Habitat structure and host plant specialization drive taxonomic and functional composition of Heteroptera in postfire successional habitats

Changes in habitat structure are the main driving forces for responses of animal assemblages to fire. According to the disturbance theory, generalist species are expected to outperform specialists in variable environments. Thus, we hypothesized that omnivorous and polyphagous species will become more abundant in unstable postfire successional vegetation, whereas monophagous (specialists), due to their strong dependence on host plants, are expected to respond according to the responses of plant hosts. We compared the responses of true bug (Heteroptera) assemblages in stable (unburnt) versus unstable (postfire successional) environments as this group shows a high diversity of feeding strategies. Redundancy analysis fitted our hypothesis as omnivorous and polyphagous bugs responded positively to fire whereas oligophagous bugs did not. Thus, the most generalized bugs in terms of diet were found in disturbed (burnt) habitats whereas specialized bugs were found in undisturbed (unburnt) habitats. Moreover, the most specialized bugs (monophagous species) responded to fire in accordance to the responses of their specific host plants. Although based on small bipartite networks, the lower modularity in burnt sites corresponded to a scenario of lower segregation of plant resources and fits the higher presence of generalist bugs in these sites. Our results suggest that plant-bug trophic interactions shape the response of Heteroptera to fire, and this response seems to be mediated by the degree of feeding specialization

Valorisation of N and P from waste water by using natural reactive hybrid sorbents: Nutrients (N,P,K) release evaluation in amended soils by dynamic experiments

The removal of nutrients (nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P)) from waste water has become a resource recovery option in recent regulations worldwide, as observed in the European Union. Although both of these nutrients could be recovered from the sludge line, > 70-75% of the N and P is discharged into the water line. Efforts to improve the nutrient recovery ratios have focused on developing low-cost technologies that use sorption processes. In this study, a natural zeolite (clinoptilolite type) in its potassium (K) form was impregnated with hydrated metal oxides and used to prepare natural hybrid reactive sorbents (HRS) for the simultaneous recovery of ammonium (NH4+) and phosphate (PO43 −) from treated urban waste water. Three unfertile soils (e.g., one acidic and two basic) amended with N-P-K charged HRS were leached with deionized water (e.g. to simulate infiltration in the field) at two- and three-day time intervals over 15 different leaching cycles (equivalent to 15 bed volumes). The N-P-K leaching profiles for the three charged hybrid sorbents exhibited continuous nutrient release, with their values dependent on the composition of minerals in the soils. In the basic soil that is rich in illite and calcite, the release of potassium (K+) and ammonium (NH4+) is favoured by-ion exchange with calcium (Ca2 +) and accordingly diminishes the release of phosphate (PO43 −) due to its limited solubility in saturated calcite solutions (pH 8 to 9). The opposite is true for sandy soils that are rich in albite (both acidic and basic), whereas the release of NH4+ and K+ was limited and the values of both ions measured in the leaching solutions were below 1 mg/L. Their leaching solutions were poor in Ca2 +, and the release of PO43 − was higher (up to 12 mg P-PO43 −/L). The nutrient releases necessary for plant growth were provided continuously and were controlled primarily by the soil mineral dissolution rates fixing the soil aqueous solution composition (e.g. pH and ionic composition; in particular, the presence of calcite is a determinant for nutrient release, especially in alkaline soils). The N-P-K charged HRS sorbents that were used for soil amendment may be an alternative for avoiding nutrient leaching and reaching the goals of soil sustainability in agriculture and reducing the nutrient overloading of surface waters

Forest resilience to global warming is strongly modulated by local-scale topographic, microclimatic and biotic conditions

Resilience of endangered rear edge populations of cold-adapted forests in the Mediterranean basin is increasingly altered by extreme heatwave and drought pressures. It remains unknown, however, whether microclimatic variation in these isolated forests could ultimately result in large intra-population variability in the demographic responses, allowing the coexistence of contrasting declining and resilient trends across small topographic gradients. Multiple key drivers promoting spatial variability in the resilience of rear edge forests remain largely unassessed, including amplified and buffered thermal exposure induced by heatwaves along topographic gradients, and increased herbivory pressure on tree saplings in defaunated areas lacking efficient apex predators. Here we analysed whether indicators of forest resilience to global warming are strongly modulated by local-scale topographic, microclimatic and biotic conditions. We studied a protected rear edge forest of sessile oak Quercus petraea, applying a suite of 20 indicators of resilience of tree secondary growth, including multidecadal and short-term indices. We also analysed sapling recruitment success, recruit/adult ratios and sapling thermal exposure across topographic gradients. We found large within population variation in secondary growth resilience, in recruitment success and in thermal exposure of tree saplings to heatwaves, and this variability was spatially structured along small-scale topographical gradients. Multidecadal resilience indices and curves provide useful descriptors of forest vulnerability to climate warming, complementing assessments based in the analysis of short-term resilience indicators. Species-specific associations of trees with microclimatic variability are reported. Biotic factors are key in determining long-term resilience in climatically stressed rear edge forests, with strong limitation of sapling recruitment by increased roe deer and wild boar herbivory. Our results also support non-stationary effects of climate determining forest growth responses and resilience, showing increased negative effects of warming and drought over the last decades in declining stands. Synthesis. Our findings do not support scenarios predicting spatially homogeneous distributional shifts and limited resilience in rear edge populations, and are more supportive of scenarios including spatially heterogeneous responses, characterised with contrasting intra-population trends of forest resilience. We conclude that forest resilience responses to climate warming are strongly modulated by local-scale microclimatic, topographic and biotic factors. Accurate predictions of forest responses to changes in climate would therefore largely benefit from the integration of local-scale abiotic and biotic factors

Els TFG de la Facultat de Biologia 10 anys després de Boloya. Adequant l'avaluació a la situació actual: La diversitat de TFG requereix diversitat de rúbriques

Codi del projecte: 2019PID-UB/035La experiència adquirida després de 10 anys de la implantació del model de Pràcticums i Treball Fi de Grau (TFG) a la Facultat de Biologia ha permès identificar diferents tipologies de projectes. L’actuació realitzada en aquest projecte contempla la incorporació en els TFGs d’un nou apartat que inclou la reflexió crítica dels estudiants sobre la contribució del seu projecte als Objectius del Desenvolupament Sostenible (ODS). Aquesta acció permet visualitzar els ODS i impulsar-los seguint les directrius de l’Agenda 2030 de la UB. Així, s’han generat dos productes que ja estat implementats i operatius des del curs 21-22. El primer producte consisteix en unes noves rúbriques que han adequat els ítems i continguts a la diversitat de tipologies de TFG que es realitzen a la Facultat de Biologia, incloent l’avaluació adaptada a la metodologies Aps. Aquestes rubriques també incorporen una nova dimensió avaluable sobre la contribució de cada treball de fi de grau als ODS a partir de la reflexió crítica realitzada per l’estudiantat en el seu TFG. El segon producte és la elaboració i difusió d’una guia de suport per a estudiants i tutors per a la incorporació dels ODS als treballs fi de grau. Aquesta guia ha estat incorporada al full de ruta de sostenibilitat de la UB per la seva distribució als diferents centres de la UB per tal d’incorporar aquesta activitat reflexiva a tots els treballs de fi de grau de la UB.Programa RIMD

Els treballs de fi de grau a la Universitat de Barcelona

Podeu consultar la versió castellana al camp recurs relacionat.La implantació dels títols de grau ha suposat un repte per a les universitats, que han hagut d'adaptar els seus projectes formatius a les directrius de l’Espai Europeu d’Educació Superior. Un dels aspectes importants d’aquest procés ha estat l'obligació d’incorporar els treballs de fi de grau (TFG) a l’estructura curricular dels plans d’estudis. Aquesta tasca ha estat complexa i, a més, s’ha vist dificultada per la poca tradició que la majoria de facultats i escoles universitàries tenien en el disseny, l'organització i l'avaluació d’aquest tipus de treball. Uns quants cursos després d’haver-se posat en marxa els TFG, l’Institut de Ciències de l’Educació (ICE) de la Universitat de Barcelona va voler oferir als diferents centres de la UB una plataforma de reflexió i debat on poguessin compartir experiències, plantejar dubtes, analitzar models de bones pràctiques i recollir idees per millorar els seus projectes. A tal efecte, des de la Secció d’Universitat de l’ICE, es va organitzar la jornada «Els treballs de fi de grau a la UB». Aquest quadern recull les comunicacions presentades, sintetitza el debat que van generar i presenta les conclusions a què es va arribar

Impacts of use and abuse of nature in Catalona with proposal for sustainable management

This paper provides an overview of the last 40 years of use, and in many cases abuse, of the natural resources in Catalonia, a country that is representative of European countries in general, and especially those in the Mediterranean region. It analyses the use of natural resources made by mining, agriculture, livestock, logging, fishing, nature tourism, and energy production and consumption. This use results in an ecological footprint, i.e., the productive land and sea surface required to generate the consumed resources and absorb the resulting waste, which is about seven times the amount available, a very high number but very similar to other European countries. This overexploitation of natural resources has a huge impact on land and its different forms of cover, air, and water. For the last 25 years, forests and urban areas have each gained almost 3% more of the territory at the expense of agricultural land; those municipalities bordering the sea have increased their number of inhabitants and activity, and although they only occupy 6.7% of the total surface area, they account for 43.3% of the population; air quality has stabilized since the turn of the century, and there has been some improvement in the state of aquatic ecosystems, but still only 36% are in good condition, while the remainder have suffered morphological changes and different forms of nonpoint source pollution; meanwhile the biodiversity of flora and fauna remains still under threat. Environmental policies do not go far enough so there is a need for revision of the legislation related to environmental impact and the protection of natural areas, flora, and fauna. The promotion of environmental research must be accompanied by environmental education to foster a society which is more knowledgeable, has more control and influence over the decisions that deeply affect it. Indeed, nature conservation goes hand in hand with other social and economic challenges that require a more sustainable vision. Today's problems with nature derive from the current economic model, which is environmentally unsustainable in that it does not take into account environmental impacts. Lastly, we propose a series of reasonable and feasible priority measures and actions related to each use made of the country's natural resources, to the impacts they have had, and to their management, in the hope that these can contribute to improving the conservation and management of the environment and biodiversity and move towards sustainability

Los trabajos de fin de grado en la Universidad de Barcelona

Podeu consultar la versió catalana al camp recurs relacionat.[spa] La implantación de los títulos de grado ha supuesto un reto para las universidades, que han tenido que adaptar sus proyectos formativos a las directrices del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Uno de los aspectos importantes de este proceso ha sido la obligación de incorporar los trabajos de fin de grado (TFG) a la estructura curricular de los planes de estudios. Esta tarea ha sido compleja y, además, se ha visto dificultada por la poca tradición que la mayoría de facultades y escuelas universitarias tenían en el diseño, organización y evaluación de esta clase de trabajo. Después de varios cursos de haberse puesto en marcha los TFG, el Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación (ICE) de la Universidad de Barcelona quiso ofrecer a los diferentes centros de la UB una plataforma de reflexión y debate donde pudieran compartir experiencias, plantear dudas, analizar modelos de buenas prácticas y recoger ideas para mejorar sus proyectos. A tal efecto, desde la Sección de Universidad del ICE se organizó la jornada «Los trabajos de fin de grado en la UB». Este cuaderno recoge las comunicaciones presentadas, sintetiza el debate que generaron y presenta las conclusiones a que se llegó.[eng] The phase-in of undergraduate degrees conforming to the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area has been a challenge for universities as far as their training projects are concerned. An important aspect of this process was the need to incorporate the Bachelor’s Degree Final Project (TFG) to the structure of their curricula. This task has been complex and been hampered also by the lack of tradition that most faculties and university colleges had in the design, organization and evaluation of these types of project. Several years after launching the TFG, the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) of the University of Barcelona (UB) organized the «The Bachelor’s Degree Final Project» conference to offer different centres of the UB a space for reflection and debate to be able to share experiences, ask questions, analyse models of good practices and gather ideas for improving their projects. The present booklet includes papers, summarizes the debate that many and varied contributions generated and outlines the final conclusions reached at this conference

Impacts of Use and Abuse of Nature in Catalonia with Proposals for Sustainable Management

This paper provides an overview of the last 40 years of use, and in many cases abuse, of the natural resources in Catalonia, a country that is representative of European countries in general, and especially those in the Mediterranean region. It analyses the use of natural resources made by mining, agriculture, livestock, logging, fishing, nature tourism, and energy production and consumption. This use results in an ecological footprint, i.e., the productive land and sea surface required to generate the consumed resources and absorb the resulting waste, which is about seven times the amount available, a very high number but very similar to other European countries. This overexploitation of natural resources has a huge impact on land and its different forms of cover, air, and water. For the last 25 years, forests and urban areas have each gained almost 3% more of the territory at the expense of agricultural land; those municipalities bordering the sea have increased their number of inhabitants and activity, and although they only occupy 6.7% of the total surface area, they account for 43.3% of the population; air quality has stabilized since the turn of the century, and there has been some improvement in the state of aquatic ecosystems, but still only 36% are in good condition, while the remainder have suffered morphological changes and different forms of nonpoint source pollution; meanwhile the biodiversity of flora and fauna remains still under threat. Environmental policies do not go far enough so there is a need for revision of the legislation related to environmental impact and the protection of natural areas, flora, and fauna. The promotion of environmental research must be accompanied by environmental education to foster a society which is Land 2021, 10, 144 3 of 53 more knowledgeable, has more control and influence over the decisions that deeply affect it. Indeed, nature conservation goes hand in hand with other social and economic challenges that require a more sustainable vision. Today’s problems with nature derive from the current economic model, which is environmentally unsustainable in that it does not take into account environmental impacts. Lastly, we propose a series of reasonable and feasible priority measures and actions related to each use made of the country’s natural resources, to the impacts they have had, and to their management, in the hope that these can contribute to improving the conservation and management of the environment and biodiversity and move towards sustainability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Constraints on Organic Matter Stability in Pyrenean Subalpine Grassland Soils: Physical Protection, Biochemical Quality, and the Role of Free Iron Forms

The stability of soil organic matter (SOM) depends on its degree of physical protection, biochemical quality (q), and mineralogical features such as the abundance of iron or aluminum oxyhydroxides: All constraints stabilize SOM, but the relevance of each is herein discussed. We studied from this point of view the stability of SOM in four grassland soils. The SOM in these profiles was characterized for its physical protection (ultrasonic dispersion + size fractionation) and its q (acid hydrolysis, carbohydrates, phenolics, and unhydrolyzable carbon). The profiles were also analyzed for free iron forms extracted with several chemicals: dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate, citric acid, oxalic-oxalate (Tamm’s solution), and DTPA. Soil horizons were incubated under optimal conditions to obtain the C lost after 33 days (Cresp33) and basal respiration rate (BRR). The microbial C was obtained at the end of the incubation. The microbial activity rate (MAR: mg C respired per g microbial C per day) was obtained from these measures. The sum soluble + microbial C was taken as the active C pool. As expected, the stability of SOM depends on its distribution between the size fractions: The higher the proportion of particulate organic matter (POM: >20 µm size), the higher the soil respiration rate. In contrast, q barely affects SOM decomposition. Both physical availability (size fractionation) and q (acid hydrolysis) affect the size of the microbial C pool, but they barely affect MAR. The effects of free iron on SOM stability are complex: While dithionite-extracted Fe negatively affected Cresp33, BRR, and MAR, the Fe extracted by smoother methods (Tamm’s reagent and DTPA) positively relates to Cresp33, BRR, and MAR. Free iron apparently modulates soil microbial metabolism because it is the only studied parameter that significantly affected MAR; however, the precise effect depends on the precise free Fe fraction. From our data, SOM stability relies on a net of constraints, including physical availability and free Fe forms, with q being of minor relevance. Our dataset suggests a role for free iron as a modulator of microbial activity, deserving future research

Valorisation of N and P from waste water by using natural reactive hybrid sorbents: Nutrients (N,P,K) release evaluation in amended soils by dynamic experiments

The removal of nutrients (nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P)) from waste water has become a resource recovery option in recent regulations worldwide, as observed in the European Union. Although both of these nutrients could be recovered from the sludge line, > 70-75% of the N and P is discharged into the water line. Efforts to improve the nutrient recovery ratios have focused on developing low-cost technologies that use sorption processes. In this study, a natural zeolite (clinoptilolite type) in its potassium (K) form was impregnated with hydrated metal oxides and used to prepare natural hybrid reactive sorbents (HRS) for the simultaneous recovery of ammonium (NH4+) and phosphate (PO43 −) from treated urban waste water. Three unfertile soils (e.g., one acidic and two basic) amended with N-P-K charged HRS were leached with deionized water (e.g. to simulate infiltration in the field) at two- and three-day time intervals over 15 different leaching cycles (equivalent to 15 bed volumes). The N-P-K leaching profiles for the three charged hybrid sorbents exhibited continuous nutrient release, with their values dependent on the composition of minerals in the soils. In the basic soil that is rich in illite and calcite, the release of potassium (K+) and ammonium (NH4+) is favoured by-ion exchange with calcium (Ca2 +) and accordingly diminishes the release of phosphate (PO43 −) due to its limited solubility in saturated calcite solutions (pH 8 to 9). The opposite is true for sandy soils that are rich in albite (both acidic and basic), whereas the release of NH4+ and K+ was limited and the values of both ions measured in the leaching solutions were below 1 mg/L. Their leaching solutions were poor in Ca2 +, and the release of PO43 − was higher (up to 12 mg P-PO43 −/L). The nutrient releases necessary for plant growth were provided continuously and were controlled primarily by the soil mineral dissolution rates fixing the soil aqueous solution composition (e.g. pH and ionic composition; in particular, the presence of calcite is a determinant for nutrient release, especially in alkaline soils). The N-P-K charged HRS sorbents that were used for soil amendment may be an alternative for avoiding nutrient leaching and reaching the goals of soil sustainability in agriculture and reducing the nutrient overloading of surface waters