Ecoacoustics and multispecies semiosis: naming, semantics, semiotic characteristics, and competencies

Biosemiotics to date has focused on the exchange of signals between organisms, in line with bioacoustics; consideration of the wider acoustic environment as a semiotic medium is under-developed. The nascent discipline of ecoacoustics, that investigates the role of environmental sound in ecological processes and dynamics, fills this gap. In this paper we introduce key ecoacoustic terminology and concepts in order to highlight the value of ecoacoustics as a discipline in which to conceptualise and study intra- and interspecies semiosis. We stress the inherently subjective nature of all sensory scapes (vivo-, land-, vibro- and soundscapes) and propose that they should always bear an organismic attribution. Key terms to describe the sources (geophony, biophony, anthropophony, technophony) and scales (sonotopes, soundtopes, sonotones) of soundscapes are described. We introduce epithets for soundscapes to point to the degree to which the global environment is implicated in semiosis (latent, sensed and interpreted soundscapes); terms for describing key ecological structures and processes (acoustic community, acoustic habitat, ecoacoustic events) and examples of ecoacoustic events (choruses and noise) are described. The acoustic eco-field is recognized as the semiotic model that enables soniferous species to intercept core resources like food, safety and roosting places. We note that whilst ecoacoustics to date has focused on the critical task of the development of metrics for application in conservation and biodiversity assessment, these can be enriched by advancing conceptual and theoretical foundations. Finally, the mutual value of integrating ecoacoustic and biosemiotics perspectives is considered

Plant Tolerance Mechanisms to Soil Salinity Contribute to the Expansion of Agriculture and Livestock Production in Argentina

This chapter addresses salt tolerance mechanisms in crops and woody species cultivated in Argentina, highlighting the contribution of local research to these topics. Work on forages and woody species represents approximately half of this research that has been published by Argentine authors in international journals. Basic research on plant salinity mounts to only 12% of the total, indicating that it still does not attract sufficient consideration among researchers. Among forage plants, attention in this chapter is focused on Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth), while in woody perennials, salt tolerance mechanisms in Prosopis, which have been extensively investigated locally, are reported. Despite the importance of soybean in Argentine economy, as well as that of other crops such as maize, wheat, sunflower, relatively little research attention has been paid to salinity issues in these major field crops. This situation may reflect the fact that they are mostly cultivated in non-saline soils.Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos VegetalesFil: Taleisnik, Edith. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios (UDEA); Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Taleisnik, Edith. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez, Andrés Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez, Andrés Alberto. Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (INTECH). Laboratorio de Estrés Abiótico y Biótico en Plantas. Unidad de Biotecnología 1; ArgentinaFil: Bustos, Dolores Angela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; ArgentinaFil: Luna, Dario Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales; Argentin