Dinámica y composición de los ensambles diatomológicos de dos arroyos del Noroeste Argentino en relación con variables ambientales

La cuenca Salí-Dulce es una de las principales del Noroeste de Argentina y en su recorrido se ve afectada debido a la incorporación de sustancias contaminantes. En los ecosistemas acuáticos continentales las diatomeas constituyen un grupo destacado. Su biología y taxonomía son adecuadas para su uso en el biomonitoreo. El objetivo fue caracterizar la dinámica y la composición de las taxocenosis de diatomeas y su relación con variables ambientales en los arroyos Mista y Calimayo, pertenecientes a la cuenca del río Salí-Dulce (Tucumán-Argentina). Para esto se seleccionaron tres sitios en cada arroyo y se tomaron datos de variables ambientales y biológicas según metodologías convencionales. La calidad del agua fue variable según el aporte de contaminantes y la estacionalidad climática. El ensamble de diatomeas resultó ser una taxocenosis bioindicadora sensible a las características ambientales de los arroyos. En este trabajo se registraron 61 especies de las cuales 11 serían buenas indicadoras del estado de contaminación. El uso de dos índices bióticos permitió afirmar que el Índice de Diatomeas Pampeano modificado según datos propios, resultó más sensible y eficaz en la determinación de la calidad del agua, por lo que se podría considerar como una herramienta diagnóstica, de seguimiento de la calidad del agua y de planificación que serviría para brindar información válida y de fácil aplicación en cuencas del Noroeste de Argentina

Evaluación del fitoplancton y la calidad del agua de un arroyo subtropical del Noroeste Argentino

The Calimayo stream is part of the Salí river basin, the main fluvial network in the region. This lotic system was recognized for its great biodiversity. The settlement of a paper industry altered its ecological conditions due to the production of polluting effluents. The aim of this study was to analyze the phytoplankton of the Calimayo stream in relation to water quality. Sampling was done under a seasonal basis from Winter 2012 to Autumn 2013 at three sites S1, S2, and S3. Environmental and biological samples were collected following standard procedures. The highest values of temperature, pH and electric conductivity were registered in sites S2 and S3. Site S1 had the maximum values of dissolved oxygen and the lower biochemical oxygen demand. Diatoms excelled qualitatively and quantitatively among the other algal groups. Redundancy analysis (RDA) allowed to differentiate two phytoplanktonic groups related to abiotic variables. Site S1 was influenced by seasonality, relief, lithology and physicochemistry of water, denoting good ecological conditions. At S2 and S3 the phycoflora was affected by the trophic state of the water and the pollutants, which caused a notable deterioration of water quality and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton resulted to be a good indicator of the ecological conditions of this lotic system. We can affirm that the limnological conditions of the Calimayo stream from the 90s to the present have been degraded to the presence of industrial effluents.El arroyo Calimayo pertenece a la cuenca del río Salí, principal red fluvial de la región. Este sistema lótico fue conocido por su gran diversidad biológica. Debido a la instalación de una papelera y sus efluentes las condiciones ecológicas se modificaron. El objetivo fue analizar el fitoplancton y la calidad del agua del arroyo Calimayo. Se realizaron muestreos estacionales desde invierno/2012 hasta otoño/2013 en tres sitios (S1: tramo alto, S2 y S3: sectores medio y bajo, respectivamente). Se recolectaron muestras ambientales y biológicas según metodología convencional. Los mayores registros de temperatura, pH y conductividad eléctrica se presentaron en S2 y S3. El S1 tuvo los máximos valores de oxígeno disuelto y la menor demanda bioquímica de oxígeno. Las diatomeas sobresalieron tanto cuali como cuantitativamente del resto de los grupos algales. El análisis de redundancia (RDA) permitió diferenciar dos grupos fitoplanctónicos en relación a variables abióticas. El S1 estuvo influenciado por estacionalidad, litología y fisicoquímica del agua, denotando un buen estado ecológico. En S2-S3 las condiciones ecológicas se vieron afectadas por el estado trófico del agua y los efluentes polutos, por lo que la calidad del agua y el fitoplancton se vieron notoriamente deteriorados. La ficoflora resultó ser un buen indicador de las condiciones ecológicas de este sistema lótico. Podemos afirmar que las condiciones limnológicas de este arroyo desde la década del 90 hasta la actualidad, fueron degradándose por la presencia de los efluentes industriale

Progresso realizado pelo Agrosalud no aumento do conteúdo de ferro e zinco em grão de arroz.

A abordagem 'fast-track' está sendo utilizada na escolha de linhagens e variedades tradicionais/melhoradas de arroz com elevados teores de ferro e zinco no grão. 5.743 amostras, incluindo linhagens melhoradas do CIAT e NARs, foram analisadas quanto ao conteúdo de ferro e zinco pelo método de absorção atômica. Algumas linhagens apresentaram entre 5 e 7 ppm de ferro, e estão sendo avaliadas para adaptação local pelos colaboradores do AgroSalud. No Brasil, a Embrapa identificou variedades locais com até 12.6 e 42.2 ppm de ferro e zinco, respectivamente, que estão sendo utilizadas como genitores de novas cultivares. Atividades de melhoramento estão sendo realizadas na Colômbia, República Dominicana, Brasil, Cuba, Nicarágua, Bolívia, Panamá e no CIAT, atendendo ao objetivo de lançar cultivares biofortificadas em 2009-2010.Resumo também em inglês

A Path Toward the Use of Trail Users’ Tweets to Assess Effectiveness of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme: An Exploratory Analysis of the Pennine Way National Trail

Large and unofficial data sets, for instance those gathered from social media, are increasingly being used in geographical research and explored as decision support tools for policy development. Social media data have the potential to provide new insight into phenomena about which there is little information from conventional sources. Within this context, this paper explores the potential of social media data to evaluate the aesthetic management of landscape. Specifically, this project utilises the perceptions of visitors to the Pennine Way National Trail, which passes through land managed under the Environmental Stewardship Scheme (ESS). The method analyses sentiment in trail users’ public Twitter messages (tweets) with the aim of assessing the extent to which the ESS maintains landscape character within the trail corridor. The method demonstrates the importance of filtering social media data to convert it into useful information. After filtering, the results are based on 161 messages directly related to the trail. Although small, this sample illustrates the potential for social media to be used as a cheap and increasingly abundant source of information. We suggest that social media data in this context should be seen as a resource that can complement, rather than replace, conventional data sources such as questionnaires and interviews. Furthermore, we provide guidance on how social media could be effectively used by conservation bodies, such as Natural England, which are charged with the management of areas of environmental value worldwide

Results from the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA)

We show new results from both the older and newer incarnations of AMANDA (AMANDA-B10 and AMANDA-II, respectively). These results demonstrate that AMANDA is a functioning, multipurpose detector with significant physics and astrophysics reach. They include a new higher-statistics measurement of the atmospheric muon neutrino flux and preliminary results from searches for a variety of sources of ultrahigh energy neutrinos: generic point sources, gamma-ray bursters and diffuse sources producing muons in the detector, and diffuse sources producing electromagnetic or hadronic showers in or near the detector.Comment: Invited talk at the XXth International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics (Neutrino 2002), Munich, Germany, May 25-30, 200

All-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum measured by the HAWC experiment from 10 to 500 TeV

We report on the measurement of the all-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory in the energy range 10 to 500 TeV. HAWC is a ground based air-shower array deployed on the slopes of Volcan Sierra Negra in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and is sensitive to gamma rays and cosmic rays at TeV energies. The data used in this work were taken from 234 days between June 2016 to February 2017. The primary cosmic-ray energy is determined with a maximum likelihood approach using the particle density as a function of distance to the shower core. Introducing quality cuts to isolate events with shower cores landing on the array, the reconstructed energy distribution is unfolded iteratively. The measured all-particle spectrum is consistent with a broken power law with an index of $-2.49\pm0.01$ prior to a break at $(45.7\pm0.1$) TeV, followed by an index of $-2.71\pm0.01$. The spectrum also respresents a single measurement that spans the energy range between direct detection and ground based experiments. As a verification of the detector response, the energy scale and angular resolution are validated by observation of the cosmic ray Moon shadow's dependence on energy.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, submission to Physical Review