Identifying past social-ecological thresholds to understand long-term temporal dynamics in Spain

A thorough understanding of long-term temporal social-ecological dynamics at the national scale helps to explain the current condition of a country’s ecosystems and to support environmental policies to tackle future sustainability challenges. We aimed to develop a methodological approach to understand past long-term (1960-2010) social-ecological dynamics in Spain. First, we developed a methodical framework that allowed us to explore complex social-ecological dynamics among biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being, drivers of change, and institutional responses. Second, we compiled 21 long-term, national-scale indicators and analyzed their temporal relationships through a redundancy analysis. Third, we used a Bayesian change point analysis to detect evidence of past social-ecological thresholds and historical time periods. Our results revealed that Spain has passed through four socialecological thresholds that define five different time periods of nature and society relationships. Finally, we discussed how the proposed methodological approach helps to reinterpret national-level ecosystem indicators through a new conceptual lens to develop a more systems-based way of understanding long-term social-ecological patterns and dynamicsThis work was supported by the Biodiversity Foundation (http://www.fundacion-biodiversidad.es/) of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Partial financial support was also provided by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (project CGL2014-53782-P: ECOGRADIENTES). The Spanish National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA) funded Marina García-Llorente as part of the European Social Fund. Blanca González García-Mon participated in this article as a “la Caixa” Banking Foundation scholar. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of the report, or the decision to submit the study for publicatio

Hot Jupiters and Hot Spots: The Short- and Long-term Chromospheric Activity on Stars with Giant Planets

We monitored the chromospheric activity in the Ca II H & K lines of 13 solar-type stars (including the Sun); 8 of them over three years at the CFHT and 5 in a single run at the VLT. Ten of the 13 targets have close planetary companions. All of the stars observed at the CFHT show long-term (months to years) changes in H & K intensity levels. Four stars display short-term (days) cyclical activity. For two, HD 73256 and kappa^1 Ceti, the activity is likely associated with an active region rotating with the star, however, the flaring in excess of the rotational modulation may be associated with a hot jupiter. A planetary companion remains a possibility for kappa^1 Ceti. For the other two, HD 179949 and upsilon And, the cyclic variation is synchronized to the hot jupiter's orbit. For both stars this synchronicity with the orbit is clearly seen in two out of three epochs. The effect is only marginal in the third epoch at which the seasonal level of chromospheric activity had changed for both stars. Short-term chromospheric activity appears weakly dependent on the mean K-line reversal intensities for the sample of 13 stars. Also, a suggestive correlation exists between this activity and the M_p sin(i) of the star's hot jupiter. Because of their small separation (<= 0.1 AU), many of the hot jupiters lie within the Alfv\'en radius of their host stars which allows a direct magnetic interaction with the stellar surface. We discuss the conditions under which a planet's magnetic field might induce activity on the stellar surface and why no such effect was seen for the prime candidate, tau Boo. This work opens up the possibility of characterizing planet-star interactions, with implications for extrasolar planet magnetic fields and the energy contribution to stellar atmospheres.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal; 39 pages including 17 figure

SERS-based molecularly imprinted plasmonic sensor for highly sensitive PAH detection

A novel hybrid plasmonic platform based on the synergetic combination of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) thin film with Au nanoparticle (NPs) assemblies, noted as Au@MIP, was developed for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). While the MIP trapped the PAH close to the Au surface, the plasmonic NPs enhanced the molecule's Raman signal. The Au@MIP fabrication comprises a two-step procedure, first, the layer-by-layer deposition of Au NPs on glass and their further coating with a uniform MIP thin film. Profilometry analysis demonstrated that the thickness and homogeneity of the MIP film could be finely tailored by tuning different parameters such as prepolymerization time or spin-coating rate. Two different PAH molecules, pyrene or fluoranthene, were used as templates for the fabrication of pyrene- or fluoranthene-based Au@MIP substrates. The use of pyrene or fluoranthene, as the template molecule to fabricate the Au@MIP thin films, enabled its ultradetection in the nM regime with a 100-fold improvement compared with the nonimprinted plasmonic sensors (Au@NIPs). The SERS data analysis allowed to estimate the binding constant of the template molecule to the MIP. The selectivity of both pyrene- and fluoranthene-based Au@MIPs was analyzed against three PAHs of different sizes. The results displayed the important role of the template molecule used for the Au@MIPs fabrication in the selectivity of the system. Finally, the practical applicability of pyrene-based Au@MIPs was shown by performing the detection of pyrene in two real samples: creek water and seawater. The design and optimization of this type of plasmonic platform will pave the way for the detection of other relevant (bio)molecules in a broad range of fields such as environmental control, food safety, or biomedicine.Fil: Castro-Grijalba, Alexander. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Laboratorio de Quimica Analitica Ambiental.; Argentina. Universidad de Vigo; EspañaFil: Montes-García, Verónica. Universidad de Vigo; EspañaFil: Cordero-Ferradás, María José. Universidad de Vigo; EspañaFil: Coronado, Eduardo A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Pérez-Juste, Jorge. Universidad de Vigo; EspañaFil: Pastoriza-Santos, Isabel. Universidad de Vigo; Españ

The Neotropical mirid predator Macrolophus basicornis uses volatile cues to avoid contacting old, Trichogramma pretiosum parasitized eggs of Tuta absoluta

Polyphagous mirid predators are increasingly used in commercial, augmentative biological control. Information about their foraging behaviour is essential, especially if one intends to use several natural enemies to control one or more pests in a crop, to detect if negative intraguild effects occur. We studied a case of intraguild predation (IGP) involving the predator Macrolophus basicornis (Stal) (Hemiptera Miridae) of the worldwide invasive South American tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera Gelechiidae) and explored how this predator deals with prey parasitized by Trichogramma pretiosum (Riley) (Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae). Behavioural observations show that M. basicornis predators contacted significantly fewer old, parasitized eggs of T. absoluta than recently parasitized eggs. Olfactometer tests revealed that predators could smell differences between vola-tiles of tomato leaves infested with eggs of different qualities to locate suitable prey. They preferred volatiles from leaflets with unparasitized eggs above control leaflets and, moreover, preferred volatiles from leaflets with recently parasitized eggs over volatiles of leaflets with 5-day-old parasitized eggs. When predators and parasitoids are used together to control T. absoluta, parasitoids should be introduced one week before predators are released to prevent high levels of IGP

As espécies de Violaceae Batsch nativas no Estado do Paraná, Brasil

A família Violaceae Batsch pertence à subclasse Dillenideae, ordem Violales e no Brasil, a família está representada por aproximadamente 69 espécies subordinadas a 10 gêneros. O presente trabalho visa descrever as espécies ocorrentes no Estado do Paraná, indicando a área de ocorrência, apresentando chaves analíticas para identificação de gêneros e espécies, ilustrações, contribuindo para a flora deste Estado. A metodologia consiste no levantamento bibliográfico das descrições originais, coletas botânicas e análise morfológica de material depositado em diversos herbários nacionais. Foram confirmadas para o Estado do Paraná as seguintes espécies: Anchietea pyrifolia (Mart.) G. Don, Hybanthus atropurpureus (A. St.-Hil.) Taub., Hybanthus bigibbosus (A. St.- Hil.) Hassl., Hybanthus brevicaulis (Mart.) Baill., Hybanthus communis (A. St.-Hil.) Taub., Hybanthus parviflorus (Mutis ex. L.f.) Baill., Hybanthus velutinus Schulze-Menz, Noisettia orchidiflora (Rudge) Ging., Viola cerasifolia A. St.-Hil. e Viola gracillima A. St.-Hil. ABSTRACT The family Violaceae Batsch belongs to the subclass Dillenideae, order Violales, and in Brazil, the family is represented by about 69 species subordinated to 10 genera. This research was carried out based on botanical samples deposited in brazilian herbaria, concerning bibliographies and comparison with original descriptions of the species. This work includes descriptions of the all species found in the Brazilian State of Paraná, identification keys of genera and species, illustrations, geographic distribution maps and commentaries. From about 69 species and 10 genera of Violaceae presenty known in Brazil flora, 10 species and 5 genera are confirmed occurring in the Paraná State: Anchietea pyrifolia (Mart.)G.Don, Hybanthus atropurpureus (A. St.-Hil.)Taub., Hybanthus bigibbosus (A. St.-Hil.)Hassl., Hybanthus brevicaulis (Mart.)Baill., Hybanthus communis (A. St.-Hil.)Taub., Hybanthus parviflorus (mutis ex L.f.)Baill., Hybanthus velutinus Schulze-Menz, Noisettia orchidiflora (Rudge) Ging., Viola cerasifolia (A. St.-Hil.) and Viola gracillima (A. St.-Hil.). RÉSUMÉ La famille Violaceae Batsch que appartient à la sous-classe Dillenideae, ordre Violales, et au Brésil, la famille est représentée par approximativement 69 espèces ont subordonné à 10 genrens. Cette recherche a été exécutée a basé sur échantillons botaniques déposés dans herbiers du Brésil, à propos de bibliographies et comparaison avec descriptions originales de l'espèce. Ce travail inclut des descriptions du toutes les espèces ont trouvé dans l'État du Paraná, l'identification accorde de gerens et espèces, illustrations, cartes de la distribution géographiques et commentaires. D'approximativement 69 espèces et dix genres de Violaceae pour l'instant sus dans flore Brésil, dix espèces et cinq genres sont confirmés se produire dans l'État du Paraná: Anchietea pyrifolia (Marché. ) G. Don, Hybanthus atropurpureus (A. St.. -Hil.) Taub., Hybanthus bigibbosus (A. St..-Hil.) Hassl., Hybanthus brevicaulis (Marché.) Baill., Hybanthus communis (A. St..-Hil.) Taub., Hybanthus parviflorus (mutis ex L.f. ) Baill., Hybanthus velutinus Schulze-Menz, Noisettia orchidiflora (Rudge) Ging., Viola cerasifolia (A. St..-Hil.) et Viola gracillima (A. St..-Hil.)