Person:
Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier

First Name

Alejandro Javier

Last Name

Rescia Perazzo

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/74421

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Faculty / Institute

Ciencias Biológicas

Department

Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución

Area

Ecología

Identifiers

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Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 35

Project number: 255
Renovación de las prácticas de Ecología: Aprendiendo Ecología Acuática
(2022) Sánchez Montoya, María Mar; Rovira Sanroque, José Vicente; Ortega Quero, Marta; Acosta Gallo, Belén; López Pintor, Antonio; Andivia, Enrique; Herrero Méndez, Asier; Concepción Cuevas, Elena Daniela; Delgado Sáez, Juan Antonio; García Fungairiño, Sara; Schmitz García, María Fe; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier; Martín Zorrilla, Juan Vicente; Gómez Juaristi, Miren; Rodríguez Sousa, Antonio Alberto; Luque Martín, Yaiza; Herrero Jaúregui, Cristina
Methodological approach to spatial analysis of agricultural pest dispersal in olive landscapes
(Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2022) Moreno, A.; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier; Pascual, S.; Ortega, M.
The effectiveness of a Geographical Information Systems cost-distance tool for detecting landscape permeability in relation to the movement of pests in olive landscapes was established. The simplification of agricultural systems is linked to an increased incidence of pests on crops. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of different land uses surrounding olive groves on pests. In this work, we analysed the effect of the structure of the olive landscape on the movement of two main olive pests—the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) and the olive moth, Prays oleae (Bernard) (Lepidopetera: Praydidae). We applied linear mixed effects models to analyse the relationship between pest abundance and cost-distance, using different hypotheses to evaluate those land uses that are favourable or unfavourable for the movement of these pests. The results show that this methodology is effective in detecting possible unfavourable land uses with a barrier effect, such as woodland and artificial land uses, and favourable land uses with a corridor effect such as olive groves. Whether other land uses, such as scrubland or riverbanks, act as a barrier or corridor depends on the pest and its life cycle stage. The effect that different land uses have in maintaining low levels of pest populations and ensuring the long-term sustainability of these agricultural systems are discussed. The implications of landscape permeability for the physical structure of the landscape and the dispersal of organisms, and the potential of that landscape to impact the continuous flow of natural processes are also addressed.
Estimation of Soil Loss Tolerance in Olive Groves as an Indicator of Sustainability: The Case of the Estepa Region (Andalusia, Spain)
(Agronomy, 2019) Rodríguez Sousa, Antonio Alberto; Barandica Fernández, Jesús María; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier
Spain is the world’s leading producer of olive oil, with the largest number of olive agro-systems in the Andalusia region. However, rural migration, low profitability, and biophysical limitations to production have compromised their sustainability. Soil erosion is the main cause of declining production and must be controlled to sustain production and keep soil loss below a threshold (soil loss tolerance, SLT). In this paper, the Soil Loss Tolerance Index (SLTI) for non-specific crops was calculated, theoretically, in different Andalusian olive-growing areas. A new Soil Loss Tolerance Index specifically for olive groves was developed (SLTIog) using soil variables related to erosion corresponding to the Estepa region. This index and the Soil Productive Index (SPI) were estimated. Andalusian olive groves with severe erosion were unsustainable for a 150-year period according to SLTI. However, applying the SLTIog in olive groves of Estepa, soil loss was not unsustainable. Although no statistically significant differences were detected between the two SLT indices, the consideration of specific soil variables in the SLTIog made it more accurate and reliable for the assessment of potential long-term sustainability. The use of specific indices for olive groves can inform the adoption of management measures to maintain productivity and support conservation.
Cultural landscapes as complex adaptive systems: the cases of northern Spain and northern Argentina
(Resilience and the Cultural Landscape: Understanding and Managing Change in Human-Shaped Environments, 2012) Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier; Pérez Corona, Esther; Arribas Ureña, Paula; Dover, John W.; Plieninger, Tobias; Bieling, Claudia
Changes in land uses and management in two Nature Reserves in Spain: Evaluating the social–ecological resilience of cultural landscapes
(Landscape and Urban Planning, 2010) Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier; Willaarts, Bárbara A.; Schmitz García, María Fe; Aguilera, Pedro A.
In the last decades, changes in land use and management have led to the degradation of many cultural landscapes in European rural areas. Such degradation has had relevant consequences for local populations, landscape functionality, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. Many of these cultural rural landscapes are linked to Nature Reserves, therefore having an increase in conservation interest. We analysed and compared the landscape changes of two Nature Reserves in Spain, ‘Sierra Norte de Sevilla’ Natural Park (SNSNP) and ‘Urdaibai’ Biosphere Reserve (UBR) over the last 50 years. Results showed that the SNSNP landscape has undergone little spatial changes over time while UBR has suffered significant transformations. We have also assessed how these landscape changes are related to the loss of resilience observed in both Nature Reserves. In SNSNP, resilience degradation is mainly due to socioeconomic changes. The low profitability of current land use has accentuated rural migration, increasing local population aging and reducing social opportunities. This fact has significantly decreased the capacity of the system to cope with changes. In UBR, landscape changes have degraded the ecological resilience of the system. The homogenization of the landscape has increased the vulnerability of UBR to the spread of disturbance, resulting in a loss of land use diversity. We suggest that effective management of cultural landscapes, understood as social–ecological systems, should integrate both, the social and ecological components. This management should be adaptive and involve the active participation of local population. Sustainable tourism and hunting are emerging as challenging alternatives.
Employing contingent and inferred valuation methods to evaluate the conservation of olive groves and associated ecosystem services in Andalusia (Spain)
(Ecosystem Services, 2017) Torres Miralles, M.; Grammatikopoulou, I.; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier
The present study explores how people perceive the conservation of an olive agro-ecosystem within a natural reserve, in Andalusia (southern Spain). Using the contingent and the inferred valuation methods, we performed a field survey to identify the socio-economic factors that affect willingness to pay for conservation of the olive groves, and to specify the priority people give to ecosystem services. Results showed that respondents who gave a high score to cultural and regulating ecosystem services were more likely to pay for a conservation plan. This would indicate that factors linked to the historic presence and ecological functionality of the olive groves prevail over their economic aspect in respondents’ willingness to pay. Willingness to pay is found to be positively correlated to appreciation of ecosystem services. The contingent method revealed that mean willingness to pay ranges from 31 to 43 €/year/respondent, whereas the inferred method pointed to a slightly higher range of willingness to pay, from 37€ to 44 €/ year/respondent. Different alternative policies (for example, payment for ecosystem services) should be considered according to the outcome of our study within a sustainable management plan to attenuate the trends of intensification or abandonment of olive groves and to ensure rural development in the region.
Relationship between landscape structure and abundance of airborne beneficial arthropods in an olive agro-ecosystem
(Iobc Wprs Bulletin, 2017) Pascual, Susana; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier; Sánchez Ramos, Ismael; González Núñez, Manuel; Ortega Quero, Marta
Some of the groups of beneficial arthropods present in the olive grove canopy are hoverflies, hymenopteran parasitoids and bees. In this research we test the hypothesis that the abundance of these groups in olive groves increases with increasing landscape complexity. In spring 2015 and 2016 we determined the abundance of the beneficial insect groups in 15 olive groves by identification of insects captured on 4 yellow sticky traps in each olive grove. Indices of landscape structure were calculated in circular areas with radii ranging from 250 to 1500 m around the 15 olive groves selected. Preliminary results indicate that in both sampling dates, the abundance of hoverflies was negatively correlated with the patch size of the olive grove, but positively correlated with the total area of scrublands and oak forests and with the diversity index of land uses. The abundance of hymenopteran parasitoids and bees was also positively correlated with the total area of scrublands with oak, in both years, but negatively correlated with the patch size of olive groves in the case of bees. Not all these relationships were significant at all radii and years analysed. These results indicate that intermingling of spontaneous vegetation with olive groves favours the presence of beneficial arthropods.
Spatial structure of olive groves and scrublands affects Bactrocera oleae abundance: a multi-scale analysis
(Basic and Applied Ecology, 2016) Ortega Quero, Marta; Pascual, S.; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier
Environmentally friendly measures are needed to achieve natural pest control. A relationship between landscape structure and Bactrocera oleae, the main olive grove pest, indicated a general association between complex landscapes and reduced abundance of the insect. In this work we have characterised the relationship between spatial structure of specific land uses and the olive fruit fly abundance at different scales (from 600 to 2000 m radius). We paid special attention to the dominant land use in the studied area, the olive crop, and the surrounding natural land uses. In the landscape analysed the spatial arrangement of olive and scrubland patches showed a gradient of situations from areas with an abundance of olive area distributed in very few patches close to each other to landscapes with less olive area arranged in many patches and with larger scrubland areas. Linear mixed-effects models showed that the abundance of B. oleae is positively related to the proximity of olive patches at all studied scales. However, other landscape characteristics (total area of olive groves and scrublands) were differentially related to pest abundance depending on considered scales. According to the obtained results it is advisable to plan olive groves at a 1000–1500 m radius spatial scale, in which the role of scrublands regarding B. oleae population is favoured. The best planning option for the olive grove landscape is discussed in the “Land sharing-Land sparing” context.
Probabilistic graphical models for species richness prediction: Are current protected areas effective to face climate emergency?
(Global Ecology and Conservation, 2020) Maldonado, A. D.; Valdivieso, A.; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier; Aguilera, Ángeles
Climate change has been related to the current loss of global biodiversity. In this paper, the effects of different scenarios of climate change on the distribution of the four classes of terrestrial vertebrate species in Andalusia (Spain) are explored. The goal is to obtain potential climatically suitable areas for each group (amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds) under each proposed scenario and examine the usefulness of the current static design of protected areas. We propose a methodology to construct habitat suitability models, which are used to predict the expected species richness given each projected scenario of climate change. The relative change of the species richness within National and Natural Parks, remainder of Natura (2000) network and unprotected areas is compared. The results of the study show a broad effect of climate change on the species richness distribution. In general, there is a loss of specific richness and a restricted availability of suitable areas. The protected areas located in higher altitudes maintain the best conditions for the survival of the taxa considered in the proposed climate change scenarios.
Ecological and economic sustainability in olivegroves with different irrigation management and levels of erosion: a case study
(Sustainability, 2019) Rodríguez Sousa, Antonio Alberto; Barandica Fernández, Jesús María; Rescia Perazzo, Alejandro Javier
In the last 50 years, both the agricultural labour force and irrigated land area have increased almost eightfold in Spain. The main objective of irrigation, in the short term, is to increase agricultural production. However, in the long term, the environmental externalities of irrigation and its direct relationship with soil erosion processes are more uncertain and still poorly studied. In this study, in an olive-growing region of Andalusia, Spain, the variation of several soil parameters related to irrigation and erosion levels was analysed. The results showed that irrigation, while increasing the productive level of the olive groves, entails a progressive alteration of the soil, modifying physical aspects (greater compaction and humidity of the soil together with lower gravel content, porosity and soil weight) and chemical aspects (reduction of the organic matter of the soil and the content of nitrates) that can aggravate the consequences of the erosive processes. In the long term, the productive benefit attributed to irrigation could be unsustainable from an ecological and, consequently, economic point of view. In addition, the lack of sustainability of olive irrigation agroecosystems could be exacerbated by the future restrictive impacts of climate change on water resources in Mediterranean environments. This situation demands spatial planning and alternative management based on soil conservation and rational and efficient forms of irrigation to ensure the sustainability of olive groves and their economic viability.