The social wellbeing of irrigation water. A demand-side integrated valuation in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

[EN] Irrigation water is a vital input for agricultural production. The supply of irrigation water to crops enhances land productivity and affects the agroecosystem functioning. Agroecosystems co-provide a wide range of agroecosystem services and disservices, which contribute positively and negatively, respectively, to human wellbeing. Therefore, irrigated agroecosystems produce several positive and negative outcomes in relation to society, and agricultural water management is key to the provision of adequate incentives for the enhancement of social wellbeing. In such a context, the aim of this work was to value the contribution of water to the provision of agroecosystem services and disservices, as a way to summarise the contribution of irrigation to social wellbeing. To this end, a demand-side integrated valuation of agroecosystem services and disservices was carried out for both rain-fed and irrigated agriculture in two different agroecosystems of the Region of Murcia (south-eastern Spain), a semi-arid western Mediterranean region characterised by water scarcity. In addition, the intensity of the agricultural water use was considered by distinguishing traditional and highly-intensive irrigated agroecosystems. Almond and lemon, two woody crops, were employed to develop the economic valuation in rain-fed and irrigated agroecosystems, respectively. The assessment of biophysical indicators to quantify the provision of services and disservices and their economic valuation, using market and non-market methods, were used. The results show that the contribution of water to social wellbeing is valued at 9000-12,300 euro/ha/year, being greater when the intensive use of agricultural water is promoted. The net economic value of all categories of agroecosystem services and disservices increases when irrigation water is supplied. Notwithstanding, the greatest contribution is due to the increase in provisioning services, mainly food provision in the case of the highly-intensive agroecosystem. Traditional irrigated agroecosystems make a greater contribution to regulating and cultural agroecosystem services. Hence, agricultural water management should focus on increasing the contribution of irrigated agroecosystems to human wellbeing.This work was supported by the AgriCambio project (Grant PID2020- 114576RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033). Jos¿e A. Zabala, Víctor Martínez-García and Jos¿e A. Albaladejo-García acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Personal Training (FPU 16/03473; FPU19/05143; FPU 16/ 03562)Alcon, F.; Zabala, J.; Matínez-García, V.; Albaladejo, J.; López-Becerra, E.; De Miguel, MD.; Martínez-Paz, JM. (2022). The social wellbeing of irrigation water. A demand-side integrated valuation in a Mediterranean agroecosystem. Agricultural Water Management. 262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.10740026

Integrating socio-spatial preference heterogeneity into the assessment of the aesthetic quality of a Mediterranean agricultural landscape

Assessing ecosystem services associated with agricultural landscapes is of growing interest to the research and policy/practice communities. One particularly challenging aspect to understand is the value of the aesthetic quality of such landscapes, even though this is one of the main contributions that agricultural landscapes make to cultural ecosystem service provision. Indeed, as increasing demands are placed on agricultural landscapes for food production, infrastructure development and urbanisation, aesthetic qualities can be severely affected, particularly if those landscapes are used for traditional agricultural practices. Here we assess the aesthetic quality of an agricultural landscape by integrating social preferences heterogeneity and spatial aspects of the provision, combining subjective and objective perspectives. We work in landscapes dominated by irrigated flowering fruit trees in Cieza, in south-east Spain as it is an excellent example of a semi-arid Mediterranean agroecosystem that delivers multiple ecosystem services, including aesthetic quality, in addition to food production. Using GIS tools and a choice experiment, we assess the social utility function for this landscape, and demonstrate social preferences heterogeneity for demand for the aesthetic qualities of the landscape. Latent class modelling distinguished three populations, with the majority preferring diversified agricultural landscapes and management policies based on a more natural-looking agricultural landscape. These results provide agroecosystem managers with an additional vision focused on enhancing the combination of the most diverse and natural-looking elements in the landscape in order to underpin the delivery of cultural ecosystem services that also increase social well-being

Integrating biocultural conservation and sociocultural valuation in the management of sacred forests: What values are important to the public?

1. The need to recognise plural values and integrate these into policy design has long been of interest in nature conservation. However, we also need to understand whether and how different values are prioritised among diverse stakeholders. This is particularly important when indigenous and traditional cultures play a role in how land is managed and protected. 2. Working in the sacred forests of Nigeria, we applied the principles of biocultural conservation and sociocultural valuation to understand the values that underpin people's relationship with nature and with other users of nature. We operationalised this by employing participatory workshop methods to identify multiple values of sacred forests, and conjoint analysis to elicit local people's value priorities and preferences for conserving sacred forests. 3. We identified multiple values attributed to sacred forests, but the strongest preferences were for improved provision of medicinal values. However, preference heterogeneity analysis showed that sacred forests are valued differently among clusters of people with distinct sociodemographic profiles. 4. Our findings also showed that the current management strategy for the conservation of sacred forests is inadequate to galvanise shared and collective responsibility from diverse stakeholders. Using a value-based approach, more robust management strategies that will yield high utility to the public were determined and recommended for implementation. 5. Policy implications. Overall, our study demonstrates that sacred forests are valued in multiple ways above and beyond their role in a cultural belief system. New strategies are therefore needed to effectively manage and conserve them. We recommend a plural approach to the conservation of sacred forests that will incorporate multiple values. This can be achieved by integrating biocultural conservation and sociocultural valuation

Hadron resonances generated from the dynamics of the lightest scalar ones

We have studied the interactions of the scalar resonances f_0(980) and a_0(980) with the vector resonance \phi(1020) and with the lightest pseudoscalars \pi, K, \eta and \eta'. We first obtain the interaction kernels without including any new free parameter. Afterwards, the interaction kernels are unitarized and the final S-wave amplitudes result. We find that these interactions are very rich and generate a large amount of pseudoscalar resonances including the K(1460), \pi(1300), \pi(1800), \eta(1475) and X(1835) resonances. The f_0(980)\phi(1020) self-interactions give rise to the \phi(2170) resonance. For realistic choices of the parameters we also obtain an isovector companion in the same mass region from the a_0(980) \phi(1020) interactions.Comment: 4 pafes, 4 figures. Invited talk at QCD 10 (25th anniversary), 15th International QCD Conference, 28th June - 3rd July 2010 Montpellier (France). To be published in Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.

Chiral dynamics in U(3) unitary chiral perturbation theory

We perform a complete one-loop calculation of meson-meson scattering, and of the scalar and pseudoscalar form factors in U(3) chiral perturbation theory with the inclusion of explicit resonance fields. This effective field theory takes into account the low-energy effects of the QCD U_A(1) anomaly explicitly in the dynamics. The calculations are supplied by non-perturbative unitarization techniques that provide the final results for the meson-meson scattering partial waves and the scalar form factors considered. We present thorough analyses on the scattering data, resonance spectroscopy, spectral functions, Weinberg-like sum rules and semi-local duality. The last two requirements establish relations between the scalar spectrum with the pseudoscalar and vector ones, respectively. The Nc extrapolation of the various quantities is studied as well. The fulfillment of all these non-trivial aspects of the QCD dynamics by our results gives a strong support to the emerging picture for the scalar dynamics and its related spectrum.Comment: To match the version accepted by Phys.Lett.

Dynamical coupled-channel approaches on a momentum lattice

Dynamical coupled-channel approaches are a widely used tool in hadronic physics that allow to analyze different reactions and partial waves in a consistent way. In such approaches the basic interactions are derived within an effective Lagrangian framework and the resulting pseudo-potentials are then unitarized in a coupled-channel scattering equation. We propose a scheme that allows for a solution of the arising integral equation in discretized momentum space for periodic as well as twisted boundary conditions. This permits to study finite size effects as they appear in lattice QCD simulations. The new formalism, at this stage with a restriction to S-waves, is applied to coupled-channel models for the sigma(600), f0(980), and a0(980) mesons, and also for the Lambda(1405) baryon. Lattice spectra are predicted.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Captación de Talio-201 en pulmón y corazón con diferentes tipos de estrés. Estudio en voluntarios sanos

Para comprobar si existen diferencias en la captación pulmonar y miocárdica de Talio-201 entre distintos tipos de estrés se estudiaron 40 voluntarios varones de edad 21,7 ± 0,9 años. A todos se les practicó una gammagrafía de perfusión miocárdica con Talio-201 mediante SPECT. Los 40 individuos fueron aleatorizados en 4 grupos de 10 sujetos cada uno, siendo cada grupo sometido a un tipo de estrés: ejercicio físico, dobutamina, dipiridamol y adenosina trifosfato (ATP). Se observaron diferencias significativas en la captación pulmonar y cardíaca del isótopo, siendo ambas menores con ejercicio físico que con los tres tipos de estrés farmacológico; el índice pulmón/corazón fue equivalente en los cuatro grupos. Se concluye que, aunque el ejercicio físico induce una menor captación pulmonar y cardíaca de Talio-201 que el estrés farmacológico, el índice pulmón/corazón es equivalente para los cuatro grupos y de un valor de 0,28 ± 0,03 en individuos jóvenes sano

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III: Normative data for Spanish-speaking pediatric population

OBJECTIVE: To generate normative data for the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III) in Spanish-speaking pediatric populations. METHOD: The sample consisted of 4,373 healthy children from nine countries in Latin America (Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico) and Spain. Each participant was administered the PPVT-III as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. PPVT-III scores were normed using multiple linear regressions and standard deviations of residual values. Age, age2, sex, and mean level of parental education (MLPE) were included as predictors in the analyses. RESULTS: The final multiple linear regression models showed main effects for age in all countries, such that scores increased linearly as a function of age. In addition, age2 had a significant effect in all countries, except Guatemala and Paraguay. Models showed that children whose parent(s) had a MLPE >12 years obtained higher scores compared to children whose parent(s) had a MLPE ≤12 years in all countries, except for Cuba, Peru, and Puerto Rico. Sex affected scores for Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: This is the largest Spanish-speaking pediatric normative study in the world, and it will allow neuropsychologists from these countries to have a more accurate interpretation of the PPVT-III when used in pediatric populations

Non-perturbative methods for a chiral effective field theory of finite density nuclear systems

Recently we have developed a novel chiral power counting scheme for an effective field theory of nuclear matter with nucleons and pions as degrees of freedom [1]. It allows for a systematic expansion taking into account both local as well as pion-mediated multi-nucleon interactions. We apply this power counting in the present study to the evaluation of the pion self-energy and the energy density in nuclear and neutron matter at next-to-leading order. To implement this power counting in actual calculations we develop here a non-perturbative method based on Unitary Chiral Perturbation Theory for performing the required resummations. We show explicitly that the contributions to the pion self-energy with in-medium nucleon-nucleon interactions to this order cancel. The main trends for the energy density of symmetric nuclear and neutron matter are already reproduced at next-to-leading order. In addition, an accurate description of the neutron matter equation of state, as compared with sophisticated many-body calculations, is obtained by varying only slightly a subtraction constant around its expected value. The case of symmetric nuclear matter requires the introduction of an additional fine-tuned subtraction constant, parameterizing the effects from higher order contributions. With that, the empirical saturation point and the nuclear matter incompressiblity are well reproduced while the energy per nucleon as a function of density closely agrees with sophisticated calculations in the literature.Comment: 66 pages, 27 figures, 1 Table. Version to be published. New results are include

Relationship of Weather Types on the Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Rainfall, Runoff, and Sediment Yield in the Western Mediterranean Basin

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations.Spanish Government (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO) and FEDER Projects: CGL2014 52135-C3-3-R, ESP2017-89463-C3-3-R, CGL2014-59946-R, CGL2015-65569-R, CGL2015-64284-C2-2-R, CGL2015-64284-C2-1-R, CGL2016-78075-P, GL2008-02879/BTE, LEDDRA 243857, RECARE-FP7, CGL2017-83866-C3-1-R, and PCIN-2017-061/AEI. Dhais Peña-Angulo received a “Juan de la Cierva” postdoctoral contract (FJCI-2017-33652 Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MEC). Ana Lucia acknowledge the "Brigitte-Schlieben-Lange-Programm". The “Geoenvironmental Processes and Global Change” (E02_17R) was financed by the Aragón Government and the European Social Fund. José Andrés López-Tarazón acknowledges the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Department of the Economy and Knowledge of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia for supporting the Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 645 (RIUS- Fluvial Dynamics Research Group). Artemi Cerdà thank the funding of the OCDE TAD/CRP JA00088807. José Martínez-Fernandez acknowledges the project Unidad de Excelencia CLU-2018-04 co-funded by FEDER and Castilla y León Government. Ane Zabaleta is supported by the Hydro-Environmental Processes consolidated research group (IT1029-16, Basque Government). This paper has the benefit of the Lab and Field Data Pool created within the framework of the COST action CONNECTEUR (ES1306)