• Rural Digital Europe

International audience; AbstractKey messageThe pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda, is a potential vector of the pitch canker disease pathogen. The insect could transmit the pathogenic fungus during its maturation or regeneration feeding on the shoots of healthy pine crowns.ContextFusarium circinatum, the causal agent of pitch canker disease, currently affects Pinus radiata in northern Spain, causing pitch-soaked cankers and tree death. Although several species of the family Scolytinae have been reported as vectors of this pathogen, the role of the pine shoot beetle T. piniperda remains unclear.AimsThe general objective of this study was to determine whether T. piniperda is a vector for the pitch canker pathogen F. circinatum. For this purpose, Leach’s postulates (1) an association between T. piniperda and trees affected by pitch canker disease; (2) regular visits by T. piniperda to healthy P. radiata trees; (3) presence of the pathogen on the insect in nature; and (4) transmission of the pathogen to disease-free host material under controlled conditions.MethodsFresh green shoots with feeding galleries were collected from the ground, breeding galleries were collected from diseased trunks and insects were collected during their dispersion flights. A laboratory experiment was conducted in which specimens of T. piniperda were inoculated with the pathogen prior to feeding on shoots.ResultsIn the field, T. piniperda was found to be associated with both diseased and healthy P. radiata trees, and F. circinatum was found to be present, at low rates, on the exoskeleton of T. piniperda. In the laboratory experiment, evidence of the ability of T. piniperda to transfer the pathogen to healthy shoots was found.ConclusionsThe study findings indicate T. piniperda as a plausible vector of this pathogen. We postulate for the first time a potential relationship between the life cycles of T. piniperda and F. circinatum.

Abstract N is known to be the most limiting element for vegetation growth in temperate and boreal forests. The expected increases in global temperature are predicted to accelerate N mineralization, therefore incrementing N availability in the soil and affecting the soil C cycle as well. While there is an abundance of C data collected to fulfill the requirements for national GHG accounting, more limited information is available for soil N accumulation and storage in relation to forest categories and altitudinal gradients. The data collected by the second Italian National Forest Inventory, spanning a wide range of temperature and precipitation values (10° latitudinal range), represented a unique opportunity to calculate N content and C/N ratio of the different soil layers to a depth of 30 cm. Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) models were applied to investigate the main determinants of soil N distribution and C/N ratio. Forest category was shown to be the main explanatory factor of soil N variability in seven out of eight models, both for forest floor and mineral soil layers. Moreover latitude explained a larger share of variability than single climate variables. BRT models explained, on average, the 49% of the data variability, with the remaining fraction likely due to soil-related variables that were unaccounted for. Accurate estimations of N pools and their determinants in a climate change perspective are consequently required to predict the potential impact of their degradation on forest soil N pools.

The infrared emission limb sounder MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) will be operated as an ESA core instrument on the ENVISAT-1 satellite. Near real time retrieval of pressure, temperature (p,T) and volume mixing ratio (VMR) of five key species (O-3, H2O, N2O, CH4, and HNO3) from calibrated spectra will be performed in the Level 2 processor of the ENVISAT Payload Data Segment. In order to develop an optimized (with respect to speed and accuracy) retrieval algorithm suitable for the implementation in MIPAS Level 2 processor, an ESA supported study is being carried out. In the framework of this study, an optimized forward / retrieval code based on the global fit approach was implemented. In this approach all the spectra of a limb-scanning sequence are simultaneously fitted, so that error propagation in the altitude domain is avoided.The attained accuracy performances of the retrieval code are the following:Temperature error < 2 K at all the altitudes covered by the standard MIPAS scan (8-53 km)Tangent pressure error: < 3%Error on the retrieved VMR of the key species: < 5 % at most of the altitudes of scientific interest covered by the standard MIPAS scan.The run-time required to perform p,T and VMR retrieval of the five MIPAS target species from a limb-scanning sequence of 16 limb-views is less than 6 minutes on a SUN SPARCstation 20. The most effective code optimizations were implemented in the radiative transfer model and in the computation of the jacobian of the retrieval.

International audience

A new Chinese satellite, FY-3C, carrying second-generation microwave sounding instruments, was introduced and the observations were evaluated. On board FY-3C are the Microwave Temperature Sounder −2 MWTS-2 and Microwave Humidity Sounder−2 MWHS-2, and these devices are more advanced than those on board the previous satellites, FY-3A/B; the spectral and spatial resolutions of the devices are also higher than the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A AMSU-A and the Microwave Humidity Sounder MHS. The 50–60 GHz and 183 GHz sounding abilities are similar to Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder ATMS on board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership SNPP. FY-3C and SNPP were launched in different orbits but are complementary in observation area. In addition, MWHS-2 is the first operational polar-orbiting, satellite-based sensor which has 118 GHz channels. Assessment of MWTS-2 and MWHS-2 observations indicate that striping noises are apparent from the observations. A technique combining principal component analysis PCA with Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition EEMD is used to extract the noise. The striping noise in the first PCA component is extracted from the data. It was determined that the bias and standard deviation SD of MWTS-2 noise was larger than that of the ATMS corresponding channels. The biases and SDs of the MWHS-2 noise were comparable in magnitude with ATMS moisture channels. After removing the noise, the biases and SDs of the difference between observation and simulation O–B for MWTS-2 were slightly larger than the ATMS. Biases of MWHS-2 were close to the ATMS. The O–B biases of MWHS-2 118 GHz channels were within the range from −0.6 to 0.2 K, and the SDs were approximately 0.5–1.2 K.

This research attempts to analyze the condition of agroindustry in Arjasa District. Agroindustry index (I A) is used to determine the superior agroindustry based on its raw material. Thus, the purpose of this study is the application of a strategic management model with the concept of integration between agroindustry and the potential resources. The Agroindustry Index Model (I A) uses quantitative data on variable land area and production. Data were obtained from Department of Industry and Commerce, Central Bureau of Statistics, Food Crop Agriculture Service, Horticulture and Plantation in Jember Regency. Whereas, the exponential comparison method (MPE) to determine the superiority of the product is based on the assessment of three agro-industry experts, namely from Department of Industry and Commerce, Office of Cooperatives and Micro Enterprises and a lecturer of the agroindustry management study program, Politeknik Negeri Jember. Based on the results that agroindustry made from corn became the superior agroindustry in Arjasa District. Analysis of superior products using the exponential comparison method (MPE) shows that products corn flour is the top seed followed by corn rice, corn cake, emping, and animal feed.

The leaf-spot pathogen Valdensiniaheterodoxa Peyronel is reported for the first time from the United States (Idaho, Washington, and Oregon), based on the recovery of the anamorph. Scanning electron micrographs illustrate anamorphic propagules collected from economically significant ericaceous hosts Gaultheriashallon Pursh, Vacciniumalaskaense Howell, and Vacciniummembranaceum Douglas.

La necesidad de la conservacion fuera de areas protegidas ha llevado a la modificacion de las practicas productivas para permitir el mantenimiento de la biota silvestre en paisajes productivos tales como los asociados a la produccion de madera. Las plantaciones forestales podrian cooperar en la conservacion de la biodiversidad fuera de areas protegidas si tienen un sotobosque desarrollado. Sin embargo, el exito de los cambios en la produccion depende del apoyo social que estos reciben. Asi, evaluamos la preferencia por cinco paisajes con diferentes tipos de manejo forestal. Ademas, se evaluo la percepcion acerca de la relacion entre las plantaciones de pino y la fauna nativa a traves de encuestas realizadas en Chillan, Santiago y seis localidades rurales de la VII y VIII Region. Pese a no haber una opinion publica unanime respecto a considerar las plantaciones de pino como una amenaza a la biodiversidad, las personas en general prefieren las plantaciones de pino que sirven de habitat para la fauna en peligro de extincion. De hecho, estan de acuerdo en pagar mas por productos forestales que contribuyan a la conservacion en plantaciones forestales, prefiriendo especialmente plantaciones forestales con un sotobosque desarrollado. Estos resultados sugieren que las medidas destinadas a la conservacion en las plantaciones forestales podrian ser apoyadas por la sociedad chilena.