Avaliação do desempenho da ma ravalha e da palha de azevém (Lollium Multiflorum) como substratos na co-compostagem dos dejetos de suínos.

Projeto: 11.11.11.111

Structure and diversity of shallow soft-bottom benthic macrofauna in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean).

14 páginas, 10 figuras, 4 tablas.Samples of soft-sediment macrobenthos from 92 sites between 10 and 50 m depth were used to assess (1) the main soft-bottom macrofauna communities in the Gulf of Lions, (2) the different components of the diversity of benthic macrofauna in this area, and (3) the relevance of the use of major taxonomic groups as surrogates for the analysis of the structure and diversity of total macrofauna. Three main communities were identified by cluster analysis and associated procedures. These communities corresponded well to the assemblages recently identified on the basis of polychaete composition. The a-diversity indices were in accordance with those reported for similar communities in the Mediterranean. Conversely, the b-diversity value was higher than the few other data available in the literature for marine soft-bottom macrofauna. The total number of species in the studied area estimated by the ‘‘total species accumulation curve’’ (TS) method was 2,319, which was only 10% higher than the number obtained by extrapolation of the species–area curve. The similarity matrix based on polychaetes correlated best with the one based on total macrofauna. Polychaetes and crustaceans were also the best surrogates of total macrofauna when assessing a-diversity (except in the case of D*). Conversely, molluscs were the best surrogates of total macrofauna b-diversity. Our results show that the choice of an optimal surrogate for total benthic macrofauna depends on the characteristic of the benthic macrofauna to be studied. Moreover, this choice is also dependent on the environment to be studiedThis work is part of the PhD thesis of Ce´line Labrune. It was carried out within the EC Network of Excellence MARBEF. Ce´line Labrune was supported by the SYSCOLAG project run by the Re´gion Languedoc-Roussillon.Peer reviewe

Metodologia para medir a emissão de CH4, CO2 e H2S em compostagem de dejetos de suínos

bitstream/item/58043/1/CUsersPiazzonDocuments479.pdfProjeto: 16.00.30.004

Evaluación del riesgo de inundación a múltiples componentes en la costa del Maresme

The coast is one of the areas most affected by natural hazards, with floods being the most frequent and significant of these in terms of their induced impacts, so any management scheme requires their evaluation. In coastal areas, flooding is a hazard associated with different processes acting at different scales: coastal storms, flash floods and sea level rise (SLR). To address the problem as a whole, this study presents a methodology to undertake a preliminary integrated risk assessment of the magnitude of each flood component, taking into account their scope (extension of the affected area) and their temporal scale. The risk is quantified using specific indicators to assess the hazard magnitude (for each component) and the consequences. This allows for a robust comparison of the spatial risk distribution along the coast in order to identify both the most at-risk areas and the most influential risk components. This methodology is applied to a stretch of coastline (Maresme, Catalonia) representative of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The results obtained characterise this coastline as an area with a relatively low overall risk, although some hotspots are identified as having high-risk values. Resumen: La costa es una de las zonas más sometidas a riesgos naturales, siendo la inundación uno de los más frecuentes e importantes en términos de daños inducidos, por lo que cualquier esquema de gestión requiere evaluación. La inundación en zonas costeras es una amenaza natural asociada a diferentes procesos que actúan a distintas escalas: tormentas costeras, riadas y subida del nivel del mar (SNM). Para abarcar la totalidad del problema, este trabajo propone una metodología para la evaluación preliminar del riesgo integrado de inundación costera a una escala regional que permite evaluar la magnitud de cada componente teniendo en cuenta su alcance (extensión de la zona afectada) y su escala temporal. El riesgo se cuantifica en función de unos indicadores específicos que valoran la magnitud de la amenaza para cada componente y las consecuencias. Esto permite comparar robustamente la distribución espacial del riesgo a lo largo de la costa, para identificar tanto zonas de mayor riesgo como las componentes que más contribuyen al mismo. Aplicamos esta metodología a un tramo de costa característica del Mediterráneo español (Maresme, Cataluña). Los resultados permiten caracterizar esta costa como un área con un riesgo global relativamente bajo, pero algunos puntos singulares con riesgo alto

Long-term (1998–2010) large-scale comparison of the ecological quality status of gulf of lions (NW Mediterranean) benthic habitats

12 páginas, 4 tablas, 8 figuras.A comprehensive Mediterranean data set has been used to address 3 questions associated with the use of sensitivity/tolerance based biotic indices to infer the Ecological Quality status (EcoQs) of benthic habitats. Our results showed: (1) a significant effect of the reference database on derived sensitivity/tolerance measure (ES500.05) as well as associated Benthic Quality Index values and derived EcoQs; (2) a lack of correlation neither between BQI and AZTI Marine Biotic Index values nor between BQI and Multivariate-AZTI Marine Biotic Index values; (3) a lack of correlation between the values of the Benthic Habitat Quality Index (index derived from Sediment Profile Imagery) and those of either of the 3 tested biotic indices; and (4) a general agreement between the 3 tested biotic indices in describing the lack of global trend for the EcoQs of the Gulf of Lions despite the occurrence of significant changes in benthic macrofauna composition between 1998 and 2010.This study has been carried out with financial support from the French National Research Agency (ANR) in the frame of the Investments for the future Programme, within the Cluster of Excellence COTE (ANR-10-LABX-45).Peer reviewe

Rise and demise of the global silver standard

In the early modern period, the world economy gravitated around the expansion of long-distance commerce. Together with navigation improvements, silver was the prime commodity which moved the sails of such trade. The disparate availability and the particular demand for silver across the globe determined the participation of producers, consumers, and intermediaries in a growing global economy. American endowments of silver are a known feature of this process; however, the fact that the supply of silver was in the form of specie is a less known aspect of the integration of the global economy. This chapter surveys the production and export of silver specie out of Spanish America, its intermediation by Europeans, and the reexport to Asia. It describes how the sheer volume produced and the quality and consistency of the coin provided familiarity with, and reliability to, the Spanish American peso which made it current in most world markets. By the eighteenth century, it has become a currency standard for the international economy which grew together with the production and coinage of silver. Implications varied according to the institutional settings to deal with specie and foreign exchange in each intervening economy of that trade. Generalized warfare in late eighteenth-century Europe brought down governance in Spanish America and coinage fragmented along with the political fragmentation of the empire. The emergence of new sovereign republics and the end of minting as known meant the cessation of the silver standard that had contributed to the early modern globalization

Diversity, structure and spatial distribution of megabenthic communities in Cap de Creus continental shelf and submarine canyon (NW Mediterranean)

The continental shelf and submarine canyon off Cap de Creus (NW Mediterranean) were declared a Site of Community Importance (SCI) within the Natura 2000 Network in 2014. Implementing an effective management plan to preserve its biological diversity and monitor its evolution through time requires a detailed character ization of its benthic ecosystem. Based on 60 underwater video transects performed between 2007 and 2013 (before the declaration of the SCI), we thoroughly describe the composition and structure of the main mega benthic communities dwelling from the shelf down to 400 m depth inside the submarine canyon. We then mapped the spatial distribution of the benthic communities using the Random Forest algorithm, which incor porated geomorphological and oceanographic layers as predictors, as well as the intensity of the bottom-trawling fishing fleet. Although the study area has historically been exposed to commercial fishing practices, it still holds a rich benthic ecosystem with over 165 different invertebrate (morpho)species of the megafauna identified in the video footage, which form up to 9 distinct megabenthic communities. The continental shelf is home to coral gardens of the sea fan Eunicella cavolini, sea pen and soft coral assemblages, dense beds of the crinoid Leptometra phalangium, diverse sponge grounds and massive aggregations of the brittle star Ophiothrix fragilis. The submarine canyon off Cap de Creus is characterized by a cold-water coral community dominated by the scleractinian coral Madrepora oculata, found in association with several invertebrate species including oysters, brachiopods and a variety of sponge species, as well as by a community dominated by cerianthids and sea urchins, mostly in sedimentary areas. The benthic communities identified in the area were then compared with habitats/biocenoses described in reference habitat classification systems that consider circalittoral and bathyal environments of the Mediterranean. The complex environmental setting characteristic of the marine area off Cap de Creus likely produces the optimal conditions for communities dominated by suspension- and filter-feeding species to develop. The uniqueness of this ecosystem and the anthropogenic pressures that it faces should prompt the development of effective management actions to ensure the long-term conservation of the benthic fauna representative of this marine area3,26

Impacts of a novel shellfishing gear on macrobenthos in a marine protected area: pump-scoop dredging in Poole Harbour, UK

Understanding the impact of bottom-fishing gears at various scales and intensities on habitats and species is necessary to inform management. In Poole Harbour, UK, a multiple use marine protected area, fishermen utilise a unique “pump-scoop” dredge to harvest the introduced Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum. Managers need to balance the socio-economic benefits of the fishery with ecological concerns across the region, which has required a revision of by-laws that include both spatial and temporal measures. Within an operational fishery, we used a Before-After-Control-Impact sampling design to assess the impacts of pump-scoop dredging on benthic physical characteristics and community structure in an area where there was no dredging, an area newly opened to dredging and an area subject to high levels of historic dredging. A sampling grid was used in each area to best capture any fishing effort in the newly opened area. Core samples were taken to a depth of 30 cm within intertidal mudflats. A significant loss of fine sediments was observed in the site subject to high intensity dredging and a significant change in community structure also occurred in both dredged sites throughout the study period. In the newly opened site this was characterised by a relative increase in species richness, including increased abundance of annelid worms, notably Hediste diversicolor and Aphelochaeta marioni and a decline in the abundance of the bivalve mollusc Abra tenuis. These changes, albeit relatively small, are attributed to physical disturbance as a direct result of pump-scoop dredging, although no difference in the classification of the biotope of the site was observed. This is of particular interest to managers monitoring site condition within areas under the new bylaws as the Manila clam is spreading to other protected estuaries in the region