Spatio-temporal variation in population traits of Hepatica nobilis, a patchily distributed woodland herb

In the NE Iberian Peninsula, the herb Hepatica nobilis commonly occurs in the understory of deciduous forests. I report data on spatio-temporal variation in performance of patchily distributed populations in a beech forest at Montseny Natural Park (NE Spain). During three years, I studied the spatial (between populations and between patches within populations) and temporal (between years) variation in plant size, growth, fecundity, and sexual and vegetative propagation of 16 patches in two H. nobilis populations. Plant size and growth varied greatly at all spatial and temporal scales, while fecundity showed more spatial than temporal variation. None of the plant attributes studied were related to plant density or canopy openness, except the number of ovules per flower that did show density dependence effects. In general, both populations experienced a generalized decrease in size and reproductive output over the three years of study. During the study period, only two seedlings were recruited in one of the populations and all ramets that emerged each year disappeared the next one. Overall, these results show that H. nobilis performance depend on small-scale patch characteristics and illustrate the species' remnant population dynamics characterized by very low recruitments rates.En el NE de la Península Ibérica, la planta herbácea Hepatica nobilis ocurre en el sotobosque de bosques caducifolios. En este artículo se presentan datos sobre la variación espacio-temporal de las características poblacionales de la especie. Durante tres años, estudié la variación espacial (entre poblaciones y entre parches dentro de poblaciones) y temporal (entre años) en el tamaño, crecimiento, fecundidad, y propagación sexual y vegetativa de 16 parches en dos poblaciones de H. nobilis. El tamaño y el crecimiento variaron notablemente en todas las escalas temporales y espaciales, mientras que la fecundidad mostró más variación a escala espacial que temporal. Ninguna de las variables estudiadas estuvo relacionada con la densidad poblacional o la cubierta del bosque, excepto el número de óvulos por flor que sí se mostró afectado por la densidad poblacional. En general, ambas poblaciones experimentaron un declive generalizado en tamaño y éxito reproductivo a lo largo de los tres años de estudio. Durante este periodo, sólo dos plántulas fueron reclutadas en una de las poblaciones y todos los brotes vegetativos que emergieron un año desaparecieron al siguiente. En general, estos resultados muestran, por una parte, que el desarrollo de H. nobilis depende de las características específicas de cada parche, y por otra, la dinámica de tipo remanente de la especie

Els petits fusters Projecte de col·laboració entre el CEIP Es Pratet i l’Escola d’Art d’Eivissa

Els mesos de febrer i març de 2013 es va dur a terme un projecte col·laboratiu entre els dos centres: el de crear joguines de fusta entre els alumnes d’infantil d’Es Pratet i els de PQPI d’Auxiliar de Fusteria i de grau mitjà d’Ebenisteria. El projecte va començar a les aules d’infantil d’Es Pratet i els alumnes varen decidir quines joguines volien construir i quina forma tindrien. Després, aquests petits dissenyadors varen visitar el taller d’ebenisteria de l’Escola d’Art, on varen fer la comanda de les joguines dissenyades als mestres de taller, així com als alumnes de PQPI i del cicle d’Ebenisteria. Després d’unes setmanes de feina al taller, les joguines varen estar a punt per ser muntades i per fer-los els acabats de polir, muntar i pintar. Durant set sessions, els alumnes del Taller de Fusteria varen visitar el centre d’Es Pratet per ajudar-los a muntar les joguines i a ferlos els acabats Fou una experiència pedagògica molt bona, tant per als alumnes de PQPI (ja que durant un temps s’hagueren d’implicar en la feina i responsabilitat del professor), com per als alumnes d’infantil, que conegueren i participaren en l’elaboració de les joguines amb les quals ells es divertiran dins l’aula.Durante los meses de febrero y marzo del 2013 se realizó un proyecto colaborativo entre los dos centros: la creación de unos juguetes de madera elaboradas entre los alumnos de infantil de Es Pratet, los alumnos de PCPI de Auxiliar de Carpintería y grado medio de Ebanistería. El proyecto empezó en las aulas de infantil de Es Pratet donde los alumnos decidieron qué juguetes querían construir y qué forma tendrían. Después, esos pequeños diseñadores hicieron una visita al taller de ebanistería de l’Escola d’Art, donde hicieron el pedido de los juguetes diseñados a los maestros de taller, a los alumnos de PCPI y de ciclo de Ebanistería. Después de unas semanas de trabajo de taller, los juguetes estaban a punto para ser montados y darles los acabados de lijar, montar y pintar. Durante siete sesiones los alumnos del Taller de Fusta visitaron el centro de Es Pratet para ayudarles a montar y dar los acabados a los juguetes. Se trató de una muy buena experiencia pedagógica, tanto para los alumnos de PCPI (ya que durante un tiempo tienen que implicarse en el trabajo y responsabilidad del profesor), como para los alumnos de infantil, que conocieron y participaron en la elaboración de los juguetes con los que ellos mismos se divertirán dentro del aul

Introduction to the Special Issue: The ecology and genetics of population differentiation in plants

Grants PID2019-104135GB-I00 (F.X.P.) and PID2019-111294GB-I00 (M.A.) from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) of Spain and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, UE) funded this research. M.A. also acknowledges the project 2415/2017 from the Organismo Autonomo de Parques Nacionales of Spain. A.R.C. received support from a Portuguese FCT postdoctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/115781/2016).Population differentiation is a pervasive process in nature. At present, evolutionary studies on plant population differentiation address key questions by undertaking joint ecological and genetic approaches and employing a combination of molecular and experimental means. In this special issue, we gathered a collection of papers dealing with various ecological and genetic aspects of population differentiation in plants. In particular, this special issue encompasses eight research articles and two reviews covering a wide array of worldwide environments, plant functional types, genetic and genomic approaches, and common garden experiments to quantify molecular and/or quantitative trait differentiation in plant populations. Overall, this special issue stresses the validity of traditional evolutionary studies focused on plant populations, whilst emphasizing the integration of classical biological disciplines and state-of-the-art molecular techniques into a unique toolkit for evolutionary plant research.Spanish Government PID2019-104135GB-I00 PID2019-111294GB-I00European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, UE)Organismo Autonomo de Parques Nacionales of Spain 2415/2017Portuguese FCT postdoctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/115781/201

Limits of flexural wave absorption by open lossy resonators: reflection and transmission problems

The limits of flexural wave absorption by open lossy resonators are analytically and numerically reported in this work for both the reflection and transmission problems. An experimental validation for the reflection problem is presented. The reflection and transmission of flexural waves in 1D resonant thin beams are analyzed by means of the transfer matrix method. The hypotheses, on which the analytical model relies, are validated by experimental results. The open lossy resonator, consisting of a finite length beam thinner than the main beam, presents both energy leakage due to the aperture of the resonators to the main beam and inherent losses due to the viscoelastic damping. Wave absorption is found to be limited by the balance between the energy leakage and the inherent losses of the open lossy resonator. The perfect compensation of these two elements is known as the critical coupling condition and can be easily tuned by the geometry of the resonator. On the one hand, the scattering in the reflection problem is represented by the reflection coefficient. A single symmetry of the resonance is used to obtain the critical coupling condition. Therefore the perfect absorption can be obtained in this case. On the other hand, the transmission problem is represented by two eigenvalues of the scattering matrix, representing the symmetric and anti-symmetric parts of the full scattering problem. In the geometry analyzed in this work, only one kind of symmetry can be critically coupled, and therefore, the maximal absorption in the transmission problem is limited to 0.5. The results shown in this work pave the way to the design of resonators for efficient flexural wave absorption

Nonlinear waves in a chain of magnetically coupled pendula

A motivation for the study of reduced models like one-dimensional systems in Solid State Physics is the complexity of the full problem. In recent years our group has studied theoretically, numerically and experimentally wave propagation in lattices of nonlinearly coupled oscillators. Here, we present the dynamics of magnetically coupled pendula lattices. These macroscopic systems can model the dynamical processes of matter or layered systems. We report the results obtained for harmonic wave propagation in these media, and the different regimes of mode conversion into higher harmonics strongly influenced by dispersion and discreteness, including the phenomenon of acoustic dilatation of the chain, as well as some results on the propagation of localized waves i.e., solitons and kinks.Generalitat Valenciana APOSTD/2017/042Umiversitat Politècnica de València PAID-01-14Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), Spain FIS2015-65998-C2-2-PJunta de Andalucía 2017/FQM-28

Tackling intraspecific genetic structure in distribution models better reflects species geographical range

Genetic diversity provides insight into heterogeneous demographic and adaptive history across organisms' distribution ranges. For this reason, decomposing single species into genetic units may represent a powerful tool to better understand biogeographical patterns as well as improve predictions of the effects of GCC (global climate change) on biodiversity loss. Using 279 georeferenced Iberian accessions, we used classes of three intraspecific genetic units of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana obtained from the genetic analyses of nuclear SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), chloroplast SNPs, and the vernalization requirement for flowering. We used SDM (species distribution models), including climate, vegetation, and soil data, at the whole-species and genetic-unit levels. We compared model outputs for present environmental conditions and with a particularly severe GCC scenario. SDM accuracy was high for genetic units with smaller distribution ranges. Kernel density plots identified the environmental variables underpinning potential distribution ranges of genetic units. Combinations of environmental variables accounted for potential distribution ranges of genetic units, which shrank dramatically with GCC at almost all levels. Only two genetic clusters increased their potential distribution ranges with GCC. The application of SDM to intraspecific genetic units provides a detailed picture on the biogeographical patterns of distinct genetic groups based on different genetic criteria. Our approach also allowed us to pinpoint the genetic changes, in terms of genetic background and physiological requirements for flowering, that Iberian A. thaliana may experience with a GCC scenario applying SDM to intraspecific genetic units

Resistance to melon vine decline derived from Cucumis melo spp. agrestis: genetic analysis of root structure and root response.

Melon vine decline is a major soilborne disease that causes severe economic losses around the world

Genetic basis of adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana: Local adaptation at the seed dormancy QTL DOG1

Local adaptation provides an opportunity to study the genetic basis of adaptation and investigate the allelic architecture of adaptive genes. We study DELAY OF GERMINATION 1 (DOG1), a gene controlling natural variation in seed dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana and investigate evolution of dormancy in 41 populations distributed in four regions separated by natural barriers. Using F ST and Q ST comparisons, we compare variation at DOG1 with neutral markers and quantitative variation in seed dormancy. Patterns of genetic differentiation among populations suggest that the gene DOG1 contributes to local adaptation. Although Q ST for seed dormancy is not different from F ST for neutral markers, a correlation with variation in summer precipitation supports that seed dormancy is adaptive. We characterize dormancy variation in several F 2-populations and show that a series of functionally distinct alleles segregate at the DOG1 locus. Theoretical models have shown that the number and effect of alleles segregatin at quantitative trait loci (QTL) have important consequences for adaptation. Our results provide support to models postulating a large number of alleles at quantitative trait loci involved in adaptation. © 2012 The Author(s). Evolution © 2012 The Society for the Study of Evolution.Peer Reviewe

Unravelling plant diversification: Intraspecific genetic differentiation in hybridizing Anacyclus species in the western Mediterranean Basin

Premise: The interfertile species Anacyclus clavatus, A. homogamos, and A. valentinus represent a plant complex coexisting in large anthropic areas of the western Mediterranean Basin with phenotypically mixed populations exhibiting a great floral variation. The goal of this study was to estimate the genetic identity of each species, to infer the role of hybridization in the observed phenotypic diversity, and to explore the effect of climate on the geographic distribution of species and genetic clusters. Methods: We used eight nuclear microsatellites to genotype 585 individuals from 31 populations of three Anacyclus species for population genetic analyses by using clustering algorithms based on Bayesian models and ordination methods. In addition, we used ecological niche models and niche overlap analyses for both the species and genetic clusters. We used an expanded data set, including 721 individuals from 129 populations for ecological niche models of the genetic clusters. Results: We found a clear correspondence between species and genetic clusters, except for A. clavatus that included up to three genetic clusters. We detected individuals with admixed genetic ancestry in A. clavatus and in mixed populations. Ecological niche models predicted similar distributions for species and genetic clusters. For the two specific genetic clusters of A. clavatus, ecological niche models predicted remarkably different areas. Conclusions: Gene flow between Anacyclus species likely explains phenotypic diversity in contact areas. In addition, we suggest that introgression could be involved in the origin of one of the two A. clavatus genetic clusters, which also showed ecological differentiationPID2019‐104135GB‐I00, PID2021‐124187NB‐I0