Water, agriculture and ecosystem services in climate change vulnerable agricultural regions of Spain and Jordan

Irrigated agricultural landscapes generate a valuable set of ecosystem services, which are threatened by water scarcity in many aridand semi‐arid regions of the world. In the Mediterranean region, climate change is expected to decrease water availability through reduced precipitation and more frequent drought spells. At the same time, climate change, demographic and economic development and an agricultural sector highly dependent on irrigation, will raise water demand, increasing experienced water scarcity and affecting the provision of ecosystem services from water resources and agro-ecosystems. In this context, policy makers face the challenge of balancing the provision of different ecosystem services, including agricultural income and production and also water ecosystem protection.

Approach to the potential production of giant reed in surplus saline lands of Spain

Growing energy crops on marginal land has been promoted as a way of ensuring that biomass production involves an acceptable and sustainable use of land. Saline and saline-prone agricultural lands represent an opportunity for growing energy crops avoiding the displacement of food production and contributing to restoration of degraded land. Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is a perennial grass that has been proposed as a promising energy crop for lignocellulosic biomass production while its tolerance to salinity has been proved. In this work, the identification of surplus saline lands that could be irrigated with saline waters for growing tolerant-energy crops (giant reed) in the mainland of Spain and the assessment of the agronomically attainable yield in these limiting growing conditions were undertaken. To this purpose, a GIS analysis was conducted using geodatabases related to saline areas, agro-climatic conditions, irrigation water requirements, agricultural land availability, restrictions regarding the range of electrical conductivity tolerated by the crop, competition with agro-food crops and irrigation water provisions. According to the approach developed, the irrigated and saline agricultural area available and suitable for biomass production from giant reed amounted up to 34 412 ha. The agronomically attainable yield in these limiting conditions was estimated at 12.7 – 22.2 t dm ha−1 yr−1 and the potential production of lignocellulosic biomass, 597 338 t dm yr−1. The methodology followed in this study can be applied to other target regions; it allows the identification of this type of marginal lands, where salinity-tolerant plant species could be grown for bioenergy purposes, avoiding competition with agro-food crops, and where soil restoration measurements should be undertaken.

Calendar of the state papers relating to Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots, 1547-1603, preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and elsewhere in England.

Editors: v. 1-2, J. Bain.--v. 3-9, W. K. Boyd.--V. 10, W. K. Boyd and H. W. Meikle.--v. 11, A. I. Cameron.--v. 12, M. S. Guiseppi.--v. 13, J. D. Mackie.

Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, queen of Bohemia, daughter of King James the First. Including sketches of the state of society in Holland and Germany, in the 17th century.

Mode of access: Internet.

The life of Queen Elizabeth,

Mode of access: Internet.

The life and times of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt; a study in the origin of the Roman empire,

pt. I. Cleopatra and Cæsar.--pt. II. Cleopatra and Antony.

The life of Queen Elizabeth,

Mode of access: Internet.

Tomb 2 (M2D1; likely the Queen of the King of Jiangdu), excavated artifact, #7 Heart-shaped Pendant

Jiangsu. Wuxi County. Dayunshan; L: 1 13/16 in.; white jade

Tomb 2 (M2D1; likely the Queen of the King of Jiangdu), excavated artifact, #7 Heart-shaped Pendant, line draing of the remaining fragment

Jiangsu. Wuxi County. Dayunshan; white jade

Tomb 2 (M2D1; likely the Queen of the King of Jiangdu), excavated artifact, #7 Heart-shaped Pendant, rubbing

Jiangsu. Wuxi County. Dayunshan; white jade

The days of Queen Mary : with engravings.

Printed originally in London by the London Religious Tract Society.

The alphabet of the primitive language of Spain, and philosophical examination of the antiquity and civilization of the Basque people: an extract from the work of Don Juan Bautista de Erro.

Translated from the Spanish by George William Erving.

Memoirs of the private life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre. To which are added, Recollections, sketches and anecdotes, illustrative of the reigns of Louis XIV. Louis XV. and Louis XVI.

"Biographical notice of Madame Campan," signed F. Barriere: p. [i]-xxvii.

Memoirs of the court of Queen Elizabeth.

Mode of access: Internet.

The legend of Mary, queen of Scots, and other ancient poems;

Generally attributed to Thomas Wenman.