Relationships between streamwater nitrogen and primary uptake compartments: an isotopic approach

[cat] L’objectiu general d’aquesta tesi és entendre les relacions biogequímiques entre el nitrogen (N) de l’aigua i els principals compartiments primaris de retenció del nitrogen (PUCs: biofilms microbians, algues, briòfits, macròfits i arbres de la ribera) en els ecosistemes fluvials. Per assolir aquest objectiu, s’ha utilitzat tècniques isotòpiques, mitjançant l’estudi de l’abundància natural dels isòtops del nitrogen i tècniques de marcatge isotòpic. S’ha trobat una gran variabilitat en l’abundància natural d’isòtops (δ15N) dels PUCs en rius que diferint en concentracions de nutrients, explicat pels valors de δ15N en el nitrogen dissolt inorgànic en el riu (NID), com també pel conjunt de nutrients en el riu. La variabilitat temporal de δ15N en els PUCs i el NID, va ser més gran en rius amb més concentració de nutrients, majors afectats per activitats antròpiques. Entre diferents tipus de PUCs les diferències van ser menors que entre rius. L’abundància natural de δ15N en el biofilm microbià dels còdols fluvials va presentar patrons diferents segons el seu estat successional i les concentracions de nutrients. A més, la interacció entre el compartiment biofilm-fullaraca i l’aigua del riu es va estudiar durant el procés de descomposició de fulles de dues espècies de Populus marcades isotòpicament (13C i 15N), amb diferents concentracions de compostos recalcitrants. Canvis en δ15N en el biofilm ens van indicar canvis en la dinàmica de nitrogen de captació, reciclatge i dissimilació durant el creixement en còdols o en la descomposició de diferent tipus de fullaraca. En general, aquesta tesi proporciona informació sobre què controla les relacions biogeoquímiques de 15N, el qual té fortes implicacions per entre la dinàmica de N en els ecosistemes aquàtics i una correcta aplicació dels isòtops estables del N.[eng] The overarching goal of this dissertation was to explore relationships between streamwater nitrogen (N) and the most representative primary uptake compartments (PUCs) in stream ecosystems (e.g. microbial biofilm, algae, bryophytes, macrophytes). In particular, environmental factors driving these biogeochemical relationships along a strong anthropogenic gradient were explored and differences among and within PUC types were compared. To elucidate the factors controlling these relationships, we used N stable isotopes (δ15N; in ‰), both natural abundance (Chapter one, two and three) and 15N labelling techniques (Chapter four) First, we examined the spatial variability of δ15N natural abundance of PUC types, and related this variability to δ15N values of dissolved inorganic species (DIN, ammonium and nitrate) across streams differing in nutrient availability. We found that the variability of δ15N-PUC was mostly explained by location within the fluvial network, and was related to δ15N of DIN species for PUCs living within the stream channel. The prediction power for δ15N-PUC was improved by stream nutrient concentrations and stoichiometry, indicating the relevance of stream nutrient environment to understand δ15N values of PUCs. Second, we analyzed the temporal variability of δ15N natural abundance in PUC types and DIN species in four streams with different nutrient concentrations. Our results did not show isotopic temporal patterns over a year. However, among streams, the highest variability was found in the urban stream and, among PUC types, temporal variability tended to be higher in PUCs submerged in streamwater with faster turnover rates, such as filamentous algae. Third, we studied the δ15N variability of epilithic biofilms in different stages of development under contrasting stream nutrient concentrations. We observed that δ15N variability of early-stage biofilm (colonizing artificial substrates) was lower than late-stage biofilm (attached to stream cobbles). Except at the low-nutrient stream, δ15N of early-stage epilithon was lower than that of late-stage biofilm. Moreover, during biofilm colonization, δ15N increased with biomass accrual. Changes between successional stages were more pronounced at the high-nutrient stream. These results suggested successional stage as a relevant factor controlling δ15N variability of epilithic biofilm at the local scale. Fourth, N and C biogeochemical interaction between the biofilm-litter compartment and streamwater during litter decomposition was evaluated by using double-labeled (15N and 13C) leaves of two Populus species (P. fremontii and P. angustifolia). These species differed in their concentration of recalcitrant compounds (i.e. tannins) and were expected to influence the microbial decomposer community dependency to streamwater. Litter type strongly affected biomass and stoichiometry of microbial assemblages growing on litter, but the proportion of N and C derived from streamwater was not different. Gross immobilization of N from the streamwater was higher for the low-tannin litter, probably as a consequence of higher microbial biomass, contrasting to C fluxes which were higher for the high-tannin litter, suggesting C limitation. Overall, this dissertation provides insights into what controls 15N biogeochemical relationships between PUC types and water in fluvial ecosystems. This has implications for the use of N stable isotopes in ecological and environmental studies in aquatic ecosystems, and can help to develop successful management strategies to mitigate N excess in fluvial systems

Diseño de un modelo de gestión hospitalaria en un marco de integración de servicios de salud en la provincia de Trujillo – La Libertad

En el Perú, como en otros países latinoamericanos, el sistema de salud tiene nuevas necesidades y retos debido a los cambios demográficos, perfil epidemiológico, entre otros. En el sector público, a esto se suma problemas de financiamiento por presupuestos exiguos, inequidad en el acceso, gasto de bolsillo, insatisfacción por parte de los usuarios y mínima respuesta social. Si bien es innegable la necesidad de aumentar el presupuesto en salud (se tiene uno de los más bajos de toda América), también es necesario mejorar la gestión de los establecimientos de salud como medio para aumentar la eficiencia en el gasto y la confianza de todos los actores teniendo como referencia la búsqueda de solidaridad y equidad. Dado este contexto, la investigación sobre modelos de gestión se convierte en un tema relevante. Específicamente, la complementariedad para el caso de hospitales en una misma ciudad, requiere sumar esfuerzos en lugar de competir, con el fin de optimizar los recursos como sistema de salud. Este trabajo presenta el diseño de un modelo de gestión hospitalaria como proceso de integración de servicios en redes de servicios de salud, en la provincia de Trujillo, en La Libertad con una metodología participativa y transparente, bajo el liderazgo de la Dirección Regional de Salud. El primer resultado fue la formulación del Plan Estratégico del Sistema Hospitalario del Tercer Nivel (SHTN) de los Hospitales Regional Docente y Belén de Trujillo. Sobre las estrategias y metas definidas en este plan se plantearon los indicadores del Acuerdo de Gestión 2001-2002 suscrito entre el SHTN y la Dirección Regional de Salud (DIRESA), así como el beneficio (bono) que se obtendría por el logro de dichas metas. El bono por el cumplimiento de metas en el periodo 2001 fue de doscientos ochenta mil soles procedentes del pliego del presupuesto del Ministerio de Salud. Los requisitos para el otorgamiento del bono fueron cumplidos y se otorgó a los trabajadores de ambos hospitales.Tesi

Integrated Optical Amplifier–Photodetector on a Wearable Nanocellulose Substrate

Flexible optoelectronics has emerged as an outstanding platform to pave the road toward vanguard technology advancements. As compared to conventional rigid substrates, a flexible technology enables mechanical deformation while maintaining stable performance. The advantages include not only the development to novel applications, but also the implementation of a wearable technology directly in contact with a curved surface. Here the monolithic integration of a perovskite‐based optical waveguide amplifier together with a photodetector on a nanocellulose substrate is shown to demonstrate the feasibility of a stretchable signal manipulation and receptor system fabricated on a biodegradable material. An integrated optical amplifier–photodetector is developed in which the photocurrent is exploited that is generated in the organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite under an applied bias. Such photocurrent does not minimally perturb the amplifier operation and is used to monitor the light signal propagating along the waveguide, opening a broad range of applications for example to regulate the operation temperature

Women in limnology: From a historical perspective to a present-day evaluation

Research in limnology is nurtured by the work of many fascinating and passionate women, who have contributed enormously to our understanding of inland waters. Female limnologists have promoted and established the bases of our knowledge about inland waters and fostered the need of protecting the values of those ecosystems. However, on numerous occasions, their contribution to the advancement of limnology has not been duly recognized. Here, we review the presence of women in limnology through the history of the discipline: from the pioneers who contributed to the origins to present day' developments. We aim at visibilizing those scientists and establish them as role models. We also analyze in a simple and illustrative way the current situation of women in limnology, the scientific barriers they must deal with, and their future prospects. Multiple aspects fostering the visibility of a scientist, such as their presence in conferences, awards, or representation in societal or editorial boards show a significant gap, with none of those aspects showing a similar visibility of women and men in limnology. This article raises awareness of the obstacles that women in limnology faced and still face, and encourages to embrace models of leadership, scientific management, and assessment of research performance far from those commonly established.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Early-Career Coordinated Distributed Experiments: Empowerment Through Collaboration

Este artículo contiene 7 páginas, 1 tabla, 3 figuras.Coordinated distributed experiments (CDEs) enable the study of large-scale ecological patterns in geographically dispersed areas, while simultaneously providing broad academic and personal benefits for the participants. However, the effective involvement of early-career researchers (ECRs) presents major challenges. Here, we analyze the benefits and challenges of the first CDE exclusively led and conducted by ECRs (i.e. ECR-CDE), which sets a baseline for similar CDEs, and we provide recommendations for successful CDE execution. ECR-CDEs achieve most of the outcomes identified in conventional CDEs as well as extensive benefits for the young cohort of researchers, including: (i) receiving scientific credit, (ii) peer-training in new concepts and methods, (iii) developing leadership and communication skills, (iv) promoting a peer network among ECRs, and (v) building on individual engagement and independence. We also discuss the challenges of ECR-CDEs, which are mainly derived from the lack of independence and instability of the participants, and we suggest mechanisms to address them, such as resource re-allocation and communication strategies. We conclude that ECR-CDEs can be a relevant tool to empower ECRs across disciplines by fostering their training, networking and personal well-being.The authors were supported by the following founding: NC the support of the Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral program of the Government of Catalonia’s Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge (BP2016- 00215), EE by a predoctoral grant from the Basque Government (2014-2017), AB by a Generalitat de Catalunya—Beatriu de Pinós (BP-00385-2016), AMG-F by a predoctoral research grant (BES-2013-065770) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MAr by a postdoctoral grant from the Basque Government, MIA by a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral grant (FJCI-2015-26192), PR-L by a Margalida Comas postdoctoral contract (PD/031/2018) funded by the Government of the Balearic Islands and the European Social Fund, AP by a Ramón Areces Foundation Postdoctoral Scholarship, and AL by a Kempe Foundation stipend. DOMIPEX project was founded by the First Call of Collaborative Projects among Young Researchers of the Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL; 2013-2015).Peer reviewe

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world\u27s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature.

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications