Resultados de investigación

Dataset for analyses perfomed in the study accepted in Conservation Letters entitled Testing a conservation compromise: No evidence that public wolf hunting in Slovakia reduced livestock losses., Peer reviewed

Knowing the location and movements of individuals at various temporal and spatial scales is an important facet of behavior and ecology. In threatened populations, movements that would ensure gene flow and population viability are often challenged by habitat fragmentation. Also in those endangered populations capturing and handling individuals to tag them, or to obtain tissue samples, can present additional challenges. DNA tagging, i.e. non-invasive individual identification of samples, can reveal movement patterns. We used fecal material genetically assigned to individuals to indirectly track movements of a large-bodied, endangered forest bird, Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus). We wanted to know how the birds were using the fragmented forest landscape, and whether they showed fidelity to display areas. We used multi-event capture-recapture models to estimate fidelity to display areas among three consecutive mating seasons. We identified 127 individuals, and registered movements of 22 females and 48 males. Most observed movements were as expected relatively short, concentrated around display areas. We did not find differences in movement distances between females and males within mating seasons, or between them. Fidelity to display areas among seasons was 0.62 (± 0.12 SE) for females and 0.77 (± 0.07 SE) for males. The best CR model suggested no sex or season effects. Several longer movements, up to 9.9 km, linked distant display areas, demonstrating that Cantabrian capercaillies were able to move between different parts of the study area, complementing previous studies on gene flow. Those longer movements may be taking birds out of the study area, and into historical capercaillie territories, which still include substantial forest cover. The non-invasive DNA tagging approach provided a much larger sample size than would have been feasible with direct tracking. Lack of information on the social status of individuals and timing of movements are some disadvantages of DNA tagging., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación : CGL2010-15990; Foundation for the Promotion of Applied Scientific Research and Technology in Asturias : IB08-158; Foundation for the Promotion of Applied Scientific Research and Technology in Asturias : AYUD/2021/51261, Peer reviewed

The dataset is a dataframe that comprises the Community Thermal Indices (response variable) and the environmental and geographic variables employed as predictors of the spatial GLMM. This model related the temperatures to the changes of CTI, considering the habitat (forest) change. The Community Thermal Indices were computed from the Species Thermal Indices. We obtained four thermal indices for each species (Species Thermal Index – STI) by combining the global species’ distribution and the climate information. The STI1 (i) shows the mean temperature of the breeding season (April-July) throughout the species’ distribution range. Similarly, the STI2 (ii) is the average of the maximum temperatures above the percentile 95 in July, and the STI3 (iii) is the average minimum temperature below the percentile 05 in April in the species’ breeding distribution range. These three indices represent a species’ thermal affinity. On the other hand, the fourth index (iv) (Species Thermal Range - STR) represents the average thermal range (April-July) throughout the distribution area and can be understood as species thermal breadth. It is computed as STI3-STI2. We calculated a set of community thermal indices (CTI) for the assemblage of bird species in each of the 10x10km UTM grid squares of each of the breeding bird atlases. We obtained four different CTIs: CTI1, CTI2, CTI3, and CTR. The first three were calculated as the average of the STI, STI2, and STI3 of the species present in the assemblage, respectively. The CTR (Community Thermal Range) is based on the average temperature range of the species (STR) that make up the assemblage and thus informs on the average niche breadth (Gaget et al., 2020). We calculated CTIs for each of the four-year periods covered by the atlases. The dataset also includes the standardized and unstandardized local temperature (ºC) and forest cover (ha) for each grid square and for each breeding bird atlas. It also includes the standardized and unstandardized coordinates of each grid square in decimal degrees (WGS84). Local temperatures were obtained from Chelsa (v.2.1., Karger et al., 2017), averaging data for each five-year sampling period in each square. We used the CORINE Land Cover Accounting Layers built for the years 2000 and 2018, to link forest cover with the community indices for the first and second sampling periods, respectively, [Aim] Animal communities around the world are responding to climate change by al-tering their taxonomic composition, mainly through an increase in the colonisationrate of warm-dwelling species and the local extinction of cold-dwelling ones. We as-sessed whether the taxonomic composition of bird assemblages in peninsular Spainhas changed in accordance with the recent increase in temperature. We also evalu-ated the role of species thermal affinities and population dynamics on these changes., [Location] Peninsular Spain., [Taxon] Birds., [Methods] We compared assemblages reported in the last Spanish breeding bird at-lases (1998–2002 vs. 2014–2018) in 10 × 10 km squares. We described species' ther-mal niches by overlaying global species breeding distributions and world temperaturemetrics (based on mean, minimum, maximum and range), and then aggregated themto obtain a set of community thermal indices for each assemblage (CTIs and CTR forranges). Long-term average temperatures and local current temperatures were relatedto changes in CTIs using spatial GLMMs, which considered habitat change. We identi-fied the species most responsible for variation in assemblages and regressed species'influence on thermal affinities and population dynamics.Results: CTIs increased with temperature and warm-dwelling species became moreprevalent to the detriment of cold-dwelling ones. However, we found a counteract-ing effect of temperature and habitat. Cold-dwelling forest species were among themost influential species, mainly through colonisation, while warm-dwelling farmlandspecies contributed through local extinctions (both attenuated local increases in CTI).The mean thermal breadth of assemblages (CTR) decreased with temperatures.Main conclusions: The taxonomic composition of bird assemblages shifted in line withthe main expectations due to global change (thermophilisation), mainly due to localcolonisation of warm-dwelling species, although it did not show the pattern of ther-mal homogenisation suggested elsewhere. Our results add further evidence of theinterplay between climate warming and land-use change in the ongoing adjustment ofanimal communities., Peer reviewed

This dataset contains amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) data from geo-referenced plant individuals belonging to 14 plant species and up to three populations per species., Consejería de Innovación Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía [P18-FR-4413]; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spanish Government [PID2019-104365GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033]; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spanish Government [SUMHAL-LIFEWATCH-2019-09-CSIC-4], Peer reviewed

Fundación Biodiversidad from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (project LIFE19/NAT/ES/000906)., Peer reviewed

1. Understanding the interactive effects of global change drivers on tree demography is fundamental for realistic predictions of future forest dynamics. Multiple studies have shown increasing drought and exotic pathogens to severely threaten forest persistence by increasing mortality and decreasing growth of adult trees. However, much less is known about their effects on regeneration, and how they might affect seedling performance in additive and non-additive (synergistic or antagonistic) ways., 2. Here we aimed to fill this gap by experimentally exploring the effects of increasing drought and soil-borne pathogens on tree regeneration in two types of mixed oak forests (Quercus suber-Q. canariensis and Q. suber-Olea europaea) invaded by the exotic soil-borne oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi, one of the most aggressive plant pathogens on earth. We conducted a seed-sowing experiment with oomycete-specific fungicide taking advantage of rainfall exclusion infrastructures that excluded 30% of the annual rainfall, simulating predictions of climate change models for Mediterranean systems. Seedling emergence, survival and growth of the three tree species were followed over 3 years., 3. We found that neutral or positive drought effects on regeneration dominated over negative effects in the tree community. Moreover, most positive drought effects on the dominant species (Q. suber) were not direct, but rather indirectly mediated by soil-borne pathogens. This was shown by the fact that positive drought effects disappeared with fungicide application., 4. Synthesis: Overall, our results suggest that rainfall reductions predicted by climate change models for the Mediterranean region might have minor direct negative effects on early regeneration of tree species, but that could play a major indirect role by limiting the negative effects of exotic pathogens on highly susceptible tree species. These findings highlight that antagonisms among global change drivers should be recognized as important forces that might slow down the current loss of tree health., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación : CGL2014-56739-R; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación : RTI2018-094394-B-I00; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad : PID2019-108288RA-I00, Peer reviewed

Supplementary raw data set of ant-bird interactions.;Avian species interacting with ants with information about functional traits as compiled in AVONET dataset [1].;Paired interaction matrices for network analyses in relation to habitat and interaction type. Columns are avian species are and rows are ant genus. Number in cells represent the frequency of interaction.;Number of interactions reported for each avian family and number of studies dealing with a specific family in Web of Science.;Phylogenetic signal of research effort at the avian family level., Peer reviewed

Peer reviewed

We conducted a study on interpopulation variation of color patterns in two congeneric chameleon species, which have an analogous life history. Both species are able to rapidly change color pattern, and context-dependent color patterns often vary across a wide geographic range. Specifically, we tested four hypotheses that can explain the observed interpopulation variation of color patterns by a series of behavioral field trials where the color patterns of individuals were recorded and later analyzed by a deep neural network algorithm. We used redundancy analysis (dbRDA) to relate genetic, spectral, and behavioral predictors to interpopulation color pattern distance. Our results showed that both isolation by distance and alternative mating tactics were significant predictors for interpopulation color pattern variation in Chamaeleo chamaeleon males. In contrast, in C. dilepis, the interpopulation color pattern variation was largely explained by isolation by distance, and the evidence for alternative mating tactics was absent. In both chameleon species, the environmental colors showed no evidence of influencing chameleon interpopulation color pattern variation, regardless of sex or behavioral context. This contrasting finding suggests that interpopulation context-dependent color pattern variations in each species are maintained under a different set of selective pressures or circumstances., Peer reviewed

Trans-Saharan migrants often spend a large proportion of their annual cycle wintering in the Sahel. Advances in fieldwork and tracking technology have greatly enhanced our ability to study their ecology in these areas. Using GPS-tracking we aimed to investigate the little-known non-breeding movements of the lesser kestrel Falco naumanni in sub-Saharan Africa. We segment non-breeding tracks (n = 79 tracks by 54 individuals) into staging events (131± 25 days per non-breeding cycle), itinerant movements between staging sites (11 ± 10 days), and non-directed exploratory movements (6 ± 5 days). We then describe timing and directionality of itinerant movements by male and female kestrels throughout the non-breeding season. Regardless of sex, lesser kestrels spent on average 89% of the non-breeding season staging at 2 (range = 1–4) sites in West Africa. At the end of September, kestrels arrived along a broad front throughout the northern Sahel. By December, however, they congregated into two distinct clusters in Senegal and along the Malian-Mauritanian border. The birds stayed for longer periods and showed greater daily activity in the latter areas, compared to their first and intermediate ones. Among 24 individuals tracked along multiple annual cycles, 20 individuals consistently used the Senegalese or Malian-Mauritanian cluster. The remaining four birds used these clusters only after 2-3 years of tracking or switched between clusters across years. The eastward and westward itinerant movements of lesser kestrels during the non-breeding season, coupled with their tendency to cluster geographically towards the end, differ from the southward movements of other insectivorous raptors in West Africa. While 31% of Spanish lesser kestrels converged in Senegal, where roosts of > 20,000 birds are known, 68% moved into the Malian-Mauritanian border region where more groundwork is needed.c, Regional Government of Andalusia : 2007-2010, ref: P06-RNM-01712, Proyecto HORUS; Regional Government of Andalusia : 2010-2013 ref: P09- RNM-04588, Proyecto HORUS; Government of Extremadura : LIFE 15NAT/ES/001016, LIFE-ZEPAURBAN; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación : 2016-2019, ref: CGL2016-79249-P) (AEI/FEDER, UE), KESTRELS-MOVE; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación : 2022-2025, ref: PID2020-115793GB) (AEI/FEDER, UE), MERCURIO; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación : 2021-2023 , LIFEWATCH-2019-09-CSIC-4, POPE 2014-2020, SUMHAL; CaixaBank : ID 100010434, ref. LCF/BQ/DI17/11620014; Iberdrola (Spain) , ‘Migra’ program of SEO/ BirdLife, GREFA, Córdoba Zoo, Alcalá de Henares Municipality Global Nature Foundation : LIFE15 NAT/ ES/000734, LIFE Project “Steppe Farming” ICTS-RBD, Doñana, Spain, Peer reviewed