The role of the soil seed bank in Southern Appalachian wildfire response

Wildfire disturbance is likely to increase in Southern Appalachian forests due to climate change and anthropogenic land-use changes. The soil seedbank can be a source of plant community response after this disturbance. Fire can affect seeds and seed germination both positively and negatively, yet little is known about seedbank response to fire in this region. A seedbank study was conducted in the greenhouse from May 23, 2017 to January 9, 2018 using litter and mineral soil samples from burned (B) and unburned (U) plots in three mid-elevation sites to determine seedbank contribution to first-season plant community response following wildfires that swept through the region in fall, 2016. In addition, extant vegetation, woody and herbaceous seedlings, and environmental variables including canopy openness, litter cover, soil moisture, bare ground cover, temperature and tree and shrub mortality were surveyed in the field over the 2017 growing season. Seedbank-generated plant abundance and species richness were compared between B and U plots, and with field seedling and field tree communities. Seedbank abundance and richness were lower in B samples from the litter layer, but not the soil layer, suggesting that fire killed seeds near the surface but that seeds underground were insulated. Density and richness of field seedlings were higher in B plots than U plots, suggesting that post-fire environmental differences, not changes to the seedbank itself, control forest response to wildfire from the seedbank. High light, low litter, and fluctuating temperature in B plots favored germination. Species that responded most strongly in the field were generalist disturbance-adapted species such as black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), not species specifically adapted to fire. Some species, such as black locust and birches (Betula spp.), were more common in the seedbank than in extant vegetation. Recruitment from the seedbank after periodic disturbance may allow these species to persist at these sites. Overall, the seedbank can contribute to first-year post-fire vegetation response, and has the potential to shift species composition in Southern Appalachian forests

Quinoa in Ecuador: Recent Advances under Global Expansion

Quinoa is a highly diverse crop domesticated in the Andean region of South America with broad adaptation to a wide range of marginal environments. Quinoa has garnered interest worldwide due to its nutritional and health benefits. Over the last decade, quinoa production has expanded outside of the Andean region, prompting multiple studies investigating the potential for quinoa cultivation in novel environments. Currently, quinoa is grown in countries spanning five continents, including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Here, we update the advances of quinoa research in Ecuador across different topics, including (a) current quinoa production situation with a focus on breeding progress, (b) traditional seed production, and (c) the impact of the work of the nongovernment organization “European Committee for Training and Agriculture” with quinoa farmers in Chimborazo province. Additionally, we discuss genetic diversity, primary pests and diseases, actions for adapting quinoa to tropical areas, and recent innovations in quinoa processing in Ecuador. Finally, we report a case study describing a participatory breeding project between Washington State University and the Association of Andean Seed and Nutritional Food Producers Mushuk Yuyay in the province of Cañar

Historical-institutionalist perspectives on the development of the EU budget system

The EU budget has only recently started to feature in theories of European integration. Studies typically adopt a historical-institutionalist framework, exploring notions such as path dependency. They have, however, generally been rather aggregated, or coarse-grained, in their approach. The EU budget has thus been treated as a single entity rather than a series of inter-linked institutions. This paper seeks to address these lacunae by adopting a fine-grained approach. This enables us to emphasize the connections that exist between EU budgetary institutions, in both time and space. We show that the initial set of budgetary institutions was unable, over time, to achieve consistently their treaty-based objectives. In response, rather than reform these institutions at potentially high political cost, additional institutions were layered on top of the extant structures. We thus demonstrate how some EU budgetary institutions have remained unchanged, whilst others have been added or changed over time

Análisis del grado de desarrollo de la competencia ambiental en estudiantes de Ingeniería Civil de la Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil.

Acquiring the environmental competition in Higher Education comes into question like a need due to the problems and environmental happened worldwide catastrophes and premises. The grade of development of this category in students of the race of Civil Engineering is examined in the article. A sign of 17 teachers that give different subjects of study sold off a questionnaire of stratified and aleatory, applied questions itself as part of the exploratory stage, besides it at 10 Institutions that are given of Higher Education (IES), as from the subjects of study to strengthen the environmental competition accomplished to 142 students of the race of Civil Engineering, everything opinion polls. Finally two IES's five faculties to examine the grade of inclusion of the environmental subject matter in the structures of the work of thesis of engineering, which the students realize drank themselves of aleatory way. Analysis, identify the need to develop the environmental competition in the IES, to end of than the professional futures may identify the impacts that happen of the construction of civil works, presenting solutions, utilizing abilities and you appraise in link with the society and the surrounding midway for be sustainable.Adquirir a competência ambiental na Educação Superior se expõe como uma necessidade devido aos problemas e catástrofes ambientais surtas a nível mundial e local. No artigo se analisa o grau de desenvolvimento desta categoria em estudantes da carreira Engenharia Civil. Como parte da etapa exploratória se realizou um questionário de perguntas estratificadas e aleatórias, aplicados a uma amostra de 17 docentes que repartem diferentes disciplinas, além disso, se realizou pesquisa a 142 estudiantes da carreira Engenharia Civil, todo isso em 10 instituições de Educação Superior (IS), a partir das disciplinas que se repartem para fortalecer a competência ambiental. Por último se tiraram de maneira aleatória cinco faculdades de dois IS para analisar o grau de inclusão da temática ambiental nas estruturas do trabalho de tese de engenharia, que realizam os estudantes. A análise identifica a necessidade de desenvolve à competência ambiental nos IS, a fim de que os futuros profissionais possam identificar os impactos que surgem da construção de obras civis, planteando solucione, utilizando habilidades e valores em vínculo com a sociedade e o meio circundante para torná-lo sustentável.Adquirir la competencia ambiental en la Educación Superior se plantea como una necesidad debido a los problemas y catástrofes ambientales surgidas a nivel mundial y local. En el artículo se analiza el grado de desarrollo de esta categoría en estudiantes de la carrera de Ingeniería Civil. Como parte de la etapa exploratoria se realizó un cuestionario de preguntas estratificadas y aleatorias, aplicados a una muestra de 17 docentes que imparten diferentes asignaturas, además se realizó encuestas a 142 estudiantes de la carrera de Ingeniería Civil, todo ello en 10 Instituciones de Educación Superior (IES), a partir de las asignaturas que se imparten para fortalecer la competencia ambiental. Por último se tomaron de manera aleatoria cinco facultades de dos IES para analizar el grado de inclusión de la temática ambiental en las estructuras del trabajo de tesis de ingeniería, que realizan los estudiantes. El análisis identifica la necesidad de desarrollar la competencia ambiental en las IES, a fin de que los futuros profesionales puedan identificar los impactos que surgen de la construcción de obras civiles, planteando soluciones, utilizando habilidades y valores en vínculo con la sociedad y el medio circundante para tornarlo sostenible

Anatomía de la bacteria

N

Ilestomía transcecal no colostomía temporal

N

The External Dimension of the European Union¿s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

No description supplie

Multiplex real-time PCR for detection, identification and quantification of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ in potato plants with zebra chip

The new Liberibacter species, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (Lso) recently associated with potato/tomato psyllid-transmitted diseases in tomato and capsicum in New Zealand, was found to be consistently associated with a newly emerging potato zebra chip (ZC) disease in Texas and other southwestern states in the USA. A species-specific primer LsoF was developed for both quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and conventional PCR (cPCR) to detect and quantify Lso in infected samples. In multiplex qPCR, a plant cytochrome oxidase (COX)-based probe-primer set was used as a positive internal control for host plants, which could be used to reliably access the DNA extraction quality and to normalize qPCR data for accurate quantification of the bacterial populations in environment samples. Neither the qPCR nor the cPCR using the primer and/or probe sets with LsoF reacted with other Liberibacter species infecting citrus or other potato pathogens. The low detection limit of the multiplex qPCR was about 20 copies of the target 16S rDNA templates per reaction for field samples. Lso was readily detected and quantified in various tissues of ZCaffected potato plants collected from fields in Texas. A thorough but uneven colonization of Lso was revealed in various tissues of potato plants. The highest Lso populations were about 3×108 genomes/g tissue in the root, which were 3-order higher than those in the above-ground tissues of potato plants. The Lso bacterial populations were normally distributed across the ZC-affected potato plants collected from fields in Texas, with 60% of ZC-affected potato plants harboring an average Lso population from 105 to 106 genomes/g tissue, 4% of plants hosting above 107 Lso genomes/g tissue, and 8% of plants holding below 103 Lso genomes/g tissue. The rapid, sensitive, specific and reliable multiplex qPCR showed its potential to become a powerful tool for early detection and quantification of the new Liberibacter species associated with potato ZC, and will be very useful for the potato quarantine programs and seed potato certification programs to ensure the availability of clean seed potato stocks and also for epidemiological studies on the disease