Organic recycled mulches in sustainable viticulture: assessment of spontaneous plants communities and weed coverage

Organic recycled mulching has become an interesting strategy for developing more efficient and sustainable viticulture management. This work aimed to analyse the effect of three different organic mulches [straw (S), grape pruning debris (GPD) and spent mushroom compost (SMC)] and two traditional soil management techniques [herbicide and inter-row tillage] on weed control and the spontaneous plant communities presence in the vine-line. SMC and herbicide were the treatments with the highest and the lowest weed cover percentage respectively. Inter-row tillage had a delayed weed emergence at the beginning of the vine vegetative cycle but finally, it reached maximum values nearby SMC. GPD and S had similar effects on weed emergence, reaching up to 23% and 31% of the maximum coverage values respectively. An amount of 28 herbaceous species were identified, some of them very isolated and occasional. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed specific species-treatment associations, especially for inter-row tillage and SMC treatments. The different soil management techniques had a clear effect on weed coverage and plant species communities. This study provides interesting information about how organic recycled mulching influences spontaneous plant biodiversity and weed coverage control

First T2K measurement of transverse kinematic imbalance in the muon-neutrino charged-current single-π+ production channel containing at least one proton

Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, solo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiere, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAMThis paper reports the first T2K measurement of the transverse kinematic imbalance in the single-π+ production channel of neutrino interactions. We measure the differential cross sections in the muonneutrino charged-current interaction on hydrocarbon with a single π+ and at least one proton in the final state, at the ND280 off axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The extracted cross sections are compared to the predictions from different neutrino-nucleus interaction event generators. Overall, the results show a preference for models that have a more realistic treatment of nuclear medium effects including the initial nuclear state and final-state interaction

Improved constraints on neutrino mixing from the T2K experiment with 3.13×1021 protons on target

Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, solo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiere, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAMThe T2K experiment reports updated measurements of neutrino and antineutrino oscillations using both appearance and disappearance channels. This result comes from an exposure of 14.9(16.4) × 1020 protons on target in neutrino (antineutrino) mode. Significant improvements have been made to the neutrino interaction model and far detector reconstruction. An extensive set of simulated data studies have also been performed to quantify the effect interaction model uncertainties have on the T2K oscillation parameter sensitivity. T2K performs multiple oscillation analyses that present both frequentist and Bayesian intervals for the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata parameters. For fits including a constraint on sin2θ13 from reactor data and assuming normal mass ordering T2K measures sin2θ23 = 0.53-0.04+0.03 and Δm322 = (2.45±0.07) × 10-3 eV2 c-4. The Bayesian analyses show a weak preference for normal mass ordering (89% posterior probability) and the upper sin2θ23 octant (80% posterior probability), with a uniform prior probability assumed in both cases. The T2K data exclude CP conservation in neutrino oscillations at the 2σ leve

In vitro interactions between Armillaria sp. and Trichoderma sp. collected from mushroom crop residues

Armillaria mel/ea (Agaricales: Physalacriaceae) is a fungus naturally occurring in the soil, which may penetrate the grapevines' roots, causing their death in the long term. Many chemical products have been tested to manage this fungus with limited success. Nowadays, uprooting and non-prolonged cultivation is the only field-allowable and effective solution. Trichoderma is a well-known fungus used as a biocontrol agent. However, it is also known to be a contaminating fungus far the cultivation of mushrooms (Agaricus sp.). We hypothesized that T. Harzianum from contaminated mushroom cultivation is an effective biological control agent of A. mellea in vitro and could be used as a treatment in the vineyard. In this sense, a circular economic model would be favored in which, on the one hand, the waste reuse from mushroom cultivation would be encouraged, and on the other hand, an effective and sustainable solution would be proposed to combat sorne fungal diseases. To accomplish this, field strains of T. Harzianum and A. mellea were isolated on Malt Extract Agar (MEA). Dual confrontation tests on Patato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates were performed to evaluate the inhibitory effect of the T. harzianum strain on A mellea. Far this purpose, A. mellea was plated 14 days befare T. harzianum. The two fungi were also individually cultivated as positive controls. AII plates were kept at 25ºC throughout the experiment. We observed that T. harzianum inhibited the in vitro growth of A. mel/ea. Specifically, the A. mel/ea growth stopped when both fungi met, while T. harzianum continued to grow above A. mel/ea. The results obtained support our hypothesis of the potential of T. harzianum as a biocontrol agent far A. mel/ea. However, it must be validated in field experiments. Future research will facus on analyzing whether mushroom crop residues infected with T. harzianum could be reused as an organic mulch treatment against A. mellea in the vineyard

He I λ 10 830 Å in the transmission spectrum of HD 209458 b

Context. Recently, the He I triplet at 10 830 Å was rediscovered as an excellent probe of the extended and possibly evaporating atmospheres of close-in transiting planets. This has already resulted in detections of this triplet in the atmospheres of a handful of planets, both from space and from the ground. However, while a strong signal is expected for the hot Jupiter HD 209458 b, only upper limits have been obtained so far. Aims. Our goal is to measure the helium excess absorption from HD 209458 b and assess the extended atmosphere of the planet and possible evaporation. Methods. We obtained new high-resolution spectral transit time-series of HD 209458 b using CARMENES at the 3.5 m Calar Alto telescope, targeting the He I triplet at 10 830 Å at a spectral resolving power of 80 400. The observed spectra were corrected for stellar absorption lines using out-of-transit data, for telluric absorption using the MOLECFIT software, and for the sky emission lines using simultaneous sky measurements through a second fibre. Results. We detect He I absorption at a level of 0.91 ± 0.10% (9σ) at mid-transit. The absorption follows the radial velocity change of the planet during transit, unambiguously identifying the planet as the source of the absorption. The core of the absorption exhibits a net blueshift of 1.8 ± 1.3 km s^(−1) . Possible low-level excess absorption is seen further blueward from the main absorption near the centre of the transit, which could be caused by an extended tail. However, this needs to be confirmed. Conclusions. Our results further support a close relation between the strength of planetary absorption in the helium triplet lines and the level of ionising, stellar X-ray, and extreme-UV irradiation

Effects of organic mulches on the soil environment and yield of grapevine

Farming management practices aiming at conserving soil moisture have been developed in arid and semiarid-areas facing water scarcity problems. Organic mulching is an effective method to manipulate the crop-growing microclimate increasing crop yield by controlling soil temperature, and retaining soil moisture by reducing soil evaporation. In this sense, the effectiveness of different organic mulching materials (straw mulch and grapevine pruning debris) applied within the row of a vineyard was evaluated on the soil and on the vine in a Tempranillo vineyard located in La Rioja (Spain). Organic mulches were compared with a traditional bare soil management technique (based on the use of herbicides to avoid weed incidence). Mulching coverages favourably influenced the soil water retention throughout all the grapevine vegetative cycle. However, the soil-moisture variation was not the same under different mulching materials, being the straw mulch (SM) the one that retained more water in comparison with grapevine pruning debris (GPD) based-cover. The changes of soil moisture in the upper surface layer (010 cm) were highly dynamic, probably due to water vapour fluxes across the soil-atmospheric interface. However, both, SM and GPD reduced these fluctuations as compared with bare soils. A similar trend occurred with soil temperature. Both organic mulches altered soil temperature in comparison with bare soil by reducing soil temperature in summer and raising it in winter. Moreover, the same buffering effect for the temperature on the covered soil also remains in the deeper layers. To conclude, we could see that organic mulching had a positive impact on soil-moisture storage and soil temperature and the extent of this effect depends on the type of mulching materials. These changes led to higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductivity compared to bare soils, also favouring crop growth and grape yields