EO tools for the management of Mediterranean wetlands

The outreach team of H2020 Project ECOPOTENTIAL has produced this handcrafted video, which explains the project through simple animations. The story involves Peter, a protected area manager, and Amy, an ECOPOTENTIAL scientist. The video will take you on a journey through the different ecosystems targeted by ECOPOTENTIAL, explain why and how Earth Observation is used to measure and monitor ecosystems and their services they provide, and how the project will ultimately benefit society.

The Spatial Ecology Group is one of the research groups of EBD participating in the project. Within the project, we will use participatory modelling to support the development of EO tools for the management of Mediterranean wetlands - applied, in particular, to the Doñana marshes.

Biotic resistance and environmental filters determine inmigrant success

A new paper by members and collaborators of the SEG is now in early view.

Using communities of aquatic plants and zooplankton assembled from natural propagule banks in mesocosms, we tested whether the diversity of the resident community (diversity resistance) and the timing of immigrants’ arrival (priority effects) determine community diversity.

Our results show that the interaction between diversity resistance and priority effects determines the diversity of aquatic plant communities. This effect is, however,  superseded by environmental filtering in zooplancton. The mechanisms underlying biotic resistance therefore vary among functional and taxonomic groups.

D.S. Viana, B. Cid, J. Figuerola, L. Santamaría (2016) Disentangling the roles of diversity resistance and priority effects in community assembly. Oecologia (early view).

Special issue on Networking Biodiversity Knowledge

How to effectively inform decision-making on biodiversity and ecosystem services?

This Special Issue of Biodiversity and Conservation brings together nine papers that analyse the possibility of creating a biodiversity-consultation mechanism at EU level that activates knowledge holders and brings them together for targeted knowledge synthesis activities: the so-called Network of Knowledge.

These papers showcase new ways of knowledge synthesis that have the potential to complement and strengthen existing ones across scales and sectors, thus supporting an improved management of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The SI includes three papers co-authored by members of the Spatial Ecology Group:

Neßhöver et al. 2016. The Network of Knowledge approach – improving the science and society dialogue on biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe. Biodiversity & Conservation 25: 1215-1233. DOI: 10.1007/s10531-016-1127-5

Schindler et al. 2016. The network BiodiversityKnowledge in practice: insights from three trial assessments. Biodiversity & Conservation 25: 1301-1318. DOI: 10.1007/s10531-016-1128-4

Pullin et al. 2016. Selecting appropriate methods of knowledge synthesis to inform biodiversity policy. Biodiversity & Conservation 25: 1285-1300. DOI: 10.1007/s10531-016-1131-9

Herbivory under water

 
At the end of the past century, aquatic plants were considered as virtually free of control by herbivores. In the last two decades, however, empirical evidence showed that herbivory is  actually 5 to 10 times greater than in terrestrial ecosystems.

This review, discussing the effects of herbivores on aquatic plant abundance and composition, ecosystem functioning and services, and future responses to climate change is therefore a highly timely one.

The review, led by researchers with many years of experience in the study of aquatic systems, provides a unified treatment of freshwater and marine systems that we have been missing for all too long.

Bakker L, Wood K, Pages JF, Veen C, Christianen M, Santamaria L, Nolet BA, Hilt S. 2016. Herbivory on freshwater and marine macrophytes: a review and perspective. Aquatic Botany 135: 18-36.

Effects of fragmentation on species interactions

A new article analyzing the effects of fragmentation on multi-species interactions is now available. The article is the fruit of a long-standing collaboration with Ainhoa Magrach and Javier Rodríguez-Pérez.

Magrach, A., Rodríguez-Pérez, J., Piazzon, M., Santamaria, L. 2015. Divergent effects of forest edges on host distribution and seed disperser activity influence mistletoe distribution and recruitment. Journal of Ecology 103: 1475–1486.

This is the graphical abstract, available at the journal's website:

We determined the effect of anthropogenic edges on the interactions between three forest-dwelling species: a mistletoe, its host plant and its seed disperser. Forest edges had discordant impacts on the host and the disperser, resulting in increased host availability but reduced seed dispersal. The interdependence of species linked by antagonistic and mutualistic interactions makes them more sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance.

Special issue on Exploitation Barriers

Evolutionary Ecology just published a Special Issue on Pollination Exploitation Barriers, edited by Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés (EEZA-CSIC) and Luis Santamaría (SEG, EBD-CSIC). 

We are very excited about the issue, which allowed us to summarize our recent work on exploitaiton barriers and frame it in the context of the reseach developed by other groups across the world.

Have a look at the contents below, with links embedded in case you want to sample some of the papers:

Are flowers red in teeth and claw? Exploitation barriers and the antagonist nature of mutualisms
L. Santamaría, M. A. Rodríguez-Gironés Pages 311-322

Passive partner choice through exploitation barriers
Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés, Shan Sun, Luis Santamaría Pages 323-340

Bee- to bird-pollination shifts in Penstemon: effects of floral-lip removal and corolla constriction on the preferences of free-foraging bumble bees
Jessica L. Zung, Jessica R. K. Forrest, Maria Clara Castellanos… Pages 341-354

Convergence of anti-bee pollination mechanisms in the Neotropical plant genus Drymonia (Gesneriaceae)
John L. Clark, Laura Clavijo, Nathan Muchhala Pages 355-377

Diversity and evolution of pollinator rewards and protection by Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) bracteoles
Eri Yamasaki, Atsushi Kawakita, Shoko Sakai Pages 379-390

The function of ant repellence by flowers: testing the “nectar protection” and “pollinator protection” hypotheses
Francisco G. Gonzálvez, J. Chen, Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés Pages 391-403

Nectar palatability can selectively filter bird and insect visitors to coral tree flowers
Susan W. Nicolson, Sara Lerch-Henning, Megan Welsford… Pages 405-417

Long corollas as nectar barriers in Lonicera implexa: interactions between corolla tube length and nectar volume
Amparo Lázaro, Clara Vignolo, Luis Santamaría Pages 419-435

Functional and phylogenetic diversity of plant communities differently affect the structure of flower-visitor interactions and reveal convergences in floral traits
Robert R. Junker, Nico Blüthgen, Alexander Keller Pages 437-450

Are pollinators and seed predators selective agents on flower color in Gentiana lutea?
Tania Veiga, Javier Guitián, Pablo Guitián, José Guitián… Pages 451-464