Morphological and Physiological Responses to Drought Stress of European Provenances of Scots Pine

Increased frequency and intensity of drought episodes as a consequence of current and predicted climatic changes require an understanding of the intra-specific variability in structural and physiological characteristics of forest trees. Adaptive plasticity and genotypic variability are considered two of the main processes by which trees can either be selected or can acclimate to changing conditions. We tested for the relative importance of genotypic variability, phenotypic plasticity and their interaction by comparing the growth and physiological performance of 15 provenances of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), under two contrasting irrigation regimes. Selected provenances representing the distribution range of the species in Anatolia, Turkey, were contrasted with seed sources spanning the range from Spain to the UK, in Europe. We found a strong latitudinal differentiation among the 15 provenances for survival after drought, largely the result of the higher mortality of some western and central European provenances. Differentiation in diameter and height growth was also clear with the worst provenance coming from Western Europe (UK). Among the Turkish provenances, the more extreme southern high-elevation populations showed greater survival and lower growth rates overall. Differences in growth and survival were related to differences in photosynthetic pigment and nutrient contents and in the photosynthetic efficiency of photosystem II. Plasticity was strongest for growth characters and pigment contents.WoSScopu

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Análisis de necesidades en formación intercultural en la Administración Pública

The multicultural nature of our society requests new professional requirements at the Public Administration. There are news users that present specifics needs and conditions provoked by the legal situation and cultural origin. The research has two aims: 1) The assessment of Intercultural Competencies of the public employees of el Servicio de Empleo de Cataluña and 2) The design of a training program for the development of this competencies. The scope where are more needed this competencies are the capacity to solve intercultural problems, the intercultural communication, the knowledge of cultures and the migratory phenomena, and the role played by thestereotypes and the biasLa naturaleza multicultural de nuestra sociedad está generando nuevos requerimientos a los profesionales de la administración pública. Los nuevos usuarios de los servicios públicos presentan condicionantes y necesidades específicas derivados de su situación administrativa y su origen cultural. El presente estudio plantea dos objetivos: (1) la identificación de las necesidades formativas en relación a las competencias interculturales del personal del Servicio de Empleo de Cataluña que está en contacto con personas inmigradas y (2) el diseño de una propuesta de formación en competencias interculturales para el personal del Servicio de Empleo de Cataluña. Losámbitos donde más se necesitan estas competencias son en la gestión y solución de conflictos interculturales, las habilidades de comunicación y relación con personas de diferentes culturas, el conocimiento de otras culturas, el conocimiento del hecho migratorio en nuestro contexto y el papel de los estereotipos y prejuicios en las relacionesinterculturale

Anthropogenic land-use legacies underpin climate change-related risks to forest ecosystems

Forest ecosystems with long-lasting human imprints can emerge worldwide as outcomes of land-use cessation. However, the interaction of these anthropo-genic legacies with climate change impacts on forests is not well understood. Here, we set out how anthropogenic land-use legacies that persist in forest properties , following alterations in forest distribution, structure, and composition, can interact with climate change stressors. We propose a risk-based framework to identify anthropogenic legacies of land uses in forest ecosystems and quantify the impact of their interaction with climate-related stress on forest responses. Considering anthropogenic land-use legacies alongside environmental drivers of forest ecosystem dynamics will improve our predictive capacity of climate-related risks to forests and our ability to promote ecosystem resilience to climate change. Anthropogenic land-use legacies can exacerbate the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems Humans have exploited forest ecosystems for millennia [1-3]. Given the magnitude of land-cover changes, forest management practices, and plantation establishment over the past few centuries , the footprint of recent humanity now shapes more than 70% of the world's forests [4]. While high-intensity anthropogenic land uses (see Glossary) prevail in tropical and boreal regions [5,6], land-use cessation has also spread unevenly worldwide since the post-1950s great acceleration [7], from large areas and longer time periods in the Global North to scattered, less-extensive patches and shorter time periods in the Global South [8]. As a consequence , forest ecosystems with long-lasting human impacts (Figure 1) can emerge across multiple biomes [9,10]. Although broadly recognised to influence forest dynamics [11], there is still a lack of understanding of how these human imprints may exacerbate the vulnerability of forest ecosystems to climate change [12-14]. However, such understanding is essential to better predict impacts of climate change on forests and define mitigation and adaptation priorities. The response of forest ecosystems to climate change strongly depends on historical factors [15]. Anthropogenic land uses can affect the stability of forest dynamics in response to climate by altering patterns of forest distribution [16], structure [12], and composition [17] (Figure 1). These alterations may result in persistent impacts of land uses on forest properties at different levels (genetic, population, community, and ecosystem). Despite their relevance, the effects of anthropogenic land uses are rarely considered alongside environmental drivers, often hindering our ability to predict climate-change impacts on forests [18]. Given that climate-change stressors Highlights How the long-lasting effects of anthro-pogenic land-uses can exacerbate the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems is not well understood. Anthropogenic land-use legacies that persist in forest properties following the alteration in forest distribution, structure, and composition can interact with climate change stressors and lead to detrimental ecological effects. Risk-based approaches using the concept of anthropogenic land-use legacy support the identification of highly vulnerable forest ecosystems and the predic-tive understanding of their potential responses to climate change. Current forest properties can be used together with available historical data to identify increased climate change-related risks to forest ecosystems. Appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies that consider the legacy of anthropogenic land uses will increase forest ecosystem resilience and societal wellbeing in the long-term

Contrasting vulnerability and resilience to drought-induced decline of densely planted vs. natural rear-edge Pinus nigra forests

The southernmost European natural and planted pine forests are among the most vulnerable areas to warming-induced drought decline. Both drought stress and management factors (e.g.;stand origin or reduced thinning) may induce decline by reducing the water available to trees but their relative importances have not been properly assessed. The role of stand origin - densely planted vs. naturally regenerated stands - as a decline driver can be assessed by comparing the growth and vigor responses to drought of similar natural vs. planted stands. Here, we compare these responses in natural and planted Black pine (Pinus nigra) stands located in southern Spain. We analyze how environmental factors - climatic (temperature and precipitation anomalies) and site conditions - and biotic factors - stand structure (age, tree size, density) and defoliation by the pine processionary moth - drive radial growth and crown condition at stand and tree levels. We also assess the climatic trends in the study area over the last 60. years. We use dendrochronology, linear mixed-effects models of basal area increment and structural equation models to determine how natural and planted stands respond to drought and current competition intensity. We observed that a temperature rise and a decrease in precipitation during the growing period led to increasing drought stress during the late 20th century. Trees from planted stands experienced stronger growth reductions and displayed more severe crown defoliation after severe droughts than those from natural stands. High stand density negatively drove growth and enhanced crown dieback, particularly in planted stands. Also pine processionary moth defoliation was more severe in the growth of natural than in planted stands but affected tree crown condition similarly in both stand types. In response to drought, sharp growth reduction and widespread defoliation of planted Mediterranean pine stands indicate that they are more vulnerable and less resilient to drought stress than natural stands. To mitigate forest decline of planted stands in xeric areas such as the Mediterranean Basin, less dense and more diverse stands should be created through selective thinning or by selecting species or provenances that are more drought tolerant. © 2013 Elsevier B.V

Contrasting vulnerability and resilience to drought-induced decline of densely planted vs. natural rear-edge Pinus nigra forests

The southernmost European natural and planted pine forests are among the most vulnerable areas to warming-induced drought decline. Both drought stress and management factors (e.g., stand origin or reduced thinning) may induce decline by reducing the water available to trees but their relative importances have not been properly assessed. The role of stand origin - densely planted vs. naturally regenerated stands - as a decline driver can be assessed by comparing the growth and vigor responses to drought of similar natural vs. planted stands. Here, we compare these responses in natural and planted Black pine (Pinus nigra) stands located in southern Spain. We analyze how environmental factors - climatic (temperature and precipitation anomalies) and site conditions - and biotic factors - stand structure (age, tree size, density) and defoliation by the pine processionary moth - drive radial growth and crown condition at stand and tree levels. We also assess the climatic trends in the study area over the last 60. years. We use dendrochronology, linear mixed-effects models of basal area increment and structural equation models to determine how natural and planted stands respond to drought and current competition intensity. We observed that a temperature rise and a decrease in precipitation during the growing period led to increasing drought stress during the late 20th century. Trees from planted stands experienced stronger growth reductions and displayed more severe crown defoliation after severe droughts than those from natural stands. High stand density negatively drove growth and enhanced crown dieback, particularly in planted stands. Also pine processionary moth defoliation was more severe in the growth of natural than in planted stands but affected tree crown condition similarly in both stand types. In response to drought, sharp growth reduction and widespread defoliation of planted Mediterranean pine stands indicate that they are more vulnerable and less resilient to drought stress than natural stands. To mitigate forest decline of planted stands in xeric areas such as the Mediterranean Basin, less dense and more diverse stands should be created through selective thinning or by selecting species or provenances that are more drought tolerant. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.We are grateful for support from the Spanish FPU PhD Grant program (AP2007-04747) (Ministerio de Educación, Spain) and the financial support from University of Córdoba-Campus de Excelencia ceiA3 to the first author, and the MEC Project INTERBOS (CGL2008-04503-CO3-02), DIVERBOS (CGL2011-30285-C02-02); and AEMET (Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia) for providing meteorological data. We thank the support of “Agencia Andaluza del Agua y Medio Ambiente” (J.M. Ruiz-Navarro and all the members of “Red de Equilibrios Biológicos de Andalucía”) and Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andalucía. We thank J.M. Grau, F. Artero, A. Carmen, M. Sanchez Gonzalez and M. Minaya for the laboratory and fieldwork support. MAZ and RSS were supported by SUM2008-00004-C03.01 (INIA) and CEXTREME; FP7-ENV-2008-1-226701. AFC and RSS were supported by INIA-RTA (RTA2010-00065-00-00). The first author thanks members of WSL for their useful comments. J.J. Camarero thanks ARAID and collaborative efforts within the Globimed network (http://www.globimed.net).Peer Reviewe

Contrasting vulnerability and resilience to drought-induced decline of densely planted vs. natural rear-edge Pinus nigra forests

The southernmost European natural and planted pine forests are among the most vulnerable areas to warming-induced drought decline. Both drought stress and management factors (e.g., stand origin or reduced thinning) may induce decline by reducing the water available to trees but their relative importances have not been properly assessed. The role of stand origin - densely planted vs. naturally regenerated stands - as a decline driver can be assessed by comparing the growth and vigor responses to drought of similar natural vs. planted stands. Here, we compare these responses in natural and planted Black pine (Pinus nigra) stands located in southern Spain. We analyze how environmental factors - climatic (temperature and precipitation anomalies) and site conditions - and biotic factors - stand structure (age, tree size, density) and defoliation by the pine processionary moth - drive radial growth and crown condition at stand and tree levels. We also assess the climatic trends in the study area over the last 60 years. We use dendrochronology, linear mixed-effects models of basal area increment and structural equation models to determine how natural and planted stands respond to drought and current competition intensity. We observed that a temperature rise and a decrease in precipitation during the growing period led to increasing drought stress during the late 20th century. Trees from planted stands experienced stronger growth reductions and displayed more severe crown defoliation after severe droughts than those from natural stands. High stand density negatively drove growth and enhanced crown dieback, particularly in planted stands. Also pine processionary moth defoliation was more severe in the growth of natural than in planted stands but affected tree crown condition similarly in both stand types. In response to drought, sharp growth reduction and widespread defoliation of planted Mediterranean pine stands indicate that they are more vulnerable and less resilient to drought stress than natural stands. To mitigate forest decline of planted stands in xeric areas such as the Mediterranean Basin, less dense and more diverse stands should be created through selective thinning or by selecting species or provenances that are more drought tolerant. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved