Seguimiento y control de impactos recreativos en senderos en espacios naturales protegidos: aplicación en senderos turísticos antárticos

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Ecología. Fecha de lectura: 22-03-201

Insights on the environmental impacts associated with visible disturbance of ice-free ground in Antarctica

The small ice-free areas of Antarctica provide an essential habitat for most evident terrestrial biodiversity, as well as being disproportionately targeted by human activity. Visual detection of disturbance within these environments has become a useful tool for measuring areas affected by human impact, but questions remain as to what environmental consequences such disturbance actually has. To answer such questions, several factors must be considered, including the climate and biotic and abiotic characteristics. Although a body of research has established the consequences of disturbance at given locations, this paper was conceived in order to assess whether their findings could be generalized as a statement across the Antarctic continent. From a review of 31 studies within the Maritime Antarctic, Continental Antarctic and McMurdo Dry Valleys regions, we found that 83% confirmed impacts in areas of visible disturbance. Disturbance was found to modify the physical environment, consequently reducing habitat suitability as well as directly damaging biota. Visible disturbance was also associated with hydrocarbon and heavy metal contamination and non-native species establishment, reflecting the pressures from human activity in these sites. The results add significance to existing footprint measurements based on visual analysis, should aid on-the-ground appreciation of probable impacts in sites of disturbance and benefit environmental assessment processes

Equilibrios sobre el hielo : una breve (pero completa) revisión del conocimiento sobre el impacto humano en la Antártida

La Antártida es una de las zonas de nuestro planeta menos alteradas. Aún así, está sometida a una serie de impactos provocados por la presencia del hombre que son revisados brevemente en este artículo. Para cada tipo de alteración se citan los casos de estudio más representativos, las principales medidas de minimización y/o mitigación adoptadas, así como las contribuciones específicas realizadas recientemente por científicos de España, en caso de existir. Tras presentar la base de conocimiento existente en la actualidad respecto a los impactos humanos antárticos, el texto se cierra con una serie de recomendaciones dirigidas a mejorar el seguimiento de los mismos. Estas directrices deberán guiar los programas de investigación implementados en los próximos años para rentabilizar al máximo los recursos empleados y reforzar la protección de este emblemático lugar.Antarctica is one of the less disturbed areas of our planet. Even so, it is subject to several impacts caused by human presence which are briefly reviewed in this article. For each kind of alteration most representative case studies, main minimization and/or mitigation adopted measures, and specific contributions made recently by scientists from Spain, if any, are cited. The text ends with a series of recommendations to improve the monitoring of Antarctic human impacts. After presenting the state of knowledge of Antarctic human impacts, this text includes several recommendations lead to improve their monitoring. These guidelines should aim the future research to maximize the resources and to strengthen the protection of this emblematic place

Tourists’ motivations, learning, and trip satisfaction facilitate pro-environmental outcomes of the Antarctic tourist experience

Tourism in Antarctica has been growing and diversifying. While Antarctic tourists are purported to have meaningful interactions with the Antarctic environment, little empirical research exists to understand how motivations and trip characteristics of the Antarctic journey shape tourists' experiential outputs, which may in turn influence their pro-environmental outcomes. To examine these relationships, we conducted exploratory analyses using 242 pre-and post-trip surveys collected during the 2019–2020 Antarctic season. We identified four motivation types of Antarctic tourists: experience & learning, adventure into Antarctica, social bonding, and trip of a lifetime. Following the interactional model of tourist experience, we associated this motivation typology and trip characteristics with experiential outputs (Perceived Learning, Measured Learning, and Satisfaction) and pro-environmental outcomes (Environmental Concerns, Management Preferences, and Behavior Intentions). Our results indicated most tourists traveling to Antarctica already possessed high levels of pro-environmental attitudes and behavior intentions, leading to few significant changes after the journey. However, we found that the specific inputs of motivations and trip characteristics influenced experiential outputs in different ways -especially Perceived Learning and Satisfaction-, which were strongly associated with pro-environmental outcomes. Findings reinforce the importance of meaningful and transformative Antarctic tourist experiences in promoting sustainable human-environment interactions and provide new insights regarding tourists’ learning and experiential outcomes. Management implications: Tourists traveling to Antarctica hold a diversity of expectations and motivations. These motivations interact with trip characteristics to influence tourists’ experiences. Enhanced understanding of these relationships could contribute to the Antarctic tourism industry efforts to develop strategic promotion, programming, and communication strategies that produce meaningful experiences and foster pro-environmental outcomes. As tourism diversifies, we should reflect on how the Antarctic tourist experience could become more customized and participatory, effectively inspiring Antarctic tourists to serve as stewards and ambassadors for the Last Frontie

Papel del factor precipitante de un episodio de insuficiencia cardiaca aguda en relación al pronóstico a corto plazo del paciente: estudio PAPRICA

Objetivos: Hay pocos estudios que analicen el papel que juegan los factores precipitantes (FPre) en el manejo de la insuficiencia cardiaca aguda (ICA). El estudio PAPRICA pretende analizar la relación entre la identificación de diferentes FPre con la mortalidad precoz y las reconsultas a los 30 días. Método: Estudio retrospectivo, multicéntrico, con seguimiento de cohortes a partir de los datos incluidos en el registro EAHFE (Epidemiology Acute Heart Failure Emergency). Se recogieron datos de todos los episodios de ICA en 8 servicios de urgencias hospitalarios (SUH) españoles durante el mes de abril de 2007. Se recogieron datos del perfil clínico y la evolución a corto plazo (mortalidad y reconsulta a los 30 días). La variable clasificadora del estudio fue la ausencia o presencia conocida de FPre del episodio de ICA. Sólo se recogió un FPre por episodio. Resultados: Se incluyeron 662 casos. El 51,4% de los casos presentaron un FPre. A los 30 días se registró una mortalidad del 6,2% y un índice de reconsultas del 26,6%. Los FPre más frecuentes fueron las infecciones (22,2%), las taquiarritmias (13%), la emergencia hipertensiva (4,9%), la transgresión del tratamiento (4,2%), la anemia (3,9%) y la isquemia coronaria (3,7%). En conjunto, no hubo diferencias significativas de los pacientes que tuvieron un FPre, ni en cuanto a mortalidad (5,0% con FPre vs 7,5% sin FPre, p = 0,25) ni en lo relativo a las reconsultas (29,3% vs 23,8%, p = 0,12). Individualmente, la infección respiratoria se asoció a un menor porcentaje crudo de reconsultas a los 30 días, pero no afectó la mortalidad. Para el resto de FPre se observaron algunas tendencias, pero ninguna alcanzó una significación estadística. Conclusiones: En el estudio PAPRICA, la identificación de un FPre del episodio de ICA no se asoció con el pronóstico a corto plazo, si bien algún FPre en concreto, especialmente la infección respiratoria, podría estar ligado a un pronóstico diferente respecto a los pacientes en los que no se identifica ningún FPre. [Emergencias 2012;24:438-446

New insights on phylogeography and distribution of painted frogs (Discoglossus) in northern Africa and the Iberian Peninsula

Painted frogs (Discoglossus) contain five to six species of Western Palearctic anurans that are mainly distributed in allopatry. We here provide the first comprehensive assessment of the phylogeography of the Moroccan species D. scovazzi and geographically characterize its contact zone with D. pictus in Eastern Morocco. Discoglossus scovazzi shows, in general, a weak phylogeographic structure across Morocco on the basis of mitochondrial DNA sequences of the cytochrome b gene, with only populations centered in the Atlas Mountains characterized by the presence of slightly divergent haplotypes. In eastern Morocco, all populations east of the Moulouya River were clearly assignable to D. pictus. This species was also found along the Mediterranean coast west of the Moulouya, in the cities of Nador and Melilla, suggesting that not the river itself but the wide arid valley extending along much of the river (except close to the estuary) acts as a possible distributional barrier to these frogs. No sympatry of D. scovazzi with D. pictus was observed, and all specimens were concordantly assigned to either species by DNA sequences of cytochrome b and of the nuclear marker RAG1. Species distribution models of the two taxa show largely overlapping areas of suitable habitat, and the two species’ niches are significantly more similar than would be expected given the underlying environmental differences between the regions in which they occur. Comparative data are also presented from the southern Iberian contact zone of D. galganoi galganoi and D. g. jeanneae. These taxa showed less clear-cut distributional borders, extensively shared RAG1 haplotypes, and had instances of sympatric occurrence on the basis of cytochrome b haplotypes, in agreement with the hypothesis of a yet incomplete speciation. In this wide contact zone area we found mitochondrial sequences containing double peaks in electropherograms, suggesting nuclear pseudogenes or (less likely) heteroplasmy, possibly related to the ongoing admixture among the lineagesPeer reviewe

Thirty-day outcomes in frail older patients discharged home from the emergency department with acute heart failure: effects of high-risk criteria identified by the DEED FRAIL-AHF trial

Objectives: To study the effect of high-risk criteria on 30-day outcomes in frail older patients with acute heart failure (AHF) discharged from an emergency department (ED) or an ED's observation and short-stay areas. Material and methods: Secondary analysis of discharge records in the Older AHF Key Data registry. We selected frail patients (aged > 70 years) discharged with AHF from EDs. Risk factors were categorized as modifiable or nonmodifiable. The outcomes were a composite endpoint for a cardiovascular event (revisits for AHF, hospitalization for AHF, or cardiovascular death) and the number of days alive out-of-hospital (DAOH) within 30 days of discharge. Results: We included 380 patients with a mean (SD) age of 86 (5.5) years (61.2% women). Modifiable risk factors were identified in 65.1%, nonmodifiable ones in 47.8%, and both types in 81.6%. The 30-day cardiovascular composite endpoint occurred in 83 patients (21.8%). The mean 30-day DAOH observed was 27.6 (6.1) days. Highrisk factors were present more often in patients who developed the cardiovascular event composite endpoint: the rates for patients with modifiable, nonmodifiable, or both types of risk were, respectively, as follows in comparison with patients not at high risk: 25.0% vs 17.2%, P = .092; 27.6% vs 16.7%, P = .010; and 24.7% vs 15.2%, P = .098). The 30-day DAOH outcome was also lower for at-risk patients, according to type of risk factor present: modifiable, 26.9 (7.0) vs 28.4 (4.4) days, P = .011; nonmodifiable, 27.1 (7.0) vs 28.0 (5.0) days, P = .127; and both, 27.1 (6.7) vs 28.8 (3.4) days, P = .005). After multivariate analysis, modifiable risk remained independently associated with fewer days alive (adjusted absolute difference in 30-day DAOH, -1.3 days (95% CI, -2.7 to -0.1 days). Nonmodifiable factors were associated with increased risk for the 30-day cardiovascular composite endpoint (adjusted absolute difference, 10.4%; 95% CI, -2.1% to 18.7%). Conclusion: Risk factors are common in frail elderly patients with AHF discharged home from hospital ED areas. Their presence is associated with a worse 30-day prognosis