Impact of climate change on extinction risk of montane tree species.

The potential impacts of climate change on many species worldwide remains unknown, especially in those tropical regions that are centers of endemism and are highly biodiverse. This thesis provides an insight into the extinction risk of selected tree species using different species distribution modelling techniques and reviewing the current conservation status on montane forest in the Tropical Andes. Starting with a global analysis, the potential impacts of climate change on montane ecoregions is investigated, by identifying those that are more vulnerable to the expected changes in temperature and precipitation, from global predictions under different climate change scenarios. It then gives an insight on the current and potential threats to biodiversity in the Andean region, including the identification of those that are most likely to be responsible for increasing the extinction risk of the species. With the use of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, selected tree species were assessed to identify their extinction risk. Information on the species’ current distribution was collated and used to estimate their potential distribution under climate change, by using different modelling techniques. These results were used to reassess the species using the IUCN Red List and establish the changes in Red List Category. Lastly, it provides a discussion that integrates all the results obtained throughout the thesis, to explore the implications for conservation, in order to highlight the overriding importance of including threatened tree species to target conservation efforts in the region, while considering the uncertainties that surround predictions under climate change scenarios, modelling techniques and the use of the IUCN Red List

Realidad aumentada y periodismo: análisis de 10 estudios de caso en televisión, prensa y plataformas digitales

Augmented reality has inaugurated new developments that enable the creation of content of various kinds. Based on the case study methodology, the work analyzes 10 successful experiences of using augmented reality linked to television, the press and digital media. The investigation concludes that the use of augmented reality without a journalistic purpose can harm the media.La realidad aumentada ha inaugurado nuevos desarrollos que posibilitan la creación de contenidos de diversa índole. A partir de la metodología del estudio de caso, el trabajo analiza 10 experiencias de éxito de uso de la realidad aumentada vinculadas con la televisión, la prensa y los cibermedios. La investigación concluye que el uso de la realidad aumentada sin una finalidad periodística puede perjudicar a los medios

Augmented reality and journalism : 10 use-case analysis from television, printing and web media platforms

Augmented reality has inaugurated new developments that enable the creation of content of various kinds. Based on the case study methodology, the work analyzes 10 successful experiences of using augmented reality linked to television, the press and digital media. The investigation concludes that the use of augmented reality without a journalistic purpose can harm the media.La realidad aumentada ha inaugurado nuevos desarrollos que posibilitan la creación de contenidos de diversa índole. A partir de la metodología del estudio de caso, el trabajo analiza 10 experiencias de éxito de uso de la realidad aumentada vinculadas con la televisión, la prensa y los cibermedios. La investigación concluye que el uso de la realidad aumentada sin una finalidad periodística puede perjudicar a los medios

Dynamics and Conservation Management of a Wooded Landscape under High Herbivore Pressure

We present the use of a spatially explicit model of woodland dynamics (LANDIS-II) to examine the impacts of herbivory in the New Forest National Park, UK, in relation to its management for biodiversity conservation. The model was parameterized using spatial data and the results of two field surveys and then was tested with results from a third survey. Field survey results indicated that regeneration by tree species was found to be widespread but to occur at low density, despite heavy browsing pressure. The model was found to accurately predict the abundance and richness of tree species. Over the duration of the simulations (300 yr), woodland area increased in all scenarios, with or without herbivory. While the increase in woodland area was most pronounced under a scenario of no herbivory, values increased by more than 70% even in the presence of heavy browsing pressure. Model projections provided little evidence for the conversion of woodland areas to either grassland or heathland; changes in woodland structure and composition were consistent with traditional successional theory. These results highlight the need for multiple types of intervention when managing successional landscape mosaics and demonstrate the value of landscape-scale modelling for evaluating the role of herbivory in conservation management

Influence of input variables over the wood digestion in a sulfite pulp mill for biorefinery purposes

Eucalyptus globulus is the most profitable specie in Europe for pulping. However, in recent years some diseases and pests have caused its defoliation, affecting the available quantity of wood. In this sense, the mills are studying how to avoid the loss of pulp yield as well as the optimization of byproducts in order to take advantage of every component present in the wood using biorefinery processes. One of the possible options is to complete the consumption of E. globulus with other species such as Eucalyptus nitens. The objective of this paper is to study the behavior of both species related to the dissolving pulp manufacturing process as well as the characteristics of the resulting products. Parameters that can be very useful for the evaluation of the raw material, such as the growing data or density of both species, have been compared. Major attention has been focused on the composition of both species and how it affects the characteristics of the possible final products. E. nitens presents good results of forestry characteristics, being better than E. globulus in terms of growing and resistance to frosts. The cellulose content of both species is similar, however the digestion process in the case of E. nitens needs to be improved in order to optimize the involved energy and the obtained products.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research by the KBBE-2012-6-311935 research project under the European Union Seventh Framework Programme. www.brigit-project.eu

Genetically predicted telomere length and its relationship with neurodegenerative diseases and life expectancy

Telomere length (TL) is a biomarker of biological aging. Shorter telomeres have been associated with mortality and increased rates of age-related diseases. However, observational studies are unable to conclude whether TL is causally associated with those outcomes. Mendelian randomization (MR) was developed for assessing causality using genetic variants in epidemiological research. The objective of this study was to test the potential causal role of TL in neurodegenerative disorders and life expectancy through MR analysis. Summary level data were extracted from the most recent genome-wide association studies for TL, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease, Frontotemporal dementia, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and life expectancy. MR estimates revealed that longer telomeres inferred a protective effect on risk of AD (OR = 0.964; adjusted p-value = 0.039). Moreover, longer telomeres were significantly associated with increased life expectancy (beta(IVW) = 0.011; adjusted p-value = 0.039). Sensitivity analyses suggested evidence for directional pleiotropy in AD analyses. Our results showed that genetically predicted longer TL may increase life expectancy and play a protective causal effect on AD. We did not observe significant causal relationships between longer TL and other neurodegenerative diseases. This suggests that the involvement of TL on specific biological mechanisms might differ between AD and life expectancy, with respect to that in other neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, the presence of pleiotropy may reflect the complex interplay between TL homeostasis and AD pathophysiology. Further observational studies are needed to confirm these results. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)