Patterns and drivers of tree Mortality in Iberian Forests: climatic effects are modified by competition

Tree mortality is a key process underlying forest dynamics and community assembly. Understanding how tree mortality is driven by simultaneous drivers is needed to evaluate potential effects of climate change on forest composition. Using repeat-measure information fromc.400,000 trees from the Spanish Forest Inventory, we quantified the relative importance of tree size, competition, climate and edaphic conditions on tree mortality of 11 species, and explored the combined effect of climate and competition. Tree mortality was affected by all of these multiple drivers, especially tree size and asymmetric competition, and strong interactions between climate and competition were found. All species showed L-shaped mortality patterns (i.e. showed decreasing mortality with tree size), but pines were more sensitive to asymmetric competition than broadleaved species. Among climatic variables, the negative effect of temperature on tree mortality was much larger than the effect of precipitation. Moreover, the effect of climate (mean annual temperature and annual precipitation) on tree mortality was aggravated at high competition levels for all species, but especially for broadleaved species. The significant interaction between climate and competition on tree mortality indicated that global change in Mediterranean regions, causing hotter and drier conditions and denser stands, could lead to profound effects on forest structure and composition. Therefore, to evaluate the potential effects of climatic change on tree mortality, forest structure must be considered, since two systems of similar composition but different structure could radically differ in their response to climatic conditions

Cork oak and climate change: disentangling drought effects on cork chemical composition

Climate change induces in the Mediterranean region more frequent and extreme events, namely, heat waves and droughts, disturbing forest species and affecting their productivity and product quality. The cork oak (Quercus suber) is present along the western Mediterranean basin and its outer bark (cork) is sustainably collected and used for several products, mainly wine bottle stoppers. Since most cork properties arise from its chemical composition, this research studies the effect of drought on cork chemical composition (suberin, lignin, polysaccharides and extractives) and on polysaccharide and suberin monomeric composition. Three sets of cork samples, from the same site, were examined: in one set the cork grew without drought; in another two drought events occurred during cork growth and in the third one drought event happened. The results show that, in general, drought does not affect the proportion of the main components of cork, the monomers of suberin or of polysaccharides, with few exceptions e.g. drought increased ethanol extractives and xylose in polysaccharides and decreased arabinose in polysaccharides. The variability associated to the tree is much more relevant than the effect of drought conditions and affects all the parameters analyzed. Therefore, our research suggests that the tree genetic information, or its expression, plays a much more important role on the chemical composition of cork than the drought conditions occurring during cork growth. In practical terms, the potential increased occurrence of droughts arising from climatic changes will not compromise the performance of cork as a sealant for wine bottlesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Evaluating the effect of biochar addition on the anaerobic digestion of swine manure: application of Py-GC/MS

The anaerobic digestion process of swine manure was studied when char was used as supplement for improving performance. The use of pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) was proposed for assessing the organic matter degradation. The assessment on biogas production was carried out using samples of swine manure (SM) supplemented with char in one case and pre-treated by microwave irradiation in the other. This experimental set-up allows for the comparison of the biological degradation observed under these two different configurations and therefore aids in understanding the effect of char particles on the process. Results showed similar performance for both systems, with an average improvement of 39% being obtained in methane production when compared to the single digestion of SM. The analysis of digestate samples by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Py-GC/MS showed improved degradation of proteins, with the Py-GC/MS technique also capable of identifying an increase in microbial-derived material when char was added, therefore highlighting the relevant role of carbon conductive particles on biological systems. Py-GC/MS along with the use of FTIR spectroscopy has proven to be useful tools when evaluating anaerobic digestion

Beyond Refugia: New insights on Quaternary climate variation and the evolution of biotic diversity in tropical South America

Haffer’s (Science 165: 131–137, 1969) Pleistocene refuge theory has provided motivation for 50 years of investigation into the connections between climate, biome dynamics, and neotropical speciation, although aspects of the orig- inal theory are not supported by subsequent studies. Recent advances in paleocli- matology suggest the need for reevaluating the role of Quaternary climate on evolutionary history in tropical South America. In addition to the many repeated large-amplitude climate changes associated with Pleistocene glacial-interglacial stages (~40 kyr and 100 kyr cyclicity), we highlight two aspects of Quaternary climate change in tropical South America: (1) an east-west precipitation dipole, induced by solar radiation changes associated with Earth’s precessional variations (~20 kyr cyclicity); and (2) periods of anomalously high precipitation that persisted for centuries-to-millennia (return frequencies ~1500 years) congruent with cold “Heinrich events” and cold Dansgaard-Oeschger “stadials” of the North Atlantic region. The spatial footprint of precipitation increase due to this North Atlantic forcing extended across almost all of tropical South America south of the equator. Combined, these three climate modes present a picture of climate change with different spatial and temporal patterns than envisioned in the original Pleistocene refuge theory. Responding to these climate changes, biomes expanded and contracted and became respectively connected and disjunct. Biome change undoubtedly influenced biotic diversification, but the nature of diversification likely was more complex than envisioned by the original Pleistocene refuge theory. In the lowlands, intermittent forest expansion and contraction led to species dispersal and subsequent isolation, promoting lineage diversification. These pulses of climate-driven biotic interchange profoundly altered the composition of regional species pools and triggered new evolutionary radiations. In the special case of the tropical Andean forests adjacent to the Amazon lowlands, new phylogenetic data provide abundant evidence for rapid biotic diversification during the Pleistocene. During warm interglacials and intersta- dials, lowland taxa dispersed upslope. Isolation in these disjunct climate refugia led to extinction for some taxa and speciation for others.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155561/1/Baker2020.pdfDescription of Baker2020.pdf : Main articl

Computational thermodynamics in ferrite content prediction of austenitic stainless steel weldments

In this paper, four computational approaches using Thermo-Calc and DICTRA have been used to calculate the ferrite content of a set of austenitic stainless steel welds with different solidification modes and ferrite contents. To evaluate the computational approaches, the calculations were compared to the experimental results. It was found that for each solidification mode, there is one computational approach that predicts ferrite with better accuracy. For ferritic-austenitic alloys, the best accuracy is obtained when considering the peritectic model, with deviations of 1.2–1.4% ferrite. In the case of austenitic-ferritic alloys, the solidification analysed through the eutectic approach showed an accuracy of 0.6–1.6% ferrite, whilst in alloys with fully ferritic solidification, starting calculations, not from the liquid state but from fully ferritic below solidus, was the best approach, showing 2.3% ferrite deviation from the experimental measurements. Computational thermodynamics has proved to be a promising tool to explore simulation and calculation of ferrite content phase fractions in welding. However, further investigation is still needed to correlate the real microstructural features with the computational parameter “cell size”. The feasibility and accuracy of computational thermodynamics when predicting ferrite in low-heat-input welding processes such as laser welding is also another aspect for additional investigation.First Online: 05 December 2018Funders: Stiftelsen Axel Hultgrens fond; Swerim AB</p

Modification of the Coordination Behaviour of 4,6-Dimethylpyrimidine-2-thiol with Divalent Cadmium at pH 5.5: A Supramolecular Assembly Generated by Axially Directed Zigzag Weaving of Tripolar Zwitterionic Motifs Through Alternate Pairs of Charge-Assisted C(sp(2))-H center dot center dot center dot Cl and N(sp(2))-H center dot center dot center dot Cl Interactions in Solid State

At pH 5.5, coordination between Cd2+ and 4,6-dimethylpyrimidine-2-thiol was studied using CdCl2 and Cd(NO3)(2). For both of these, the same complex, bis-4,6-dimethylpyrimidinium-2-thiolato cadmium (II) chloride was invariably formed. It crystallized from water in the space group P2(1)/c, Z = 4 (a = 12.955(2) , b = 8.429(1) , c = 15.727(2) , beta = 97.19(0)A degrees), displaying a distorted tetrahedral molecular geometry characterized by a [CdCl2S2](2(-)) chromophore. The negative charge on the coordination zone is intramolecularly compensated by protonation of one azomethine N in each of the two thiolpyrimidine ligands, resulting in a tripolar zwitterion; its aqueous solution is consequently acidic and highly conducting. The crystal structure is mainly characterized by two kinds of charge-driven H-bonding interactions generated in pairs by the inversion symmetry of the space group and translation symmetry of its periodic lattice. This ultimately results in extensive intermolecular interactions, forming left handed zigzag H-bond networks and a consequent supramolecular growth along b. Spectroscopic studies agree well with the proposed molecular structure. The aqueous solubility of the complex and a high 50% lethal dose (mice) of its ligand seem to indicate development of the pyrimidinethiol moiety into a prospective antidote to Cd2+ toxicity.</p