Epistemic communities and service delivery choices in Spanish municipal administrations

This article contributes to the debate on the use of alternative formulas for public service provision with arguments related to epistemic communities' influence. Drawing on the literature on models of local public service delivery, the role of internal epistemic communities is discussed and tested through the consideration of two different communities related to specific municipal areas such as personal and urban services. The results demonstrate that the association of urban services' epistemic communities with alternative formulas for direct provision to deliver services is greater than in the case of personal services' epistemic community. Those findings contribute to the academic debate not only with arguments and evidence that reinforces the role of variables included in previous research but also by introducing the role of epistemic communities in determining some policy options (as the use of local public-service delivery formulas)

Regeneració d'un bruguerar d'Erica arborea i una brolla de Cistus spp. sotmesos a estassada

The regeneration process of an Erica arborea heath and a Cistus spp. matorral subjected to harvesting was studied through community cover, standing biomass, and nutrient content evaluation in stands of similar characteristics and increasing age since last harvest. Heath regeneration, regarding both arbustive over and above-ground biomass, shows a logarithrnic type of evolution, whilst the matorral shows a sigmoid evolution and lower growth capacity. While the heath community seems to be well adapted to the environmental conditions of the site, this seems not to be the case of the matorra1 community, where growth deficiencies can be observed after 5 years. Important morphophysiological similarities can be found between the Erica heath community and other mediterranean shrub formations growing on markedly oligotrophic soilsS'ha estudiat el procés de regeneració d'un bruguerar d'Erica arborea i d'una brolla de Cistus spp. sotmesos a estassada, mitjançant l'avaluació del recobriment, la biomassa i el contingut de nutrients a la vegetació en parcehles d'edat creixent i caracteristiques similars. La regeneració del bruguerar d'Erica arborea, tant pel que fa al recobriment com a la biomassa aeria, mostra una evolució de tipus logarítmic, mentre que la brolla de Cisms spp. presenta una evolució sigmoïdal i una capacitat de creixement inferior. Si be la comunitat de bruc sembla estar adaptada a les condicions en que es desenvolupa, aquest no sembla ser el cas de la brolla, en la qual s'aprecien deficiencies de creixement al cap dels 5 anys. Poden establir-se importants similituds morfo-fisiologiques entre la comunitat d'E. arborea i altres formacions arbustives mediterranies de sols marcadament oligotrofic

Toponímia de la mar catalano-balear

La topografia submarina i la seva toponímia: un aspecte ben poc conegut del nostre ma

Toponímia de la Mar Catalano-Balear

Abstract not availabl

Shaping the niche of Taxus baccata, a modelling exercise using biologically meaningful information

Widely used Correlative Species Distribution Models (C-SDMs) usually make some simplifying assumptions, often failing to consider important ecological and evolutionary attributes potentially hindering the characterization of the species niche. Here, we use the tree species Taxus baccata to explore the effects of including biologically meaningful information on processes and features beyond purely abiotic factors that are expected to determine its niche and range size. To elucidate how these often neglected factors affect C-SDM results, we modelled the current niche in the species' southernmost European range using Maxent. More specifically, we included available basic information regarding biotic interactions, local adaptation and non-equilibrium demographic dynamics. The potential effect of biological interactions was introduced using habitat suitability of co-occurring tree species as predictive variables. Local adaptation was included modelling two distinct regional adaptive groups. We also used individual growth estimated under field conditions as a surrogate for demographic behaviour to control for the quality of model predictions and empirically assess the effect of biotic interactions. Including information on co-occurring tree species improved model performance and decreased the projected range size in most cases. These effects were not a result of biological interactions per se, but instead a consequence of co-occurring species accounting for fine-scale environmental variability not described by any of the climatic variables used. Considering local adaptation allowed detecting the role of different climatic variables in shaping the niche of each adaptive group that could potentially also act as selective pressures in the near future. Finally, and more importantly, we found that including populations that are probably currently found under non-equilibrium suboptimal conditions might largely overestimate the species niche

Retranslocament de nutrients en les fulles senescents de faig (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Nutrient (P. K. Ca and Mg) contents of leaves prior to senescence, nutrient return in leaf litterfall, and nutrient lcaching in throughfall were measured during October and November in a beech forest experimental plot in the Montseny Mountains (NE Spain). Only K was leached in significant amounts. Rctranslocation of P and K amounted to 46% and 13%. respectively. of the foliar nutrient contents before senescence. Calcium accumulated in the leaves during this period. while Mg showed no net retranslocation or accumulation. Retranslocated P can supply a large fraction of the annual P requirements of the trees. and contributes to keep a tight P cycle. However. the percentagc of P retranslocated in this forest lies in the lower range of literature values for forest ecosystems.Es mesuraren les mineralomasses foliars de P, K, Ca i Mg abans de la senescencia i el retorn de nutrients per la caiguda de fulles i per la lixiviació en el trascol durant octubre i novembre en una parcel4a experimental de la fageda de Santa Fe (Montseny, Barcelona). Només el K es lixivia en quantitats significatives. El retranslocament de P i K representi, respectivament, el 46% i el 13% de la mineralomassa foliar abans de la senescbncia. Les fulles acumularen Ca durant aquest període. mentre que el Mg no manifesta retranslocament ni acumulació nets. La quantitat de P retranslocada (1.4 kg ha-') pot subministrar una part important dels requeriments anuals de P del faig, i contribueix a mantenir un cicle tancat de P. No obstant, el percentatge de P retranslocat en aquest bosc es dels més baixos dels trobats a la bibliografia sobre ecosistemes forestals

Ecologia industrial aplicada al sector paperer de Catalunya

L’objectiu del projecte presentat aquí (que forma part delprojecte CICLE), és conèixer la situació actual d’aprofitamenti reciclatge de residus del sector paperer català i ferpropostes de millora seguint els principis de l’ecologiaindustrial. Per això s’ha fet una diagnosi identificant i quantificant els diferents residus produïts per aquesta indústriaa Catalunya i el seu destí. Els residus de depuració grollera van actualment a abocador i els fangs de depuració, en una proporció elevada, tampoc no s’aprofiten. Les principals millores proposades són, per tant: la utilitzacióde la tecnologia Rofire® per a l’aprofitament energètic del residu de depuració grollera, que reduiria en un 85,8 % les emissions de CO2 i que seria econòmicament viable quan el cost de l’abocador sigui d’uns 50,88 e/t de residu i la cogeneració utilitzant fangs de depuració com a combustible. Aquesta darrera opció s’hauria d’estudiar a fons per a cada empresa en particular

Context-aware lossless and lossy compression of radio frequency signals

We propose an algorithm based on linear prediction that can perform both the lossless and near-lossless compression of RF signals. The proposed algorithm is coupled with two signal detection methods to determine the presence of relevant signals and apply varying levels of loss as needed. The first method uses spectrum sensing techniques, while the second one takes advantage of the error computed in each iteration of the Levinson–Durbin algorithm. These algorithms have been integrated as a new pre-processing stage into FAPEC, a data compressor first designed for space missions. We test the lossless algorithm using two different datasets. The first one was obtained from OPS-SAT, an ESA CubeSat, while the second one was obtained using a SDRplay RSPdx in Barcelona, Spain. The results show that our approach achieves compression ratios that are 23% better than gzip (on average) and very similar to those of FLAC, but at higher speeds. We also assess the performance of our signal detectors using the second dataset. We show that high ratios can be achieved thanks to the lossy compression of the segments without any relevant signal.This work was (partially) funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) Contract No. 4000137290, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation projects PID2019-105717RB-C22 (RODIN) and PID2021-122842OB-C21, the ERDF (a way of making Europe) by the European Union, the Institute of Cosmos Sciences University of Barcelona (ICCUB, Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu) through grant CEX2019-000918-M, grant 2021 SGR 1033 by Generalitat de Catalunya (AGAUR), and fellowship FPI-UPC 2022 by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and Banc de Santander.Postprint (published version

Cercant els refugis de l'Orella d'ós

Durant el Període Quaternari, moltes espècies vegetals van sobreviure a les glaciacions perquè es trobaven en zones protegides de les extremes condicions climatològiques. Una d'aquestes espècies és l'Orella d'ós (Ramonda myconi ), considerada un fòssil vivent. Investigadors del CREAF han analitzat la seva variabilitat genètica per esbrinar quines zones van actuar com a possibles refugis.Durante el Período Cuaternario, muchas especies vegetales sobrevivieron a las glaciaciones porque se hallaban en zonas protegidas de las extremas condiciones climatológicas. Una de estas especies es la Oreja de oso (Ramonda myconi), considerada un fósil viviente. Investigadores del CREAF han analizado su variabilidad genética para conocer qué zonas actuaron como posibles refugios

Patterns of genetic variability and habitat occupancy in Crepis triasii (Asteraceae) at different spatial scales: insights on evolutionary processes leading to diversification in continental islands

Background and AimsArchipelagos are unique systems for studying evolutionary processes promoting diversification and speciation. The islands of the Mediterranean basin are major areas of plant richness, including a high proportion of narrow endemics. Many endemic plants are currently found in rocky habitats, showing varying patterns of habitat occupancy at different spatial scales throughout their range. The aim of the present study was to understand the impact of varying patterns of population distribution on genetic diversity and structure to shed light on demographic and evolutionary processes leading to population diversification in Crepis triasii, an endemic plant from the eastern Balearic Islands.MethodsUsing allozyme and chloroplast markers, we related patterns of genetic structure and diversity to those of habitat occupancy at a regional (between islands and among populations within islands) and landscape (population size and connectivity) scale.Key ResultsGenetic diversity was highly structured both at the regional and at the landscape level, and was positively correlated with population connectivity in the landscape. Populations located in small isolated mountains and coastal areas, with restricted patterns of regional occupancy, were genetically less diverse and much more differentiated. In addition, more isolated populations had stronger fine-scale genetic structure than well-connected ones. Changes in habitat availability and quality arising from marine transgressions during the Quaternary, as well as progressive fragmentation associated with the aridification of the climate since the last glaciation, are the most plausible factors leading to the observed patterns of genetic diversity and structure.ConclusionsOur results emphasize the importance of gene flow in preventing genetic erosion and maintaining the evolutionary potential of populations. They also agree with recent studies highlighting the importance of restricted gene flow and genetic drift as drivers of plant evolution in Mediterranean continental islands