Lonely at the top? Try being in the middle.

A recent study finds middle managers who feel less powerful are often lonelier in their work than those who feel more so. This can have ramifications not only for individuals who feel unrecognised and alienated from those who employ them, but also for organisations themselves, particularly if the affected mid-level managers take out their frustrations in the workplace

Aggregative oviposition varies with density in processionary moths—Implications for insect outbreak propensity

1. In gregarious insects, groups commonly originate from females laying eggs in masses and feeding groups are established as soon as larvae hatch. Some groupliving insect species may aggregate beyond the individual parent level, such that offspring from two or more egg masses develop within a common resource. 2. Here we show that aggregative oviposition can vary with population density at oviposition and possibly be an important factor in outbreak dynamics of phytophagous insects. 3. We analysed density data with respect to egg mass aggregation for two species of pine processionary moths, Thaumetopoea pinivora (in Sweden 2005–2019) and T. pityocampa (in Spain 1973–1991). Both species lay their eggs in egg masses and feed in groups. During the study periods, insect population density for both species varied by at least an order of magnitude. 4. The two species showed strikingly similar patterns of egg mass aggregation. Egg masses were overdispersed at high population density, with few trees showing a high load of egg masses. 5. Our data suggest that aggregative oviposition can be important in explaining the previously documented higher propensity for outbreaks in insects laying eggs in clusters, compared with those laying individual eggs.European Union's Horizon 2020 Program for Research and Innovation 771271Spanish Governmen

Winter temperature predicts prolonged diapause in pine processionary moth species across their geographic range

Prolonged diapause occurs in a number of insects and is interpreted as a way to evade adverse conditions. The winter pine processionary moths (Thaumetopoea pityocampa and Th. wilkinsoni) are important pests of pines and cedars in the Mediterranean region. They are typically univoltine, with larvae feeding across the winter, pupating in spring in the soil and emerging as adults in summer. Pupae may, however, enter a prolonged diapause with adults emerging one or more years later. We tested the effect of variation in winter temperature on the incidence of prolonged diapause, using a total of 64 individual datasets related to insect cohorts over the period 1964 2015 for 36 sites in seven countries, covering most of the geographic range of both species. We found high variation in prolonged diapause incidence over their ranges. At both lower and upper ends of the thermal range in winter, prolonged diapause tended to be higher than at intermediate temperatures. Prolonged diapause may represent a risk-spreading strategy to mitigate climate uncertainty, although it may increase individual mortality because of a longer exposure to mortality factors such as predation, parasitism, diseases or energy depletion. Climate change, and in particular the increase of winter temperature, may reduce the incidence of prolonged diapause in colder regions whereas it may increase it in warmer ones, with consequences for population dynamics.Work supported by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo to Md H.R. Salman, University of Padova to Myron P. Zalucki and Folco Giomi, Spanish Ministry of the Environment (PROPINOL PN22/2008 and CONSOLIDER-MONTES CSD2008- 00040) to José A. Hodar, DIAMETABO project of the INRA EFPA department to Mathieu Laparie, European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 771271 HOMED (Holistic Management of Emerging forest pests and Diseases) to Andrea Battisti

Fitting Biochars and Activated Carbons from Residues of the Olive Oil Industry as Supports of FeCatalysts for the Heterogeneous Fenton-Like Treatment of Simulated Olive Mill Wastewater

Bruno Esteves is grateful to FCT for financial support through the PhD grant (SFRH/BD/129235/2017), with financing from National and the European Social Funds through the Human Capital Operational Programme (POCH). Sergio Morales-Torres acknowledges the financial support from the University of Granada (Reincorporación Plan Propio).A series of biochars and activated carbons (ACs) was prepared combining carbonization and physical or chemical activation of cheap and abundant residues of the olive oil industry. These materials were used as Fe-support to develop low-cost catalysts for the heterogeneous Fenton-like oxidation of simulated olive mill wastewater (OMW), the highly pollutant effluent generated by this agroindustry. Commercial ACs were also used as reference. All catalysts prepared were extensively characterized and results related with their performances in the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO). Results showed a linear relationship of the textural properties of the catalysts with the adsorptive and catalytic performance, as well as the preferential adsorption and degradation of some phenolic compounds (caffeic and gallic acids) by specific interactions with the catalysts’ surface. Despite the best performance of catalysts developed using commercial supports, those prepared from agro-industrial residues present some advantages, including a smaller catalyst deactivation by iron leaching. CWPO results show that catalysts from physically activated olive stones are the most promising materials, reaching total organic carbon and toxicity reductions of 35% and 60%, respectively, as well an efficient use of H2O2, comparable with those obtained using commercial supports. This approach showed that the optimized treatment of this type of residues will allow their integration in the circular economic process of the olive oil production.Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy-LEPABE - FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) - European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) through North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) UIDB/00511/2020 NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-39789Spanish Project from ERDF/Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities-State Research Agency RTI2018-099224-B-I0

Aggregative oviposition varies with density in processionary moths-Implications for insect outbreak propensity

In gregarious insects, groups commonly originate from females laying eggs in masses and feeding groups are established as soon as larvae hatch. Some group-living insect species may aggregate beyond the individual parent level, such that offspring from two or more egg masses develop within a common resource. Here we show that aggregative oviposition can vary with population density at oviposition and possibly be an important factor in outbreak dynamics of phytophagous insects. We analysed density data with respect to egg mass aggregation for two species of pine processionary moths, Thaumetopoea pinivora (in Sweden 2005-2019) and T. pityocampa (in Spain 1973-1991). Both species lay their eggs in egg masses and feed in groups. During the study periods, insect population density for both species varied by at least an order of magnitude. The two species showed strikingly similar patterns of egg mass aggregation. Egg masses were overdispersed at high population density, with few trees showing a high load of egg masses. Our data suggest that aggregative oviposition can be important in explaining the previously documented higher propensity for outbreaks in insects laying eggs in clusters, compared with those laying individual eggs

Integration of catalytic wet peroxidation and membrane distillation processes for olive mill wastewater treatment and water recovery

The degradation of organic matter present in olive mill wastewater (OMW) and the recovery of water were studied by the integration of catalytic wet peroxidation (CWPO) and direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) for the first time. The oxidation step was performed in a fixed–bed reactor (FBR) working in continuous mode (pH0 = 4.0 ± 0.2, 60 ◦C, Q = 0.75 mL/min, [H2O2]/[COD]feed = 2.3 ± 0.1 g H2O2/g O2). Samples of OMW diluted by 5– and 7.5–fold were used (OMW–5× and OMW–7.5×, respectively), corresponding to inlet chemical oxygen demand (COD) values of 3562 ± 68 and 2335 ± 54 mg/L, total phenolic content (TPh) of 177 ± 17 and 143 ± 7 mg GAeq/L, and total organic carbon (TOC) of 1258 ± 63 and 842 ± 45 mg/L, respectively. The FBR was loaded with 2.0 g of a Fe–activated carbon derived–catalyst, prepared by using olive stones as the precursor, in line with a circular economy model approach. The catalyst was selected based on the activity and stability towards polyphenolic synthetic solutions shown in previous works of the team, while actual OMW samples were used in this work. CWPO–treated samples of OMW allowed the operation of the DCMD unit at higher fluxes than with the analogous untreated ones, also showing higher rejections of organic matter from the feed solution upon DCMD, highlighting the beneficial effect of this novel configuration. Using a pre-treated sample of OMW–7.5× as feed solution (Q = 100 mL/min, Tpermeate ≈ 18 ◦C, Tfeed ≈ 66 ◦C), the produced permeate water stream presented several parameters well–below the legislated thresholds required for direct discharge for crops irrigation, including total suspended solids (TSS < 10 mg/L), TPh (<0.01 mg GAeq/L), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5 < 40 mg/L), and dissolved Fe (<0.06 mg/L). Moreover, the resulting concentrated OMW–retentate streams could be recirculated to the FBR and maintain the same removal efficiencies obtained previously, despite the increased initial organic loadings of the retentate after DCMD.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology LA/P/0045/2020 UIDB/00511/2020 UIDP/00511/2020European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) through North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000069NORTE 2020 under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement through ERDF NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000069MCIN/AEI/FEDER "Una manera de hacer Europa" RTI2018-099224B-I00Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology BaseUIDB/50020/2020 UIDP/50020/2020Portuguese Foundation for Science and TechnologyEuropean Commission SFRH/BD/129235/2017National and the European Social Funds through the Human Capital Operational Programme (POCH) MCIN/AEI RYC-2019026634IEuropean Social Found (FSE) "El FSE invierte en tu futuro" RYC-2019026634

Mistletoe generates non-trophic and trait-mediated indirect interactions through a shared host of herbivore consumers

Indirect interactions emerge among a wide range of herbivores sharing the same plant resource. Consumers usually belong to different trophic guilds, from folivores and sapsuckers to parasitic plants. We propose that mistletoes parasitizing pines could play a key role acting as herbivores on host pines and coming indirectly into competition with other herbivores feeding on the same host. Changes caused by mistletoes on its host have been well studied, but its effects running across trophic webs remain unrevealed. In this study, we investigate the effect of European mistletoe (Viscum album subsp. austriacum) on the host-feeding herbivores via trait-mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs) across their shared pine host (Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii). We performed field and laboratory experiments, and analyzed the net effect of different mistletoe parasite loads on three host-phytophagous species: the sapsucker Cinara pini (Aphididae), the winter folivore Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Thaumetopoeidae), and the summer folivore Brachyderes sp. (Curculionidae), all being members of different functional feeding groups (FFGs). We summarize the mistletoe–host–herbivore interactions by means of a TMII, where mistletoe parasitism causes non-trophic links and detrimental indirect interactions on pine-feeding herbivores across its shared host, suggesting a worsening of host quality as food. These indirect interactions vary according to three parameters. First, the intensity has a non-proportional relation with parasite load, showing an impact threshold on highly parasitized pines. Second, the movement capacity of insect herbivores determines their response, by decreasing the abundance of herbivores with low movement ability (aphids and pine processionary caterpillars) while altering the behavior (plant selection) of more mobile herbivores (pine weevils). Finally, FFG determines the intensity of mistletoe parasitism effects, folivores being more responsive than sapsuckers. Overall, mistletoe generates non-trophic interaction linkages in the forest able to modify community structure by becoming a nexus of the entire herbivore community of the pine canopy.This study was supported by project CLAVINOVA CGL2011-29910 to Regino Zamora from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and FPI predoctoral grant BES-2012-057125 to Alba Lázaro- González from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness