The native distribution of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus in the western Atlantic extends from Nova Scotia to Argentina. Introduced to Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, it is currently recorded almost ubiquitously in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. An overview of the occurrence, abundance, and ecological impact of the species in southern European waters is provided; additionally, we present a pragmatic assessment of its management scenarios, explicitly considering the dual nature of C. sapidus as both an invasive species and a fishery resource. We emphasise that the ongoing expansion of C. sapidus in the region may represent a stimulating challenge for the identification and implementation of future strategies in the management of invasive crustaceans. The impact of the invader could be converted into an enhancement of the services delivered by southern European coastal ecosystems, while mitigation costs could be transformed into profits for local populations.

The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is native to the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, and along the US coasts the species supports an important fishery. The crab has been introduced to Europe at the beginning of the 20 th century. To date the species is considered invasive and is extensively recorded in southern European waters (SEW), where it is starting to penetrate the shellfish market. Here, an integrated management strategy is proposed for the blue crab in SEW, including the Mediterranean and Black Sea and the eastern Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula.Taking as introductory examples two case studies represented by the red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus and the green crab Carcinus maenas, a framework of key issues is reviewed considering the double nature of the species as invaders and shellfish products. A SWOT analysis is eventually presented for C. sapidus, in order to perform a state-of-the-art synthesis of the proposed scenario, highlighting the potential opportunities as well as the weaknesses related with the limited knowledge of the ecological and economic impact of the species in invaded habitats. The review is concluded by an appraisal of the current trends in global and European crustacean fisheries. The ongoing expansion of C. sapidus might represent a useful management case study, where the need to control an invasive species and mitigate its ecological impact can be harmonized with the opportunity to value it as a fishery resource.

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WileyMorata Higón, T.; Falco Giaccaglia, SL.; Gadea, I.; Sospedra Ciscar, J.; Rodilla Alamá, M. (2013). Environmental effects of a marine fish farm of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) This study examined the effects of organic enrichment on water column, sediments and macrofauna caused by a fish farm in the Mediterranean Sea. Samples were collected on four sampling campaigns over a one-year cycle. Significant differences were found in the water column in dissolved oxygen, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and total phosphorus concentrations between the fish farm and the control. The increase in the dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphate concentrations at the fish farm modified the stoichiometric ratios between nutrients, with silicate acting as limiting nutrient at the fish farm 11% more than at the control. Nevertheless, chlorophyll a concentration in the water column was higher at the control station, probably due to the fouling of the underwater fish farm structures. Significant differences were found in sediment concentrations of organic matter, total phosphorus and redox potential between the fish farm and the control. The Canonical Correlation Analysis indicated that organic matter, total phosphorus, redox potential and % of gravels accounted for 68.9% of the total variance in the species data. Changes were observed in macrofauna, with a decrease in number of species and up to a nine-fold increase in abundance with respect to the control.

Wireless sensor networks are widely used for monitoring different processes, including agriculture, in order to reach sustainability. One of the keys to sustainable crops is water saving. In particular, saving water is extremely important in arid and semiarid regions. In those regions, citrus trees are cultivated, and drip irrigation is used to save water. In this paper, we propose a smart irrigation system for citrus trees using a WSN. We describe the employed sensors and nodes for this proposal. Next, we present the proposed architecture and the operational algorithms for the nodes. Moreover, we designed different algorithms for fault tolerance and energy saving functionalities. The energy saving algorithm is based on the relevance of the gathered data, which is analyzed in order to consider whether the information should be forwarded or not. A TPC-based protocol is proposed to perform the communication among the nodes of our system. In addition, we present different simulations of the proposed system. Particularly, we show the consumed bandwidth and the remaining energy in the different nodes. Finally, we test different energy configurations to evaluate the network lifetime and the remaining energy when the first node depletes its energy.

ElsevierFalco Giaccaglia, SL.; Niencheski, L.; Rodilla Alamá, M.; Romero Gil, I.; González Del Rio Rams, J.; Sierra, J.; Mösso, C. (2010). Nutrient flux and budget in the Ebro estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 87 (1) Abstract: The Ebro river flows to the Mediterranean coast of Spain. During its final stretch, the Ebro behaves in a similar way to a highly stratified estuary. This paper describes the transport of nutrients to the Ebro estuary, evaluates the general movement of nutrients in the estuarine region, using a mass balance approach, and estimates the amounts of nutrients discharged to the coastal environment. Given the strong saline stratification, this study only includes the surface layer that contains the continental freshwater. The annual nutrient budget for the Ebro estuary shows a net excess for nitrogen and phosphorus, while silicate almost attains equilibrium between addition and removal. There are several reasons for gains in nitrogen and phosphorous: a contribution of dissolved and particulate compounds in the freshwater (some of which are mineralized); a lower uptake of phytoplankton indicated by chlorophyll reduction in the estuary; an entrainment of the nutrient-rich upper part of the salt wedge; and, to a lesser extent, the impact of wastewater and agricultural water use. The biggest load discharged into the Mediterranean Sea by the Ebro is nitrogen, followed by silicate with over 10 000 tons of each deposited annually. Phosphorus is discharged at relatively low concentrations and with an annual load of about 200 t yr-1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 2 ABSTRACTThe Ebro river flows to the Mediterranean coast of Spain. During its final stretch, the Ebro behaves in a similar way to a highly stratified estuary. This paper describes the transport of nutrients to the Ebro estuary, evaluates the general movement of nutrients in the estuarine region, using a mass balance approach, and estimates the amounts of nutrients discharged to the coastal environment. Given the strong saline stratification, this study only includes the surface layer that contains the continental freshwater. The annual nutrient budget for the Ebro estuary shows a net excess for nitrogen and phosphorus, while silicate almost attains equilibrium between addition and removal. There are several reasons for gains in nitrogen and phosphorous: a contribution of dissolved and particulate compounds in the freshwater (some of which are mineralized); a lower uptake of phytoplankton indicated by chlorophyll reduction in the estuary; an entrainment of the nutrient-rich upper part of the salt wedge; and, to a lesser extent, the impact of wastewater and agricultural water use. The biggest load discharged into the Mediterranean Sea by the Ebro is nitrogen, followed by silicate with over 10 000 tons of each deposit...

Morata, T.; Sospedra, J.; Falco Giaccaglia, SL.; Rodilla Alama, M. (2012). Exchange of nutrients and oxygen across the sediment-water interface below a Sparus aurata marine fish farm in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Soils and Sediments. 12(10):1623-1632. doi:10.1007/s11368-012-0581-2. It is the first of its kind to be based on benthic flux data gathered in situ below fish farms for this particular area. Materials and methods Samples were collected on four samplingcampaigns over a 1-year cycle under a Sparus aurata fish farm facility where benthic fluxes were measured in situ using light and dark benthic chambers.Bottom water and sediment samples were also collected. Data were compared to those for a nearby control station.Results and discussion Significant differences were found (ANOVA,