AgMIP-Wheat multi-model simulations on climate change impact and adaptation for global wheat, SDATA-20-01059

The climate change impact and adaptation simulations from the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) for wheat provide a unique dataset of multi-model ensemble simulations for 60 representative global locations covering all global wheat mega environments. The multi-model ensemble reported here has been thoroughly benchmarked against a large number of experimental data, including different locations, growing season temperatures, atmospheric CO2 concentration, heat stress scenarios, and their interactions. In this paper, we describe the main characteristics of this global simulation dataset. Detailed cultivar, crop management, and soil datasets were compiled for all locations to drive 32 wheat growth models. The dataset consists of 30-year simulated data including 25 output variables for nine climate scenarios, including Baseline (1980-2010) with 360 or 550 ppm CO2, Baseline +2oC or +4oC with 360 or 550 ppm CO2, a mid-century climate change scenario (RCP8.5, 571 ppm CO2), and 1.5°C (423 ppm CO2) and 2.0oC (487 ppm CO2) warming above the pre-industrial period (HAPPI). This global simulation dataset can be used as a benchmark from a well-tested multi-model ensemble in future analyses of global wheat. Also, resource use efficiency (e.g., for radiation, water, and nitrogen use) and uncertainty analyses under different climate scenarios can be explored at different scales. The DOI for the dataset is 10.5281/zenodo.4027033 (AgMIP-Wheat, 2020), and all the data are available on the data repository of Zenodo (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4027033).Two scientific publications have been published based on some of these data here

An analysis of the tendency of reference evapotranspiration estimates and other climate variables during the last 45 years in Southern Spain

Climate change will have important implications in the agriculture of semi-arid regions, such as Southern Spain, where the expected warmer and drier conditions might augment crop water demand. To evaluate these effects, a data set consisting of observed daily values of air temperature, relative humidity, sunshine duration and wind speed from eight weather stations in Andalusia and covering the period 1960-2005 was used for estimating reference evapotranspiration (ETo). ETo was calculated using five methods: the more complex Penman-Monteith FAO-56 (PM) equation, considered as a reference in this study, and four alternative methods with fewer data requirements, Hargreaves, Blaney-Criddle, Radiation and Priestley-Taylor. These methods were compared to PM with respect to ETo average values and trends. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was used to evaluate annual and seasonal trends in the main climate variables and ETo. Due to increases in air temperature and solar radiation, and decreases in relative humidity, statistically significant increases in PM-ETo were detected (up to 3.5 mm year-1). Although the Hargreaves equation provided the closest average values to PM, this method did not detect any ETo trend. On the other hand, trends found from Blaney-Criddle and Radiation ETo values were similar to those obtained from PM. In addition, after a local adjustment, these two methods gave accurate ETo average values. Therefore, Blaney-Criddle and Radiation methods have shown themselves to be the most accurate approaches for ETo determination in climate change studies, when available data provided by climate models are limited.Reference evapotranspiration Climate change Temporal trends Penman-Monteith

Water relations in almond trees under moderate water deficits

VIII International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops.The responses of almond trees 'Guara' to different levels of water deficits were investigated. Three irrigation treatments as well as a rainfed treatment were applied in the field to 5-year-old trees during the summer of 2013. Plant water status was monitored by measurement of stem water potential at midday (Ψx), leaf gas-exchange was measured with a photosynthesis analyzer (IRGA) and stomatal conductance with a steady-state leaf porometer. Ψx of well-watered trees was near -0.9 MPa and always higher than -1.0 MPa. In the case of trees irrigated with amounts of water below full crop requirements, Ψx decreased down to -1.5 MPa, and simultaneously, a gradual decrease in stomatal conductance was observed. The close correlation between stomatal conductance (gs) and CO2 assimilation (A) pointed toward the stomatal limitation of CO2 assimilation in almond. Then although the stomatal closure will reduce photosynthesis, the fact that that closure occurs gradually as stress progresses will permit some rate of CO2 assimilation by the plant. The value of -1.0 MPa could be considered a reference threshold in full irrigation programming to ensure maximum stomatal conductance of 'Guara' almond trees. That high value showed the sensibility of this cultivar to water stress.Peer reviewe

Vegetable oils as renewable fuels for power plants based on low and medium speed diesel engines

There is a high potential for plant oils as alternative fuel for low and medium speed diesel engines, making petroleum-derived fuels likely to be replaced in these types of engines. Vegetable oils have important advantages over both heavy fuel oil (HFO) and marine gas oil (MGO), the fuels currently used in diesel power plants by large two stroke low-speed diesel engines and by medium speed diesel engines, respectively. The emission of certain pollutants and greenhouse gases like SOx, soot and, mainly, CO2 can be reduced by using vegetable oils in these types of engines. This work discusses the potential of vegetable oils as fuel for power plant diesel engines and the problems that can be derived from their use. Current experiences with medium speed diesel engines together with the analysis carried out in this paper indicate that vegetable oils can substitute HFO and MGO, without almost any engine modification933953961sem informaçãosem informaçã

Emergence of genital infections due to Haemophilus pittmaniae and Haemophilus sputorum.

We report for the first time the association of Haemophilus pittmaniae and Haemophilus sputorum with urethritis in men who have sex with men and who engage in unprotected intercourse. A search for genital pathogens was conducted using urethral exudate cultures and PCR tests for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, Mycoplasma spp., and Ureaplasma spp. Recovered microorganisms were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and their susceptibility was evaluated by diffusion gradient test. H. pittmaniae and H. sputorum were isolated. They both proved susceptible to ampicillin, cefixime, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. H. pittmaniae was also susceptible to tetracycline and H. sputorum to moxifloxacin. The increased frequency of potentially resistant Haemophilus spp. isolates in genital exudates highlights the need for greater surveillance of these microorganisms and for their consideration in the differential diagnosis of genital system infections