Estudio taxonómico de las especies ibéricas del género Odiellus (Arachnida: Opiliones)

El género Odiellus Roewer, 1923, diagnosticable por un robusto tridente frontal y una excavación dorso-distal en el tronco del pene, alberga seis especies ibéricas. La elevada variabilidad detectada sugiere que hay más especies. En este trabajo se realiza la caracterización de las especies ibéricas, así como su estudio morfológico y morfométrico (haciendo hincapié en las del noreste ibérico), y la descripción de una nueva especie de Cataluña, usando para ello ejemplares conservados en la colección del Departamento de Zoología y Biología Celular Animal de la UPV/EHU, así como ejemplares capturados durante una campaña en el Macizo del Garraf entre el 1 y el 3 de noviembre del 2012. Los resultados muestran que las variables morfométricas estudiadas influyen de manera desigual en la varianza muestral, lo cual puede ser útil en futuros estudios a la hora de decidir distintos caracteres diagnósticos para cada una de las especies de Odiellus ibéricos.

Dendrorremediación: El uso de Betula alba para monitorizar y reducir el contenido de metales en suelos mineros.

[EN] The intense industrial activity that took place over the past century resulted in large contaminated áreas. This is an important risk to human health and environmental safety. Recent biotechnological techniques for bioremediation include phytoremediation, which uses plants to remove or stabilize contaminants in soils. In our study we choose birch (Betula alba) as the preferred species to remedy mining soils, due to it produces a large biomass and can accumulate high levels of toxic elements in its tissues. The aim of this study was (i) to determine the possibility of using this species in reforestation and/or remediation of mining soils (ii) to elucidate the potential of tocopherol levels as indicators of heavy metal pollution. Trees growing in mining soils with high concentrations of Zn, Cd and Pb were sampled and the metal content in various organs and in tree rings was analyzed. α-tocoferol levels were also analyzed as an indicator of stress. The results showed a different distribution of metals in plant tissues. Zn and Cd had a higher accumulation in leaves, whereas Pb was stored in the timber. In addition, the metal content in tree rings was higher in older rings, leading to a conclusion that older tissues present a detoxification strategy. Furthermore, we saw how the presence of α- tocoferol on branches can be an indicator of metal stress in plants and it can be also used as a monitoring factor.