Water content and reserve allocation patterns within the bulb of the perennial geophyte red squill (Liliaceae) in relation to the Mediterranean climate

Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharaf Al-Tardeh ◽  
Thomas Sawidis ◽  
Barbara-Evelin Diannelidis ◽  
Stylianos Delivopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Active Centre ◽  
Urginea Maritima ◽  
Outer Covering ◽  
Mechanical Defense ◽  
Allocation Patterns ◽  
The Mediterranean

The patterns of water content and reserve allocation in the bulb parts of red squill ( Urginea maritima (L.) Baker) and the plant’s adaptive strategy to Mediterranean climate (Crete, Greece) were investigated. The different bulb parts serve varying ecological functions in terms of their resources and their importance for these functions. The basal plate is the active centre, developing one or two apical meristems and roots in autumn, as well as the flowering bud in late summer. The middle of the bulb (approximately the third bulb scale) stores the resources and the tunics (the outer covering structures) that provide mechanical defense. The water content and reserve allocation patterns synchronize the plant’s phenological development with the seasonality of the Mediterranean climate. The adaptive strategies are based on the development of a deciduous semisubterranean life form primarily for the avoidance of drought, herbivores, and other environmental hazards, as well as nutrient shortage. The presence of cells containing lipids, polysaccharides, raphides, water, mucilage, bufadienolides, the presence of sclerenchyma, the tightly packed epidermis, and the presence of the tunics facilitate this.

scholarly journals Effects and Economic Sustainability of Biochar Application on Corn Production in a Mediterranean Climate

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 3313
Author(s):  
Juan Luis Aguirre ◽  
María Teresa Martín ◽  
Sergio González ◽  
Manuel Peinado
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Corn Production ◽  
Enhanced Production ◽  
Wet Weight ◽  
The Mediterranean

The effects of two types of biochar on corn production in the Mediterranean climate during the growing season were analyzed. The two types of biochar were obtained from pyrolysis of Pinus pinaster. B1 was fully pyrolyzed with 55.90% organic carbon, and B2 was medium pyrolyzed with 23.50% organic carbon. B1 and B2 were supplemented in the soil of 20 plots (1 m2) at a dose of 4 kg/m2. C1 and C2 (10 plots each) served as control plots. The plots were automatically irrigated and fertilizer was not applied. The B1-supplemented plots exhibited a significant 84.58% increase in dry corn production per square meter and a 93.16% increase in corn wet weight (p << 0.001). Corn production was no different between B2-supplemented, C1, and C2 plots (p > 0.01). The weight of cobs from B1-supplemented plots was 62.3%, which was significantly higher than that of cobs from C1 and C2 plots (p < 0.01). The grain weight increased significantly by 23% in B1-supplemented plots (p < 0.01) and there were no differences between B2-supplemented, C1, and C2 plots. At the end of the treatment, the soil of the B1-supplemented plots exhibited increased levels of sulfate, nitrate, magnesium, conductivity, and saturation percentage. Based on these results, the economic sustainability of this application in agriculture was studied at a standard price of €190 per ton of biochar. Amortization of this investment can be achieved in 5.52 years according to this cost. Considering the fertilizer cost savings of 50% and the water cost savings of 25%, the amortization can be achieved in 4.15 years. If the price of biochar could be reduced through the CO2 emission market at €30 per ton of non-emitted CO2, the amortization can be achieved in 2.80 years. Biochar markedly improves corn production in the Mediterranean climate. However, the amortization time must be further reduced, and enhanced production must be guaranteed over the years with long term field trials so that the product is marketable or other high value-added crops must be identified.

scholarly journals First report of caper (Capparis spinosa) serious infestation by Eurydema eckerleini in Cyclades Islands, Greece (Hemiptera: Heteroptera, Pentatomidae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Konstantinos B. Simoglou ◽  
Paride Dioli
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
First Record ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Hilly Terrain ◽  
First Report ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
Capparis Spinosa ◽  
Heteroptera Pentatomidae ◽  
The Mediterranean

The islands of Tinos and Syros in the Cyclades Archipelago, Greece, have a hilly terrain, a mild Mediterranean climate and vegetation adapted to drought conditions. Caper (<em>Capparis</em> <em>spinosa</em> L.) is highly adapted to arid environments and grows successfully during the Mediterranean summer. In August 2015, we detected serious infestations on wild caper by <em>Eurydema</em> <em>eckerleini</em> (Pentatomidae), which was formerly considered a species endemic to Crete and the Peloponnese, with an isolated report in Turkey. This is the first record of the presence of<em> E. eckerleini</em> in the Cyclades.

scholarly journals Multimodel assessment of climate change-induced hydrologic impacts for a Mediterranean catchment

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 4125-4143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrica Perra ◽  
Monica Piras ◽  
Roberto Deidda ◽  
Claudio Paniconi ◽  
Giuseppe Mascaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Actual Evapotranspiration ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Hydrologic Models ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract. This work addresses the impact of climate change on the hydrology of a catchment in the Mediterranean, a region that is highly susceptible to variations in rainfall and other components of the water budget. The assessment is based on a comparison of responses obtained from five hydrologic models implemented for the Rio Mannu catchment in southern Sardinia (Italy). The examined models – CATchment HYdrology (CATHY), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), TOPographic Kinematic APproximation and Integration (TOPKAPI), TIN-based Real time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS), and WAter balance SImulation Model (WASIM) – are all distributed hydrologic models but differ greatly in their representation of terrain features and physical processes and in their numerical complexity. After calibration and validation, the models were forced with bias-corrected, downscaled outputs of four combinations of global and regional climate models in a reference (1971–2000) and future (2041–2070) period under a single emission scenario. Climate forcing variations and the structure of the hydrologic models influence the different components of the catchment response. Three water availability response variables – discharge, soil water content, and actual evapotranspiration – are analyzed. Simulation results from all five hydrologic models show for the future period decreasing mean annual streamflow and soil water content at 1 m depth. Actual evapotranspiration in the future will diminish according to four of the five models due to drier soil conditions. Despite their significant differences, the five hydrologic models responded similarly to the reduced precipitation and increased temperatures predicted by the climate models, and lend strong support to a future scenario of increased water shortages for this region of the Mediterranean basin. The multimodel framework adopted for this study allows estimation of the agreement between the five hydrologic models and between the four climate models. Pairwise comparison of the climate and hydrologic models is shown for the reference and future periods using a recently proposed metric that scales the Pearson correlation coefficient with a factor that accounts for systematic differences between datasets. The results from this analysis reflect the key structural differences between the hydrologic models, such as a representation of both vertical and lateral subsurface flow (CATHY, TOPKAPI, and tRIBS) and a detailed treatment of vegetation processes (SWAT and WASIM).

scholarly journals Conservation of the group Piperia (Orchidaceae) and associated plant communities

Lankesteriana ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Lauri
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Mediterranean

The conservation and protection of California native orchids has not been a large focus recently. All California native orchids are terrestrial and many are associated with forest and woodland plant com- munities. However, a number are associated with the Mediterranean Climate plant community known as Chaparral; this includes at least three Piperia Rydb. species. Many Piperia populations and associated Chaparral plant communities have been impacted by human activity over the past several decades, howev- er, there is very little documentation regarding the size, and overall impact to the populations. 

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