Investigations on the life cycle of Orthetrum nitidinerve in southern Spain (Odonata: Libellulidae)

Epidemiological surveillance of Neospora caninum in sheep (Ovis aries) and European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) in southern Spain

West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are emerging zoonotic arboviruses sharing the same life cycle with mosquitoes as vectors and wild birds as reservoir hosts. The main objective of this study was to characterize the pathogenicity and course of infection of two viral strains (WNV/08 and USUV/09) co-circulating in Southern Spain in a natural host, the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), and to compare the results with those obtained with the reference strain WNV/NY99. WNV inoculated birds were monitored for clinical and analytical parameters (viral load, viremia, and antibodies) for 15 days post-inoculation. Partridges inoculated with WNV/NY99 and WNV/08 strains showed clinical signs such as weight loss, ruffled feathers, and lethargy, which were not observed in USUV/09-inoculated individuals. Although statistically significant differences in mortality were not observed, partridges inoculated with WNV strains developed significantly higher viremia and viral loads in blood than those inoculated with USUV. In addition, the viral genome was detected in organs and feathers of WNV-inoculated partridges, while it was almost undetectable in USUV-inoculated ones. These experimental results indicate that red-legged partridges are susceptible to the assayed Spanish WNV with pathogenicity similar to that observed for the prototype WNV/NY99 strain. By contrast, the USUV/09 strain was not pathogenic for this bird species and elicited extremely low viremia levels, demonstrating that red-legged partridges are not a competent host for the transmission of this USUV strain.

The life cycle of the dragonfly Onychogomphus uncatus was studied for three consecutive years, mainly by systematic sampling of larvae, in a permanent upland stream in southern Spain, towards the southern part of this species' range. During larval development a hatching cohort divides into 'fast' and 'slow' components which respectively complete development in two and three years and correspond in their mode of seasonal regulation to summer and spring species (sensu CORBET 1954). In these respects the life cycle resembles closely that of certain other Odonata near the northern limit of their distribution in the United Kingdom and Sweden. Advanced metamorphosis (in the last larval instar) and emergence were confined to spring and summer respectively, but unusually low autumn temperatures correlated with the appearance in autumn, rather than in winter or spring, of intrastadial changes foreshadowing metamorphosis.

Life cycle assessment, C footprint and carbon balance of virgin olive oils production from traditional and intensive olive groves in southern Spain

Isoenzymatic polymorphism of Leishmania infantum in southern Spain

The composition of 12 essential oil samples, obtained by steam distillation of twigs of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) harvested in four different locations from southern Spain and during three phenological stages, has been analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS in combination with retention indices. Quantitative data relative to 53 constituents (accounting for 96.7-99.2% of the oils), 12 of which being reported for the first time in Spanish rosemary oil, are described. All samples studied belong to the chemotype α-pinene/l,8-cineole/eamphor, the main and characteristic components being camphor (17.2-34.7%), α-pinene (10.2-21.6%), 1,8-cineole (12.1-14.4%), camphene (5.2-8.6%), borneol (3.2-7.7%), β-pinene (2.3-7.5%), verbenone (2.2-5.8%), β-caryophyllene (1.8-5.1%), limonene (2.0-3.8%), α-terpineol (1.2-2.5%), myrcene (0.9-4.5%), p-cymene (0.2-3.4%), bornyl acetate (0.2-2.3%), linalool (0.3-1.0%) and terpinen-4-ol (0.4-0.9%). The effect of harvest time on the oil production and chemical composition was examined. The highest oil yields (1.6-1.8%) were recorded during the fruiting period (summer). In general, minimum amounts of camphor and maximum amounts of α-pinene were observed in winter. The concentration of 1,8-cineole was almost constant throughout the year, though other oil constituent levels varied randomly with the plant life cycle. Thus, seasonal and geographical variations on the content of representative components allowed to achieve a quality assessment of the rosemary oils and, consequently, to deduce the best period for processing rosemary in the studied area.

Characterization of monilia disease caused by <i>Monilinia linhartiana</i> on quince in southern Spain

Energy refurbishment of the housing stock is needed in order to reduce energy consumption and meet global climate goals. This is even more necessary for social housing built in Spain in the middle of the last century since its obsolete energy conditions lead to situations of indoor thermal discomfort and energy poverty. The present study carries out a life cycle assessment of the energy and economic performance of roofs after being retrofitted to become cool roofs for the promotion of social housing in Seville (Spain). Dynamic simulations are made in which the time dependent aging effect on the energy performance of the refurbished cool roofs is included for the whole lifespan. The influence of the time dependent aging effect on the results of the life cycle economic analysis is also assessed. A variety of scenarios are considered in order to account for the aging effect in the energy performance of the retrofitted cool roofs and its incidence while considering different energy prices and monetary discount rates on the life cycle assessment. This is made through a dynamic life cycle assessment in order to capture the impact of the aging dynamic behavior correctly. Results point out significant savings in the operational energy. However, important differences are found in the economic savings when the life cycle analysis is carried out since the source of energy and the efficiency of the equipment used for conditioning strongly impact the economic results.

Precision agriculture is a concept that encompasses various technologies aimed at optimizing the management of agricultural activities. The main aim of this investigation is to evaluate the environmental and economic performance of precision agriculture practices on the production of a stone fruit crop (nectarine) using a life cycle approach and to consider a cradle-to-farm gate scope. The results have been compared against the traditional uniform application (UA). The analysis considers five impact categories, including climate change, photochemical ozone formation, acidification, eutrophication, and water use. The foreground inventory data was provided by a local producer in Southern Spain, and the background information was sourced from commercial Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) databases. The results show that the manufacturing of crop inputs (mainly fertilizers, but also crop management inputs) is responsible for most of the damage generated in all the impact categories, except for water use. The reduced input requirements associated with the application of VA techniques resulted in significantly lower economic costs and environmental savings throughout the life cycle of the production system, which ranged on average between 12–26%.

Summary. Some aspects of the life history of a population of Dinocras cephalotes inhabiting a Mediterranean river in Southern Spain were studied over a year (2012–2013). The life cycle of this population seems to be semivoltine, of approximately two years of duration, and with an asynchronous egg hatching period. The comparison of these data with those of an unpublished study carried out in the same population almost a decade before (2004–2005) shows the existence of no differences between years. The nymphal feeding study revealed that the main prey of these organisms are Chironomidae, Psychomyiidae and Baetidae, but some of them, usually the smallest, also had non-animal matter in their guts, mainly detritus, coarse particulate organic matter and algae. So, an onthogenetic shift in feeding was detected. This feeding confirms broadly what was already reported in previous studies in the same and other populations. Finally, and for the first time for this species, the secondary production was estimated. Due to differences in hatching, and so development, among nymphs, annual secondary production was calculated both assuming a CPI of 20 months and a CPI of 14 months. In both cases this value was relatively high, 2854.46 and 4077.80 mg DW m–2 year–1, respectively. These results were compared with those of other predators, and particularly with a stonefly predator with a similar life cycle and from a nearby temporal river.

The life cycle of the zygopteran odonate Lestes viridis in two seasonal streams in the Sierra Morena Mountains is inferred from size-frequency analyses of handnet samples of larvae and records of presence and reproductive activity of adults during three consecutive years. The egg stage (duration 5–6 months) overwinters, larval development is brief (6–8 weeks) and adults undergo a protracted, prereproductive, summer diapause (up to 3 months) before mating and ovipositing in late September, about one week after the first appreciable fall of rain, but before surface water reappears in the streams after having been absent for about four months during the hot, dry summer. Comparison between this life cycle and those of more northerly populations reveals a latitude-correlated cline in phenology resembling that found in some other northern hemisphere odonates that, like L. viridis, maintain an obligatorily univoltine life cycle at different latitudes.

An economic and environmental optimization model for sizing a hybrid renewable energy and battery storage system in off-grid farms

Full environmental life cycle cost analysis of concentrating solar power technology: Contribution of externalities to overall energy costs

Dicrocoelium dendriticum, commonly known as the Lancet liver fluke, is endemic in the Old World since prehistoric times (Le Bailly and Bouchet, 2010).

A: Biogeography and history.- The ecological significance of sclerophyllous oak forests in the western part of the Mediterranean basin: a note on pollen analytical data.- Biogeography, ecology and history of Mediterranean Quercus ilex ecosystems.- Notes on Quercus ilex L. in Liguria (NW Italy).- B: Structure, productivity and dynamics.- Structure, biomass and production of a resprouted holm-oak (Quercus ilex L.) forest in NE Spain.- Factors affecting radial growth of Quercus ilex L. in a coppice stand in southern France.- Litterfall as a measure of primary production in Mediterranean holm-oak forest.- Growth and yield of young Quercus ilex coppice stands in the Tafferte forest (Morocco).- Comparative phenology and growth in different species of the Mediterranean maquis of central Italy.- Dynamics of holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) coppices after clearcutting in southern France Flora and life cycles changes.- Variation in the genetic structure and reproductive biology of holm oak populations.- Evidence for hybridization between sympatric holm-oak and cork-oak in Spain based on diagnostic enzyme markers.- Temperature-vegetation structure interaction: the effect on the activity of the ant Messor barbarus (L.).- What are the consequences of being a downy oak (Quercus pubescens) or a holm oak (Q. ilex) for breeding blue tits (Parus caeruleus)?.- C: Water relationships.- The influence of summer and winter stress and water relationships on the distribution of Quercus ilex L..- Quercus ilex facing water stress: a functional equilibrium hypothesis.- Morphological adaptions of Quercus ilex leaves in the Castelporziano forest.- Evaluation of actual evapotranspiration of a Quercus ilex L. stand by the Bowen Ratio-Energy Budget method.- Comparison of the hydrological characteristics of three small experimental holm oak forested catchments in NE Spain in relation to larger areas.- Comparative water relations of four Mediterranean oak species.- Daily and seasonal variation in water relations of macchia shrubs and trees in France (Montpellier) and Turkey (Antalya).- Water relations of cork-oak (Quercus suber L.) under natural conditions.- D: Nutrient cycling and budget.- Is primary production in holm oak forests nutrient limited? A correlational approach.- Organic matter distribution and fluxes within a holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) stand in the Etna volcano A synthesis.- The efficiency of nitrogen retranslocation from leaf biomass in Quercus ilex ecosystems.- Litter dynamics in post-fire successional forests of Quercus ilex.- Soil nitrogen dynamics in a holm oak forest.- Decomposition rate of Quercus rotundifolia leaves in an evergreen oak forest of the Duero Basin (Province of Zamora, Spain).- Productivity and nutrient uptake in a holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) stand and during regeneration after clearcut.- Variation in tissue element concentrations in Quercus ilex L. over a range of different soils.- Preliminary results of a fertilization-irrigation experiment in a Quercus ilex L. forest in relation to leaves and twigs characteristics.- The role of Diplopoda litter grazing activity recycling processes in a Mediterranean climate.- E: Management.- Ecological dynamics of Quercus dominated woodlands in California and southern Spain: a state-transition model.- Old holm oak coppices... new sylvopastoral practices.- Quercus ilex browse utilization by Caprini in Sierra de Cazorla and Segura (Spain).- Ecology of vegetative regeneration after coppicing in macchia stands in central Italy.- Matter transfer and land use by cattle in a dehesa ecosystem of central Spain.- Regeneration by sprouting of holm oak (Quercus ilex) stands exploited by selection thinning.- Effect of cleaning and thinning on height growth and girth increment in holm oak coppices (Quercus ilex L.).- List of Contributors.