Dendroecology of Prosopis species in the world: Secular traces of natural and anthropic events and their effects on Prosopis growth

Prosopis genus comprises 44 species which grow in arid and semiarid environments of America, Asia and Africa and in Oceania as introduced species. Of those 44 species, 30 grow in America. Argentina is supposed to be the origin center of the genus Prosopis, and that could explain the fact that this country has the highest species variability. Prosopis species are of great ecological and social value providing goods such as firewood, food, feed for livestock and medicines as well as services acting as watershed stabilizers and nitrogen and carbon sequesters. In this chapter, we address the new insights that dendrochronological studies have provided about Prosopis genus worldwide with main emphasis in Latin America. Many studies provide information about growth dynamics which are later on applied to develop management plans, to quantify the increment in dead and alive biomass throughout time or to estimate growth changes linked to social and political events. Rainfall is the main growth driver of Prosopis throughout the Andes from Peru to central Argentina, whereas in the flat Pampas temperature is the main tree-ring width driver. Climate variables are hard to separate from other factors affecting growth such as geomorphology, anthropogenic impact and groundwater depth. Outside of Latin America, dendrochronology of Prosopis has been used for the analysis of anthropogenic contamination. Fire, the main disturbance factor in arid and semiarid environments, showed a regional dynamic as a result of human activities. Most dendroecological studies on Prosopis species, which allowed determining these species dynamics, concluded that Prosopis do not present an encroaching behavior. This review demonstrates the avant-garde and influential value of Prosopis genus for dendroecological research as it allows reconstructing past disturbances as fire, anthropogenic impact and changes in groundwater depth for the last 50–100 years and up to 356 years in the case of Prosopis caldenia Burkart in the Pampean Region.Fil: Cangiano, Maria Laura. North Carolina State University; Estados UnidosFil: Cendoya, Maria Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional La Pampa-San Luis. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Risio Allione, Lucia Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Económico Sociales. Departamento de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Bogino, Stella Marys. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Económico Sociales. Departamento de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

The UBC ecosystem: putting together a comprehensive framework for university-business cooperation

The potential for a functional ‘triple helix’ to contribute to economic development is being increasingly accepted and embraced, particularly the bilateral relationship between higher education institutions (HEIs) and business. However, university-business cooperation (UBC) is still a fragmented and indistinct field of research, and the understanding of UBC remains inadequate since most research is undertaken around specific elements, rather than as an encompassing, overarching and interconnected system. This paper aims fills this gap in the literature by putting the pieces together to create an integrated and comprehensive conceptual UBC framework for HEIs, the UBC Ecosystem. The framework illustrates the components present in the UBC environment for HEIs, such as inputs, activities, outcomes, outputs, impacts, supporting mechanisms, circumstances and context, specifying a wide range of sub-elements for each of them. In doing so, this paper makes a strong theoretical contribution with the creation of a conceptual framework, highlighting the more important elements and their interrelations as well as suggesting future research. Additionally, the paper makes a practical contribution, establishing a common UBC schema for HEI managers and policymakers to make strategic and operative decisions, and used as a base for evidence-based management and policy