Resultados de investigación

Genome-wide cytosine methylation estimates of 200 plants of Helleborus foetidus obtained by HPLC and Methylation Scoring of MSAP data Genome-wide cytosine methylation estimates in young leaves of 200 plants of Helleborus foetidus obtained using HPLC and the percentage of cytosine methylation in CCGG sites obtained by Methylation Scoring of MSAP data. Methylation scoring (MS50) was calculated as the percentage of MSAP loci scored as methylated (condition II + III). HPLC_MS_data_doi_10.5061_dryad.04d0d.txt, Methylation of DNA cytosines affects whether transposons are silenced and genes are expressed, and is a major epigenetic mechanism whereby plants respond to environmental change. Analyses of methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MS-AFLP or MSAP) have been often used to assess methyl-cytosine changes in response to stress treatments and, more recently, in ecological studies of wild plant populations. MSAP technique does not require a sequenced reference genome and provides many anonymous loci randomly distributed over the genome for which the methylation status can be ascertained. Scoring of MSAP data, however, is not straightforward, and efforts are still required to standardize this step to make use of the potential to distinguish between methylation at different nucleotide contexts. Furthermore, it is not known how accurately MSAP infers genome-wide cytosine methylation levels in plants. Here, we analyse the relationship between MSAP results and the percentage of global cytosine methylation in genomic DNA obtained by HPLC analysis. A screening of literature revealed that methylation of cytosines at cleavage sites assayed by MSAP was greater than genome-wide estimates obtained by HPLC, and percentages of methylation at different nucleotide contexts varied within and across species. Concurrent HPLC and MSAP analyses of DNA from 200 individuals of the perennial herb Helleborus foetidus confirmed that methyl-cytosine was more frequent in CCGG contexts than in the genome as a whole. In this species, global methylation was unrelated to methylation at the inner CG site. We suggest that global HPLC and context-specific MSAP methylation estimates provide complementary information whose combination can improve our current understanding of methylation-based epigenetic processes in nonmodel plants., Peer reviewed

Matrix AFLPs Canarina canariensis Original Matrix of Canarina canariensis AFLPs matriz_595alelos.xlsx cpDNA_Canarina_canariensis NEXUS files for the concatenated cpDNA dataset of Canarina canariensis, Geographical isolation by oceanic barriers and climatic stability has been postulated as some of the main factors driving diversification within volcanic archipelagos. However, few studies have focused on the effect that catastrophic volcanic events have had on patterns of within-island differentiation in geological time. This study employed data from the chloroplast (cpDNA haplotypes) and the nuclear (AFLPs) genomes to examine the patterns of genetic variation in Canarina canariensis, an iconic plant species associated with the endemic laurel forest of the Canary Islands. We found a strong geographical population structure, with a first divergence around 0.8 Ma that has Tenerife as its central axis and divides Canarian populations into eastern and western clades. Genetic diversity was greatest in the geologically stable ‘palaeo-islands’ of Anaga, Teno and Roque del Conde; these areas were also inferred as the ancestral location of migrant alleles towards other disturbed areas within Tenerife or the nearby islands using a Bayesian approach to phylogeographical clustering. Oceanic barriers, in contrast, appear to have played a lesser role in structuring genetic variation, with intra-island levels of genetic diversity larger than those between-islands. We argue that volcanic eruptions and landslides after the merging of the palaeo-islands 3.5 Ma played key roles in generating genetic boundaries within Tenerife, with the palaeo-islands acting as refugia against extinction, and as cradles and sources of genetic diversity to other areas within the archipelago., Peer reviewed

Telomere length of magpie and great spotted cuckoo nestlings Telomere length of magpie and great spotted cuckoo nestlings soon after hatching and before fledging. We also show telomere attrition values and laying-date of each studied nest. Values are means estimates per study nest. data.xlsx, Although little is known on the impact of environment on telomere length dynamics, it has been suggested to be affected by stress, lifestyle and/or life-history strategies of animals. We here compared telomere dynamics in erythrocytes of hatchlings and fledglings of the brood parasite great spotted cuckoos (Clamator glandarius) and of magpies (Pica pica), their main host in Europe. In magpie chicks, telomere length decreased from hatching to fledging while no significant change in telomere length of great spotted cuckoo chicks was found. Moreover, we found interspecific differences in the association between laying date and telomere shortening. Interspecific differences in telomere shortening were interpreted as a consequence of differences in lifestyle and life-history characteristics of magpies and great spotted cuckoos. In comparison with magpies, cuckoos experience reduced sibling competition and higher access to resources, and, consequently, lower stressful environmental conditions during the nestling phase. These characteristics also explain the associations between telomere attrition and environmental conditions (i.e. laying date) for magpies and the absence of association for great spotted cuckoos. These results therefore fit expectations on telomere dynamics derived from interspecific differences in lifestyle and life-history of brood parasites and their bird hosts., Peer reviewed

Linares et al_Data and Supplementary Material Data and supplementary material, Ocean acidification is one of the main stressors affecting marine ecosystems. Rare CO2 vents offer a unique opportunity to investigate the response of benthic ecosystems to acidification. However, the benthic habitats that have been investigated so far are mainly very shallow water (≤5 m depth) and, therefore, to habitats that are poorly representative of the broad range of habitats that occur on the continental shelf. Here, we show that a decrease from pH 8.1 to 7.9 observed in a CO2 vent system at 40 m depth leads to a dramatic shift in highly diverse and structurally complex habitats. Forests of the kelp Laminaria rodriguezii usually found at larger depths (>65 m) replace the dominant habitats (i.e. coralligenous outcrops and rhodolith beds), which are mainly characterized by calcifying organisms. Only the aragonite-calcifying algae are able to survive in acidified waters, while high-magnesium calcite organisms lack almost completely. Beyond significant changes at species level also reported in most of previous studies, our results demonstrate that moderate ocean acidification and pH levels expected to occur at the end of this century will entail outstanding changes in the distribution and dominance of key benthic ecosystems at regional scales, with far-reaching ecological and socio-economic implications., Peer reviewed

Pinus phenotypic data and locality descriptions Phenotypes (serotiny and tree diameter) and locality descriptors (stand, coordinates, etc) for 367 Pinus halpensis and 194 Pinus pinster individuals from SE Spain. Please note: these data are a subset of the dataset originally collected by Hernández-Serrano et al. (2013) Fire structures pine serotiny at different scales. American Journal of Botany 100, 2349-2356. Pinus_phenotypes_and_localities.txt Gmatrix_P.halepensis Tab-delimited text file with symetrical matrix showing pairwise relatedness estimates for 367 individuals of Pinus halepensis. Diagonal estimates are included. Estimates are based on 251 SNPs and were estimated with the synbreed package in R. Gmatrix P.pinaster Tab-delimited text file with symetrical matrix showing pairwise relatedness estimates for 194 individuals of Pinus pinaster. Diagonal estimates are included. Estimates are based on 251 SNPs and were estimated with the synbreed package in R. Gmatrix_P.pinaster.txt, The strong association observed between fire regimes and variation in plant adaptations to fire suggests a rapid response to fire as an agent of selection. It also suggests that fire-related traits are heritable, a precondition for evolutionary change. One example is serotiny, the accumulation of seeds in unopened fruits or cones until the next fire, an important strategy for plant population persistence in fire-prone ecosystems. Here, we evaluate the potential of this trait to respond to natural selection in its natural setting. For this, we use a SNP marker approach to estimate genetic variance and heritability of serotiny directly in the field for two Mediterranean pine species. Study populations were large and heterogeneous in climatic conditions and fire regime. We first estimated the realized relatedness among trees from genotypes, and then partitioned the phenotypic variance in serotiny using Bayesian animal models that incorporated environmental predictors. As expected, field heritability was smaller (around 0.10 for both species) than previous estimates under common garden conditions (0.20). An estimate on a subset of stands with more homogeneous environmental conditions was not different from that in the complete set of stands, suggesting that our models correctly captured the environmental variation at the spatial scale of the study. Our results highlight the importance of measuring quantitative genetic parameters in natural populations, where environmental heterogeneity is a critical aspect. The heritability of serotiny, although not high, combined with high phenotypic variance within populations, confirms the potential of this fire-related trait for evolutionary change in the wild., Peer reviewed

latitude, herbivore attack, plant defenses, and climatic data Ruellia nudiflora population-level values for defenses, herbivore attack, and parasitoid attack. Variables are ordered and labeled in the following way: "population" = plant population name; "latitude" = decimal degrees latitude for each population ; "pctemperature" = z-score values from first principal component of PCA analysis of temperature-related variables (from WorldClim); "pcprecipitation" = z-score values from first principal component of PCA analysis of precipitation-related variables (from WorldClim); "seedphenolics" = concentration of phenolic compounds in seeds; "leafphenolics" = concentration of phenolic compounds in leaves; "fruitattack" = mean proportion of attacked fruits by seed herbivore; "parasitoidattack" = mean proportion of seed herbivores parasitized; "leafdamage" = mean leaf damage score; "trichomedensity" = mean leaf trichome density. latitudinalvariation_Abdalaetal.csv, 1. Geographic variation in abiotic factors and species interactions is widespread and is hypothesized to generate concomitant patterns of species trait variation. For example, higher rates of herbivory at lower latitudes are thought to select for increased plant defences, although latitudinal variation in defences may also be influenced directly by abiotic factors and indirectly by predators and parasitoids reducing herbivore pressure. 2. We measured defences of the herb Ruellia nudiflora among 30 populations spanning a latitudinal gradient from northern Yucatan to southern Belize that vary substantially in leaf herbivory (four-fold), seed herbivory (25-fold), and seed herbivore parasitism (14-fold). These surveyed populations span one-third of the species’ latitudinal distribution (5° of latitude), the entire precipitation gradient of its distribution, and one-third of the temperature gradient of its distribution. Our prior work showed that leaf herbivory decreased with latitude and that seed herbivory increased with latitude. Here, we measured leaf trichome density and leaf and seed phenolics and tested whether latitudinal variation in climate, herbivory, and parasitism explained latitudinal variation in these defensive traits. 3. Patterns of variation in leaf trichomes fully supported predictions, with trichome density increasing with a parallel increase in herbivory towards lower latitudes. While seed phenolics were positively associated with herbivory, and seed herbivory tended to increase with latitude, the predicted (positive) association between latitude and defence was not detectable. There was no detectable association between parasitoids and seed defences. In addition, the association between leaf herbivory and phenolics was weak, and leaf phenolics were not associated with latitude. Importantly, variation in the abiotic environment was associated with plant defence, indicating that abiotic factors can play a major role in shaping plant defences, independently of herbivory. 4. Synthesis: Latitudinal variation in abiotic factors may drive concomitant patterns of variation in plant defences, independently of herbivory. Collectively, these findings highlight the need for assessing geographic variation in plant defences from a multi-factorial perspective, testing for the simultaneous influence of biotic and abiotic factors., Peer reviewed

Monitoring of 13 species at six-month intervals during two years in order to describe spatial variation in the composition of the mammal assemblage. The dataset includes species occurrence in 400-ha sampling plots, measurements of vegetation cover at the microhabitat scale, proxies of human disturbance, and aggregate indices of land use composition in the landscape within and around sampling plots., Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)., The dataset was used for analyzing the relative effect of spatial, environmental, and biotic factors on community assembly, Field data: Andalusian Department of Environment; PICOVER programme Remote sensing data: Project 1 - Landscape complexity and structure of communities under restoration; Funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (grant 711 CGL2016-75205-R); Project 2 - Viability and ecological connectivity of a new afforestation model: application to the Guadiamar Green Corridor; Funded by Andalusian Department of Innovation, Science and Enterprise (grant P06-RNM-1903). Projects co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), European Commission., Mammals_Guadiamar_basin.xlsx (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet), Peer reviewed

[EN] Dataset of publicly available biodiversity information of mosses records from the temperate region of the Northern Hemisphere. It contains 9,195,062 occurrences result of the compilation, cleaning, enrichment and validation from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF 2021; phylum=Bryophyta), the Botanical Information and Ecology Network (BIEN), Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria (CNABH) and the Integrated digitized biocollections (iDigBio). This database was created to assess and quantify how the application of different filters and taxonomic standardization databases affect the spatial patterns of species richness (Ronquillo et al, not published)., [ES] Conjunto de datos con los 9,195,062 registros disponibles públicamente de presencias de musgos en la región templada del hemisferio norte. Los datos contenidos han sido compilados, limpiados y validados a partir de los registros presentes en el portal de datos de biodiversidad 'Global Biodiversity Information Facility' (GBIF 2021; filo=Bryophyta), 'Botanical Information and Ecology Network' (BIEN), 'Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria' (CNABH) y el portal 'Integrated digitized biocollections' (iDigBio). Esta base de datos fue creada con el objetivo de analizar si la aplicación de diferentes filtros de limpieza de datos y métodos de estandarización taxonómica afectan a la distribución geográfica de la riqueza de especies (Ronquillo et al, no publicado)., This work is part of the project SCENIC - Escalando los efectos de las dinámicas de nicho e interacciones en las consecuencias ecológicas y evolutivas de la coexistencia / Scaling the effects of niche and interaction dynamics on the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of coexistence [PID2019-106840GB-C21] (Proyecto coordinado) Project SCENIC, grant PID2019-106840GB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, No

Dataset of publicly available biodiversity information of mosses records of six different species. The selected species are Tortella squarrosa (Brid.) Limpr., Dicranum scoparium Hedw., Syntrichia ruralis (Hedw.) F.Weber & D.Mohr, Ptychostomum capillare (Hedw.) D.T.Holyoak & N.Pedersen, Homalothecium aureum (Spruce) H.Rob. and Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. The dataset contains 322,595 occurrences result of the compilation, cleaning, enrichment and validation from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (see 'is.based.on' field to check download citations from GBIF). This database was elaborated to develope species distribution models and make predictions of their future geographical distribution based on different climate change scenarios., This work was part of the project UNITED Unifying niches, interactions and distributions: A common theoretical framework for geographic range dynamics and local coexistence (CGL2016-78070-P, funded by AEI/FEDER, UE) and SCENIC - Escalando los efectos de las dinámicas de nicho e interacciones en las consecuencias ecológicas y evolutivas de la coexistencia / Scaling the effects of niche and interaction dynamics on the ecological and evolutionary outcomes of coexistence [PID2019-106840GB-C21] (Proyecto coordinado) Project SCENIC, grant PID2019-106840GB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, No

[EN] Egg size data for breeding Audouin's Gulls in the Ebro Delta during 1992-2021, with details on the age of the adults and clutch size., [ES] Datos de tamaño de huevo para la gaviota de Audouin nidificante en el Delta del Ebro durante 1992-2021, con detalles sobre la edad de los reproductores y tamaño de puesta., CIRIT (Generalitat de Catalunya, ACOM92/3051//10), ICONA, EU (LIFE projects (LIFE96/NAT/E/3118-B4-3200/96/502, LIFE NAT 2002/0502), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología BOS2000-0569-C02-02, BOS2003-01960, CGL2006-04325/BOS, CGL2013-42203-R, CGL2017-85210-P), EU (Programme Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources, QLRT-2000-00839)., Peer reviewed