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- ItemOpen AccessAphid suppression by natural enemies in hedgerows surrounding greenhouses in southern Spain(Elsevier, 2023) Rodríguez, Estefanía; Clemente Orta, Gemma María; Crisol-Martínez, Eduardo; Gutiérrez , Irene; Blom, Jan van derSouthern Spain is home to the most intensively grown protected crop area in the EU. The area is currently characterized by greenhouse monocultures and a homogenous landscape. The establishment of hedgerows among greenhouses can enhance the diversity of natural enemies of pests around the greenhouses and help them thrive. However, the effect of hedgerows on pest control has not been addressed. Thus, we used aphid banker plants, i.e. wheat infested with Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), as sentinel plants in the surroundings of three paired greenhouses with and without hedgerows. We assessed the effect of hedgerows on the abundance of aphids and arthropod community populations. In addition, we assessed the importance of the surrounding environment on aphid survival. There were 4.1-fold more aphids on sentinel plants excluded from the action of natural enemies than ones exposed to them, showing that biological control occurs naturally even in a simplified greenhouse agrosystem. Aphid populations were slightly higher (albeit not significantly) in replicates without hedgerows than in those with hedgerows. The percentage of greenhouses, rather than hedgerows, was an essential factor in suppressing aphids, highlighting the importance of using commercial biological control in greenhouses. The presence of hedgerows resulted in changes in arthropod composition populations, i.e. in a lower occurrence of pests and a higher occurrence of natural enemies, especially in the most simplified replicate. We propose increasing the amount of hedgerows for reducing pressure from pests on simplified greenhouse agrosystems.
- ItemMetadata onlyCreation et validation d’une rubrique d’evaluation de la gestion du personnel des PME familiales du secteur hotelier(Universitat de Lleida, ) Femba Fiba, Pierre
- ItemMetadata onlyAdaptive syndromes of Mediterranean pines in response to drought and fire: common gardens meet high-throughput phenotyping techniques(Universitat de Lleida, ) Lombardi, Erica
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- ItemOpen AccessModelling the effectivity of a land sparing strategy to preserve an endangered steppe-land bird population in cereal farmland: Scopes and limits(Elsevier, 2023) Mañosa, Santi; Bota, GerardAgricultural intensification and the disappearance of fallow land have been identified as a major driver of biodiversity loss in European farmland. In particular, the dramatic population decline of the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), a flagship bird species in western European cereal farmland, has been largely attributed to the loss of this crucial habitat. Demographic modelling showed that low breeding success and reduced female survival were co-responsible for the little bustard population decline in a NE Iberian cereal pseudo-steppe. An equilibrium finite rate of change can be achieved by raising either female adult survival or fecundity. In both cases, the required increases fall within a biological meaningful range, but a combination of both would be more feasible in practice. Setting farmland aside as managed fallow can boost fecundity to the required equilibrium value, but the potential of this management action is seriously reduced as mortality increases. Socio-economically acceptable amounts of spared-land can only be achieved if actions to reduce mortality are undertaken in combination with providing fallow land. Actions to reduce both natural and anthropogenic mortality have so far been neglected by little bustard conservation programs. Both are needed if we seek to guarantee the long-term viability of the species and an acceptable share of conservation effort from stakeholders. Our results show that the holistic adaptive management approach adopted here can be used to evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of conservation decisions and to provide insights for conservation projects.
- ItemOpen AccessPhylogeography and climate shape the quantitative genetic landscape and range-wide plasticity of a prevalent conifer(Ecological Society of America, 2023) Voltas Velasco, Jordi; Amigó, Ramon; Shestakova, Tatiana A.; Matteo, Giovanni; Díaz, Raquel; Zas, RafaelThe contribution of genetic adaptation and plasticity to intraspecific phenotypic variability remains insufficiently studied in long-lived plants, as well as the relevance of neutral versusadaptive processes determining such divergence. We examined the importance of phylogeographic structure and climate modulating genetic and plastic changes and their interdependence in fitness-related traits of a widespread Mediterranean conifer(Pinus pinaster). Four marker-based, previously defined neutral classifications along with two ad hoc climate-based categorizations of 123 range-wide populations were analyzed for their capacity to summarize genetic and plastic effects of height growth and survival (age 20) in 15 common gardens. Plasticity of tree height and differential survival were interpreted through mixed modeling accounting for heteroscedasticity in the genotype-by-environment dataset. The analysis revealed a slight superiority of phylogeographic classifications over climate categorizations on the explanation of genetic and plastic effects, which suggests that neutral processes can be at least as important as isolation by climate as driving factor of evolutionary divergence in a prevalent pine. The best phylogeographic classification involved eight geographically discrete genetic groups which explained 92% (height) and 52% (survival) of phenotypic variability, including between-group mean differentiation and differential expression across trials. For height growth, there was predictability of plastic group responses described by different reaction norm slopes, which were unrelated to between-group mean differentiation. The latter differences (amounting to ca. 40% among groups) dominated intraspecific performance across trials. Local adaptation was evident for genetic groups tested in their native environments in terms of tree height and, especially, survival. This finding was supported by QST > FST estimates. Additionally, our range-wide evaluation did not support a general adaptive syndrome by which less reactive groups to ameliorated conditions would be associated with high survival and low growth. In fact, a lack of relationship between mean group differentiation, indicative of genetic adaptation, and predictable group plasticity for height growth suggests different evolutionary trajectories of these mechanisms of phenotypic divergence. Altogether, the existence of predictable adaptive-trait phenotypic variation for the species, involving both genetic differentiation and plastic effects, should facilitate integrating genomics and environment into decision-making tools to assist forests to cope with climate change.
- ItemOpen AccessBoard game-based intervention to improve executive functions and academic skills in rural schools: A randomized controlled trial(Elsevier, 2023) Vita Barrull, Núria; Estrada Plana, Verónica; March Llanes, Jaume; Guzmán, Núria; Fernández Muñoz, Carlos; Ayesa, Rosa; Moya Higueras, JorgeIntroduction This research intends to increase the knowledge about the use of board games in the classroom to train executive functions and academic skills. 99 children from rural schools were assessed in executive functions and academic skills. Methods Through a randomized controlled trial, they were assigned to a playing group (n = 51) and an active control group (regular classes without games, n = 48). Play program consisted of 12 sessions for 6 weeks with eight commercial board games. Results In flexibility, the playing group was significantly faster after the program (p= = .01, d = 0.76), but not the control group (p = .23; d = 0.35). Both groups improved in the academic tasks, but the significance in calculus was greater in the playing group (p = .00; d = 2.19) than in the control group (p = .01; d = 0.97). Discusion The use of board games during school hours could be as good or better methodology for cognitive training and learning academic skills than regular classes.
- ItemOpen AccessArmengol VI, Conde de Urgel(Real Academia de la Historia, 2010) Sabaté, Flocel
- ItemOpen AccessArmengol V. Conde de Urgel.(Real Academia de la Historia, 2010) Sabaté, Flocel
- ItemOpen AccessArmengol IV. Conde de Urgel. El de Gerb.(Real Academia de la Historia, 2010) Sabaté, Flocel
