Hidrogeologia de les Illes Balears: Les Masses d'aigua càrstiques

[cat] Les aigües subterrànies suposen el 95% dels recursos hídrics de les Illes Balears. Degut a la configuració litològica de l’arxipèlag, la majoria de les aigües subterrànies es localitzen en aqüífers carbonatats que en gran part presenten característiques càrstiques més o menys desenvolupades. De fet 64 de les 90 masses d’aigua subterrànies definides en el Pla Hidrològic de les Illes Balears de 2011 tenen característiques càrstiques. Aquestes masses d’aigua ocupen el 69% de la superfície a Mallorca, el 68% a Menorca, el 67% a Eivissa i el 100% a Formentera. Les particularitats dels aqüífers càrstics fan que la seva gestió sigui més complexa que la dels aqüífers de flux difús. Així degut a que la velocitat d’infiltració i circulació de l’aigua dins d’un aqüífer càrstic sol ser elevada, quan es vol establir la vulnerabilitat a la contaminació d’un aqüífer càrstic és recomanable tenir en consideració el desenvolupament del carst. El mateix ocorre amb els perímetres de protecció de pous de proveïment, el càlcul dels quals s’ha de realitzar amb metodologies diferents a les dels aqüífers de flux difús. L’explotació dels aqüífers càrstics pot accelerar els processos naturals com l’aparició de col·lapses. A Mallorca l’explotació intensiva i estacional de l’aqüífer de Crestatx ha provocat l’aparició de col·lapses que han afectat infraestructures urbanes. D’altra banda a Menorca el descens continuat dels nivells freàtics a l’aqüífer d’Es Migjorn ha accelerat l’aparició de col·lapses que han afectat la qualitat de les aigües d’un pou de proveïment de Es Migjorn Gran.[spa] Las aguas subterráneas suponen el 95% de los recursos hídricos de las Baleares. Debido a la configuración litológica del archipiélago, la mayoría de las aguas subterráneas se localizan en acuíferos carbonatados con características kársticas más o menos desarrolladas. De hecho 64 de las 90 masas de agua subterráneas definidas en el Plan Hidrológico de las Islas Baleares de 2011 tienen características kársticas. Estas masas de agua ocupan el 69% de la superficie en Mallorca, el 68% en Menorca, el 67% en Eivissa y el 100% en Formentera. Las particularidades de los acuíferos kársticos hacen que su gestión sea más compleja que la del resto de acuíferos. Debido a la elevada velocidad de infiltración y circulación del agua en un acuífero kárstico, cuando se quiere establecer la vulnerabilidad a la contaminación de este tipo de acuíferos es recomendable considerar el grado de desarrollo del karst. Lo mismo ocurre con los perímetros de protección de pozos de abastecimiento, el establecimiento de los cuales debe realizarse con metodologías diferentes a las de los acuíferos de flujo difuso. La explotación de los acuíferos kársticos puede acelerar procesos naturales como la aparición de colapsos. En Mallorca la explotación intensiva y estacional del acuífero de Crestatx ha provocado la aparición de colapsos que han afectado infraestructuras urbanas. En Menorca el descenso generalizado de los niveles freáticos en el acuífero de Es Migjorn ha acelerado la aparición de colapsos que han afectado la calidad de las aguas de un pozo de abastecimiento de Es Migjorn Gran.[eng] Groundwaters account for 95% of the water resources in the Balearic Islands. Owing to the lithological configuration of the archipelago, the majority of groundwater aquifers are located in carbonate groundwater bodies with more or less developed karst features. In fact 64 of the 90 groundwater bodies identified in the Balearic Islands Hydrological Plan of 2011 have karst properties. These water bodies occupy 69% of the surface in Mallorca, 68% in Menorca, 67% in Eivissa and 100% in Formentera. The particularities of karst aquifers makes their management more complex than the other aquifers. Due to the high infiltration rate and water circulation in karst aquifers, when establishing the contamination vulnerability of these type of aquifers is recommended to consider the degree of karst development. The same occurs with the protection perimeters of supply wells, the establishment of which should be done with methods different from the used for diffuse flux aquifers. The exploitation of karst aquifers can accelerate natural processes such as the occurrence of collapses. In Mallorca the intensive and seasonal exploitation of the Crestatx aquifer has caused the appearance of collapses that have affected urban infrastructures. In Menorca the general decline of groundwater levels in the Migjorn aquifer has accelerated the occurrence of collapses that have affected the quality of the water from a well supply in Es Migjorn Gran

Improving Xylella sampling in Mallorca

Trabajo presentado en la 2nd European conference on Xylella fastidiosa (how research can support solutions), celebrada en Ajaccio el 29 y 30 de octubre de 2019.Xylella fastidiosawas detected in Majorca in late 2016 (Olmo et al. 2017). Since then, accomplishing EU regulatory, a huge number of samples have been analysed. Poster sessions71| P a g eParticularly, the Mallorca outbreak is different to others in Europe, because of the coexistence of subspecies multiplex(ST81, ST7) in almond trees, olive trees and other species, and subspecies fastidiosa(ST1) in almond trees and grapevine plants among others.As alreadyknown, detection tests of X. fastidiosaare conditioned by the sampling date. However, it is not well known if the optimal dates for sampling are the same for all host species, if it is viable to pool several samples, or if the bacterium can be detected in old wood samples.In this study, we have focused the X. fastidiosamonitoring on almond, grapevines and olive trees. Monthly percentages of positives and average Ct value of more than 2,000 analyses of each of these crops were compared. Overall, we observed that for almond trees the best results were obtained from samples collected from June to August, whereas in grapevine the optimum period was from August to October. In olive trees early spring resulted in the most favourable time for detection, with an increase in Ct and decrease of positive cases in summer.In the assays conducted with pooled almond leaf samples, mixing one infected plant extract with the same volume of up to four negative extracts, showed an average Ct increase of 2.7 cycles, whereas for olive and grapevine samples the Ct increase was > 4 cycles.By default, X. fastidiosais normally analysed in leaf midribs and petioles. We also tested the potential use of wood samples from trunks,sampling different tree rings. Although this sampling procedure is not recommended for routine surveys, it allowed us to establish a potential infection chronology of the number of years since the first infection might have occuredin the Balearic Islands.Study supported by Project E-RTA2017-00004-C06-02 from AEI-INIA Spain and FEDER and the Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional

Phylogenetic inference enables reconstruction of a long-overlooked outbreak of almond leaf scorch disease (Xylella fastidiosa) in Europe

The recent introductions of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) into Europe are linked to the international plant trade. However, both how and when these entries occurred remains poorly understood. Here, we show how almond scorch leaf disease, which affects ~79% of almond trees in Majorca (Spain) and was previously attributed to fungal pathogens, was in fact triggered by the introduction of Xf around 1993 and subsequently spread to grapevines (Pierceʼs disease). We reconstructed the progression of almond leaf scorch disease by using broad phylogenetic evidence supported by epidemiological data. Bayesian phylogenetic inference predicted that both Xf subspecies found in Majorca, fastidiosa ST1 (95% highest posterior density, HPD: 1990–1997) and multiplex ST81 (95% HPD: 1991–1998), shared their most recent common ancestors with Californian Xf populations associated with almonds and grapevines. Consistent with this chronology, Xf-DNA infections were identified in tree rings dating to 1998. Our findings uncover a previously unknown scenario in Europe and reveal how Pierce’s disease reached the continent.This work was partially funded by projects XF-ACTORS (Xylella fastidiosa Active Containment Through a Multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy; grant 727987 from European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Research Programme) and ERTA2017-00004-02 and E-RTA2017-00004-04 (Desarrollo de estrategias de erradicación, contención y control de X. fastidiosa en España) from ‘Programa Estatal de I + D + I Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad of the Spanish Government’ and FEDER) and from the Organización Profesional del Aceite de Oliva Español’. M.P.V-A. was recipient of a PhD fellowship from Intramural Project 201840E111from CSIC. A.B. was recipient of a postdoctoral UIB contract funded by the Vicerectorado de Investigación e Internacionalización of the University of the Balearic Islands

Landscape Epidemiology of Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands

Xylella fastidiosa (Xf ) is a vascular plant pathogen native to the Americas. In 2013, it was first reported in Europe, implicated in a massive die-off of olive trees in Apulia, Italy. This finding prompted mandatory surveys across Europe, successively revealing that the bacterium was already established in some distant areas of the western Mediterranean. To date, the Balearic Islands (Spain) hold the major known genetic diversity of Xf in Europe. Since October 2016, four sequence types (ST) belonging to the subspecies fastidiosa (ST1), multiplex (ST7, ST81), and pauca (ST80) have been identified infecting 28 host species, including grapevines, almond, olive, and fig trees. ST1 causes Pierce’s disease (PD) and together with ST81 are responsible for almond leaf scorch disease (ALSD) in California, from where they were introduced into Mallorca in around 1993, very likely via infected almond scions brought for grafting. To date, almond leaf scorch disease affects over 81% of almond trees and Pierce’s disease is widespread in vineyards across Mallorca, although producing on average little economic impact. In this perspective, we present and analyze a large Xf -hosts database accumulated over four years of field surveys, laboratory sample analyses, and research to understand the underlying causes of Xf emergence and spread among crops and wild plants in the Balearic Islands. The impact of Xf on the landscape is discussed

Landscape Epidemiology of Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands

[eng] Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is a vascular plant pathogen native to the Americas. In 2013, it was first reported in Europe, implicated in a massive die-off of olive trees in Apulia, Italy. This finding prompted mandatory surveys across Europe, successively revealing that the bacterium was already established in some distant areas of the western Mediterranean. To date, the Balearic Islands (Spain) hold the major known genetic diversity of Xf in Europe. Since October 2016, four sequence types (ST) belonging to the subspecies fastidiosa (ST1), multiplex (ST7, ST81), and pauca (ST80) have been identified infecting 28 host species, including grapevines, almond, olive, and fig trees. ST1 causes Pierce's disease (PD) and together with ST81 are responsible for almond leaf scorch disease (ALSD) in California, from where they were introduced into Mallorca in around 1993, very likely via in- fected almond scions brought for grafting. To date, almond leaf scorch disease affects over 81% of almond trees and Pierce's disease is widespread in vineyards across Mallorca, although producing on average little economic impact. In this perspective, we present and analyze a large Xf-hosts da- tabase accumulated over four years of field surveys, laboratory sample analyses, and research to understand the underlying causes of Xf emergence and spread among crops and wild plants in the Balearic Islands. The impact of Xf on the landscape is discussed

Mental Health and Substance Use in the Scale-Up of HIV Prevention

The past several years have witnessed dramatic advances in the potential for effective biomedical HIV prevention interventions. Recent landmark clinical trials, such as CAPRISA 004 and iPrEx, have shown that vaginal microbicides and oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce the likelihood of HIV infection. Additionally, the results of HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 showed that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) could also function as a potential biomedical HIV prevention intervention. Nonetheless, many other trials of microbicides and PrEP failed to show a decrease in HIV incidence. Across these trials, it has been hypothesized that poor levels of treatment adherence accounted for the ineffectiveness of the interventions. It is well known that numerous mental health and substance use issues impact adherence to ART, and it is likely that adherence to PrEP and microbicides is similarly affected by these intertwined psychosocial problems. In this chapter, we discuss the impact of mental health and substance use on adherence, HIV transmission risk behavior, PrEP, microbicides, and ART as a secondary prevention strategy. Specifically, we examine how psychosocial syndemics, stigma, risk compensation, intimate partner violence, and the use of various substances (such as alcohol, cocaine, club drugs, methamphetamines) have been important factors in HIV treatment and prevention research to date, and then we present current research that applies these findings to biomedical prevention efforts. Finally, we discuss future research directions for addressing mental health and substance use issues in biomedical prevention interventions