and evergreen hardwood shrubs as raw materials in the production of particleboards when mixed with Greek fir wood particles. The main mechanical properties of the boards made therefrom were determined and compared with those made of typical industrial wood (IW) particles. The highest modulus of rupture and elasticity (30.0 N/mm² and 4330 N/mm², respectively) in bending and screw withdrawal (SW) resistance (127.8 N/mm) were reported for boards made of Greek fir and were downgraded when the fruit tree branches or evergreen hardwood shrub particles also participated. The participation of fruit tree branch particles in proportions higher than 50% improved the internal bond (IB) of fir produced boards, while the highest IB strength (0.95 N/mm²) was reported for boards made of fruit tree branches. Particleboards made of evergreen hardwood shrubs showed inferior mechanical properties compared with those made of IW particles. The latter also showed superior bending strength but inferior SW resistance compared with boards made of fruit tree branches. Hygroscopic and other properties are under determination and will be presented and discussed in the second part of the work.     

Effect of pre-incubation humidity and temperature treatment on the in vitro germination of avocado pollen grains

Optimum in vitro germination of pollen grain of the avocado cultivars Fuerte, Nabal, Ettinger, Bacon and Zutano occurred at 25 °C. However, there were significant differences between cultivars in percentage germination and relative humidity (RH) requirements for optimum pollen grain growth. The most sensitive cultivar to relative humidity was Fuerte, in which the germination of pollen grain rose from 11.4%, at 40% RH, to about 50%, after one hour at 100% RH. The germination% of Nabal pollen grain was already high at 40% RH and was not increased by higher relative humidity. Increased relative humidity also helped to sustain the viability of avocado pollen. At 30 °C and 5% RH the pollen grains of Fuerte quickly lost its ability to germinate, at 40% RH for 1 hour, germination was reduced spectacularly compared to pollen kept in saturated with moisture environment where it was not affected the first 24 hours. The effects of temperature and relative humidity on fruit-set and yield of avocado are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Efficacy of a formulated product containing <Emphasis Type="Italic">Quillaja saponaria</Emphasis> plant extracts for the control of root-knot nematodes

The nematicidal effect of a formulated product containing extract from Quillaja saponaria was evaluated against the root-knot nematodes. The product QL Agri® 35 (QL) was tested to record the effect on second stage juveniles motility, egg hatch and also against field populations in greenhouse experiments contacted in three different locations of Greece. Convulsive movement of second stage juveniles of Meloidogyne incognita was recorded after exposure for 8 days at a series of doses, while the most paralyzed juveniles were counted at the dose of 8 mg l^?1. There was also a gradual decrease in the number of juveniles emerging from egg masses of the same nematode species when the dose of Q. saponaria was increased from 0 to 8 mg l^?1. In greenhouse experiments, the use of Q. saponaria could control root-knot nematodes and prevent nematodes increase in soil. The present study demonstrates that the use of Q. saponaria extract has the ability to control root-knot nematodes. Control given by Q. saponaria in field populations infecting cucumber was similar to that of cadusafos (Rugby®) and oxamyl (Vydate®) under the tested dosages and the specific conditions of the experiments.     

Decrease of heat shock protein levels and cell populations by wine phenolic extracts

The effect of red and white wine total extracts and phenolic fractions on heat shock protein (Hsp) levels in tumor cells and on tumor and endothelial cell populations in vitro has been investigated. Total extracts of red wines decreased Hsp70 and Hsp27 levels and the numbers of tumor and endothelial cells. Several red and white wine fractions significantly decreased Hsp27 levels, and some of them had also an effect on Hsp70 levels. A red wine fraction rich in polymeric flavanols and a white wine one rich in phenolic acids, flavonols, and tyrosol strongly lowered Hsp27 levels. Some red and white wine fractions strongly reduced tumor cell numbers, whereas most of them decreased endothelial cell numbers to variable extents. The present results indicate that wine phenolics decrease Hsp levels in tumor cells and tumor and endothelial cell populations. These properties may be important in the potent anticarcinogenic action of wine phenolics.     

Developmental competence of heat stressed oocytes from Holstein and Limousine cows matured in vitro

The negative effects of heat stress on dairy cattle's fertility have been extensively studied, but the relevant knowledge for beef cattle is rather limited. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of HS during in vitro maturation on the developmental potential of oocytes derived from Limousine and Holstein cows and to estimate the effect of the differential gene expression of important genes in oocytes, cumulus cells and blastocysts in the growth competence between the breeds. In seven replicates, cumulus oocyte complexes from Holstein and Limousine cows were matured for 24 hr at 39°C (controls C; Hol_39, Lim_39) or at 41°C from hour 2 to hour 8 of IVM (treated T; Hol_41, Lim_41), fertilized, and presumptive zygotes were cultured for 9 days at 39°C. Cleavage and embryo formation rates were evaluated 48 hr post-insemination and on days 7, 8 and 9, respectively. From all groups, subsets of cumulus cells, oocytes and blastocysts were analysed for the relative expression of genes related to metabolism, stress, apoptosis and placentation. No difference was detected in cleavage rate or in blastocyst formation rate among the control groups. In both breeds, heat stress reduced blastocyst yield, but at all days the suppression was higher in Limousines. In Holsteins, altered gene expression was detected in cumulus cells (G6PD, GLUT1) and blastocysts (PLAC8), while in Limousines, differences were found in oocytes (G6PD, HSP90AA1), in cumulus cells (CPT1B, HSP90AA1, SOD2) and blastocysts (DNMT, HSP90AA1, SOD2). It appears that Holstein COCs are more tolerant than Limousine COCs, possibly due to compulsory, production driven selection.