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Les diferències en la vegetació seminatural dels marges dels camps afectaran els serveis de control biològic derivats de la presència d'aquests hàbitats seminaturals adjacents als camps. Dels trets funcionals de les plantes que són més rellevants per als insectes, les formes de vida vegetal reflecteixen diferents aspectes de l'estructura i el funcionament de les plantes que poden ajudar a predir el valor de la vegetació marginal per als artròpodes en els sistemes agrícoles. L'objectiu d'aquest estudi va ser determinar l'efecte de l'estructura de la vegetació dels marges del camp sobre els pugons dels cereals i sobre alguns dels seus enemics naturals (parasitoides, sirfes i marietes) pel que fa a les formes de vida vegetal. Vam caracteritzar la vegetació del marge utilitzant la cobertura relativa de cada forma de vida i vam fer mostres d'insectes en cultius al llarg de transectes paral·lels als marges del camp. Els nostres resultats mostren que a les zones estudiades, l'abundància d'enemics naturals era més gran prop dels marges dominats per plantes anuals que en els marges dominats per plantes perennes. D'altra banda, les abundàncies de pugons i les taxes de parasitisme eren més altes a prop dels marges dominats per plantes llenyoses perennes que als marges propers dominats per plantes herbàcies perennes. Mitjançant la promoció de formes de vida específiques als marges existents, els agricultors poden millorar el control biològic de conservació i alleujar la pressió dels pugons sobre els seus cultius. Differences in the semi-natural vegetation of field margins will affect the biological control services derived from the presence of these semi-natural habitats adjacent to fields. Of the plant functional traits that are most relevant for insects, plant life forms reflect different aspects of plant structure and functioning that can help predict the value of marginal vegetation for arthropods in agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the vegetation structure of field margins on cereal aphids and on some of their natural enemies (parasitoids, hoverflies and ladybugs) in terms of plant life forms. We characterized margin vegetation using the relative cover of each life form and sampled insects in crops along transects parallel to field margins. Our results show that in the studied areas, the abundance of natural enemies was greater near margins dominated by annual plants than in margins dominated by perennial plants. On the other hand, the abundances of aphids and parasitism rates were higher near margins dominated by perennial woody plants than near margins dominated by perennial herbaceous plants. By promoting specific life forms in existing margins, farmers can enhance the conservation biological control and relieve aphid pressure on their crops Las diferencias en la vegetación seminatural de los márgenes de los campos afectarán los servicios de control biológico derivados de la presencia de estos hábitats seminaturales adyacentes a los campos. De los rasgos funcionales de las plantas que son más relevantes para los insectos, las formas de vida de las plantas reflejan diferentes aspectos de la estructura y el funcionamiento de las plantas que pueden ayudar a predecir el valor de la vegetación marginal para los artrópodos en los sistemas agrícolas. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar el efecto de la estructura de la vegetación de los márgenes de los campos sobre los pulgones de los cereales y sobre algunos de sus enemigos naturales (parasitoides, sírfidos y mariquitas) en términos de formas de vida vegetal. Caracterizamos la vegetación del margen usando la cobertura relativa de cada forma de vida y muestreamos insectos en cultivos a lo largo de transectos paralelos a los márgenes del campo. Nuestros resultados muestran que en las áreas estudiadas, la abundancia de enemigos naturales fue mayor cerca de los márgenes dominados por plantas anuales que en los márgenes dominados por plantas perennes. Por otro lado, la abundancia de pulgones y las tasas de parasitismo fueron mayores cerca de los márgenes dominados por plantas leñosas perennes que cerca de los márgenes dominados por plantas herbáceas perennes. Al promover formas de vida específicas en los márgenes existentes, los agricultores pueden mejorar el control biológico de la conservación y aliviar la presión de los áfidos en sus cultivos.

Small grain cereals such as wheat, rice and barley are among the most important crops worldwide. Any attempt to increase crop productivity and stability through breeding implies developing new strategies for plant phenotyping, including defining ideotype attributes for selection. Recently, the role of non-foliar photosynthetic organs, particularly the inflorescences, has received increasing attention. For example, ear photosynthesis has been reported to be a major contributor to grain filling in wheat and barley under stress and good agronomic conditions. This review provides an overview of the particular characteristics of the ear that makes this photosynthetic organ better adapted to grain filling than the flag leaf and revises potential metabolic and molecular traits that merit further research as targets for cereal improvement. Currently, the absence of high-throughput phenotyping methods limits the inclusion of ear photosynthesis in the breeding agenda. In this regard, a number of different approaches are presented.

Questions: The assembly of arable weed communities is the result of local filtering by agricultural management and crop competition. Therefore, soil seed banks can reflect the effects of long‐term cumulative field management and crop sequences on weed communities. Moreover, soil seed banks provide strong estimates of future weed problems but also of potential arable plant diversity and associated ecological functions. For this, we evaluated the effects of different long‐term farming systems under the same crop rotation sequence on the abundance, diversity and community assembly of weed seed bank, as well as on the functional diversity and composition. Location: DOK (biodynamic [D], bioorganic [O], conventional [K]) long‐term trial, Therwil, Switzerland. Methods: The effects of long‐term contrasted farming systems (i.e., biodynamic, organic, conventional, mineral and unfertilised systems) and last crop sown (i.e., wheat and maize) were evaluated on different indicators of species and functional diversity and composition of the weed soil seed bank. Results: The results showed significant influences of 40 years of contrasted farming systems on the diversity and composition of the seed bank, with higher diversities being found in unfertilised and organic farming systems, but also higher abundances than those found under conventional systems. Organic farming also allowed higher functional richness, dispersion and redundancy. Different farming systems triggered shifts in species and functional assemblies. Conclusions: The results highlight the importance of organic management for the maintenance of a diverse arable plant community and its functions. However, such results emphasise the need for appropriate yearly management to reduce the abundance of settled weediness and prevent affecting crop production. The farm management filtered community composition based on functional traits. Although the soil seed bank buffers the long‐term farming and crop sequence, the last crop sown and, thus, the yearly management were important determinants of seed bank composition.

Los P.N. de Font Roja y Serra de Mariola albergan una gran diversidad de aves. Nuestro objetivo es conocer cómo la riqueza de aves responde a factores locales (uso del suelo, diversidad de hábitats y recursos) y del paisaje (diversidad, tamaño del hábitat). Detectamos 39 especies de aves diferentes, cuya riqueza se relacionó de forma positiva con la de plantas. El resto de factores determinaron la presencia de especies individuales, pero no la riqueza general. Els P.N. de Font Roja i Serra de Mariola alberguen una gran diversitat d´aus. Volem conèixer com aquesta diversitat respon a factors locals (ús del sòl, varietat d’hàbitats i recursos) i de paisatge (diversitat, mida de l’hàbitat). Detectem 39 espècies d’aus, la riquesa de les quals és relaciona de manera positiva amb la riquesa de plantes. La resta de factors determina la presencia d’espècies individuals, però no la riquesa general. Font Roja and Serra de Mariola natural park are home for a great diversity of birds. We studied how such diversity responds to different local (land use, variety of habitats and resources) and landscape (diversity and size). We detected 39 species of birds, the richness of which was positively related to plants richness. The rest of factors affected the presence of individual species but had no effect on their overall richness. Esta investigación ha sido financiada por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, del Gobierno de España, mediante el proyecto I+d+i «Retos investigación» del programa estatal de I+d+i orientada a los retos de la sociedad “Identificando las consecuencias funcionales de cambios en la biodiversidad a varias escalas espaciales” (FOBIASS; RTI2018-098895-a-i00) y la ayuda Ramón y Cajal (RyC-2016-20604).

Behavioural flexibility may play a relevant role during invasion of a new habitat. A typical example of behavioural flexibility favouring invasion success refers to changes in foraging behaviour. Here we provide data on changes in the foraging strategies of monk parakeets Myiopsitta monachus over a period of 17 years (2001–2017) in Barcelona city. During this time, consumption of food on the ground increased by more than 25 % and the consumption of anthropogenic food increased by 8 %. Detailed information about the food consumed is provided. Feeding on the ground and consumption of low plants allow parakeets to reach not only anthropogenic food but also crops, thereby increasing the risk of crop damage as the invasion evolves. Early detection of damage to crops is crucial in order to prevent further harm, and makes the precautionary principle highly relevant. Key words: Behavioural shift, Diet, Crop damage, Spillover, Longitudinal study

El neolític és un pas fonamental en la història de la humanitat. Ja no feia falta anar a buscar aliments pels camps, s'anava al tros a conrear-los. Les persones van deixar d'anar amunt i avall i es van construir els primers pobles i ciutats.

We studied the diversity of beetle families in watermelon fields in the palm grove of Zaatote at Ouargla (34º 54' N, 5º 20' E). The sampling method used was Barber pots as they allowed the largest number of captures of insects, regarding both individuals and species. Over the three years of the study (2016, 2017 and 2018), we identified 787 individuals from 12 taxonomic families. Throughout the sampling period, the Coccinellidae family was clearly dominant, with an Fc = 35.02 % in 2016, 36.2 % in 2017 and 34.34 % in 2018. The second most dominant family was Tenebrionidae with an Fc = 26.35 % in 2016, 30.04 % in 2017, and 33.33 % in 2018. Other families were poorly represented. In 2016, regarding their trophism, 18 species of beetles (30.91 %) were phytophagous and feed on the watermelon crop, while 26 species were predatory and decomposing auxiliaries. Se estudió la diversidad de familias de coleópteros en campos de cultivo de sandía situados en el palmeral de Zaatote (Ouargla) (34º 54' N,5º 20' E). El método de muestreo utilizado fueron botes de Barber, que permitieron el mayornúmero de capturas de insectos, tanto por lo que respecta a individuos como a especies.Durante los tres años del estudio (2016, 2017 y 2018) se identificaron 787 individuos pertenecientesa 12 familias taxonómicas. En todo el periodo de muestreo, la familia Coccinellidaefue claramente dominante con Fc = 35,02 % en 2016, 36,2 % en 2017 y 34,34 % en 2018,seguida de la familia Tenebrionidae con Fc = 26,35 % en 2016, 30,04 % en 2017 y 33,33 %en 2018. Las demás familias estaban muy poco representadas. En 2016, según su trofismo,18 especies de coleópteros (30,91 %) eran fitófagas y se alimentaban de los cultivosde sandía, mientras que 26 especies eran depredadoras y descomponedoras auxiliares. S'ha estudiat la diversitat de families de coleòpters encamps de síndria al palmeral de Zaatote a Ouargla (34º 54' N, 5º 20' E). El mètode demostreig aplicat va ser amb pots de Barber que van permetre el major nombre de capturesd'insectes, tant en individus com en espècies. Durant els tres anys d'estudi (2016, 2017 i2018), es van identificar 787 individus pertanyents a 12 famílies taxonòmiques. Durant tot elperíode de mostreig, la família Coccinellidae va ser clarament dominant amb Fc = 35,02 %el 2016, 36,2 % el 2017 i 34,34 % el 2018. En segona posició, la família Tenebrionidae ambel Fc = 26,35 % el 2016, el 30,04 % el 2017 i 33,33 % el 2018. La resta de famílies estavenmolt poc representades. En 2016, en funció del seu trofisme, 18 espècies de coleópters(30,91 %) eren fitòfagues i s'alimentaven dels cultius de sindria, mentre que 26 espècieseren depredadores i descomponedores auxiliars.

Treballs Finals de Grau en Geografia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2017-2018, Tutor: Ma Belén Gómez Martín, El present treball explora la influència del canvi climàtic al conreu de la vinya a Catalunya. Aquest objectiu general s’estructura en altres objectius específics que es presenten de manera detallada: ❖ Identificar de forma genèrica les necessitats climàtiques del conreu de la vinya ❖ Explorar la distribució de la viticultura al món en funció del clima ❖ Analitzar l’estat actual de la distribució vitícola a Catalunya ❖ Conèixer les característiques climàtiques a les DO catalanes ❖ Conèixer l’evolució recent i futura del clima a Catalunya ❖ Explorar l’afectació del canvi climàtic pel conreu de la vinya a Catalunya ❖ Conèixer els problemes i reptes de futur de la vinya a Catalunya

L’Estadística Territorial de 1858, i els Estados sobre la producció i comercialització dels principals productes agraris a la província de Barcelona el 1859-67, permeten constatar la persistència del cultiu de cereals al 44% de la superfície conreada. Uns rendiments mitjans de 15-16 Hl/Ha donaven abast al 39% de les necessitats de consum de la població. La resta requeria importar un milió d’Hl anuals de blat. Una anàlisi acurada de la seva geografia revela les raons agroecològiques, econòmiques i socials d’aquella especialització cerealícola a la franja nordoriental més humida, coetània de l’especialització vitícola predominant al sud-oest més àrid de la província., The Territorial Statistics of 1858, and the Estados on production and trade of the main agricultural products in the province of Barcelona in 1859-67, allow us to confirm the persistence of cereal growing in 44% of the cropped area. A mean yield of 15-16 hl/ha covered nearly 39% of the consumption required by the population, while one million hl of imports were needed yearly. A precise analysis of the geography reveals the agro-ecological, economic and social reasons behind the wheat specialization in the most humid north-east border of the province while its south-west arid counterpart experienced an intense vineyard specialization.

[eng] Rice belongs to the Poaceae family and Oryza genus. The genus Oryza comprehends 24 species, being 22 wild and 2 cultivated. These two cultivated species correspond to Oryza sativa, originated in Asia, nowadays cultivated and consumed worldwide, and Oryza glaberrima, originated in Africa, but cultivated and consumed limitedly in West Africa, both are diploid (2n=24) (Bernis & Pamies, 2006; Wei & Huang, 2019). Traditionally, Oryza sativa has been classified into two subspecies, indica and japonica. Molecular analyses, as well as biochemical and hybrid sterility analyses, point out at the separate domestication of Oryza rufipogon populations as the origin for these two subspecies (Garris et al., 2005; Rakshit et al., 2007; Wei et al., 2012), with a gene flow present from japonica to indica (Yang et al., 2012). Indica rice is usually long grained, less sticky and with a lower level of amylopectin than japonica rice, which is short grained and sticky. There are also phenotypical differences between these subspecies, for example, japonica plants are generally shorter, the leaves have a lighter color and shaper shape. Also, the tiller number is lower in japonica than in the indica plants (Wei & Huang, 2019). The O. sativa plant is a semiaquatic annual monocot grass although rice can live as perineal in the tropics (McLean et al., 2013). The plant has a height that varies from 80 to 150 centimeters depending on the variety and growing conditions (Bernis & Pamies, 2006), or even less in modern varieties. Its morphology varies according to the development stage, this being the vegetative phase or the reproductive phase. The vegetative phase includes the germination, the seedling and the tillering stage. The reproductive phase comprehends panicle initiation, also called heading, and flowering stages. As a food, rice contributes to the 20% of calories ingested worldwide (Kubo & Purevdorj, 2004), reaching half of the calories ingested daily in some areas (Counce et al., 2000). In terms of consumption, as well as production, Asia is the main continent (McLean et al., 2013). The rice production and consumption in Europe is minor compared to Asia. Despite that, rice holds an important sociocultural role since it is one of the basic foods of the Mediterranean diet. Some regions have developed famous rice dishes, like risotto in Italy or paella in Spain. The annual rice consumption per capita in Europe is 6-18 kilograms in the southern regions, and 3.5-5.5 kilograms in the northern regions (McLean et al., 2013). The main European producer is Italy, followed by Spain. These two countries hold more than 75% of the total rice production in Europe. Rice in Europe is also of ecological importance, due to the great biodiversity that inhabits and benefits from the paddy fields. Around 70-80% of rice cultivated in Europe are japonica varieties, and the rest indica (Bernis & Pamies, 2006; Ferrero, 2007). Agriculture is the most important bioeconomy sector in Spain, with a value of 43.8 million of euros in 2015 and coping the 50.9% employment of all bioeconomy sectors (Lániez & Periago, 2016). Rice mobilized 258.766 millions of euros in Spain in 2019 (MINECO, 2019). Thus, the studies dedicated to improving different aspects of the rice production in Spain are crucial. This thesis has made a multidisciplinary approach, from genetics to the field, in order to study Mediterranean rice varieties considering its actual applicability for the Spanish rice industry through three experimental approaches: (i) an improvement of the anther culture protocol for two Mediterranean temperate japonica varieties and two tropical japonica varieties trough the addition of additives to the media; (ii) testing the salt-tolerance of Saltol-introgressed varieties to select those that will help to fight the apple snails plague in the Ebro Delta; and (iii) a study of genetic and physicochemical aspects of the rice pearl in five Mediterranean varieties, an important feature in gastronomical terms.

Drought is one of the most limiting factors on crop productivity under Mediterranean conditions, where the leguminous species alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is extensively cultivated. Whereas the effect of drought on plant performance has been widely described at leaf and nodule levels, less attention has been given to plant-nodule interactions and their implication on metabolites exchange during a regrowth period, when water is limiting. For this purpose, physiological characterization and metabolite profiles in different plant organs and nodules were undertaken under water deficit, including regrowth after removal of aerial parts. In order to study in more detail how nitrogen (N) metabolism was affected by water stress, plants were labelled with N-enriched isotopic air (15N2) using especially designed chambers. Water stress affected negatively water status and photosynthetic machinery. Metabolite profile and isotopic composition analyses revealed that, water deficit induced major changes in the accumulation of amino acids (proline, asparagine, histidine, lysine and cysteine), carbohydrates (sucrose, xylose and pinitol) and organic acids (fumarate, succinate and maleic acid) in the nodules in comparison with other organs. The lower 15N-labeling observed in serine, compared with other amino acids, was related with its high turnover rate, which in turn, indicates its potential implication in photorespiration. Isotopic analysis of amino acids also revealed that proline synthesis in the nodule was a local response to water stress and not associated with a feedback inhibition from the leaves. Water deficit induced extensive reprogramming of whole-plant C and N metabolism, including when the aerial part was removedto trigger regrowth., This study was supported in part by the European research project PERMED (INCO- CT-2004-509140), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (CGL2009-13079-C02) and i-COOP-suelos y legumbres (2016SU0016) funded by the National Research Council. GM was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship (Programa Nacional de Formación de Personal Universitario, AP2005–2916) sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.

Accepted manuscript version, licensed CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. The conversion of natural habitats to agriculture is one of the main drivers of biotic change. Madagascar is no exception and land-use change, mostly driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, is impacting the island's exceptional biodiversity. Although most species are negatively affected by agricultural expansion, some, such as synanthropic bats, are capable of exploring newly available resources and benefit from man-made agricultural ecosystems. As bats are known predators of agricultural pests it seems possible that Malagasy bats may be preferentially foraging within agricultural areas and therefore provide important pest suppression services. To investigate the potential role of bats as pest suppressors, we conducted acoustic surveys of insectivorous bats in and around Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, during November and December 2015. We surveyed five landcover types: irrigated rice, hillside rice, secondary vegetation, forest fragment and continuous forest. 9569 bat passes from a regional assemblage of 19 species were recorded. In parallel, we collected faeces from the six most common bat species to detect insect pest species in their diet using DNA metabarcoding. Total bat activity was higher over rice fields when compared to forest and bats belonging to the open space and edge space sonotypes were the most benefited by the conversion of forest to hillside and irrigated rice. Two economically important rice pests were detected in the faecal samples collected - the paddy swarming armyworm Spodoptera mauritia was detected in Mops leucogaster samples while the grass webworm Herpetogramma licarsisalis was detected from Mormopterus jugularis and Miniopterus majori samples. Other crops pests detected included the sugarcane cicada Yanga guttulata, the macadamia nut-borer Thaumatotibia batrachopa and the sober tabby Ericeia inangulata (a pest of citrus fruits). Samples from all bat species also contained reads from important insect disease vectors. In light of our results we argue that Malagasy insectivorous bats have the potential to suppress agricultural pests. It is important to retain and maximise Malagasy bat populations as they may contribute to higher agricultural yields and promote sustainable livelihoods.

Double haploid technique aims to generate pure inbred lines for basic research and as commercial cultivars. This technique consists in a first obtention of haploid plants and a subsequent chromosome doubling, which can be separated in time or overlapped according to the procedure of each species. Since ever, much effort has been focused on haploid production via androgenesis, gynogenesis or parthenogenesis. Haploid plant obtention is the first step and requires more effort to optimize the haploid plant regeneration, and because of that chromosome doubling had usually been lagged behind. Nevertheless, chromosome doubling has recently been of renewed interest in double haploid research to increase double haploid plant obtention by optimizing and analysing different procedures. New antimitotic compounds, procedures and application methods are being published to ensure the success once haploid material has been regenerated. Moreover, haploid inducer-mediated genome-editing CRISPR/Cas9 system is a new breakthrough method to produce haploid plant material and requires chromosome doubling to succeed. This system could be of great importance for those species with non-successful haploid regeneration methods, or for recalcitrant species. In all cases, the new deployment of this system will demand a suitable chromosome doubling protocol. In this review we run through the existing double haploid and chromosome doubling methods to identify potential opportunities to enhance the breeding process in major crops.

1. In agricultural landscapes, arthropods provide essential ecosystem services such as biological pest control and pollination. Intensified crop management practices and homogenization of landscapes have led to declines among such organisms. Semi-natural habitats, associated with high numbers of these organisms, are increasingly lost from agricultural landscapes but diversification by increasing crop diversity has been proposed as a way to reverse observed arthropod declines and thus restore ecosystem services. However, whether or not an increase in the diversity of crop types within a landscape promotes diversity and abundances of pollinating and predaceous arthropods, and how semi-natural habitats might modify this relationship, are not well understood. 2. To test how crop diversity and the proportion of semi-natural habitats within a landscape are related to the diversity and abundance of beneficial arthropod communities, we collected primary data from seven studies focusing on natural enemies (carabids and spiders) and pollinators (bees and hoverflies) from 154 crop fields in Southern Sweden between 2007 and 2017. 3. Crop diversity within a 1-km radius around each field was positively related to the Shannon diversity index of carabid and pollinator communities in landscapes rich in semi-natural habitats. Abundances were mainly affected by the proportion of semi-natural habitats in the landscape, with decreasing carabid and increasing pollinator numbers as the proportion of this habitat type increased. Spiders showed no response to either crop diversity or the proportion of semi-natural habitats. Synthesis and applications. We show that the joint effort of preserving semi-natural habitats and promoting crop diversity in agricultural landscapes is necessary to enhance communities of natural enemies and pollinators. Our results suggest that increasing the diversity of crop types can contribute to the conservation of service-providing arthropod communities, particularly if the diversification of crops targets complex landscapes with a high proportion of semi-natural habitats. KEYWORDS agricultural intensification, arable land, crop diversity, diversification, ecosystem services, landscape composition, pollination, predation 1. In agricultural landscapes, arthropods provide essential ecosystem services such as biological pest control and pollination. Intensified crop management practices and homogenization of landscapes have led to declines among such organisms. Semi-natural habitats, associated with high numbers of these organisms, are increasingly lost from agricultural landscapes but diversification by increasing crop diversity has been proposed as a way to reverse observed arthropod declines and thus restore ecosystem services. However, whether or not an increase in the diversity of crop types within a landscape promotes diversity and abundances of pollinating and predaceous arthropods, and how semi-natural habitats might modify this relationship, are not well understood. 2. To test how crop diversity and the proportion of semi-natural habitats within a landscape are related to the diversity and abundance of beneficial arthropod communities, we collected primary data from seven studies focusing on natural enemies (carabids and spiders) and pollinators (bees and hoverflies) from 154 crop fields in Southern Sweden between 2007 and 2017. 3. Crop diversity within a 1-km radius around each field was positively related to the Shannon diversity index of carabid and pollinator communities in landscapes rich in semi-natural habitats. Abundances were mainly affected by the proportion of semi-natural habitats in the landscape, with decreasing carabid and increasing pollinator numbers as the proportion of this habitat type increased. Spiders showed no response to either crop diversity or the proportion of semi-natural habitats. Synthesis and applications. We show that the joint effort of preserving semi-natural habitats and promoting crop diversity in agricultural landscapes is necessary to enhance communities of natural enemies and pollinators. Our results suggest that increasing the diversity of crop types can contribute to the conservation of service-providing arthropod communities, particularly if the diversification of crops targets complex landscapes with a high proportion of semi-natural habitats. KEYWORDS agricultural intensification, arable land, crop diversity, diversification, ecosystem services, landscape composition, pollination, predation 1. In agricultural landscapes, arthropods provide essential ecosystem services such as biological pest control and pollination. Intensified crop management practices and homogenization of landscapes have led to declines among such organisms. Semi-natural habitats, associated with high numbers of these organisms, are increasingly lost from agricultural landscapes but diversification by increasing crop diversity has been proposed as a way to reverse observed arthropod declines and thus restore ecosystem services. However, whether or not an increase in the diversity of crop types within a landscape promotes diversity and abundances of pollinating and predaceous arthropods, and how semi-natural habitats might modify this relationship, are not well understood. 2. To test how crop diversity and the proportion of semi-natural habitats within a landscape are related to the diversity and abundance of beneficial arthropod communities, we collected primary data from seven studies focusing on natural enemies (carabids and spiders) and pollinators (bees and hoverflies) from 154 crop fields in Southern Sweden between 2007 and 2017. 3. Crop diversity within a 1-km radius around each field was positively related to the Shannon diversity index of carabid and pollinator communities in landscapes rich in semi-natural habitats. Abundances were mainly affected by the proportion of semi-natural habitats in the landscape, with decreasing carabid and increasing pollinator numbers as the proportion of this habitat type increased. Spiders showed no response to either crop diversity or the proportion of semi-natural habitats. Synthesis and applications. We show that the joint effort of preserving semi-natural habitats and promoting crop diversity in agricultural landscapes is necessary to enhance communities of natural enemies and pollinators. Our results suggest that increasing the diversity of crop types can contribute to the conservation of service-providing arthropod communities, particularly if the diversification of crops targets complex landscapes with a high proportion of semi-natural habitats. KEYWORDS agricultural intensification, arable land, crop diversity, diversification, ecosystem services, landscape composition, pollination, predation

Màster de Cultures Medievals. Facultat de Filologia i Comunicació. Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2019-2020, Tutor: Rosa Lluch Bramon, Aquest treball sorgeix de la voluntat d’escriure una història social i econòmica dels pescadors en el sector del nostre litoral corresponent a la comarca històrica de la Selva. Ara bé, tal empresa requereix més temps, espai i dedicació que un simple treball final de màster. Així que aquí em centraré només en un dels diversos aspectes que s’abordaran més profundament en el futur. Per què triar aquest tema tan concret, doncs? Tot i que aquí conflueixen diversos interessos, cal dir que aquest treball pretén ser un retrobament entre dues germanes que molts cops son enteses per separat malgrat anar agafades de la mà: la història rural i la història marítima. Els pescadors són un punt fort d’unió entre el medi marítim i les comunitats rurals on viuen. Per això em sembla adequat abordar aquest tema des d’un aspecte que comparteixen amb la resta de vilatans i que és un àmbit molt propi de la pagesia: la propietat de terra. És a dir, la presència dels pescadors en les feixes de terra, vinya, boscos i horts dels termes, al costat dels seus veïns.

Human land use threatens global biodiversity and compromises multiple ecosystem functions critical to food production. Whether crop yield–related ecosystem services can be maintained by a few dominant species or rely on high richness remains unclear. Using a global database from 89 studies (with 1475 locations), we partition the relative importance of species richness, abundance, and dominance for pollination; biological pest control; and final yields in the context of ongoing land-use change. Pollinator and enemy richness directly supported ecosystem services in addition to and independent of abundance and dominance. Up to 50% of the negative effects of landscape simplification on ecosystem services was due to richness losses of service-providing organisms, with negative consequences for crop yields. Maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystem service providers is therefore vital to sustain the flow of key agroecosystem benefits to society.

Coating seeds with biostimulants is among the promising approaches in crop production to increase crop tolerance to drought stress. In this study, we evaluated the potential of coating durum wheat seeds of the cultivar &lsquo, Karim&rsquo, with thyme essential oil on enhancing seed germination and seedling growth, and on plant growth promotion and induction of drought resistance. Coated seeds were pre-germinated, grown in hydroponics, and grown in pots under controlled well-watered and progressive water/nutrient stress conditions. Seed coating with thyme oil increased germination rate and enhanced seedling growth development in hydroponics. In the pot experiment, thyme oil increased, when well watered, root and shoot development, chlorophyll, nitrogen balance index (NBI), abscisic acid (ABA), anthocyanins and flavonoids in leaves, decreased nitrogen isotope composition (&delta, 15N) and increased carbon isotope composition (&delta, 13C) of shoots. Increasing water/nutrient stress in control plants induced higher accumulation of ABA and anthocyanins coupled with a transient decrease in chlorophyll and NBI, a decrease in shoot and root development, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), shoot C content, &delta, 15N, and an increase in &delta, 13C, revealing the avoidance strategy adopted by the cultivar. Thyme oil had the potential to enhance the avoidance strategy by inducing roots elongation, reducing the loss of shoot and roots dry matter and chlorophyll, maintaining balanced NBI, an decreasing anthocyanins, flavonoids, and &delta, 13C via maintaining lower ABA-mediated-stomatal closure. Thyme oil increased shoot N content and &delta, 15N indicating preferential uptake of the 15N enriched NH4+. Coating seeds with thyme oil is suggested as a promising alternative approach to improve plant&rsquo, s water and nutrient status and to enhance drought resistance.

Septoria leaf blotch (SLB) is considered one of the most devastating diseases affecting global wheat production. Biostimulant application is among the modern approaches in plant protection to overcome the impact of SLB&rsquo, s fungicide resistance. In this manner, the effect of coating seeds with thyme essential oil or Paraburkholderia phytofirmansPsJN strain on SLB severity and yield components (spikes/m2, straw yield (SY), grain yield (GY) and thousand kernel weight (TKW)) were assessed under field conditions for 3 years. The effect on physiological traits and nitrogen and carbon isotope composition (&delta, 15Ngrain, &delta, 13Cgrain) and nitrogen and carbon content (Ngrain, Cgrain) of grains was assessed in one year of study. The increasing SLB severity decreased all yield components, increased &delta, 15Ngrain and Cgrain content and slightly decreased &delta, 13Cgrain as the resulting effect of Z.tritici inducing stomatal opening and leaf necrosis. Across the years, both treatments alleviated the SLB adverse impact by reducing SLB severity, increasing spikes/m2, SY, GY and TKW. Both treatments ameliorated grain quality by increasing Cgrain content and decreasing &delta, 13Cgrain and &delta, 15Ngrain. The difference between the performance of thyme oil or PsJN strain in terms of intensity and stability is discussed and considered to be linked to the different triggered systemic resistance and the associated amount of costs deriving from resource allocation towards defense processes.

Climate change is one of the primary culprits behind the restraint in the increase of cereal crop yields. In order to address its effects, effort has been focused on understanding the interaction between genotypic performance and the environment. Recent advances in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have enabled the assembly of imaging sensors into precision aerial phenotyping platforms, so that a large number of plots can be screened effectively and rapidly. However, ground evaluations may still be an alternative in terms of cost and resolution. We compared the performance of red–green–blue (RGB), multispectral, and thermal data of individual plots captured from the ground and taken from a UAV, to assess genotypic differences in yield. Our results showed that crop vigor, together with the quantity and duration of green biomass that contributed to grain filling, were critical phenotypic traits for the selection of germplasm that is better adapted to present and future Mediterranean conditions. In this sense, the use of RGB images is presented as a powerful and low-cost approach for assessing crop performance. For example, broad sense heritability for some RGB indices was clearly higher than that of grain yield in the support irrigation (four times), rainfed (by 50%), and late planting (10%). Moreover, there wasn’t any significant effect from platform proximity (distance between the sensor and crop canopy) on the vegetation indexes, and both ground and aerial measurements performed similarly in assessing yield. This study was supported by the Spanish project AGL2016-76527-R “Fenotipeado En Trigo Duro: Bases Fisiológicas, Criterios De Selección Y Plataformas De Evaluación”, from the Ministerio Economía y Competitividad of the Spanish Government. A.G.-R. is a recipient of a FPI doctoral fellowship from the same institution. We also acknowledge the support from the Institut de Recerca de l’Aigua and the Universitat de Barcelona. J.L.A. acknowledges the funding support from ICREA, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain.

Ear density is one of the most important agronomical yield components in wheat. Ear counting is time-consuming and tedious as it is most often conducted manually in field conditions. Moreover, different sampling techniques are often used resulting in a lack of standard protocol, which may eventually affect inter-comparability of results. Thermal sensors capture crop canopy features with more contrast than RGB sensors for image segmentation and classification tasks. An automatic thermal ear counting system is proposed to count the number of ears using zenithal/nadir thermal images acquired from a moderately high resolution handheld thermal camera. Three experimental sites under different growing conditions in Spain were used on a set of 24 varieties of durum wheat for this study. The automatic pipeline system developed uses contrast enhancement and filter techniques to segment image regions detected as ears. The approach is based on the temperature differential between the ears and the rest of the canopy, given that ears usually have higher temperatures due to their lower transpiration rates. Thermal images were acquired, together with RGB images and in situ (i.e., directly in the plot) visual ear counting from the same plot segment for validation purposes. The relationship between the thermal counting values and the in situ visual counting was fairly weak (R2 = 0.40), which highlights the difficulties in estimating ear density from one single image-perspective. However, the results show that the automatic thermal ear counting system performed quite well in counting the ears that do appear in the thermal images, exhibiting high correlations with the manual image-based counts from both thermal and RGB images in the sub-plot validation ring (R2 = 0.75–0.84). Automatic ear counting also exhibited high correlation with the manual counting from thermal images when considering the complete image (R2 = 0.80). The results also show a high correlation between the thermal and the RGB manual counting using the validation ring (R2 = 0.83). Methodological requirements and potential limitations of the technique are discussed. This work was supported by MINECO, Spain (project number AGL2016-76527-R) as the primary funding support for the research project; the project “Formación de Talento Humano de Alto Nivel” (project number BPIN 2013000100103) approved by the “Fondo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación”, from the “Sistema General de Regalías”; and “Gobernación del Tolima—Universidad del Tolima, Colombia” as the sole funding source of the first author J.A.F.-G. Contribution of J.L.A. was supported in part by ICREA Academia, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain.

[eng] Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is without doubt one of the major crops worldwide, as its consumption is continuously increasing, especially in low- and lower-middle-income countries where it is the most important staple. This cereal has been domesticated for a long time, result of which several species and varieties are now available. It was key during the green revolution when its production increased in more than 2-fold times, and in addition has a deep cultural background in all the regions where it is grown. Hence, it is of uttermost importance for researchers and breeders to broaden and expand the knowledge on this cereal on all the study and research areas, especially now that we are living in the 21st century, which is marked by climate change. This phenomenon is one of the most menacing as it will reduce the quantity and quality of arable land due to salinization of soil as well as water scarcity which is the single and most important factor that determines global crop yields. In this sense, this thesis addresses to three important topics on rice that will help researchers and breeders for the improvement of rice varieties in the forthcoming future: (i) Analysis of salinity tolerant rice plants subjected to high salt concentration through a combined approach of shotgun proteomics and physiological characterization for the identification of new key proteins involved in the tolerance to this stress. In this study we provide a huge database for future studies of the salinity-stress response in rice varieties harboring the Saltol region, as we detected more than 2000 proteins involved during the early stages of salinity stress in the shoots and roots of the FL478 rice line. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of examining both the shoots and roots because their salinity tolerance traits are different and respond to different requirements of the rice plant. Finally, the information presented here expands our knowledge on adaptive processes under high salinity in rice plants and, notably, in rice roots. (ii) Phytohormones analysis in dwarf varieties through a broad phytohormone profiling method developed during this thesis for the characterization of phytohormone levels during the development of plants with contrasting heights that will allow to have more information for developing new dwarf mutant varieties. In this work, we reported that GA19 seems to have a crucial role in gibberellin availability in rice as its levels were much higher than all the other gibberellins in all tissues. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the GA20ox-2 mutation is not the only factor affecting height in rice, as a mutated variety had an increased growth during the half of its development period. Finally, we established for the first time a simple and broad phytohormone extraction and detection protocol that allows to identify 13 gibberellins and ABA, JA and IAA in several tissues at different phenological stages. (iii) Improvement and enhancement of anther culture protocols in rice for obtaining higher rates of stabilized green double haploid plants using different cold-pretreatments and additives in the growing media such as hormones and antimitotics in the growing media for their subsequent commercialization. It was evidenced that the best cold-pretreatment was 10ºC for 9 days, and that colchicine addition greatly enhances the production of green double haploid plantlets. Moreover, we have introduced for the first time a post-anther culture treatment with good prospects. Finally, several of the rice lines produced were assayed in rice paddy fields where they displayed good agronomical behavior., [spa] El arroz (Oryza sativa L.) es sin duda uno de los principales cultivos del mundo, especialmente en países en vías de desarrollo donde es el alimento básico, teniendo además un importante componente cultural. Fue clave en la revolución verde cuando su producción aumentó más del doble. En el siglo 21 marcado por el cambio climático, se verá reducida la cantidad y calidad de las tierras cultivables debido a la salinización del suelo y la escasez de agua. Por tanto, es de gran importancia para los investigadores y mejoradores ampliar el conocimiento que se tiene sobre este cereal en todas las áreas de estudio. En este sentido, esta tesis abordó tres temas importantes referentes a este cereal: (i) Un estudio del proteoma, de la parte aérea y radicular, de plantas de arroz tolerantes a la salinidad sometidas a una alta concentración de sal con el objetivo de identificar de nuevas proteínas clave involucradas en la tolerancia a este estrés. Proporcionamos una gran base de datos, más de 200 proteínas involucradas en este estrés y destacamos la importancia de las raíces para la tolerancia a este estrés. (ii) Análisis de fitohormonas en variedades enanas a través de un amplio y rápido método desarrollado durante esta tesis que permite, por primera vez en arroz, la extracción y detección de fitohormonas que posibilida la identificación de 13 giberelinas y ABA, JA e IAA en varios tejidos en diferentes etapas fenológicas. Se observó que la GA19 parece tener un papel crucial en la disponibilidad de giberelinas en el arroz, ya que sus niveles son los más elevados en todos los tejidos. La mutación GA20ox-2 no es el único factor que afecta la altura ya que la variedad mutada alcanza la altura de variedades wild-type. (iii) Por último, se reportan dos métodos de aumento de la eficiencia del protocolo de cultivo de anteras, técnica muy útil para la obtención de plantas de arroz dihaploides estables. El aumento del rendimiento se debió a nuevos pretratamientos de frío, así como la modificación de los medios de cultivo mediante diferentes concentraciones de hormonas y colchicina. Se introdujo, por primera vez, un tratamiento de diploidización para plantas haploides.

The present study assessed the behavior of four clones of Arundo donax L. (giant reed) as a perennial rhizomatous grass of increasing interest due to its high biomass production and great adaptability to stress conditions. In this study, a molecular, physiological, and biomass characterization was performed in greenhouse conditions on four Mediterranean clones. The majority of physiological and biomass parameters were not significantly different between clones. However, it was possible to observe large differences in the chromosome count for the four clones. In this way, we detected different numbers of chromosomes for each clone (98 to 122), but surprisingly, no correlation was observed between their chromosome numbers and their physiological and biomass responses.

Ear density, or the number of ears per square meter (ears/m2), is a central focus in many cereal crop breeding programs, such as wheat and barley, representing an important agronomic yield component for estimating grain yield. Therefore, a quick, efficient, and standardized technique for assessing ear density would aid in improving agricultural management, providing improvements in preharvest yield predictions, or could even be used as a tool for crop breeding when it has been defined as a trait of importance. Not only are the current techniques for manual ear density assessments laborious and time-consuming, but they are also without any official standardized protocol, whether by linear meter, area quadrant, or an extrapolation based on plant ear density and plant counts postharvest. An automatic ear counting algorithm is presented in detail for estimating ear density with only sunlight illumination in field conditions based on zenithal (nadir) natural color (red, green, and blue [RGB]) digital images, allowing for high-throughput standardized measurements. Different field trials of durum wheat and barley distributed geographically across Spain during the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 crop seasons in irrigated and rainfed trials were used to provide representative results. The three-phase protocol includes crop growth stage and field condition planning, image capture guidelines, and a computer algorithm of three steps: (i) a Laplacian frequency filter to remove low- and high-frequency artifacts, (ii) a median filter to reduce high noise, and (iii) segmentation and counting using local maxima peaks for the final count. Minor adjustments to the algorithm code must be made corresponding to the camera resolution, focal length, and distance between the camera and the crop canopy. The results demonstrate a high success rate (higher than 90%) and R2 values (of 0.62-0.75) between the algorithm counts and the manual image-based ear counts for both durum wheat and barley.

Bacterial wilt caused by the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the most devastating crop diseases worldwide. The molecular mechanisms controlling the early stage of R. solanacearum colonization in the root remain unknown. Aiming to better understand the mechanism of the establishment of R. solanacearum infection in root, we established four stages in the early interaction of the pathogen with Arabidopsis roots and determined the transcriptional profiles of these stages of infection. A total 2,698 genes were identified as differentially expressed genes during the initial 96 h after infection, with the majority of changes in gene expression occurring after pathogen-triggered root-hair development observed. Further analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated sequential activation of multiple hormone signaling cascades, including abscisic acid (ABA), auxin, jasmonic acid, and ethylene. Simultaneous impairment of ABA receptor genes promoted plant wilting symptoms after R. solanacearum infection but did not affect primary root growth inhibition or root-hair and lateral root formation caused by R. solanacearum. This indicated that ABA signaling positively regulates root defense to R. solanacearum. Moreover, transcriptional changes of genes involved in primary root, lateral root, and root-hair formation exhibited high temporal dynamics upon infection. Taken together, our results suggest that successful infection of R. solanacearum on roots is a highly programmed process involving in hormone crosstalk., This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31601703), the Start-up Funds of Northwest A&F University (Z111021601), the Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities of China (Z109021706) and External Science and Technology Cooperation Program of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (DW-X-2018012). We also acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grants AGL2016-78002-R and SEV-2015-0533) and from the CERCA project of the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya).

[eng] It is of strategic importance for Mediterranean agriculture to develop new varieties of durum wheat with greater production potential, together with a better adaptation to adverse environmental conditions and better quality of grain. While durum wheat, which is the most strategic crop in the south Mediterranean agriculture, has benefited as other cereals of the Green Revolution, genetic progress in recent decades has been less evident, partly masked by climate change, and the underlying physiological mechanisms are not evident. For this propose, the objective is to evaluate whether there have been agronomic and physiological changes associated with the genetic improvement of durum wheat grown in Spain after the Green Revolution and the environmental conditions where breeding gains have been higher. The study was based on a collection of 20 commercial varieties, grown in Spain between the beginning of the 70s of the last centuries and the present. The set was readapted during the last two cropping cycles and increased to a total of 23 cultivars, including more recent cultivars, released during the present decade. Cultivars were compared through consecutive years in wide range growing conditions secured by growing in three different sites differing in latitude and temperature, together with the implementation of support irrigation and different planting times. Changes in the genetic gain of the yield were evaluated between 2014 and 2016. Change in the agronomic and physiological parameters related to the genetic progress was evaluated between 2015- 2016, and the changes caused by the improvement in the adaptation patterns through the study of the genotype by environment (GE) interaction was evaluated between 2017 and 2018. It has been observed that the rate of genetic progress in the yield of durum wheat in Spain after the Green Revolution has been low it was estimated on 24 kg ha-1 y-1 (0.44% y-1 in term of relative gain) between 1980 and 2003 and has even stopped during the last decade until 2010. It was mainly due to increases in the number of kernels per spike (117 kernels m-2 y-1), and spikes per unit area (0.24 kernels spike-1 y-1), while no clear trend in some grain quality traits (TKW and grain N concentration). Moreover, areal biomass at harvest and grain nitrogen yield increased with the year of release of the cultivars for the entire period. In addition, it has been observed that the more productive genotypes were characterized by a plant height of around 85 cm, small erect flag leaves, more open stomata, a better balance between N sources and N sinks and a higher capacity to re-fix CO2 respired by the grain. Moreover, in general the non-laminar parts of the plants play a key role in providing assimilates during grain filling. Also, that the high heritability of most of the studied parameters allows their consideration as traits for phenotyping durum wheat better adapted to a wide range of Mediterranean conditions. On the other hand, an improvement in genetic yield has been reported in warm environments and under optimal water conditions, environments similar to those of from where the germplasm provenance release or origin. The adaptation of semi-dwarf durum in Spain has shown a tendency to specific adaptation rather than large-scale adaptation. Two different patterns of selection have been reported due the G×E interaction and change in the ranking of genotypes: in the high yielding environments, plant favors more water uptake, with more transpiration and more open stomata (more negative value of δ13C, whereas, in low yielding environments, plant close stomata and favors more water use efficiency (positive value of δ13C)., [spa] El trigo duro, que es el cultivo más estratégico en la agricultura del sur del Mediterráneo, se ha beneficiado como otros cereales de la Revolución Verde, el progreso genético en las últimas décadas ha sido menos evidente, en parte enmascarado por el cambio climático, y los mecanismos fisiológicos subyacentes no son evidentes. Se ha observado que la tasa de progreso genético en el rendimiento del trigo duro en España después de la Revolución Verde ha sido baja, se estimó en 24 kg ha-1 año-1 entre 1980 y 2003 e incluso se detuvo durante la última década hasta 2010. Se debió principalmente al aumento en el número de granos por espiga, y espigas por unidad de área, aunque no hay una tendencia clara en algunos rasgos de calidad de grano (TKW y concentración de N de grano). Además, la biomasa área en la cosecha y el rendimiento de nitrógeno en grano aumentó con el año de liberación de los cultivares durante todo el período. Además, se ha observado que los genotipos más productivos se caracterizaron por una altura de planta de alrededor de 85 cm, pequeñas hojas de bandera erectas, estomas más abiertos, un mejor equilibrio entre las fuentes de N y los sumideros de N y una mayor capacidad para re-fijar CO2 Respirado por el grano. Además, en general, las partes no laminares de las plantas juegan un papel clave en el suministro de asimilados durante el llenado del grano. Por otro lado, se ha informado una mejora en el rendimiento genético en ambientes cálidos y en condiciones óptimas de agua, ambientes similares a los de donde se origina el germoplasma. La adaptación del durum semi-enano en España ha mostrado una tendencia a la adaptación específica en lugar de la adaptación a gran escala. Se han informado dos patrones diferentes de selección debido a la interacción G × E: en los entornos de alto rendimiento, la planta favorece una mayor absorción de agua, con más transpiración y más estomas abiertos, mientras que, en entornos de bajo rendimiento, planta estomas cercanos y favorece una mayor eficiencia en el uso del agua.

Se debe tener en cuenta que las malas hierbas son propias de cada parcela y por tanto, se debe de plantear una estrategia de control a medio y largo plazo. Esto implica no solo el cultivo, sino también el manejo del suelo y la fecha de siembra con el objetivo último de que al llegar la cosecha, se reincorpore al banco de semillas del suelo la menor cantidad posible de estas. A grandes rasgos, cuanto más se retrasa la fecha de siembra, menor es la cantidad de plántulas que se desarrollan durante el ciclo de cultivo pero esto depende de cada especie y de la distribución de lluvias durante el otoño. Así, en los otoños de lluvias precoces, no es necesario esperar tanto tiempo a que se hayan producido los flujos de germinación de las diferentes especies. Parte de los distintos resultados presentados en el presente artículo han formado parte de un proyecto de investigación financiado por el Plan Nacional I+D+i (AGL2017-83325-C4-2-R) y que ha llevado a cabo el grupo de Malherbología y Ecología Vegetal de la Universitat de Lleida.

Managing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity and ecosystem services is a key aim of a sustainable agriculture. However, how the spatial arrangement of crop fields and other habitats in landscapes impacts arthropods and their functions is poorly known. Synthesising data from 49 studies (1515 landscapes) across Europe, we examined effects of landscape composition (% habitats) and configuration (edge density) on arthropods in fields and their margins, pest control, pollination and yields. Configuration effects interacted with the proportions of crop and non‐crop habitats, and species’ dietary, dispersal and overwintering traits led to contrasting responses to landscape variables. Overall, however, in landscapes with high edge density, 70% of pollinator and 44% of natural enemy species reached highest abundances and pollination and pest control improved 1.7‐ and 1.4‐fold respectively. Arable‐dominated landscapes with high edge densities achieved high yields. This suggests that enhancing edge density in European agroecosystems can promote functional biodiversity and yield‐enhancing ecosystem services.

[eng] Global climate change effects on agroecosystems together with increasing world population is already threatening food security and endangering ecosystem stability. Meet global food demand with crops production under climate change scenario is the core challenge in plant research nowadays. Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand the underpinning mechanisms of plant acclimation to stress conditions contributing to obtain resilient crops. Also, it is essential to develop new methods in plant research that permit to better characterize non-destructively plant traits of interest. In this sense, the advance in plant phenotyping research by high throughput systems is key to overcome these challenges, while its verification in the field may clear doubts on its feasibility. To this aim, this thesis focused on wheat and secondarily on maize as study species as they make up the major staple crops worldwide. A large panoply of phenotyping methods was employed in these works, ranging from RGB and hyperspectral sensing to metabolomic characterization, besides of other more conventional traits. All research was performed with trials grown in the field and diverse stressor conditions representative of major constrains for plant growth and production were studied: water stress, nitrogen deficiency and disease stress. Our results demonstrated the great potential of leave-to-canopy color traits captured by RGB sensors for in-field phenotyping, as they were accurate and robust indicators of grain yield in wheat and maize under disease and nitrogen deficiency conditions and of leaf nitrogen concentration in maize. On the other hand, the characterization of the metabolome of wheat tissues contributed to elucidate the metabolic mechanisms triggered by water stress and their relationship with high yielding performance, providing some potential biomarkers for higher yields and stress adaptation. Spectroscopic studies in wheat highlighted that leaf dorsoventrality may affect more than water stress on the reflected spectrum and consequently the performance of the multispectral/hyperspectral approaches to assess yield or any other relevant phenotypic trait. Anatomy, pigments and water changes were responsible of reflectance differences and the existence of leaf-side-specific responses were discussed. Finally, the use of spectroscopy for the estimation of the metabolite profiles of wheat organs showed promising for many metabolites which could pave the way for a new generation phenotyping. We concluded that future phenotyping may benefit from these findings in both the low-cost and straightforward methods and the more complex and frontier technologies., [cat] Els efectes del canvi climàtic sobre els agro-ecosistemes i l’increment de la població mundial posa en risc la seguretat alimentària i l’estabilitat dels ecosistemes. Actualment, satisfer les demandes de producció d’aliments sota l’escenari del canvi climàtic és el repte central a la Biologia Vegetal. Per això, és indispensable entendre els mecanismes subjacents de l’aclimatació a l’estrès que permeten obtenir cultius resilients. També és precís desenvolupar nou mètodes de recerca que permetin caracteritzar de manera no destructiva els trets d’interès. L’avenç del fenotipat vegetal amb sistemes d’alt rendiment és clau per abordar aquests reptes. La present tesi s’enfoca en el blat i secundàriament en el panís com a espècies d’estudi ja que constitueixen els cultius bàsics arreu del món. Un ampli ventall de mètodes de fenotipat s’han utilitzat, des sensors RGB a híper-espectrals fins a la caracterització metabolòmica. La recerca s’ha dut a terme en assajos de camp i s’han avaluat diversos tipus d’estrès representatius de les majors limitacions pel creixement i producció vegetal: estrès hídric i biòtic i deficiència de nitrogen. Els resultats demostraren el gran potencial dels trets del color RGB (des de la planta a la capçada) pel fenotipat de camp, ja que foren indicadors precisos del rendiment a blat i panís sota condicions de malaltia i deficiència de nitrogen i de la concentració de nitrogen foliar a panís. La caracterització metabolòmica de teixits de blat contribuí a esbrinar els processos metabòlics endegats per l’estrès hídric i la seva relació amb comportament genotípic, proporcionant bio-marcadors potencials per rendiments més alts i l’adaptació a l’estrès. Estudis espectroscòpics en blat van demostrar que la dorsoventralitat pot afectar més que l’estrès hídric sobre l’espectre de reflectància i consegüentment sobre el comportament de les aproximacions multi/híper-espectrals per avaluar el rendiment i d’altres trets fenotípics com anatòmics i contingut de pigments. Finalment, l’ús de l’espectroscòpia per l’estimació del contingut metabòlic als teixits de blat resulta prometedor per molts metabòlits, la qual cosa obre les portes per a un fenotipat de nova generació. El fenotipat pot beneficiar-se d’aquestes troballes, tant en els mètodes de baix cost com de les tecnologies més sofisticades i d’avantguarda.

[Background]: Potato, the third most important crop worldwide, plays a critical role in human food security. Brown rot, one of the most destructive potato diseases caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, results in huge economic losses every year. A quick, stable, low cost and high throughout method is required to meet the demands of identification of germplasm resistance to bacterial wilt in potato breeding programs., [Results]: Here we present a novel R. solanacearum hydroponic infection assay on potato plants grown in vitro. Through testing wilt symptom appearance and bacterial colonization in aerial part of plants, we found that the optimum conditions for in vitro potato infection were using an OD600 0.01 bacterial solution suspended with tap water for infection, broken potato roots and an open container. Infection using R. solanacearum strains with differential degree of aggressivity demonstrated that this infection system is equally efficient as soil-drench inoculation for assessment of R. solanacearum virulence on potato. A small-scale assessment of 32 potato germplasms identified three varieties highly resistant to the pathogen, which indicates this infection system is a useful method for high-throughout screening of potato germplasm for resistance. Furthermore, we demonstrate the utility of a strain carrying luminescence to easily quantify bacterial colonization and the detection of latent infections in hydroponic conditions, which can be efficiently used in potato breeding programs., [Conclusions]: We have established a quick and efficient in vitro potato infection system, which may facilitate breeding for new potato cultivars with high resistance to R. solanacearum., This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31601703), the Start-up Funds of Northwest A&F University (Z111021601), the Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities of China (Z109021706) and External Science and Technology Cooperation Program of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (DW-X-2018012). N.S.C. and M.V. work was funded by projects AGL2016-78002-R. (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) and financial support from the “Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D” (SEV‐2015‐0533) and the CERCA Programme from the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya).

11 Pags.- 2 Tabls.- 7 Figs., Mediterranean rainfed areas are transformed into irrigation to stabilize or increase crop yields. The gradual occupation of irrigation leads to an increase in nitrogen use and intensity of tillage. The aim of this work was to evaluate the combined impact of tillage systems and mineral N fertilization rates on maize grain yield, water and nitrogen use efficiencies (WUE and NUE) under Mediterranean irrigated conditions. The study was carried out in NE Spain during three maize growing seasons (i.e. years 2015, 2016 and 2017). A long-term (LTE) tillage and N rate field experiment established in 1996 under rainfed conditions was transformed into irrigation with maize (Zea mays L.) monocrop as cropping system in 2015. Three types of tillage (conventional tillage, CT; reduced tillage, RT; no-tillage, NT) and three mineral N fertilization rates (0, 200, 400 kg N ha−1) were compared. In 2015, an adjacent experiment (short-term experiment, STE) with the same layout was set up in an area previously managed under long-term rainfed NT for the last 21 years. In the long-term tillage and N fertilization combination (LTE), the reduction of tillage (NT and RT) led to greater grain yield when applying 200 and 400 kg N ha−1 compared to the use of the same rates under CT. Differently, in the sort-term experiment with preceding NT (STE), tillage systems did not influence grain yields, while N application led to greater yields than the control (0 kg N ha−1). In both situations (LTE and STE), NT and RT enhanced soil water content before planting leading to greater crop growth compared to CT. The lack of available water under CT caused lower maize stover, yield, and yield components in LTE and, therefore, lower WUEB (for biomass) and WUEY (for yield). In LTE, the use of long-term CT led to a significant accumulation of nitrate compared to NT. Differently, in the STE, soil nitrate content did not show differences between tillage systems. In the LTE, water and N were used more efficiently to produce aboveground biomass and grain yield in RT and NT. Our study shows that in Mediterranean agroecosystems transformed into irrigation the use of NT and RT with medium rates of N leads to greater maize yield, WUE and NUE than the traditional management based on CT with high rates of mineral N. In rainfed areas with long-term history of no-till, this soil management system can be successfully maintained if transformed into irrigation., This research work was financially supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (project AGL2013-49062-C4-1-R; PhD fellowship BES‐2014‐070039). DPB received a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral grant from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (IJCI-2016-27784).

[eng] World cereal stocks need to increase in order to meet growing demands. Currently, maize, rice, wheat, are the main crops worldwide, while other cereals such as barley, sorghum, oat or different millets are also well placed in the top list. Crop productivity is affected directly by climate change factors such as heat, drought, floods or storms. Researchers agree that global climate change is having a major impact on crop productivity. In that way, several studies have been focused on climate change scenarios and more specifically abiotic stresses in cereals. For instance, in the case of heat stress, high temperatures between anthesis to grain filling can decrease grain yield. In order to deal with the climate change and future environmental scenarios, plant breeding is one of the main alternatives breeding is even considered to contribute to the larger component of yield growth compared to management. Plant breeding programs are focused on identifying genotypes with high yields and quality to act as a parentals and further the best individuals among the segregating population thus develop new varieties of plants. Breeders use the phenotypic data, plant and crop performance, and genetic information to improve the yield by selection (GxE, with G and E indicating genetic and environmental factors). More factors must be taken into account to increase the yield, such as, for instance, the education of farmers, economic incentives and the use of new technologies (GxExM, with M indicating management). Plant phenotyping is related with the observable (or measurable) characteristics of the plant while the crop growing as well as the association between the plant genetic background and its response to the environment (GxE). In traditional phenotyping the measurements are collated manually, which is tedious, time consuming and prone to subjective errors. Nowadays the technology is involved in many applications. From the point of view of plan phenotyping, technology has been incorporated as a tool. The use of image processing techniques integrating sensors and algorithm processes, is therefore, an alternative to asses automatically (or semi-automatically) these traits. Images have become a useful tool for plant phenotyping because most frequently data from the sensors are processed and analyzed as an image in two (2D) or three (3D) dimensions. An image is the arrangement of pixels in a regular Cartesian coordinates as a matrix, each pixel has a numerical value into the matrix which represents the number of photons captured by the sensor within the exposition time. Therefore, an image is the optical representation of the object illuminated by a radiating source. The main characteristics of images can be defined by the sensor spectral and spatial properties, with the spatial properties of the resulting image also heavily dependent on the sensor platform (which determines the distance from the target object)., [spa] Las existencias mundiales de cereales deben aumentar para satisfacer la creciente demanda. Actualmente, el maíz, el arroz y el trigo son los principales cultivos a nivel mundial, otros cereales como la cebada, el sorgo y la avena están también bien ubicados en la lista. La productividad de los cultivos se ve afectada directamente por factores del cambio climático como el calor, la sequía, las inundaciones o las tormentas. Los investigadores coinciden en que el cambio climático global está teniendo un gran impacto en la productividad de los cultivos. Es por esto que muchos estudios se han centrado en escenarios de cambio climático y más específicamente en estrés abiótico. Por ejemplo, en el caso de estrés por calor, las altas temperaturas entre antesis y llenado de grano pueden disminuir el rendimiento del grano. Para hacer frente al cambio climático y escenarios ambientales futuros, el mejoramiento de plantas es una de las principales alternativas; incluso se considera que las técnicas de mejoramiento contribuyen en mayor medida al aumento del rendimiento que el manejo del cultivo. Los programas de mejora se centran en identificar genotipos con altos rendimientos y calidad para actuar como progenitores y promover los mejores individuos para desarrollar nuevas variedades de plantas. Los mejoradores utilizan los datos fenotípicos, el desempeño de las plantas y los cultivos, y la información genética para mejorar el rendimiento mediante selección (GxE, donde G y E indican factores genéticos y ambientales). El fenotipado plantas está relacionado con las características observables (o medibles) de la planta mientras crece el cultivo, así como con la asociación entre el fondo genético de la planta y su respuesta al medio ambiente (GxE). En el fenotipado tradicional, las mediciones se clasifican manualmente, lo cual es tedioso, consume mucho tiempo y es propenso a errores subjetivos. Sin embargo, hoy en día la tecnología está involucrada en muchas aplicaciones. Desde el punto de vista del fenotipado de plantas, la tecnología se ha incorporado como una herramienta. El uso de técnicas de procesamiento de imágenes que integran sensores y algoritmos son por lo tanto una alternativa para evaluar automáticamente (o semiautomáticamente) estas características.

Ancient civilisations depended heavily on natural fuel resources for a wide array of activities, and this had an impact on such resources that can be traced in the archaeological record. At its urban apex, the populations of the Indus Civilisation (2600–1900 BC) produced a wide range of objects and crafts, several of which involved highly specialised pyrotechnology. In the wake of increasing aridity and a period of weakened monsoon rainfall that affected South Asia from 2100 BC, these activities potentially put pressure on the natural resource base that may have had to be counterbalanced by differentiation in fuel use. The combined analysis of archaeobotanical and geoarchaeological remains from four Indus urban phase archaeological sites, has enable an assessment of the mechanisms through which people exploited wood, and diversified their fuel resources to adapt to the arid to semi-arid environments in which they lived. The combined use of local wood species with alternative fuels, such as dung and crop-processing leftovers, are evidence for resilient socio-ecological practices during the 700 years of Indus urbanism and perhaps beyond. The research was funded by AHRC Doctoral grant (2007/131224), St John’s College [no grant number], Cambridge European Trust (300469695) and The University of Cambridge (Isbel-Fletcher Garden Fund [no grant number], Smuts Memorial Fund [S2007/E2007], and Anthony Wilkin Fund [no grant number]).

Background The number of ears per unit ground area (ear density) is one of the main agronomic yield components in determining grain yield in wheat. A fast evaluation of this attribute may contribute to monitoring the efficiency of crop management practices, to an early prediction of grain yield or as a phenotyping trait in breeding programs. Currently the number of ears is counted manually, which is time consuming. Moreover, there is no single standardized protocol for counting the ears. An automatic ear-counting algorithm is proposed to estimate ear density under field conditions based on zenithal color digital images taken from above the crop in natural light conditions. Field trials were carried out at two sites in Spain during the 2014/2015 crop season on a set of 24 varieties of durum wheat with two growing conditions per site. The algorithm for counting uses three steps: (1) a Laplacian frequency filter chosen to remove low and high frequency elements appearing in an image, (2) a Median filter to reduce high noise still present around the ears and (3) segmentation using Find Maxima to segment local peaks and determine the ear count within the image. Results The results demonstrate high success rate (higher than 90%) between the algorithm counts and the manual (image-based) ear counts, and precision, with a low standard deviation (around 5%). The relationships between algorithm ear counts and grain yield was also significant and greater than the correlation with manual (field-based) ear counts. In this approach, results demonstrate that automatic ear counting performed on data captured around anthesis correlated better with grain yield than with images captured at later stages when the low performance of ear counting at late grain filling stages was associated with the loss of contrast between canopy and ears. Conclusions Developing robust, low-cost and efficient field methods to assess wheat ear density, as a major agronomic component of yield, is highly relevant for phenotyping efforts towards increases in grain yield. Although the phenological stage of measurements is important, the robust image analysis algorithm presented here appears to be amenable from aerial or other automated platforms. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13007-018-0289-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Simulación del movimiento humano mediante colocación directa a partir de la optimización dinámica. La optimización dinámica es herramienta capaz de predecir trayectorias aplicando diferentes criterios de optimización, modificando variables y/o imponiendo restricciones. Por otro lado, la colocación directa tiene como objetivo estimar las diferentes variables de estado y de control, dentro de un intervalo de tiempo discretizado. Se estudiará la marcha humana aplicando dichas herramientas, con el fin de estudiar y optimizar los diferentes esfuerzos que aparecen en las articulaciones.

Dorsoventrality in isobilateral wheat leaves may affect the reflected radiation spectrum and its accuracy in predicting physiological and agronomical traits under field conditions, The effects of leaf dorsoventrality and its interaction with environmentally induced changes in the leaf spectral response are still poorly understood, particularly for isobilateral leaves. We investigated the spectral performance of 24 genotypes of field-grown durum wheat at two locations under both rainfed and irrigated conditions. Flag leaf reflectance spectra in the VIS-NIR-SWIR (visible–near-infrared–short-wave infrared) regions were recorded in the adaxial and abaxial leaf sides and at the canopy level, while traits providing information on water status and grain yield were evaluated. Moreover, leaf anatomical parameters were measured in a subset of five genotypes. The spectral traits studied were more affected by the leaf side than by the water regime. Leaf dorsoventral differences suggested higher accessory pigment content in the abaxial leaf side, while water regime differences were related to increased chlorophyll, nitrogen, and water contents in the leaves in the irrigated treatment. These variations were associated with anatomical changes. Additionally, leaf dorsoventral differences were less in the rainfed treatment, suggesting the existence of leaf-side-specific responses at the anatomical and biochemical level. Finally, the accuracy in yield prediction was enhanced when abaxial leaf spectra were employed. We concluded that the importance of dorsoventrality in spectral traits is paramount, even in isobilateral leaves.

[eng] Rice (Oryza sativa) is the most important crop for human direct consumption, but its yield and production are strongly affected by biotic and abiotic stresses. Rice is the most salt-sensitive cereal and in addition, salinity is a rising problem around the world reinforced by the climate change effects such as rise of the sea level, soil degradation and water scarcity. Regarding biotic stresses, the apple snail (Pomacea sp.) is one of the worst introduced pest that affects rice production. It has been detected for first time in Europe in Spain, in 2009 in Ebro River Delta, destroying rice fields at seedling stage. Additionally, rice blast, caused by an ascomycete called Pyricularia oryzae, is a disease that strongly affects the rice production worldwide causing yield losses that range from 15% to 50%, even using specific fungicides. The main objective of this thesis is to develop new stress-tolerant rice varieties for the Mediterranean region, by the introgression of the Saltol QTL and new blast resistance genes to Mediterranean local varieties. A molecular marker assisted backcross scheme (using KASP technology) was followed to introgress the salt tolerance traits. The Saltol donor varieties were FL478 and IR64-Saltol, two salt-tolerant Asiatic indica rice lines, while the recurrent parental lines were PL12 and PM37, two Mediterranean japonica rice lines. BC3F3 plants were tested for salt tolerance in hydroponic assays. The standard evaluation system (SES) described by IRRI was used to evaluate the lines. Relative chlorophyll content (RCC, measured with a SPAD), fresh weight and plant length was also recorded. Additionally, two consecutive years of field assays were performed in Ebro River Delta using different foreign and local lines (and their hybrids), to evaluate their general performance and rice blast resistance. From the 4 crosses combination performed between both Saltol donors and both Mediterranean recurrent parents, PL12 x FL478 (LP cross) and PM37 x IR64-Saltol (MS) were selected to proceed with the whole backcrossing process, to determine the return to the recurrent parent genome and to obtain the homozygous Saltol BC3F4 seeds. For the hydroponic assays, 54 BC3LPF3 lines were initially tested since a high variability between lines was observed. From them, some lines like LP-3, LP-15 or LP-17, performed similar or even better in the SES than the salinity donor FL478 line. The RCC data showed again a high variability between lines, although RCC did not correlate with SES results. The data analysis was hindered due to the differences scored between replicates and the fact that much of them were totally dead at the end of the assay. A certain degree of heterozygosity may explain the variability found between replicates during the SES evaluation. The fresh weight (FW) and the plant length in both shoot and root was strongly affected by the salinity treatment. However, the reduction was higher in shoot than in root. Finally, the blast tolerance field assays were severely affected by the rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis, both years. The evaluation for rice blast tolerance was really difficult and no outstanding line was selected to proceed. In conclusion, the Saltol QTL has been successfully introgressed in two Mediterranean japonica rice varieties, although more replicates of the hydroponics assays must be performed to confirm and select the most salt tolerant obtained lines. These lines will be tested in 2018 and 2019 in field assays, under salinized and no salinized conditions. Regarding rice blast resistance field assays, no conclusive results were achieved. More field assays must be done, and other lines should be tested. In order to reduce C. suppressalis infestations, more phytosanitary actions should be taken in the future.

Background Photosynthesis underpins plant productivity and yet is notoriously sensitive to small changes in environmental conditions, meaning that quantitation in nature across different time scales is not straightforward. The ‘dynamic’ changes in photosynthesis (i.e. the kinetics of the various reactions of photosynthesis in response to environmental shifts) are now known to be important in driving crop yield. Scope It is known that photosynthesis does not respond in a timely manner, and even a small temporal ‘mismatch’ between a change in the environment and the appropriate response of photosynthesis toward optimality can result in a fall in productivity. Yet the most commonly measured parameters are still made at steady state or a temporary steady state (including those for crop breeding purposes), meaning that new photosynthetic traits remain undiscovered. Conclusions There is a great need to understand photosynthesis dynamics from a mechanistic and biological viewpoint especially when applied to the field of ‘phenomics’ which typically uses large genetically diverse populations of plants. Despite huge advances in measurement technology in recent years, it is still unclear whether we possess the capability of capturing and describing the physiologically relevant dynamic features of field photosynthesis in sufficient detail. Such traits are highly complex, hence we dub this the ‘photosynthome’. This review sets out the state of play and describes some approaches that could be made to address this challenge with reference to the relevant biological processes involved.

Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) is a powerful proteomic technique to display protein activities in a proteome. It is based on the use of small molecular probes that react with the active site of proteins in an activity-dependent manner. We used ABPP to dissect the protein activity changes that occur in the intercellular spaces of tolerant (Hawaii 7996) and susceptible (Marmande) tomato plants in response to R. solanacearum, the causing agent of bacterial wilt, one of the most destructive bacterial diseases in plants. The intercellular space -or apoplast- is the first battlefield where the plant faces R. solanacearum. Here, we explore the possibility that the limited R. solanacearum colonization reported in the apoplast of tolerant tomato is partly determined by its active proteome. Our work reveals specific activation of papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) and serine hydrolases (SHs) in the leaf apoplast of the tolerant tomato Hawaii 7996 on R. solanacearum infection. The P69 family members P69C and P69F, and an unannotated lipase (Solyc02g077110.2.1), were found to be post-translationally activated. In addition, protein network analysis showed that deeper changes in network topology take place in the susceptible tomato variety, suggesting that the tolerant cultivar might be more prepared to face R. solanacearum in its basal state. Altogether this work identifies significant changes in the activity of 4 PLCPs and 27 SHs in the tomato leaf apoplast in response to R. solanacearum, most of which are yet to be characterized. Our findings denote the importance of novel proteomic approaches such as ABPP to provide new insights on old and elusive questions regarding the molecular basis of resistance to R. solanacearum., Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329AGL2013–46898-RRyC 2014–16158EU-Marie Curie Actions http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010665PIIF-331392ERC starting grant http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663258413ERC consolidator grant http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663616449 'GreenProteases'EuroTransBio project 'PredicSeed'COST Action SUSTAIN http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000921FA1208

The dependence on tillage in organic agriculture has raised questions regarding soil management in organic systems. Recently, Agro-ecological Service Crops (ASC) and roller crimper (RC) technology have attracted attention in organic farming circles. ASC are sown before cash crops to provide benefits for agro-ecosystem services. RC permits the creation of a mulch on the soil surface consisting of ASC plant material with no need for tillage. Studies carried out in the USA, Canada and Latin America on RC reveal some of the potential benefits and drawbacks of this technology. However, only a few such studies have taken place in European agroecosystems. The objective of the SoilVeg project (ERA-Net CORE Organic Plus) is to study RC under European environmental and agronomic conditions. This paper shows how sowing ASC before autumn-winter cash crops and the termination strategy affect (i) the abundance of soil arthropods and (ii) the diversity of both pest and beneficial insects in Italy and Spain. Roller crimper, agro-ecological service crops, ground-dwelling arthropods, aphids, parasitoids, aphidophagous predators