Ecological factors determining the distribution and assemblages of the aquatic Hemiptera (Gerromorpha & Nepomorpha) in the Segura River basin (Spain)

Although the Segura River basin is located in one of Europe's most arid regions, it features a wide variety of aquatic ecosystems, some of which are rare within the European continent. Assemblages of aquatic Hemiptera and their indicator species in the Segura River basin, as well as the key environmental factors that determine their distribution, were evaluated in this study. Between 1980 and 2010, a total of 38 species of aquatic Hemiptera were collected in 402 sites that have been classified into 12 types of habitats. Aquatic Hemiptera were well-represented among the different habitats and were widely distributed across the entire study area. Relationships between community structure and environmental variables were evaluated using multivariate analyses, including non-parametric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), principal components analysis (PCA) and distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA). Results revealed that the distribution of aquatic Hemiptera was influenced primarily by an environmental gradient from lotic and freshwater headwater environments to lentic and highly-mineralised waters in lower river sections. Hence, the lotic/lentic character of the habitat and its conductivity were the most important factors shaping the spatial distribution of the aquatic Hemiptera in the Segura River basin. Additionally, an indicator species analysis (IndVal) revealed four aquatic Hemiptera assemblage types: one was related with lotic headwater environments, a second was associated with rivers and reservoirs, a third was found primarily in lotic saline environments and a fourth transitional assemblage type was associated with microhabitat availability and included species with a widespread distribution. Defining Hemiptera assemblage types statistically, however, was difficult due to the widespread distribution of species caused by high dispersion capability and low microhabitat requirements.La Cuenca del Río Segura (SE España), a pesar de representar una de las áreas más áridas del Mediterráneo occidental, presenta una amplia variedad de ecosistemas acuáticos, algunos de los cuales son raros a nivel europeo. En dichos ecosistemas, englobados en 12 tipos de hábitats, se han registrado un total de 38 especies de hem'ıpteros acuáticos en 402 estaciones de muestreo entre 1980 y 2010. Se trata de un grupo bien representado en los diferentes hábitats tipo y ampliamente distribuido por el área de estudio. Las relaciones entre la estructura de la comunidad y las variables ambientales fueron estudiadas mediante diferentes técnicas de análisis multivariantes. El an'alisis de escalamiento multidimensional no paramétrico (NMDS), el análisis de componentes principales (PCA) y el análisis de redundancia basado en las distancias (dbRDA) revelaron que la distribución espacial de los hem'ıpteros acu'aticos en la cuenca del río Segura sigue un gradiente ambiental desde ambientes lóticos de agua dulce en cabecera hasta ambientes leníticos mineralizados en desembocadura. Por tanto, el tipo de h'abitat (lótico o lenítico) y la conductividad son los principales factores determinantes de la distribución de las especies. Finalmente, un análisis de especies indicadoras (IndVal) mostró 4 tipos de asociaciones de especies características de diferentes tipos de hábitats: ambientes lóticos de cabecera, ríos y embalses, ambientes leníticos salinos y un último grupo de transición entre los anteriores. A pesar de estos resultados, los análisis estadísticos muestran que es difícil definir grupos para los hemípteros acuáticos debido a que muchas de estas especies presentan una amplia distribución como resultado de su alta capacidad de dispersión y de su baja especificidad de hábitat

Beneficios de la utilización del simulador comercial PROMAX® en combinación con cálculo manual en el análisis de un proceso industrial en el Grado de Ingeniería Química

[EN] Commercial process simulators use in Chemical Engineering Degree is an effective tool to improve student learning. Currently, these tools are established in curricula and they allow that students can use a similar software to they will use in their professional life. Moreover, the students can analyze, simulate and optimize complex industrial problems. However, this type of software is not developed for teaching activities and it should not become an instrument which the data are entered for the students, and the results are observed like a black box, due to sometimes they are not able to understand how the results are obtained or if the showed results are correct and consistent. In this work, a simple industrial process resolution methodology is presented. In this methodology the problem is solved for the the students using two different ways, combining manual calculation, (the traditional one), which is used in previous subjects, with the use of the PROMAX® simulator. The observed advantages of this methodology are multiple, the consolidation of concepts from previous subjects, the student motivations when they work with this commercial software, used in companies, and satisfaction when they can solve the problem and they obtaine the same result to observed in the simulator. The activity of a process for obtaining isooctane is presented in this work. The tasks performed in the activity of a process for obtaining isooctane are showed in this work. Design calculation and analysis of the continuous stirred tank reactor where the chemical reaction occurs are presented in order to demonstrate the benefits of this combination of teaching methodologies.[ES] El uso de simuladores comerciales en el Grado de Ingeniería Química es una herramienta muy eficaz para mejorar el aprendizaje de los alumnos. Estas herramientas establecidas en los planes de estudios actuales permiten que los estudiantes utilicen programas similares a los que utilizarán en su vida profesional. Por otra parte, también les permite analizar, simular y optimizar problemas industriales complejos. Pero la utilización de este tipo de softwares, la mayoría no pensados para actividades docentes, no debe convertirse en un instrumento en el que los alumnos introduzcan unos datos y observen los resultados, utilizándolos como caja negra, en la que no entienden como se obtienen los datos y en muchas ocasiones no sepan distinguir si los resultados son coherentes o no. En este trabajo se presenta una metodología en la que se presenta un proceso industrial relativamente sencillo y en el que los estudiantes lo resuelve de dos formas diferentes, combina el cálculo manual, es decir, el tradicional, utilizado en asignaturas anteriores, con la resolución del problema mediante el simulador PROMAX®. Las ventajas de esta metodología son múltiples, entre las que destacan, consolidación de conceptos de asignaturas anteriores, motivación por parte de los alumnos al utilizar software utilizado en las empresas y satisfacción al resolver el problema obteniendo un resultado similar al del simulador. En este artículo se presenta la actividad de un proceso de obtención de isooctano, donde se indican las tareas realizadas en el cálculo, diseño y análisis del reactor continuo de tanque agitado donde se produce la reacción química.López Pérez, MF.; Cardona Navarrete, SC.; Fombuena Borrás, V.; Lora García, J.; Carbonell Alcaina, C. (2021). Beneficios de la utilización del simulador comercial PROMAX® en combinación con cálculo manual en el análisis de un proceso industrial en el Grado de Ingeniería Química. En IN-RED 2021: VII Congreso de Innovación Edicativa y Docencia en Red. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 891-904. https://doi.org/10.4995/INRED2021.2021.13792OCS89190

Data Carbonell et al

Compressed file containing 7 archives: environmental and biological data from invaded and non-invaded areas (original dataset); environmental and biological data from invaded area (to be used for data analysis along with the R script); environmental and biological data from non-invaded area (to be used for data analysis along with the R script); physiological and biological traits of corixids and their categories (to be used for data analysis along with the R script); affinity values of species for each trait category (to be used for data analysis along with the R script), physiological and biological traits of corixids and their categories (original dataset); document with detailed archives description

Biological invasion modifies the co-occurrence patterns of insects along a stress gradient

Biological invasions have become one of the most important drivers of biodiversity loss and ecosystem change world-wide. However, it is still unclear how invasions may interact with local abiotic stressors, which are expected to increase as global change intensifies. Furthermore, we know little about the response to biological invasions of insects, despite their disproportionate contribution to global animal biodiversity. The aim of the present work is to investigate the impact of an invasive aquatic insect on the co-occurrence patterns of native species of insects along a salinity gradient, and determine which assembly rules are driving these patterns. First, we characterised the habitat specialisation and functional niches of each species from physiological and biological traits, respectively, and their degree of overlap. Second, we used field data to compare the co-occurrence patterns of native and invasive species in invaded and non-invaded areas of southern Iberia and northern Morocco. Finally, we tested if habitat filtering or niche differentiation assembly rules mediate their co-occurrence. In non-invaded areas, habitat filtering drives habitat segregation of species along the salinity gradient, with a lower contribution of niche differentiation. The presence of the invasive insect modifies the distribution and co-occurrence patterns of native species. In invaded areas, niche differentiation seems to be the main mechanism to avoid competition among the invasive and native species, enabling coexistence and resource partitioning. The combined study of functional niche similarity and abiotic stressor tolerance of invasive and native species can improve our understanding of the effects of invasive species along abiotic stress gradients. This approach may increase our capacity to predict the outcomes of biological invasion in a global change context. A lay summary is available for this article.This work was partially supported by funding from a predoctoral FPU grant to J.A.C.. C.C. was supported in part by a JAE predoctoral grant from CSIC and by the postdoctoral grant 3160330 from FONDECYT. C.G.‐C. was supported by the MARS project (Managing Aquatic ecosystems and water Resources under multiple Stress), funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme (contract no. 603378). This work was also supported by the projects P10‐RNM‐6262 (A.J.G.) (Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía), ‘Atlas de los coleópteros acuáticos de España peninsular’ (A.M.) (Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente) and CGL2013‐48950‐C2‐2‐P (J.V.) (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad)

Effects of salinity changes on aquatic organisms in a multiple stressor context

Under global change, the ion concentration of aquatic ecosystems is changing worldwide. Many freshwater ecosystems are being salinized by anthropogenic salt inputs, whereas many naturally saline ones are being diluted by agricultural drainages. This occurs concomitantly with changes in other stressors, which can result in additive, antagonistic or synergistic effects on organisms. We reviewed experimental studies that manipulated salinity and other abiotic stressors, on inland and transitional aquatic habitats, to (i) synthesize their main effects on organisms’ performance, (ii) quantify the frequency of joint effect types across studies and (iii) determine the overall individual and joint effects and their variation among salinity–stressor pairs and organism groups using meta-analyses. Additive effects were slightly more frequent (54%) than non-additive ones (46%) across all the studies (n ¿ 105 responses). However, antagonistic effects were dominant for the stressor pair salinity and toxicants (44%, n ¿ 43), transitional habitats (48%, n ¿ 31) and vertebrates (71%, n ¿ 21). Meta-analyses showed detrimental additive joint effects of salinity and other stressors on organism performance and a greater individual impact of salinity than the other stressors. These results were consistent across stressor pairs and organism types. These findings suggest that strategies to mitigate multiple stressor impacts on aquatic ecosystems should prioritize restoring natural salinity concentrations. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecological consequences and future prospects’.Peer Reviewe

Insect communities in saline waters consist of realized but not fundamental niche specialists

Considering how organisms adapt to stress is essential if we are to anticipatebiological responses to global change in ecosystems. Communities in stressfulenvironments can potentially be assembled by specialists (i.e. species thatonly occur in a limited range of environmental conditions) and/or generalistspecies with wider environmental tolerances. We review the existing literatureon the salinity tolerance of aquatic insects previously identified assaline specialists because they were exclusively found in saline habitats,and explore if these saline realized niche specialists are also specialists intheir fundamental niches or on the contrary are fundamental niche generalistspecies confined to the highest salinities they can tolerate. The resultssuggest that species inhabiting saline waters are generalists in their fundamentalniches, with a predominant pattern of high survival in freshwaterlowsalinity conditions, where their fitness tends to be similar or evenhigher than in saline waters. Additionally, their performance in freshwatertends to be similar to related strictly freshwater species, so no apparenttrade-off of generalization is shown. These results are discussed in the frameworkof the ecological and evolutionary processes driving communityassembly across the osmotic stress gradient, and their potential implicationsfor predicting impacts from saline dilution and freshwater salinization.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Salt in freshwaters: causes, ecologicalconsequences and future prospects’.Peer Reviewe