Southern European Conditions Research Articles

Effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on productivity and growth allocation. First results of a long-term experiment in a pre-alpine beech forest

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is an important global change driver, potentially affecting forest health and productivity. In order to evaluate the potential effects on tree growth and above-ground biomass production in southern European conditions, a long-term manipulation experiment was carried out in a prealpine beech forest (Pian Cansiglio, BL). Four treatments are compared: (i) control, (ii) moderate soil fertilization, (iii) high soil fertilization (iv) and moderate above canopy fertilization. Results, 7 years into the experiment, do not show any effect of soil fertilization treatments on the monitored parameters, but show instead positive effects of the canopy fertilization on the allocation of resources to the canopy and on the production of leaf biomass, with values that in 2021 exceeded those observed in the control treatment by 0.72 Mg DM ha-1. The contribution of N due to atmospheric deposition does not seem to decrease the growth of pre-alpine beech forests in the short term, but could substantially alter their ecological dynamics.

Industrial stress-test of a magnetic resonance moisture meter for woody biomass in southern European conditions

Moisture content (MC) is the most important quality parameter for energy wood. Unfortunately, checking MC under operational conditions is difficult, because the standard method for MC measurement requires up to 48 h. The bioenergy industry needs alternative methods allowing fast and reliable MC determination, but most of the commercial devices require biomass-specific calibration models. This is an important limitation, particularly in Mediterranean areas, where mixed forest dominate and feedstock loads can include multiple species. In this study a moisture meters based on Magnetic Resonance (MR) was tested for assessing its reliability as an alternative to oven drying. For this purpose, a stress-test was performed at the premises of an energy facility in Southern Italy, using a commercial MR analyzer. Thanks to the non-destructive action on the biomass of MR technology, the MC of 350 samples was measured with both MR and standard gravimetric techniques. Results confirm the validity of the MR analyzer as an alternative to oven drying. Accuracy and precision of the machine are both satisfactory, with over 95% of values within ±2.5% of deviation and a Standard Error of Performance of 1.2%. Furthermore, the analyzer processes over 15 samples per hour, coping with frequent deliveries.

Technical and economic feasibility of sustainable heating and cooling supply options in southern European municipalities-A case study for Matosinhos, Portugal

Energy demand for heating and cooling constitutes almost 50% of the total energy demand in Europe and strongly depends on fossil fuels. Decarbonising this sector and providing a sustainable supply should be a main goal of climate policy. The technical and economic feasibility of supply options depends strongly on local conditions. The focus of this research is to assess the cost-effectiveness of sustainable heat and cold supply solutions under southern European conditions. We use the city of Matosinhos (Portugal) as an example. The methodology includes estimation of thermal demands and hourly simulation of alternative supply scenarios.The results show that, from a socio-economic perspective, the use of excess heat from a refinery via a DHC network might be the economically most competitive option. In addition, the heat pump system combined with photovoltaics is cost-effective from a socio-economic perspective compared to the status quo if the capital costs of the status quo are also accounted for. This justifies support policies to also make it cost-competitive from a private economic perspective, which it currently is not. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for the most influential factors like capital investment costs, interest rate, and fuel prices.

The HARMONIE–AROME Model Configuration in the ALADIN–HIRLAM NWP System

Abstract The aim of this article is to describe the reference configuration of the convection-permitting numerical weather prediction (NWP) model HARMONIE-AROME, which is used for operational short-range weather forecasts in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. It is developed, maintained, and validated as part of the shared ALADIN–HIRLAM system by a collaboration of 26 countries in Europe and northern Africa on short-range mesoscale NWP. HARMONIE–AROME is based on the model AROME developed within the ALADIN consortium. Along with the joint modeling framework, AROME was implemented and utilized in both northern and southern European conditions by the above listed countries, and this activity has led to extensive updates to the model’s physical parameterizations. In this paper the authors present the differences in model dynamics and physical parameterizations compared with AROME, as well as important configuration choices of the reference, such as lateral boundary conditions, model levels, horizontal resolution, model time step, as well as topography, physiography, and aerosol databases used. Separate documentation will be provided for the atmospheric and surface data-assimilation algorithms and observation types used, as well as a separate description of the ensemble prediction system based on HARMONIE–AROME, which is called HarmonEPS.

Update of energy payback time and greenhouse gas emission data for crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

AbstractResults of a recent photovoltaic energy life cycle study are presented. The focus lies on the energy payback time (EPBT) and the CO2 emission rate achievable with state‐of‐the‐art industrial production chains for conventional monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon modules. The data have been provided by European manufacturers and represent the processes in their European—primarily German—production sites. The analysis covers all steps from metal grade silicon refinement down to assembled modules as shipped to the customer. Balance of system contributions have not been included in the analysis and in the result figures, both for EPBT and CO2 emissions. The resulting EPBT values for the modules only are 1.09 and 0.93 years for monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon, respectively, both under southern European conditions. CO2 emission rates strongly depend on the scenario considered, ranging from 18 g/kWh in southern Europe to 60 g/kWh in northern Germany under worst‐case conditions for useful lifetime and degradation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Spray drift reduction under Southern European conditions: A pilot study in the Ecopest Project in Greece

The objective of this work was to generate spray drift data from pesticide application in the field comparing spray drift from traditional equipment with emerging, anti-drift technologies. The applications were carried out in the Kopais area in central Greece. Currently few data exist as regards to pesticide spray drift in Southern European conditions. This work details the data for ground and airborne deposition of spray drift using the methodology developed in the UK by the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA). Three trials were performed in two days using sunset yellow dye which deposited on dosimeters placed at specific distances from the edge of the sprayer boom. The application was carried out with a tractor mounted boom sprayer, which was of local manufacture, as were the nozzles of Trial I, being flat fan brass nozzles. For Trials II and III anti-drift nozzles were used. The boom sprayers were used with the settings as employed by the farmers for the routine pesticide applications. The results of this work indicate that drift was significantly reduced when anti-drift nozzles were utilized.

Screening the Spanish Barley Core Collection for disease resistance

With 6 tables Abstract The Spanish Barley Core Collection comprises 159 landrace-derived inbred lines and 16 cultivars adapted to Southern European conditions. The collection was screened for resistance to powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis), scald (Rhynchosporium secalis), leaf rust (Puccinia hordei), net blotch (Pyrenophora teres f. teres), Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and Barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV). Resistance to powdery mildew was outstanding, with 58 lines presenting mean overall resistance, among them seven landrace-derived lines resistant to all seven isolates tested. About 26% of the Spanish lines were resistant to scald. Resistance to leaf rust and to net blotch was scarce, though a few accessions showed resistance levels as good as the checks. Thirteen accessions (12 Spanish) were totally resistant to BaMMV and c. 20% of accessions showed moderate tolerance to BYDV. Landrace-derived lines from the Mediterranean Coast and Southern regions of Spain were the most resistant to powdery mildew and leaf rust, but the most susceptible to viruses. Potential sources of resistance might be preserved in some accessions subjected to selective pressure in the region of origin.

Comparative efficiency of chemical compounds for in vitro and in vivo activity against Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, the causal agent of tomato bacterial canker

Bacterial canker of tomato caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis produces considerable economic losses in many countries because effective control measures are lacking. The extent to which bactericides control this disease effectively is low and has not yet been well documented for Southern European conditions. In this study the bactericidal effect of several products on this pathogen was assessed in vitro and in vivo in tomato plants under greenhouse conditions. Seven antibacterial substances (bronopol, copper sulphate, kasugamycin, oxolinic acid, oxytetracycline, streptomycin and 8-hydroxy-quinoline), three commercial formulates (Antibak RZ, an oligoelements mixture containing copper plus zinc; Orthopol, a potassium soap; and Param, a resistance inductor) and combinations thereof were tested. In vitro assessment showed that minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibacterial substances was between 4–8 μg ml −1, except for copper sulphate with a MIC value of 150 μg ml −1 and kasugamycin, which was not active at 500 μg ml −1. MIC values of commercial formulates ranged between 5 and 40 μl ml −1. Furthermore, combinations of 8-hydroxy-quinoline+copper sulphate, 8-hydroxy-quinoline+Antibak RZ, streptomycin+Antibak RZ and streptomycin+Orthopol showed a synergistic effect at sub-inhibitory concentrations. Treatments containing copper sulphate greatly reduced disease symptoms on plants sprayed with the bacteria, whereas streptomycin was less effective. In two independent trials, the percentage of leaves showing symptoms was significantly lower (2.4% and 11.9%) after treatment with copper sulphate combined with 8-hydroxy-quinoline at half-dose, than in inoculated controls (75.1% and 59.6%). These results were better than copper sulphate alone. However, plants inoculated by pricking rapidly developed systemic infection, which no product managed to control significantly, although several treatments did reduce symptoms. We conclude that copper sulphate combined with 8-hydroxy-quinoline may be useful in controlling external symptoms of this disease in greenhouses, and is environmentally friendly, reducing the amount of copper applied to crops.

Measuring, modelling and testing ozone exposure, flux and effects on vegetation in southern European conditions—What does not work? A review from Italy

Ozone (O 3) exposure at Italian background sites exceeds UN/ECE concentration-based critical levels (CLe c), if expressed in terms of AOT40. Yet the occurrence of adverse effects of O 3 on forests and crops is controversial. Possible reasons include (i) ability of response indicators to provide an unbiased estimate of O 3 effects, (ii) setting of current CLe c in terms of cut-off value and accumulation level, (iii) response functions adopted to infer a critical level, (iv) environmental limitation to O 3 uptake and (v) inherent characteristics of Mediterranean vegetation. In particular, the two latter points suggest that critical levels based on accumulated stomatal flux (CLe f) can be a better predictor of O 3 risk than CLe c. While this concept is largely acknowledged, a number of factors may limit its applicability for routine monitoring. This paper reviews levels, uptake and vegetation response to O 3 in Italy over recent years to discuss value, uncertainty and feasibility of different approaches to risk assessment.

Exposure and effects of Chlorpyrifos following use under Southern European conditions, Catania (Italy), 9–10 April 2003

Exposure and effects of Chlorpyrifos following use under Southern European conditions, Catania (Italy), 9–10 April 2003