Two centuries of masting data for European beech and Norway spruce across the European continent

Tree masting is one of the most intensively studied ecological processes. It affects nutrient fluxes of trees, regeneration dynamics in forests, animal population densities, and ultimately influences ecosystem services. Despite a large volume of research focused on masting, its evolutionary ecology, spatial and temporal variability and environmental drivers are still matter of debate. Understanding the proximate and ultimate causes of masting at broad spatial and temporal scales will enable us to predict tree reproductive strategies and their response to changing environment. Here we provide broad spatial (distribution range-wide) and temporal (century) masting data for the two main masting tree species in Europe, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.). We collected masting data from a total of 359 sources through an extensive literature review and from unpublished surveys. The dataset has a total of 1747 series and 18348 yearly observations from 28 countries and covering a time span of years 1677-2016 and 1791-2016 for beech and spruce, respectively. For each record, the following information is available: identification code; species; year of observation; proxy of masting (flower, pollen, fruit, seed, dendrochronological reconstructions); statistical data type (ordinal, continuous); data value; unit of measurement (only in case of continuous data); geographical location (country, Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics NUTS-1 level, municipality, coordinates); first and last record year and related length; type of data source (field survey, peer reviewed scientific literature, grey literature, personal observation); source identification code; date when data were added to the database; comments. To provide a ready-to-use masting index we harmonized ordinal data into five classes. Furthermore, we computed an additional field where continuous series with length >4 years where converted into a five classes ordinal index. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive published database on species-specific masting behaviour. It is useful to study spatial and temporal patterns of masting and its proximate and ultimate causes, to refine studies based on tree-ring chronologies, to understand dynamics of animal species and pests vectored by these animals affecting human health, and it may serve as calibration-validation data for dynamic forest models.The paper was partly funded by the “Fondo di Ricerca Locale 2015-2016” of the University of Torino and by the Stiftelsen Stina Werners fond (grant SSWF 10-1/29-3 to I.D.)

Cosmic‐ray Neutron Rover Surveys of Field Soil Moisture and the Influence of Roads

Measurements of root-zone soil moisture across spatial scales of tens to thousands of meters have been a challenge for many decades. The mobile application of Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS) is a promising approach to measure field soil moisture noninvasively by surveying large regions with a ground-based vehicle. Recently, concerns have been raised about a potentially biasing influence of local structures and roads. We employed neutron transport simulations and dedicated experiments to quantify the influence of different road types on the CRNS measurement. We found that roads introduce a substantial bias in the CRNS estimation of field soil moisture compared to off-road scenarios. However, this effect becomes insignificant at distances beyond a few meters from the road. Neutron measurements on the road could overestimate the field value by up to 40 % depending on road material, width, and the surrounding field water content. The bias could be largely removed with an analytical correction function that accounts for these parameters. Additionally, an empirical approach is proposed that can be used without prior knowledge of field soil moisture. Tests at different study sites demonstrated good agreement between road-effect corrected measurements and field soil moisture observations. However, if knowledge about the road characteristics is missing, measurements on the road could substantially reduce the accuracy of this method. Our results constitute a practical advancement of the mobile CRNS methodology, which is important for providing unbiased estimates of field-scale soil moisture to support applications in hydrology, remote sensing, and agriculture. Plain Language Summary Measurements of root-zone soil moisture across spatial scales of tens to thousands of meters have been a challenge for many decades. The mobile application of Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS) is a promising approach to measure field soil moisture noninvasively by surveying large regions with a ground-based vehicle. Recently, concerns have been raised about a potentially biasing influence of roads. We employed physics simulations and dedicated experiments to quantify the influence of different road types on the CRNS measurement. We found that the presence of roads biased the CRNS estimation of field soil moisture compared to nonroad scenarios. Neutron measurements could overestimate the field value by up to 40 % depending on road material, width, surrounding field water content, and distance from the road. We proposed a correction function that successfully removed this bias and works even without prior knowledge of field soil moisture. Tests at different study sites demonstrated good agreement between corrected measurements and other field soil moisture observations. Our results constitute a practical advancement of the mobile CRNS methodology, which is important for providing unbiased estimates of field-scale soil moisture to support applications in hydrology, remote sensing, and agriculture

LA TECNICA NIRS NELLA VALUTAZIONE DI UOVA ED OVOPRODOTTI

The validity of l-lactic, succinic and d-3-hydroxybutyric acids as indicators of egg freshness and presence of incubator rejects were determined in 120 homogenized farm eggs using the Boehringer-Mannheim enzymic technique and subsequent NIR spectroscopy. Tests were carried out on fresh eggs and eggs held at 4 or 20\ub0C to simulate commercial conditions. The 3 acids proved highly suited as a measure of the eggs' freshness. l-lactic acid content increased considerably during storage, but did not exceed 500 mg/kg DM after 27 days at ambient temp., indicating that the Italian legal limit of 1000 mg/kg DM is set too high. Succinic and d-3-hydroxybutyric acid levels did not rise, but the former gave an indication of the hygienic quality of the eggs, and the latter revealed the presence of incubator egg rejects. NIR spectroscopy proved extremely valuable as a quality control technique, allowing accurate evaluation of the concn. of the 3 indicator acids, as well as providing a means of differentiating between different egg batches

Natural dynamics of holm oak-dominated forest stands in the National Park of Maremma, Tuscany

Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests are coenoses worthy of great care because of their inherent bio-ecological value. The suspension of harvesting following the crisis of fuel wood market ruled the evolutive pattern of maquis over the last decades. In this phase, site quality seems to be the major driver of the holm oak-dominated forest recovery as well as of the lasting permanence of the sclerophyllous shrub forest. In this connection, stand dynamics has been monitored in three plots located in the strictly protected area of the “Parco Regionale della Maremma” (Grosseto - Tuscany), where natural evolution is in progress since at least five decades. The monitored stands are representative of different evolutive phases from the holm oak-dominated coppices to the typical maquis, as a function of the original stand structure and composition but also of the intensity and length of the applied coppice management system. The analysis was carried out by permanent transects; two inventories were undertaken in 1991 and 2006 to evaluate both compositional and structural variability and the dynamics in progress. Results at now highlight the role played by the residual site quality and specific composition in driving the evolutive pattern of tree species community. Under the absence of any silvicultural practice and better site conditions, the progress and specific incidence of regular mortality and the related aboveground biomass redistribution, supported the vegetation of holm oak and the other subsidiary species typical of more mature stages. The overall forest dynamics seemed anyway to proceed slowly and resulted in a steady physiognomy over a long time since the suspension of the historical disturbance made of repeated harvesting on short rotations

Paesaggi e figure della formazione nella creazione sociale

valenza formativa e autoformativa delle imprese sociali, quando esse hanno la qualità di creazioni social