Equine tourism in Cantabria

RESUMEN: El turismo ecuestre consiste en realizar itinerarios por sendas y caminos rurales cerca de lugares con atractivo cultural y natural. Nos encontramos con un turismo que está en auge en los últimos años. Podemos observar como la concienciación social por un turismo responsable y cuidadoso con el medio ambiente y el entorno natural que rodea a las actividades turísticas es cada vez más notorio entre los turistas. En Cantabria podemos encontrarnos con naturaleza, montaña y playa con una proximidad que hace de todos los municipios de la región accesibles a los turistas. Estas ventajas geográficas que muestra Cantabria potencian el turismo con caballos. Es por eso que en el presente trabajo se ha realizado una investigación y análisis de la oferta turística ecuestre en Cantabria. Se darán los nombres de los principales centros ecuestres que ofertan tanto las rutas por los principales destinos de la región como las clases de equitación y ofertas de alojamientos. El turismo equino aglomera numerosas profesionales que hacen que esta actividad funcione de la mejor manera por lo que también se determinará cuales son los principales trabajos ligados a ella. No hay que olvidar que este turismo además de ofertar actividades de ocio da la posibilidad a muchas personas de realizar terapias que ayudan a mejorar las condiciones físicas y mentales de personas que tienen problemas y minusvalías. Como hemos comentado, es un turismo que está creciendo en los últimos años, así lo demuestran los últimos estudios sobre el impacto económico de los que también se hacen referencia en el trabajo y en los que podemos ver los beneficios económicos que ofrecen tanto a Cantabria, como al resto del territorio nacional. No se puede negar que realizar turismo de este tipo lo que genera en sus aficionados es una satisfacción distinta y diferente, ya que los modelos de turismo tradicionales, aunque no dejan de ser exitosos, caen en la rutina de ofertar siempre las mismas cosas. El turismo ecuestre da la posibilidad a aquellos que van a Cantabria en busca de disfrutar de su maravilloso entorno natural y cultural para verlo desde otro punto de vista, con un toque aventurero y deportivo.ABSTRACT: Equestrian tourism consists of making itineraries along rural paths and paths close to places with cultural attractions. We find a tourism that is booming in recent years, we can see how the social awareness for responsible tourism and careful with the environment and the natural environment surrounding tourism activities is becoming increasingly remarkable among tourists. In Cantabria we can find nature, mountain and beach with a proximity that makes all the municipalities of the region accessible to tourists. These geographical advantages that Cantabria has to offer significantly boost horse tourism. That is why in the present work an investigation and analysis of the equestrian tourism offer in Cantabria. The names of the main equestrian centres that offer routes through the main destinations in the region as well as horse riding lessons and accommodation offers will be given. The equine tourism brings together many professionals who make this tourism work in the best way so that it will also determine which are the main jobs related to it. It should not be forgotten that this tourism, in addition to offering leisure activities, gives many people the possibility of performing therapies that help to improve the physical and mental conditions of people who have problems and disabilities. As we have mentioned, tourism is growing in recent years, as evidenced by the latest studies on the economic impact also referred to in the work where we can see the economic benefits that offer both to Cantabria, as to the rest of the country. It cannot be denied that this type of tourism generates a different and different satisfaction in tourists, since traditional models of tourism, although they are still successful, fall into the routine of always offering the same things. Equestrian tourism gives the possibility to those tourists who go to Cantabria in search of enjoying its wonderful natural and cultural environment to see it from another point of view, with an adventurous and sporty touch.Grado en Turism

Sweet chestnut agroforestry systems in north-western Spain: Classification, spatial distribution and an ecosystem services assessment

Aim of study: Agroforestry systems of Castanea sativa have specific forest structures, which are different from other ecosystems of sweet chestnut. They have provided several ecosystems services (ES) to local inhabitants for centuries including relevant pastoral use. However on present times, have isolated distribution ranges and declining trends. The chestnut trees are their main components but occur at low densities. They are cultivated by using different treatments to improve specific features and maximize different types of production. Area of study: North-western of Iberian Peninsula. Material and methods: We used a large database (>750 field plots) to classify C. sativa dominated-stands into different ecosystems typology (including traditional agroforestry systems), and to assess their most relevant ES. We used field data to define their spatial distribution and discriminant analysis to determine the classification accuracy. Finally we also defined a set of qualitative and quantitative ES indicators for different groups to compare different trends. Main results: We successfully classified these ecosystems and found that the traditional agroforestry systems are of major importance in providing ES, as food provision or cultural services, but showed isolated distribution patterns. Moreover, other types of chestnut-dominated ecosystems, supply important ES such as biomass provision and climate regulation. Research highlights: The relevance of the C. sativa agroforestry systems from ES point of view was pointed out in this work, but also their declining dynamic. Further analysis, based on temporal trends, could help to a better understanding of their status and to define conservation and management strategies

Glacial refugia and mid-Holocene expansion delineate the current distribution of Castanea sativa in Europe

We thank J.A. López-Saéz for very useful comments that improved the quality of the manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions. JVRD was supported by "Severo Ochoa" PhD Grant (BP 12-093) and by funding through "Ayuda para Estancias Breves" (EB15-12) for a research stay at Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic) in 2015. Both grants were provided by the "Plan de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación" (PCTI) Government of Principado de Asturias. BJA was supported by the project Employment of Best Young Scientists for International Cooperation Empowerment (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0037) co-financed from the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic. MC was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence PLADIAS, 14-36079G).Areas of Quaternary refugia for tree species have been mainly delineated based on fossil records and phylogeography, but niche modelling can provide useful complementary information. Here we use palaeodistribution modelling to test the main hypotheses about the distribution of Castanea sativa in the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the mid-Holocene in Europe. We computed distribution models for current climatic conditions using different methods, and projected them onto three climatic scenarios for the LGM and the mid-Holocene. The projections were validated with pollen and charcoal records. LGM refugia were suggested in the north of the Iberian, Italian and Balkan Peninsulas, and in northern Anatolia. The projections for the mid-Holocene indicated high climatic suitability and geographic expansion of the species range across southern Europe, including some areas where the species is nowadays considered as non-native. In general, our models are consistent with the patterns proposed with pollen and charcoal records, and partially also with phylogeographic information inferred from genetic data, suggesting that the most suitable areas for C. sativa were extended significantly during the mid-Holocene, but declined afterwards and lost connectivity. The projected patterns were compatible with existing palaeobotanical records of C. sativa and provide a spatially-explicit picture of the species past distribution

Béns i serveis que proveeixen els boscos de Catalunya

Investigadors/es del CREAF i la UAB han demostrat que la combinació de múltiples fonts de dades pot ajudar a tenir un coneixement més ampli i detallat dels ecosistemes dels boscos de Catalunya i els serveis i béns que aquests proporcionen, essencials pel benestar de la nostra societat. Els resultats obtinguts permeten desenvolupar millors estratègies de planificació territorial i de gestió de recursos naturals.Investigadores/as del CREAF y de la UAB han demostrado que la combinación de múltiples fuentes de datos puede ayudar a tener un conocimiento más amplio y detallado de los ecosistemas de los bosques de Cataluña y de los servicios y bienes que estos proporcionan, esenciales para el bienestar de nuestra sociedad. Los resultados obtenidos permiten desarrollar mejor estrategias de planificación territorial y de gestión de recursos naturales.A recent study published by CREAF and the UAB shows that the combination of multiple sources of information helps to have a broader and better understanding of the forest ecosystems of Catalonia and the services and goods they provide, which are key for human well-being. The results obtained allow better strategies for land planning and management of natural resources

Value of α‑fetoprotein as an early biomarker for treatment response to sorafenib therapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Sorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor with antiangiogenic and antiproliferative properties, and is used as the first‑line treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous studies have identified an improvement in overall survival and progression‑free survival in patients with a manageable toxicity profile. α‑fetoprotein (AFP) has been revealed to be of great diagnostic and predictive value for tumour staging in multiple studies; however, its role as a predictive factor of response to treatment with sorafenib is not entirely clear. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of sorafenib and investigate the value of AFP as a predictive factor of early response to sorafenib in patients with HCC. Effectiveness was analysed based on median overall survival (mOS) time, while to analyse the possible predictive value of AFP, patients were classified into two groups: Non‑responders (≤20% AFP reduction) and responders (>20% AFP reduction) at 6‑8 weeks of treatment when compared with basal AFP level. For assessment of toxicity, any adverse effects were recorded. A total of 167 patients were included, who collectively exhibited a mOS time of 11 months with a median treatment duration of 5 months. The mOS time was significantly higher for patients with better hepatic function (12 months in cases of Child‑Pugh score A vs. 8 months in cases of Child‑Pugh score B; P=0.03) and with basal AFP values ≤200 ng/ml (14 months vs. 8 months in patients with AFP levels >200 ng/ml; P=0.01). A >20% reduction of AFP at 6‑8 weeks was determined to be a positive predictive factor upon multivariate analysis (P=0.002), obtaining, for the responder patients, an mOS of 18 months compared with 10 months (P=0.004) for the non‑responders. The main adverse reactions were hand‑foot syndrome (35/167; 21%), diarrhoea (39/167; 23.4%), anorexia (29/167; 17.4%) and arterial hypertension (30/167; 18%). In conclusion, a >20% drop in AFP at 6‑8 weeks may be useful as a predictive factor of response to sorafenib, as indicated by its association with longer survival times in patients with advanced HCC following treatment with sorafenib in the present study

Spatial similarities between European agroforestry systems and ecosystem services at the landscape scale

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Agroforestry Systems. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0132-3Agroforestry systems are known to provide ecosystem services which differ in quantity and quality from conventional agricultural practices and could enhance rural landscapes. In this study we compared ecosystem services provision of agroforestry and non-agroforestry landscapes in case study regions from three European biogeographical regions: Mediterranean (montado and dehesa), Continental (orchards and wooded pasture) and Atlantic agroforestry systems (chestnut soutos and hedgerows systems). Seven ecosystem service indicators (two provisioning and five regulating services) were mapped, modelled and assessed. Clear variations in amount and provision of ecosystem services were found between different types of agroforestry systems. Nonetheless regulating ecosystems services were improved in all agroforestry landscapes, with reduced nitrate losses, higher carbon sequestration, reduced soil losses, higher functional biodiversity focussed on pollination and greater habitat diversity reflected in a high proportion of semi-natural habitats. The results for provisioning services were inconsistent. While the annual biomass yield and the groundwater recharge rate tended to be higher in agricultural landscapes without agroforestry systems, the total biomass stock was reduced. These broad relationships were observed within and across the case study regions regardless of the agroforestry type or biogeographical region. Overall our study underlines the positive influence of agroforestry systems on the supply of regulating services and their role to enhance landscape structureWe acknowledge funding through Grant 613520 from the European Commission (Project AGFORWARD, 7th Framework Program), the Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (“Programa de axudas á etapa posdoutoral DOG no. 122, 29/06/2016 p.27443, exp: ED481B 2016/071-0”), the Forest Research Center strategic project (PEst OE/AGR/UI0239/2014) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the contract SFRH/BD/52691/2014S

Spatial similarities between European agroforestry systems and ecosystem services at the landscape scale

Agroforestry systems are known to provide ecosystem services which differ in quantity and quality from conventional agricultural practices and could enhance rural landscapes. In this study we compared ecosystem services provision of agroforestry and non-agroforestry landscapes in case study regions from three European biogeographical regions: Mediterranean (montado and dehesa), Continental (orchards and wooded pasture) and Atlantic agroforestry systems (chestnut soutos and hedgerows systems). Seven ecosystem service indicators (two provisioning and five regulating services) were mapped, modelled and assessed. Clear variations in amount and provision of ecosystem services were found between different types of agroforestry systems. Nonetheless regulating ecosystems services were improved in all agroforestry landscapes, with reduced nitrate losses, higher carbon sequestration, reduced soil losses, higher functional biodiversity focussed on pollination and greater habitat diversity reflected in a high proportion of semi-natural habitats. The results for provisioning services were inconsistent. While the annual biomass yield and the groundwater recharge rate tended to be higher in agricultural landscapes without agroforestry systems, the total biomass stock was reduced. These broad relationships were observed within and across the case study regions regardless of the agroforestry type or biogeographical region. Overall our study underlines the positive influence of agroforestry systems on the supply of regulating services and their role to enhance landscape structure

Landscape-scale modelling of agroforestry ecosystems services in Swiss orchards: a methodological approach

Context Agroforestry systems in temperate Europe are known to provide both, provisioning and regulating ecosystem services (ES). Yet, it is poorly understood how these systems affect ES provision at a landscape scale in contrast to agricultural practises. Objectives This study aimed at developing a novel, spatially explicit model to assess and quantify bundles of provisioning and regulating ES provided by landscapes with and without agroforestry systems and to test the hypothesis that agroforestry landscapes provide higher amounts of regulating ES than landscapes dominated by monocropping. Methods Focussing on ES that are relevant for agroforestry and agricultural practices, we selected six provisioning and regulating ES—“biomass production”, “groundwater recharge”, “nutrient retention”, “soil preservation”, “carbon storage”, “habitat and gene pool protection”. Algorithms for quantifying these services were identified, tested, adapted, and applied in a traditional cherry orchard landscape in Switzerland, as a case study. Eight landscape test sites of 1 km × 1 km, four dominated by agroforestry and four dominated by agriculture, were mapped and used as baseline for the model. Results We found that the provisioning ES, namely the annual biomass yield, was higher in landscape test sites with agriculture, while the regulating ES were better represented in landscape test sites with agroforestry. The differences were found to be statistically significant for the indicators annual biomass yield, groundwater recharge rate, nitrate leaching, annual carbon sequestration, flowering resources, and share of semi-natural habitats. Conclusions This approach provides an example for spatially explicit quantification of provisioning and regulating ES and is suitable for comparing different land use scenarii at landscape scale