Articles publicats (Agrotecnio Center)

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Agrotecnio aims to become a reference in Europe addressing all the key elements of the food production chain in an integrated way focusing on target crops and animals of commercial importance, rather than model systems. This later aspect sets our centre apart from other centers which focus on fundamental science and/or model plant and animal systems. As a result we should be able to address fundamental and important questions in the crop/animal of interest and results from our research will be directly and immediately applicable to our target organism. [Més informació]

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 1578
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    Open Access
    Mushroom productivity trends in relation to tree growth and climate across different European forest biomes
    (Elsevier, 2019) Collado Coloma, Eduardo; Bonet Lledos, José Antonio ; Camarero, J.J.; Egli, S.; Peter, M.; Salo, K.; Martínez-Peña, F.; Ohenoja, E.; Martín-Pinto, P.; Primicia, I.; Büntgen, U.; Kurttila, Mikko; Oria-de-Rueda, J.A.; Martínez de Aragón, Juan; Miina, J.; Miguel Magaña, Sergio de
    Although it is logical to think that mycorrhizal mushroom production should be somehow related to the growth of the trees from which the fungi obtain carbohydrates, little is known about how mushroom yield patterns are related to tree performance. In this study, we delved into the understanding of the relationships between aboveground fungal productivity, tree radial growth patterns and climatic conditions across three latitudinally different bioclimatic regions encompassing Mediterranean, temperate and boreal forest ecosystems in Europe. For this purpose, we used a large assemblage of long-term data of weekly or biweekly mushroom yield monitoring in Spain, Switzerland and Finland. We analysed the relationships between annual mushroom yield (considering both biomass and number of sporocarps per unit area), tree ring features (tree ring, earlywood and latewood widths), and meteorological conditions (i.e. precipitation and temperature of summer and autumn) from different study sites and forest ecosystems, using both standard and partial correlations. Moreover, we fitted predictive models to estimate mushroom yield from mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungal guilds based on climatic and dendrochronological variables. Significant synchronies between mushroom yield and climatic and dendrochronological variables were mostly found in drier Mediterranean sites, while few or no significant correlations were found in the boreal and temperate regions. We observed positive correlations between latewood growth and mycorrhizal mushroom biomass only in some Mediterranean sites, this relationship being mainly mediated by summer and autumn precipitation. Under more water-limited conditions, both the seasonal wood production and the mushroom yield are more sensitive to precipitation events, resulting in higher synchrony between both variables. This comparative study across diverse European forest biomes and types provides new insights into the relationship between mushroom productivity, tree growth and weather conditions.
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    Open Access
    North-south antiphase of wildfire activity across the pyroregions of continental China driven by NAO and the Antarctic oscillation
    (Elsevier, 2023) Resco de Dios, Víctor; Cunill Camprubí, Àngel; He, Yingpeng; Han, Ying; Yao, Yinan
    Wildfires are a natural disturbance in many parts of the world, but fire regimes are changing as a result of anthropogenic pressures. A key uncertainty towards anticipating future changes in burned area lies in understanding the effects of climate teleconnections (CTs). Here we test how different CTs impact burned area in China, a large country comprising different biomes and where similar fire-suppression and post-fire afforestation policies are implemented. We observed diverging temporal trends in burned area across the different pyroregions of China, from increases in the Northeastern grasslands and mixed forests pyroregion to decreases in the Southern tropical forests pyroregion. This North-South antiphase in fire activity was being partly driven by joint effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Antarctic Oscillation, which exerted contrasting effects on fire weather across latitude. El Niño Southern Oscillation and the other examined teleconnections had minor effects over burned area. The increasing burned area in the NE-mixed forests pyroregion indicates that mega-fires may increase under global warming but their occurrence may be modulated by potential strengthening or weakening of NAO and AAO.
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    Open Access
    Climate change induced declines in fuel moisture may turn currently fire-free Pyrenean mountain forests into fire-prone ecosystems
    (Elsevier, 2021) Resco de Dios, Víctor; Hedo, Javier; Cunill Camprubí, Àngel; Thapa, Prakash; Martínez del Castillo, Edurne; Martínez de Aragón, Juan; Bonet Lledos, José Antonio; Balaguer Romano, Rodrigo; Díaz-Sierra, Rubén; Yebra, Marta; Boer, Matthias M.
    Fuel moisture limits the availability of fuel to wildfires in many forest areas worldwide, but the effects of climate change on moisture constraints remain largely unknown. Here we addressed how climate affects fuel moisture in pine stands from Catalonia, NE Spain, and the potential effects of increasing climate aridity on burned area in the Pyrenees, a mesic mountainous area where fire is currently rare. We first quantified variation in fuel moisture in six sites distributed across an altitudinal gradient where the long-term mean annual temperature and precipitation vary by 6–15 °C and 395–933 mm, respectively. We observed significant spatial variation in live (78–162%) and dead (10–15%) fuel moisture across sites. The pattern of variation was negatively linked (r = |0.6|–|0.9|) to increases in vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and in the Aridity Index. Using seasonal fire records over 2006–2020, we observed that summer burned area in the Mediterranean forests of Northeast Spain and Southern France was strongly dependent on VPD (r = 0.93), the major driver (and predictor) of dead fuel moisture content (DFMC) at our sites. Based on the difference between VPD thresholds associated with large wildfire seasons in the Mediterranean (3.6 kPa) and the maximum VPD observed in surrounding Pyrenean mountains (3.1 kPa), we quantified the “safety margin” for Pyrenean forests (difference between actual VPD and that associated with large wildfires) at 0.5 kPa. The effects of live fuel moisture content (LFMC) on burned area were not significant under current conditions, a situation that may change with projected increases in climate aridity. Overall, our results indicate that DFMC in currently fire-free areas in Europe, like the Pyrenees, with vast amounts of fuel in many forest stands, may reach critical dryness thresholds beyond the safety margin and experience large wildfires after only mild increases in VPD, although LFMC can modulate the response.
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    Open Access
    Assessing deoxynivalenol concentration reduction and mass loss in wheat batches using near infrared hyperspectral imaging
    (Elsevier, 2024) Marín Sillué, Sònia; López García, Christian; Lérida Monsó, Josep Lluís; Prim, Montserrat; Ramos Girona, Antonio J.
    Deoxynivalenol is a mycotoxin which frequently contaminates wheat and its derived products causing a major concern. In this work a previously developed model was inserted into a prototype desktop application for automated prediction of individual wheat kernels as contaminated over or under the maximum set level in the EU. Using 42 batches to test the system it was observed that in batches contaminated over 1 mg/kg the rejected fraction always contained more deoxynivalenol (mean 8.1 mg/kg) than the accepted one (mean 0.6 mg/kg), with 92.5 % of accepted mass fraction, in average.
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    Open Access
    Source-dependent effects of early-life zinc supplementation in milk on growth performance and starter intake of pre-weaned dairy calves
    (Frontiers Media, 2024-09-03) Sharifabadi, Hossein; Shamkhani, Esmaeil; Hafizi, Maryam; Mohammadi ,Sajjad; Shokri, Zahra; Ahmadibonakdar, Yasaman; Seradj, Ahmad Reza
    This study aimed to evaluate the effects of milk supplementation with different zinc (Zn) sources on growth rate, starter intake, diarrhea incidence, and nutrient digestibility in dairy calves during the pre-weaning period. Forty newborn Holstein heifer calves were assigned to four treatments: control (no Zn supplementation; CON) or supplementation with 80 mg/day Zn from zinc sulfate (Zn-Sul), chelated zinc (Zn-Bon), or zinc methionine (Zn-Met). The Zn supplements were provided via milk from days 3 to 14 of age. Body weight (BW) and starter intake (SI) were monitored until weaning on day 70. Serum metabolite concentrations were determined in blood samples collected on days 15 and 70. Fecal consistency index (FCI) and frequency of medical treatments were measured during the first 21 days of life. Apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) was determined in the 10th week of life. Although the effects of Zn supplementation on BW gain or body measurements were non-significant, a tendency for treatment × time interaction on BW was observed, with variations among the experimental groups becoming more pronounced on days 56 and 70, showing higher values in Zn-supplemented calves compared to CON. SI was improved by Zn supplementation, with the greatest response in the Zn-Bon group. Compared to control, ATTD of organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, and starch tended to increase with Zn supplementation. Blood metabolites and FCI did not differ among the experimental treatments. Although no significant difference was detected between Zn-Met and CON, the frequency of medical treatment was significantly lower in Zn-Bon and Zn-Sul compared to CON calves. In conclusion, zinc supplementation in milk, particularly with the organic chelated zinc source (Zn-Bon), showed promising effects on increasing starter intake and reducing medical treatments, along with trends toward enhanced growth and nutrient digestibility in pre-weaned calves.