Seguimiento de los flujos de calor sensible y calor latente en vid mediante la aplicación del balance de energía METRIC

Revista oficial de la Asociación Española de Teledetección[EN] The monitoring of the energy fluxes over vineyard applying the one source energy balance model METRIC (Allen et al., 2007b) are shown in this work. This model is considered operaive because it uses an internalized calibration method derived from the selection of two extreme pixels in the scene, from the minimum ET values such as the bare soil to a maximum that corresponds to full cover active vegetation. The model provides the maps of net radiation (Rn), soil heat flux (G), sensible heat (H), latent heat (LE), evapotranspiration (ET) and crop coefficient (Kc). The flux values have been validated with a flux tower installed in the plot, providing a RMSE for instantaneous fluxes of 43 W m2, 33 W m2, 55 W m2 y 40 W m2 on Rn, G, H and LE. In relative terms are 8%, 29%, 21% and 20% respectively. The RMSE at daily scale for the ET is 0.58 mm day-1, with a value in the crop coefficient for the mid stage of 0.42±0.08. These results allow considering the model adequate for crop monitoring and irrigation purposes in vineyard. The values obtained have been compared to other studies over vineyard and with alternative energy balance models showing similar results. Guardar / Salir Siguiente >[ES] En este trabajo se presenta el seguimiento de los flujos de energía en un cultivo de vid bajo riego, obtenidos a partir del modelo de balance de energía METRIC (Allen et al., 2007b). Este modelo resulta operativo al utilizar un método de calibración interna definido a partir de la selección de píxeles con valores extremos dentro de la escena. De esta manera se obtuvieron mapas de radiación neta (Rn), flujo de calor en suelo (G), calor sensible (H), calor latente (LE), evapotranspiración (ET) y coeficiente de cultivo (Kc). Estos valores fueron validados con registros obtenidos en el sitio, utilizando una torre de flujos turbulentos (covarianza de torbellinos). El RMSE fue 43 W m-2, 33 W m-2, 55 W m-2 y 40 W m-2 en Rn, G, H y LE, los cuales en términos relativos representan un 8%, 29 %, 21% y 20% respectivamente. A escala diaria el RMSE para la ET fue de 0,58 mm día-1, con un valor de Kc máximo y estable de 0,42±0,08. Estos re-sultados permiten considerar que el método es adecuado y operativo para el seguimiento de la evapotranspiración y cálculo de las necesidades hídricas del viñedo evaluadoAl proyecto CERESS (Coupling land surface Energy and water balance from Remote sensing for mapping Evapotranspiration, water Stress and Soil moisture, ref: AGL2011-30498-C02-01) financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación español. El co-autor C. Balbontín N. agradece el financiamiento del Ministerio de Educación de Chile a través de su proyecto FONDECYT Iniciación Cod. 11140843.González-Piqueras, J.; Villodre, J.; Campos, I.; Calera, A.; Balbontín, C. (2015). Monitoring the latent and sensible heat fluxes in vineyard by applying the energy balance model METRIC. Revista de Teledetección. (43):43-54. https://doi.org/10.4995/raet.2015.2310SWORD435443Allen, R., Irmak, A., Trezza, R., Hendrickx, J. M. H., Bastiaanssen, W., & Kjaersgaard, J. (2011). Satellite-based ET estimation in agriculture using SEBAL and METRIC. Hydrological Processes, 25(26), 4011-4027. doi:10.1002/hyp.8408Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D., Smith, M. 1998. Crop Evapotranspiration. Guidelines for computing crop water requirements. (Vol. 56), Food and Agriculture Organization.Balbontin-Nesvara, C., Calera-Belmonte, A., González-Piqueras, J., Campos-Rodríguez, I., López-González, M. L., Torres-Prieto, E. 2011. Vineyard Evapotranspiration Measurements in a Semiarid Environment: Eddy Covariance and Bowen Ratio Comparison. Agrociencia, 45, 87-103.González-Dugo, M. P., González-Piqueras, J., Campos, I., Balbontín, C., Calera, A. 2012b. Estimation of surface energy fluxes in vineyard using field measurements of canopy and soil temperature. In C. M. U. Neale & M. H. Cosh (Eds.), Remote Sensing and Hydrology (Vol. 352, pp. 59-62). Wallingford: Int Assoc Hydrological Sciences.INM. 2004. Guía resumida del clima de Espa-a 1971-2000. In I. N. d. Meteorología (Ed.). Madrid

Updating known distribution models for forecasting climate change impact on endangered species

To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered species, considering all the known factors conditioning the species’ distribution, instead of building new models that are based on climate change variables only.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and FEDER (project CGL2009-11316/BOS

From local monitoring to a broad‐scale viability assessment: a case study for the Bonelli's Eagle in western Europe

Population viability analysis (PVA) has become a basic tool of current conservation practice. However, if not accounted for properly, the uncertainties inherent to PVA predictions can decrease the reliability of this type of analysis. In the present study, we performed a PVA of the whole western European population (France, Portugal, and Spain) of the endangered Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata), in which we thoroughly explored the consequences of uncertainty in population processes and parameters on PVA predictions. First, we estimated key vital rates (survival, fertility, recruitment, and dispersal rates) using monitoring, ringing, and bibliographic data from the period 1990-2009 from 12 populations found throughout the studied geographic range. Second, we evaluated the uncertainty about model structure (i.e., the assumed processes that govern individual fates and population dynamics) by comparing the observed growth rates of the studied populations with model predictions for the same period. Third, using the model structures suggested in the previous step, we assessed the viability of both the local populations and the overall population. Finally, we analyzed the effects of model and parameter uncertainty on PVA predictions. Our results strongly support the idea that all local populations in western Europe belong to a single, spatially structured population operating as a source-sink system, whereby the populations in the south of the Iberian Peninsula act as sources and, thanks to dispersal, sustain all other local populations, which would otherwise decline. Predictions regarding population dynamics varied considerably, and models assuming more constrained dispersal predicted more pessimistic population trends than models assuming greater dispersal. Model predictions accounting for parameter uncertainty revealed a marked increase in the risk of population declines over the next 50 years. Sensitivity analyses indicated that adult and pre‐adult survival are the chief vital rates regulating these populations, and thus, the conservation efforts aimed at improving these survival rates should be strengthened in order to guarantee the long‐term viability of the European populations of this endangered species. Overall, the study provides a framework for the implementation of multi‐site PVAs and highlights the importance of dispersal processes in shaping the population dynamics of long‐lived birds distributed across heterogeneous landscapes

Anthropogenic natal environmental effects on life histories in a wild bird population

Recent work suggests that the environment experienced in early life can alter life histories in wild populations [1, 2, 3, 4 and 5], but our understanding of the processes involved remains limited [6 and 7]. Since anthropogenic environmental change is currently having a major impact on wild populations [8], this raises the possibility that life histories may be influenced by human activities that alter environmental conditions in early life. Whether this is the case and the processes involved remain unexplored in wild populations. Using 23 years of longitudinal data on the Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus), a tropical forest specialist, we found that females born in territories affected by anthropogenic habitat change shifted investment in reproduction to earlier in life at the expense of late life performance. They also had lower survival rates as young adults. This shift in life history strategy appears to be adaptive, because fitness was comparable to that of other females experiencing less anthropogenic modification in their natal environment. Our results suggest that human activities can leave a legacy on wild birds through natal environmental effects. Whether these legacies have a detrimental effect on populations will depend on life history responses and the extent to which these reduce individual fitness

The influence of road networks on brown bear spatial distribution and habitat suitability in a human-modified landscape

Roads are human infrastructure that heavily affect wildlife, often with marked impacts on carnivores, including brown bears Ursus arctos. Here, we assessed the potential impact of road networks on the distribution of brown bears in the small, isolated and endangered Cantabrian population of north-western Spain. To ascertain whether local road networks affect brown bear spatial distribution, we first assessed potential influences on the distance of bear locations to roads using candidate models which included topographic variables, landcover types, bear age and reproductive status, traffic volume and road visibility. Then, we built two sets of habitat suitability models, both with and without roads, to discern the possible loss of habitat suitability caused by roads. The mean distance of bear locations to the nearest road was 968 ± 804 m and the closest road was a low traffic road in 72.5% of cases. Candidate models showed little influence of our variables on bear distance to the nearest road, with the exception of elevation. Habitat suitability models revealed that road networks in our study area seem to have almost no effect on brown bear habitat suitability, except for females with yearlings during the denning season. However, this result may also be a consequence of the fact that only a small proportion (16.5%) of the cells classified as suitable bear habitats were crossed by roads, that is, most of the roads are primarily located in unsuitable bear habitats in the Cantabrian Mountains. Compared to previous studies conducted in other populations, mainly North American ones, our findings might suggest a different response of Eurasian brown bears to roads due to a longer bear-human coexistence in Europe versus North America. However, the indirect approach used in our study does not exclude other detrimental effects, for example, road mortality, increased stress and movement pattern disruption, only detectable by more direct approaches such as telemetry.During this research, EG-B was financially supported by a FPU grant (FPU15-03429) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. VP, EG-B, AMG and HRV were financially supported by the I + D + I Project PID2020-114181GB-I00 financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, EU). AMG was supported by the Predoctoral Fellowship PRE2018-086102. AZA was financially supported by a Margarita Salas contract financed by the European Union-NextGenerationEU, Ministerio de Universidades y Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia, through the call of the Universidad de Oviedo (Asturias).Peer reviewe

An integrated whole genome analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals insights into relationship between its genome, transcriptome and methylome.

Human tuberculosis disease (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is a complex disease, with a spectrum of outcomes. Genomic, transcriptomic and methylation studies have revealed differences between Mtb lineages, likely to impact on transmission, virulence and drug resistance. However, so far no studies have integrated sequence-based genomic, transcriptomic and methylation characterisation across a common set of samples, which is critical to understand how DNA sequence and methylation affect RNA expression and, ultimately, Mtb pathogenesis. Here we perform such an integrated analysis across 22 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates, representing ancient (lineage 1) and modern (lineages 2 and 4) strains. The results confirm the presence of lineage-specific differential gene expression, linked to specific SNP-based expression quantitative trait loci: with 10 eQTLs involving SNPs in promoter regions or transcriptional start sites; and 12 involving potential functional impairment of transcriptional regulators. Methylation status was also found to have a role in transcription, with evidence of differential expression in 50 genes across lineage 4 samples. Lack of methylation was associated with three novel variants in mamA, likely to cause loss of function of this enzyme. Overall, our work shows the relationship of DNA sequence and methylation to RNA expression, and differences between ancient and modern lineages. Further studies are needed to verify the functional consequences of the identified mechanisms of gene expression regulation

Higher education students’ achievement emotions and their antecedents in e-learning amid COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country survey

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of negative consequences for higher education students. We explored the generalizability of the control-value theory of achievement emotions for e-learning, focusing on their antecedents. We involved 17019 higher education students from 13 countries, who completed an online survey during the first wave of the pandemic. A structural equation model revealed that proximal antecedents (e-learning self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy) mediated the relation between environmental antecedents (cognitive and motivational quality of the task) and positive and negative achievement emotions, with some exceptions. The model was invariant across country, area of study, and gender. The rates of achievement emotions varied according to these same factors. Beyond their theoretical relevance, these findings could be the basis for policy recommendations to support stakeholders in coping with the challenges of e-learning and the current and future sequelae of the pandemic.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Predation and infanticide influence ideal free choice by a parrot occupying heterogeneous tropical habitats

The ideal free distribution (IFD) predicts that organisms will disperse to sites that maximize their fitness based on availability of resources. Habitat heterogeneity underlies resource variation and influences spatial variation in demography and the distribution of populations. We relate nest site productivity at multiple scales measured over a decade to habitat quality in a box-nesting population of Forpus passerinus (green-rumped parrotlets) in Venezuela to examine critical IFD assumptions. Variation in reproductive success at the local population and neighborhood scales had a much larger influence on productivity (fledglings per nest box per year) than nest site or female identity. Habitat features were reliable cues of nest site quality. Nest sites with less vegetative cover produced greater numbers of fledglings than sites with more cover. However, there was also a competitive cost to nesting in high-quality, low-vegetative cover nest boxes, as these sites experienced the most infanticide events. In the lowland local population, water depth and cover surrounding nest sites were related with F. passerinus productivity. Low vegetative cover and deeper water were associated with lower predation rates, suggesting that predation could be a primary factor driving habitat selection patterns. Parrotlets also demonstrated directional dispersal. Pairs that changed nest sites were more likely to disperse from poor-quality nest sites to high-quality nest sites rather than vice versa, and juveniles were more likely to disperse to, or remain in, the more productive of the two local populations. Parrotlets exhibited three characteristics fundamental to the IFD: habitat heterogeneity within and between local populations, reliable habitat cues to productivity, and active dispersal to sites of higher fitness

Age before beauty? Relationships between fertilization success and age-dependent ornaments in barn swallows

When males become more ornamented and reproduce more successfully as they grow older, phenotypic correlations between ornament exaggeration and reproductive success can be confounded with age effects in cross-sectional studies, and thus say relatively little about sexual selection on these traits. This is exemplified here in a correlative study of male fertilization success in a large colony of American barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster). Previous studies of this species have indicated that two sexually dimorphic traits, tail length and ventral plumage coloration, are positively correlated with male fertilization success, and a mechanism of sexual selection by female choice has been invoked. However, these studies did not control for potential age-related variation in trait expression. Here, we show that male fertilization success was positively correlated with male tail length but not with plumage coloration. We also show that 1-year-old males had shorter tails and lower fertilization success than older males. This age effect accounted for much of the covariance between tail length and fertilization success. Still, there was a positive relationship between tail length and fertilization success among older males. But as this group consisted of males from different age classes, an age effect may be hidden in this relationship as well. Our data also revealed a longitudinal increase in both tail length and fertilization success for individual males. We argue that age-dependent ornament expression and reproductive performance in males complicate inferences about female preferences and sexual selection