Characterization of Brachypodium varieties as tree cover crops in Mediterranean conditions

Trabajo presentado en la 4th International Brachypodium Conference, celebrada en Huesca del 25 al 28 de junio de 2019.Accelerated water erosion is a major environmental problem in tree crops under Mediterranean conditions, which threat-ens their long term sustainability (Gómez, 2017). Despite of the practical use of cover crops under these conditions, there is limited information on the prediction of the flowering and maturity dates of Brachypodium species for different tree growing areas within the Mediterranean. Different areas within this region, despite sharing the same climate type, present significant differences in their temperature regimes. This communication presents the preliminary results of the first year of a study aimed to calibrate a temperature-based phenology model for Brachypodium in Southern Spain. The four varieties currently registered in the EU: two B. hybridum (Ibros and Iskyri) and two B. distachyon (Zulema, and Kypello) were used for the study.In two different locations in Southern Spain with contrasting temperature regimes, Córdoba (warmer with 17.8 ºC average annual temperature) and Lanjarón (colder with 14.5 ºC average annual temperature) a controlled experiment was carried out during the agricultural year 2018-19. At each site 8 pots (15 l in volume each) were seeded in late October with two replications of each of the four varieties. Each pod was seeded at a seed density of 1gr m-2 and they were irrigated regu-larly to prevent water stress according to the rainfall distribution of the season. The air temperature and the plants height was recorded automatically at a 30 minutes interval.The phenological evolution of the plants was assessed regularly during the growing seasons according to Meier (2001). A phenology model based on growing degree days, GDD Eq. 1, was developed using the Richard equation following the procedure described by Gómez and Soriano (2019). Basically the models were calibrated using the experimental data of the season 2016-17 minimizing the root mean square error between predicted and observed days since sowing for each of the registered phenological stages using the solver function of Excel ®. The developed models were validated using the experimental data of season 2017-2018.This communication presents the preliminary results of the differences in phenology among these four varieties, the calibration of the phenology model and the implications of these differences for their use as cover crops different areas among the region

Erosión en olivar ecológico. Manual de campo: diagnóstico y recomendaciones

Es una guía práctica para el reconocimiento del riesgo de erosión en olivare ecológicos y su prevención. No obstante, gran parte de las mismas, se puede aplicar a casi cualquier tipo de olivares no ecológicos.Peer reviewe

Seasonal herbicide monitoring in soil, runoff and sediments of an olive orchard under conventional tillage

Trabajo presentado en la EGU General Assembly 2016 (European Geosciences Union), celebrada en Viena del 12 al 17 de abril de 2015.Several pollution episodes in surface and groundwaters with pesticides have occurred in areas where olive crops are established. For that reason, it is necessary to know the evolution of some pesticides in olive trees plantation depending on their seasonal application. This is especially important when conventional tillage is used. A monitoring of two herbicides (terbuthylazine and oxyfluorfen)in the first cm of soil and, in runoff and sediment yield was carried out after several rainfall events. The rainfall occurred during the study was higher in winter than in spring giving rise more runoff in winter. However, no differences in sediment yields were observed between spring and winter. Terbuthylazine depletion from soil is associated to the first important rainfall events in both seasons (41 mm in spring and 30 mm in winter). At the end of the experiment, no terbuthylazine soil residues were recovered in winter whereas 15% of terbuthylazine applied remained in spring. Oxyfluorfen showed a character more persistent than terbuthylazine remaining 48% of the applied at the end of the experiment due to its low water solubility. Higher percentage from the applied of terbuthylazine was recovered in runoff in winter (0.55%) than in spring (0.17%). Nevertheless, no differences in terbuthylazine sediments yields between both seasons were observed. That is in agreement with the values of runoff and sediment yields accumulated in tanks in both seasons. Due to the low water solubility of oxyfluorfen very low amount of this herbicide was recovered in runoff. Whereas, in sediment yields the 39.5% of the total applied was recovered. These data show that the dissipation of terbuthylazine from soil is closely related with leaching processes and in less extent with runoff. However, oxyfluorfen dissipation is more affected by runoff processes since this herbicide is co-transported in sediment yields.P08-AGR-03643, P11-AGR-7400, JA (AGR-264) partially finnanced with FEDER-FSE (OP 2007-13) and FACCE-JPI (Designchar4food).Peer Reviewe

Does tillage influence physical- and chemical- related soil quality indicators equally?

Trabajo presentado en la EGU General Assembly 2019, celebrada en Viena del 3 al 8 de mayo de 2019.Soil degradation is linked with a loss of land′s actual or potential productivity. This process is a result of naturaland anthropogenic action being soil tillage one of the main drivers of the last. As a result, soil quality, whichmanifests soil′s capacity to produce ecosystem services and goods, can be compromised. There are severalindicators traditionally measured to characterize soil quality, either based on soil physical or chemical properties.Among soil physical properties, water flow features, as expressed through the soil water retention curve, aredirectly linked to the distribution of soil pores and can be useful to derive different indices (such as the S index)to evaluate soil′s quality. Organic matter, nutrients, and cation exchange capacity are also soil chemical propertiesaffecting soil quality.The main aim of this study was to evaluate the methodology based on the S index (Dexter, 2004) andselected soil (chemical and physical) properties at the short term under typical Mediterranean agriculturalconditions. For this reason, physical and chemical soil properties were measured in a short-term trial settle in twoolive orchards under different soil managements: tillage and cover crop and at two depths: surface (0-10 cm) anddepth (10-20 cm). In addition, water retention curves; water storage capacity; and soil porosity were characterized.At the two studied sites, changes in soil management, even after a short period of time, had a quick effectin chemical properties. However, soil′s pore size distribution, as quantified with the S index, did not showremarkable differences after changing soil management. This may be a consequence of the longer-term effectof changing soil management on water retention and transmission. Future research including more soil typesand assessing water-flow-related properties over a longer time interval, may well provide clearer results in theassessment of soil quality.Peer reviewe

Response of wild bee diversity, abundance, and functional traits to vineyard inter-row management intensity and landscape diversity across Europe

Agricultural intensification is a major driver of wild bee decline. Vineyards may be inhabited by plant and animal species, especially when the inter-row space is vegetated with spontaneous vegetation or cover crops. Wild bees depend on floral resources and suitable nesting sites which may be found in vineyard inter-rows or in viticultural landscapes. Inter-row vegetation is managed by mulching, tillage, and/or herbicide application and results in habitat degradation when applied intensively. Here, we hypothesize that lower vegetation management intensities, higher floral resources, and landscape diversity affect wild bee diversity and abundance dependent on their functional traits. We sampled wild bees semi-quantitatively in 63 vineyards representing different vegetation management intensities across Europe in 2016. A proxy for floral resource availability was based on visual flower cover estimations. Management intensity was assessed by vegetation cover (%) twice a year per vineyard. The Shannon Landscape Diversity Index was used as a proxy for landscape diversity within a 750 m radius around each vineyard center point. Wild bee communities were clustered by country. At the country level, between 20 and 64 wild bee species were identified. Increased floral resource availability and extensive vegetation management both affected wild bee diversity and abundance in vineyards strongly positively. Increased landscape diversity had a small positive effect on wild bee diversity but compensated for the negative effect of low floral resource availability by increasing eusocial bee abundance. We conclude that wild bee diversity and abundance in vineyards is efficiently promoted by increasing floral resources and reducing vegetation management frequency. High landscape diversity further compensates for low floral resources in vineyards and increases pollinating insect abundance in viticulture landscapes.AustrianScienceFund,Grant/AwardNumber:I2044-B25;BundesministeriumfürBildungundForschung;UnitateaExecutivapentruFinantareaInvatamantuluiSuperior,aCercetarii,DezvoltariisiInovarii;MinisteriodeEconomíayCompetitividad;AgenceNationaledelaRecherchePeer Reviewe

Best management practices for optimized use of soil and water in agriculture

These BMPs have been always reviewed in the context of the SHui project, which covers different agro-climatic regions across Europe and China and these agricultural systems: 1- Rainfed tree crops. 2- Irrigated tree crops. 3- Cereal based rotations under rainfed conditions. 4- Cereal based rotations under irrigation. Regarding use of water for irrigation, this document will also cover the use of low-quality water, including wastewater, and the use of recycled water for irrigation.Spanish version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13985Chinese version available at http://hdl.handle.net/10261/253611This document provides a comprehensive review of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for optimized used soil and water in agricultural systems within the context of the SHui project. This document, which also has been translated into Spanish and Chinese could be use: 1- To provide to any reader an overview of the technical description of available options of BMPs for optimizing soil and water use. 2- To identify how BMPs are defined and requested in relation to large policy instruments, particularly the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to provide guidance on simulated scenario as well as on recommendations for improvement to policy stakeholders. 3- To provide a common framework, within the project as well for external users, for the definition of BMPs using a standardize terminology, and an appraisal on how some of the most common hydrologic models can be used, or not, to introduce the effect of these BMPs on scenario analysis.Soil Hydrology research platform underpinning innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems. SHui. European Commission. Grant Agreement number 773903.Peer reviewe

Mejores prácticas de manejo para el uso optimizado del suelo y el agua en la agricultura

Estas MPM siempre se han revisado en el contexto del proyecto SHui, que cubre diferentes regiones agroclimáticas en Europa y China y estos sistemas agrícolas: 1- Cultivos arbóreos de secano. 2- Cultivos arbóreos de regadío. 3- Rotaciones a base de cereales en condiciones de secano. 4- Rotaciones a base de cereales bajo riego. En cuanto al uso de agua para riego, este documento también aborda el uso de agua de baja calidad, incluidas las aguas residuales, y el uso de agua reciclada para riego.Traducción y edición en español: Federico Julián Fuentes y José Alfonso Gómez, Grupo Operativo Cereal Agua.Versión en inglés disponible en: http://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13964Versión en chino disponible en: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/253611Este documento es la traducción al castellano de la versión original en inglés fruto de la colaboración entre el Grupo Operativo Nacional Cereal Agua (de la EIP-Agri) y el proyecto SHui (del programa H2020 de la Comisión Europea). El mismo proporciona una revisión integral de las Mejores Prácticas de Manejo (MPM) para el optimizar el uso sostenible de los recursos suelo y agua en los sistemas agrícolas dentro del contexto del proyecto SHui. Este documento, que además de la versión original inglesa ha sido traducido al español y al chino, podría utilizarse para: 1- Proporcionar a cualquier lector una visión general de la descripción técnica de las opciones disponibles de MPM para optimizar el uso sostenible de los recursos suelo y agua. 2- Identificar cómo se definen y se regulan las MPM en relación con los grandes instrumentos regulatorios, en particular la Política Agrícola Común (PAC), a fin de proporcionar orientación sobre escenarios en que se implementaran esas MPM, así como facilitar la formulación recomendaciones para su mejor implementación por diferentes agentes. 3- Proporcionar un marco común, tanto dentro del proyecto como para los usuarios externos, para la definición de MPM utilizando una terminología estandarizada, así como una evaluación de cómo algunos de los modelos hidrológicos más comunes pueden usarse, o no, para introducir el efecto de estas MPM sobre estudios de análisis de escenarios en los que se introduzcan algunas de estas prácticas.Grupo Operativo Cereal Agua. Para su constitución, al grupo le ha sido concedida una subvención del Fondo Europeo Agrícola de Desarrollo Rural en el marco del Programa Nacional de Desarrollo Rural 2014-2020 del Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. La creación de los Grupos Operativos de ámbito nacional ha sido posible a través de la Asociación Europea para la Innovación en materia de productividad y sostenibilidad agrícola (AEI-AGRI). La creación y funcionamiento del grupo operativo supraautonómico CEREAL-AGUA está cofinanciada en un 80% con el Fondo Europeo Agrícola de Desarrollo Rural (FEADER) de la Unión Europea, y en un 20% por el Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación en el marco del Programa Nacional de Desarrollo Rural 2014-2020, siendo la inversión total de 507.930,00 €.-- Soil Hydrology research platform underpinning innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems. SHui. Comisión Europea. Identificador del acuerdo de subvención 773903.Peer reviewe

Mejores prácticas de manejo para el uso optimizado del suelo y el agua en la agricultura

Chinese translation: Yun Xie, Lixin Chen, Jie Tang, Zhaoqi Fu, Meng Zhang, Hanlin Dong.English version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13964Spanish version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13985在Shui项目框架下，综合论述了农业系统水土资源优化利用的最佳管理措施BMPs（Best Management Practices）。编写本报告的主要原因如下： （1）为与该项目有关或无关的任何读者，总结以水土资源优化利用为目标的各类最佳管理措施（BMPs）技术。 （2）确定在相关的政策计划中，尤其是共同农业政策，如何界定最佳管理措施（BMPs）及需求，以便指导政策利益相关者进行情景模拟和提出改进建议。 （3）为项目内部和外部使用者提供最佳管理措施（BMPs）的标准化术语定义及通用框架。 （4）与Shui项目课题1、2、5合作，确保选用的各类最佳管理措施（BMPs）已通过试验、田间尺度模型模拟、以及所在区域利益相关者的反馈（WP5）进行了充分的评估与分析。 全文对最佳管理措施的综述均基于Shui项目背景，包括了中欧不同的农业气候区和以下农业系统： （1）雨养经果林 （2）灌溉经果林 （3）雨养谷物轮作 （4）灌溉谷物轮作 本报告的灌溉用水涉及到低质水，包括废水利用和灌溉循环水利用。基于土壤水文学研究平台创新管理欧洲和中国种植系统的水资源短缺问题（SHUI） 欧洲委员会 项目资助号： 773903Peer reviewe

Relationship of runoff, erosion and sediment yield to weather types in the Iberian Peninsula

Precipitation has been recognized as one of the main factors driving soil erosion and sediment yield (SY), and its spatial and temporal variability is recognized as one of themain reasons for spatial and temporal analyses of soil erosion variability. The weather types (WTs) approach classifies the continuumof atmospheric circulation into a small number of categories or types and has been proven a good indicator of the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation. Thus, themain objective of this study is to analyze the relationship betweenWTs, runoff, soil erosion (measured in plots), and sediment yield (measured in catchments) in different areas of the Iberian Peninsula (IP) with the aimof detecting spatial variations in these relationships. To this end, hydrological and sediment information covering the IP from several Spanish research teams has been combined, and related with daily WTs estimated by using the NMC/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project. The results showthat, in general, a fewWTs (particularly westerly, southwesterly and cyclonic) provide the largest amounts of precipitation; and southwesterly, northwesterly and westerly WTs play an important role in runoff generation, erosion and sediment yield as they coincide with the wettest WTs. However, this study highlights the spatial variability of erosion and sediment yield in the IP according to WT, differentiating (1) areas under the influence of north and/or north-westerly flows (the north coast of Cantabria and inland central areas), (2) areas under the influence of westerly, southwesterly and cyclonic WTs (western and southwestern IP), (3) areas in which erosion and sediment yield are controlled by easterly flows (Mediterranean coastland), and (4) lastly, a transitional zone in the inland northeast Ebro catchment,wherewe detected a high variability in the effects ofWTs on erosion. Overall results suggest that the use of WTs derived fromobserved atmospheric pressure patterns could be a useful tool for inclusion in future projections of the spatial variability of erosion and sediment yield, as models capture pressure fields reliably

Методологичен подход за изграждане на типологията на ферми от гледна точка на здравето на почвата случаят на ЕС

[EN] Soil health is a significant problem in agriculture which demands a tailor-made approach. The study aims to develop a methodological approach for farm typology construction in terms of soil health. TUdi project, under which was made this study, aims to transform unsustainable management of soils in key cropping systems in Europe and China, developing an integrated platform of alternatives to reverse soil degradation. Thus, the focus is on small, medium, and large EU farms, which produce in the three key cropping systems – grassland, cereal-based rotation, and tree crops. It was applied principal component analysis based on which it was constructed four factors, related to soil health. The results from this analysis was used to feed up the cluster analysis together with other significant variables. The developed farm typology consists of four farm types. From practical point of view was introduced a methodology which allow to determine the type of each farm according the TUdi typology.[BG] Здравето на почвата е значим проблем в аграрната икономика, които изисква прилагането на индивидуален подход. Целта на настоящата разработка е да се предложи методология за конструиране на типология на ферми, свързана със здравето на почвата. Анализът е реализиран по проект „Tudi“, който цели трансформирането на неустойчивото управление на почвите в ключови системи в Европа и Китай, разработвайки интегрирана платформа за алтернативи за обръщане на деградацията на почвата. В тази връзка фокусът е насочен към малки, средни и големи ферми от страни, членки на ЕС, които произвеждат продукция в трите ключови системи на земеделието – зърнени култури, трайни насаждения и пасища. Използван е анализ на главните компоненти за конструирането на четири фактора, свързани със здравето на почвата. Тези фактори, заедно с други ключови променливи, са анализирани чрез клъстерен анализ за формирането на четири типа ферми. Предложен е подход за определяне на мястото на всяка една ферма в тази типология.The study was developed with the financial help of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation action under the project “Transforming Unsustainable management of soils in key agricultural systems in EU and China. Developing an integrated platform of alternatives to reverse soil degradation” – TUdi with grant agreement No 101000224.Peer reviewe