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Trabajo presentado en la 7th Seed Ecology Conference of the International Society for Seed Science, celebrada en Gijón (España) del 06 al 09 de septiembre de 2022.

Trabajo presentado en el 2nd Meeting of the Iberian Ecological Society (SIBECOL), celebrado en Aveiro (Portugal) del 03 al 08 de julio de 2022.

Trabajo presentado en el 2nd Meeting of the Iberian Ecological Society (SIBECOL), celebrado en Aveiro (Portugal) del 03 al 08 de julio de 2022.

Trabajo presentado en el XV Congreso Nacional de la AEET, celebrado en Plasencia (España) del 18 al 21 de octubre de 2021, Las recientes recolonizaciones y reintroducciones de grandes depredadores ofrecen una oportunidad única para estudiar su efecto en la cadena trófica y en la dinámica del ecosistema. Algunas funciones ecosistémicas como la dispersión de semillas podrían verse afectadas por una cascada trófica que involucre interacciones entre depredadores. Aquí, queremos evaluar el efecto de un superdepredador, el lince ibérico (Lynx pardinus), sobre el comportamiento de consumo de frutos de piruétano (Pyrus bourgaeana) de los carnívoros frugívoros. Se llevó a cabo un experimento de ofrecimiento de frutos comparando zonas con linces con zonas control. Se instalaron cámaras de fototrampeo para registrar las especies que visitaban los ofrecimientos, los frutos consumidos y el tiempo empleado y se identificaron individualmente los zorros. Encontramos que los zorros visitaban menos veces los ofrecimientos con linces, mientras que no encontramos diferencias significativas en los tejones. No encontramos un efecto del lince sobre el número de peras consumidas ni en el tiempo empleado en consumir un fruto por parte de los zorros. Sin embargo, encontramos que los zorros empleaban menos tiempo en los ofrecimientos donde había linces. Aunque el número de zorros identificados en zonas sin linces fue mayor, encontramos que la variabilidad asociada al individuo era un factor importante para entender el comportamiento de forrajeo de los zorros. Parece que el escenario de riesgo de depredación creado por los linces no solo tiene un efecto en la abundancia de zorros, sino que contribuye a seleccionar determinados fenotipos más eficientes y menos arriesgados en su comportamiento de forrajeo.

Trabajo presentado en el XVII Annual Meeting of the Spanish Group for Floral Ecology, celebrado en Bilbao (España) del 04 al 07 de marzo de 2020.

Trabajo presentado en el XV Congreso de la SECEM, celebrado en Córdoba (España) del 04 al 07 de diciembre de 2021.

Trabajo presentado en la Reunião sobre Ungulados Silvestres Ibéricos, celebrada en Vila Real (Portugal) del 01 al 02 de octubre de 2021.

Trabajo presentado en el I Congreso Español de Botánica, celebrado en Toledo (España) del 08 al 10 de septiembre de 2021., Las tierras destinadas a la agricultura y la ganadería suponen el mayor bioma terrestre de la actualidad, aunque en ciertas zonas, como Europa, esta extensión se ido reduciendo. Esto abre la puerta a la posibilidad de recuperar los hábitats que antaño había en esos lugares gracias a la restauración ecológica (ya sea facilitada o natural), aunque es más costosa en ciertos lugares, como la cuenca del Mediterráneo debido a su aridez, la poca disponibilidad de agua, las altas temperaturas, la erosión del suelo o la herbivoría (Rey-Benayas et al. 2007 ). En esta restauración posee un papel clave la dispersión de semillas, que forma parte de la dinámica y estructura de los hábitats al permitir colonizar nuevas áreas o recuperar zonas alteradas. El efecto percha juega un rol imprescindible en la dispersión de semillas y consiste en que las aves frugívoras utilicen las ramas de árboles y arbustos para posarse y defecar las heces que contienen las semillas. El uso reiterado de las mismas perchas da a lugar a procesos de nucleación que se ven acentuados en espacios perturbados. Aunque el efecto percha es conocido, este sería la primera vez que se estudia desde un punto de vista espacial. La planta que actúa como percha también puede actuar como nodriza, facilitando el establecimiento de las nuevas plántulas (plantas beneficiarias) (Joffre & Rambal 1993). La especie escogida para este estudio es el palmito (Chamaerops humilis L.), que es una planta pionera que coloniza fácilmente áreas perturbadas, utilizada en restauraciones ecológicas y cuyo papel como especie nodriza ha sido demostrado (Garrote et al. 2019). El objetivo de este estudio es comprobar (i) si realmente existe un efecto percha en nuestras áreas de estudio, (ii) si entre ambas áreas de estudio hay diferencia y por qué, (iii) si los palmitos agregados contienen más heces de aves con semillas dispersadas, (iv) si existen palmitos que actúan como hotspots para la llegada de heces (y semillas) y (v) si las semillas encontradas pertenecen a las mismas especies que las plantas beneficiarias encontradas en el interior de los palmitos.

Trabajo presentado en el 9th World Conference on Ecological Restoration. A new global trajectory: catalyzing change through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, celebrado en modalidad virtual del 21 al 24 de junio de 2021.

Trabajo presentado en el XV Congreso Nacional de la AEET (El valor de la Naturaleza para una Sociedad Global), celebrado en Plasencia del 18 al 21 de octubre de 2021., Plant-animal interactions (mutualisms and antagonisms) can be altered when a third species modifies plant characters, leading to indirect effects on plant reproductive success. On the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands), the invasive moth Paysandisia archon and dense goat populations are having a strong impact (via infection and herbivory, respectively) on the endemic Mediterranean palm Chamaerops humilis L. Despite some studies have quantified the direct effects of these alien species on C. humilis survival, no studies describe the effects on the palm interactions with other animal associates. For this purpose, we selected six palm populations. Paysandisia infection, goat florivory and folivory rates as well as variables related to pollination success (pollinators presence and abundance, fruit initiation and fruit development) were measured for 30 males and 30 females in each population during two sampling years (2019 and 2020). Goat florivory decreased the palm interaction with the pollinator Meligethinus pallidulus but not with Derelomus chamaeropis. However, the effect of Paysandisia infection was positive on M. pallidulus. Folivory by goats had no effect on pollinators. Goat herbivory (both florivory and folivory) decreased fruit initiation, and infection and florivory decreased fruit development. We conclude that P. archon and feral goats alter interactions between the dwarf palm and its pollinators in different ways, but both have a negative effect on the fruit set (fruit initiation and fruit development). Ongoing studies aim to clarify the effects on other palm-animal interactions, including seed dispersal and seed predation.

Trabajo presentado en el XV Congreso Nacional de la AEET, celebrado en Plasencia (España) del 18 al 21 de octubre de 2021, Understanding of ecological processes driving the natural (re)colonization of human-disturbed landscapes is crucial to restoring sensitive species and ecosystem services. Specifically, seed dispersal is one of the most critical factors on this (re)colonization process by ensuring seed arrival to these areas. However, few studies have examined how the genetic composition of seed rain varies both spatially and temporally within (re)colonizing plant populations and the potential implications of this variation for ecological restoration (i.e. genetic restoration). Here, we evaluated the spatiotemporal structuring of the genetic variation of naturally established seedlings at a human-disturbed area as a qualitative aspect of the seed dispersal (e.g. level of kinship among co-dispersed seeds). To this end, we intensively monitored the seed rain of the Mediterranean dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis) during two consecutive years in Doñana National Park (SW Spain), where this palm is mostly dispersed by Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). For all emerged seedlings (N = 104), by molecular analyses at 12 microsatellite markers, we analyzed the fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS), kinship among individuals and genetic rarity throughoutthe time. We found positive FSGS within seed dispersers’ feces. We found inflated kinship between seedlings coming from a single dispersal event, but decreased kinship among seedlings at greater spatial scales (latrines, population). We also found the genetic rarity of seedlings increased as the seed dispersal season progressed. We shed light on how frugivores control the genetic composition of seed rain and its potential consequences on the natural (re)colonization of human-disturbed landscapes. We emphasize the crucial role of population genetics to improve restoration actions with plants in the long term.

Trabajo presentado en el 7th Frugivores and Seed Dispersal Symposium, celebrado en la India del 2 al 6 de marzo de 2020.

Trabajo presentado en el 7th Frugivores and Seed Dispersal Symposium, celebrado en la India del 2 al 6 de marzo de 2020.

Trabajo presentado en el 7th Frugivores and Seed Dispersal Symposium, celebrado en la India del 2 al 6 de marzo de 2020.

Megafauna extinctions often lead to the disruption of plant-animal interactions, such as the seed-disperser mutualisms, which might entail severe consequences for plant populations and entire communities. Interestingly, the contemporary persistence of anachronistic plant species might be possible thanks to surrogate dispersers or seed dispersal >rescuers>. We know very little on how these relevant functional replacements are contributing to the performance of present-day plant-frugivore networks. The dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis L. is a Mediterranean endemism with fleshy fruits and typically dispersed by mammals. Despite its ecological importance and wide distribution in some of the Mediterranean islands, no information exists about its seed dispersal on these depauperated-fauna systems. In this study, we aim at identifying and quantifying the relative importance of introduced frugivores on the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands), where no native terrestrial mammals exist. Specifically, we assess for the first time the seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) for C. humilis on islands; we evaluate the quantitative component by fecal and regurgitation sampling surveys, and the qualitative component by means of seed germination experiments and seedling growth measures. Introduced goats (Capra hircus L.) and pine martens (Martes martes L.) were the local mammal fruit consumers of C. humilis identified in our study sites. Results suggest that goats are much more important quantitatively than pine martens, due to the high number of fruits handled in each foraging bout and their extremely high abundance on the island. However, pine marten-ingested seeds showed the highest final seedling emergence success and seedling growth, thus its qualitative contribution on C. humilis seed dispersal is higher than that of goats. Overall, SDE was almost 9-fold higher for goats than for pine martens. We conclude that these two non-native mammal species are effective seed dispersers of C. humilis in this and probably other Mediterranean islands, where humans led to the extinction of its native seed dispersers, as it was probably the case of the goat-like Myotragus balearicus in the Balearic Islands.

Muchas especies de mamíferos carnívoros (Orden Carnivora) consumen frutos carnosos, transportan semillas en sus tractos digestivos y las defecan sin dañarlas en condiciones apropiadas para la germinación. En este artículo, revisamos el conocimiento adquirido sobre este mutualismo en las últimas tres décadas, desde que tres trabajos pioneros revelaron la importancia de los carnívoros como dispersores de semillas en ecosistemas templados. Nos centramos en los rasgos funcionales de los carnívoros consumiendo frutos y diseminando semillas, haciendo especial énfasis en sus diferencias con las aves, el principal grupo de vertebrados frugívoros en ecosistemas templados. Los carnívoros no están sujetos a las restricciones fenológicas o morfológicas que típicamente limitan el consumo de determinados frutos en muchas especies de aves. Consumen preferentemente frutos cuyos atributos son compartidos con muchas especies de frutos cultivados por el hombre, lo que explica el consumo frecuente de éstos en paisajes antrópicos. Sus amplios requerimientos espaciales favorecen la dispersión de semillas a larga distancia, mientras que su generalismo en relación al hábitat favorece el flujo de semillas entre hábitats contrastados. De este modo, los carnívoros promueven la conectividad entre poblaciones vegetales y la colonización. Estas funciones ecológicas son clave para las comunidades vegetales nativas, especialmente en escenarios de cambios de uso de suelo. Sin embargo, estos patrones de dispersión de semillas pueden contribuir a la invasión de plantas exóticas. Aún ignoramos en gran medida el papel de los carnívoros en términos cuantitativos de la dispersión de semillas y las diferencias funcionales entre especies dentro del gremio. La integración de muestreos clásicos e innovadoras técnicas moleculares y de análisis espacial promete aportar conocimiento inédito en estas cuestiones, [EN ] Many species of carnivorous mammals (Order Carnivora) consume fleshy fruits, transport seeds in their digestive tracts, and defecate them without damage in conditions that are suitable for germination. In this article, we review the state of the art on this mutualism in the past three decades, since three pioneering studies revealed the importance of carnivores as seed dispersers in temperate ecosystems. We focus on the functional traits of carnivores consuming fruits and disseminating seeds, with particular emphasis on their differences with birds, the main group of vertebrate frugivores in temperate ecosystems. Carnivores are not subject to the phenological or morphological constraints that typically limit the consumption of certain fruit species in many bird species. They preferably consume fruits whose traits are shared with many fruit species cultivated by man, which explains the frequent consumption of cultivated fruits in anthropogenic landscapes. The large spatial requirements of carnivores promote long-distance seed dispersal, while their habitat generalism promotes seed flows between contrasting habitats. Thus, carnivores promote connectivity between plant populations and colonization. These are key ecological functions for native plant communities, especially in scenarios of land-use changes. However, these seed dispersal patterns can contribute to the invasion of exotic plants. We still largely ignore the role of carnivores in quantitative terms of seed dispersal and the functional differences between species within the guild. Integrating traditional fieldwork and innovative molecular techniques and spatial analysis promises to provide unprecedented knowledge on these issues

We quantitatively assessed the effect of three Methods of Diet Quantification (MDQ) (based on frequency of occurrence of prey, dry weight of prey remains, or estimation of fresh biomass ingested) on guild classification of three carnivores species based on five data sets. Diet dissimilarity matrices and recognition of trophic guilds were dependent on MDQ. Both omnivorous (Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, and Eurasian Badger, Meles meles) shifted to different trophic guilds depending of the MDQ chosen, whereas Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) remained consistently in the rabbit-eating guild. As a way to assess the pervasiveness of inconsistencies in guild classification, we applied our approach to six other predator assemblages. The number of recognized guilds shifted as a result of MDQ in 4 of 6 comparisons, changes in guild membership occurred in all assemblages, and mean percentage of guildmate fidelity was only 30 % (1SD = ± 21, n = 6). The choice of MDQ depends on the specific ecological question to be addressed with the data. When investigators focus on the effects of prey on predators, an estimate of biomass ingested seems the best choice, but when the focus is on the effects of predators on prey, an approach based on prey numbers is more appropiate., Nous avons évalué les effets respectifs de trois méthodes de quantification des régimes alimentaires (MQRA), basées sur la fréquence d’occurrence des proies, le poids sec des restes de proies et l’estimation de la biomasse fraîche ingérée, sur la classification en guildes de trois espèces de carnivores et sur la base de cinq jeux de données. Les matrices de dissemblance des régimes et la détermination des guildes dépendent de la MQRA choisie. Les deux omnivores (le Renard roux Vulpes vulpes et le Blaireau européen Meles meles) changeaient de guilde selon la MQRA alors que le Lynx pardelle (Lynx pardinus) restait constamment dans la guilde des consommateurs de lapins. Afin de vérifier la généralité de ces incohérences dans la détermination des guildes, nous avons analysé de la même façon six autres communautés de prédateurs. Selon la MQRA retenue, le nombre de guildes reconnues s’est modifié dans quatre des six comparaisons, des changements dans la composition des guildes se sont produits dans tous les cas et le degré moyen de constance dans une guilde n’a été que de 30 ± 21 % (n = 6). Le choix de la MQRA dépend de la question écologique posée en préalable à l’analyse des données. Quand le but est d’étudier l’effet des proies sur leurs prédateurs, une estimation de la biomasse consommée semble être le meilleur choix ; en revanche, quand il s’agit d’appréhender les effets des prédateurs sur leurs proies, l’approche basée sur le nombre de proies est alors la plus appropriée., Fedriani José M.,Travaini Alejandro. Predator trophic guild assignment : the importance of the method of diet quantification. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 55, n°2, 2000. pp. 129-139.

The persistence of mutualisms despite the strong incidence of exploiters could be explained if exploiters deny one or more services (i.e., cheat) while eventually supplying some subtler but critical services. Pulp feeders usually ingest fruit reward without dispersing seeds and thus are considered to be mainly cheaters or thieves of seed-disperser mutualisms. By consuming the fruit pulp, however, they could release seeds from pulp inhibitory effect, enhancing germination and, potentially, subsequent seedling emergence, growth, survival, and thus local recruitment. We evaluated such a largely neglected hypothesis by considering the interaction between Pyrus bourgaeana and its pulp feeders. We experimentally showed that pericarp removal had a consistent strong positive effect on seed performance (e.g., lower rotting and higher germination percentages) and seedling fate (greater emergence, growth, and survival to two years old). Interestingly, these relatively large positive effects of depulpation on plant fitness persisted for a surprisingly long time. Though seedlings experienced higher mortality under fruiting conspecifics, the benefits of depulpation were not overridden by high propagule mortality beneath fruiting trees or in adverse microhabitats after two years of monitoring. Specifically, the cumulative probability of establishment for depulped seeds was 4–25 times higher than for seeds in whole ripe fruits. Thus, under some circumstances, pulp feeders can provide essential services to endozoochorous plants. Our study contributes to clarifying the apparent paradox of plant–frugivore mutualisms that persist in the face of exploitation by pulp feeders. Because “thieves” and “mutualists” refer to the extremes of a complex continuum, and because organisms displaying concurrent cheating and honest behaviors during different host stages are likely prevalent, the persistent language of mutualists vs. thieves, cheaters, or exploiters might be misleading. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/11-0429.1

Debido a que la dispersión de semillas por animales vincula el final del ciclo reproductor de las plantas con el establecimiento de su descendencia, se le atribuyen profundos efectos sobre la sucesión, regeneración y conservación de los hábitats. En el Parque Nacional de Doñana abundan varias especies de mamíferos carnívoros con dietas parcialmente frugívoras. Casi nada se sabe sobre que papel juega la dispersión de semillas por mamíferos en la vegetación de Doñana. El conocimiento de esta interacción mutualista podría tener consecuencias importantes para el manejo y conservación de la vegetación del Parque Nacional. En este proyecto proponemos abordar seis objetivos concretos: 1. Identificación de las especies de plantas dispersadas por los carnívoros de Doñana y cuantificación de la importancia de estos como agentes dispersantes de semillas. 2. Valoración de un potencial beneficio de la dispersión de semillas por mamíferos para la planta mediante una disminución de las tasas de predación por agentes postdispersivos. 3. Cuantificación experimental del tiempo de retención de las semillas en los tractos digestivos de los carnívoros. 4. Evaluación del potencial papel positivo del consumo de frutos por carnívoros sobre la germinación de las semillas. 5. Valoración del potencial papel positivo de la frugivoría sobre la supervivencia durante los primeros años de vida de las plántulas. 6. Estudio detallado del mutalismo zorro-sabina y evaluación preliminar de una hipotética relación de causalidad entre el incremento de la población de zorros y la expansión de los sabinares en Doñana.

Pre- and post-dispersal Helleborus foetidus (Ranunculaceae) seed predation by mice Apodemus sylvaticus as well as post-dispersal seed removal by ants was studied, during two years, in six plant populations within three geographical regions (Caurel, Cazorla and Ma´gina) of the Iberian Peninsula. An observational approach revealed strong interregional differences in seed predation by mice during the pre-dispersal phase, with high and similar rates of predation in Cazorla and Ma´gina and much lower rates in Caurel. There were also significant inter-annual variations on pre-dispersal seed predation by mice, while the existing habitat-related differences (of lower magnitude) were not consistent across regions. Field experiments based on seed-offering exclosures, showed that, despite some interregional variation, post-dispersal seed removal by ants was consistently high through all spatial and temporal scales considered, with most seeds being removed within 48 h. Conversely, post-dispersal seed predation by mice was highly variable among regions, being very high in Cazorla and minimal or absent in Caurel and Ma´gina. Interestingly, in Cazorla, in presence of mice, the number of seeds removed was rather independent of the presence/absence of ants, while under mice exclusion, it was determined by the presence/absence of ants. Conversely, in Caurel, the number of seeds removed by each remover agent (ants or mice) was independent of the presence/absence of the other agent. Thus, though uniquely in Cazorla, mice limited the number of seeds available to ants and, therefore, in this region could potentially have interfered on the development of seed traits that enable ants to efficiently harvest them. Our results support the notion that geographical variation over the Iberian Peninsula of mice seed predation may have promoted a mosaic of well-matching and mismatching situations between H. foetidus diaspore traits and the characteristics of ant communities, which is consistent with some recent theories on the geographical structure of interactions.

Seguimiento de una reintroducción de corzo (Capreolus capreolus) en ambiente mediterráneo. Dispersión y área de campeo, Modelos de distribución de los insectívoros ern la Península Ibérica, Dieta anual del zorro, Vulpes vulpes, en dos hábitats del Parque Nacional de Doñana, Desarrollo juvenil del cráneo en las poblaciones ibéricas de gato montés, Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777, Presencia y expansión del visón americano (Mustela vison) en las provincias de Teruel y Castellón (Este de España)., Preferencias de hábitat invernal de la musaraña común (Crocidura russula) en un encinar fragmentado de la submeseta norte, Uso de cámaras automáticas para la recogida de información faunística., Dieta del lobo en dos zonas de Asturias (España) que difieren en carga ganadera., Consumo de frutos y dispersión de semillas de serbal (Sorbus aucuparia L.) por zorros y martas en la cordillera Cantábrica occidental, Evaluación de espermatozoides obtenidos postmorten en el ciervo., Frecuencia de aparición de diferentes restos de conejo en excrementos de lince y zorro, Atlas preliminar de los mamíferos de Soria (España), Censo y distribución de la marmota alpina (Marmota marmota) en Navarra., Trampeo fotográfico del género Martes en el Parque Nacional de Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici (Lleida)

Restricted seed dispersal frequently leads to fine-scale spatial genetic structure (i.e., FSGS) within plant populations. Depending on its spatial extent and the mobility of pollinators, this inflated kinship at the immediate neighbourhood can critically impoverish pollen quality. Despite the common occurrence of positive FSGS within plant populations, our knowledge regarding the role of long-distance pollination preventing reproductive failure is still limited. Using microsatellite markers, we examined the existence of positive FSGS in two low-density populations of the tree Pyrus bourgaeana. We also designed controlled crosses among trees differing in their kinship to investigate the effects of increased local kinship on plant reproduction. We used six pollination treatments and fully monitored fruit production, fruit and seed weight, proportion of mature seeds per fruit, and seed germination. Our results revealed positive FSGS in both study populations and lower fruit initiation in flowers pollinated with pollen from highly-genetically related individuals within the neighbourhood, with this trend intensifying as the fruit development progressed. Besides, open-pollinated flowers exhibited lower performance compared to those pollinated by distant pollen donors, suggesting intense qualitative pollen limitation in natural populations. We found positive fine-scale spatial genetic structure is translated into impoverished pollen quality from nearby pollen donors which negatively impacts the reproductive success of trees in low-density populations. Under this scenario of intrapopulation genetic rescue by distant pollen donors, the relevance of highly-mobile pollinators for connecting spatially and genetically distant patches of trees may be crucial to safeguarding population recruitment., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Grant/Award Number: CGL2010‐21926/BOS ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant/Award Number: IF/00728/2013, SFRH/BD/130527/2017 and SFRH/BPD/115781/2016; Władysław Szafer Institute of Botany Polish Academy of Sciences, Grant/Award Number: CGL2007‐63488/BOS; Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia; Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, Grant/Award Number: CGL2016‐77720‐P

Investigating spatial variation in the relative importance of sexual reproduction and clonal propagation is critical to obtain more accurate estimates of future effective population sizes and genetic diversity, as well as to identify ecological correlates of clonality. We combined a stratified sampling scheme with microsatellite genetic analyses to estimate variation in the proportion of sexual versus clonal recruits among saplings in five populations of the tree Pyrus bourgaeana. Using a likelihood framework, we identified clones among the genotypes analysed and examined variation among populations regarding the proportion of saplings coming from clonal propagation. We also examined the relationship between the relative abundance of clonal shoots across the studied populations and their herbivory levels. Our results revealed that one third of the saplings examined (N = 225 saplings) had a probability above 0.9 of being clones of nearby (, A.R.C. was supported by the post-doctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/115781/2016 from the Portuguese Foundation for Scienceand Technology (FCT). J.M.F. was funded by the Investigator Programme (IF/00728/2013) from the Foundation for Scienceand Technology (FCT).

Plant provenance, plant facilitation and the characteristics of restoration sites are critical determinants of revegetation success. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about how these key factors interact, both with each other and to complex patterns of recruitment in target plant species. We investigated, for the first time, the potential of combining seed provenance, plant facilitation and restoration site characteristics to guide revegetation efforts. As a model system, we used the Iberian pear (Pyrus bourgaeana) and three potential nurse shrub species. To this end, we completed a comprehensive reciprocal transplant experiment in five P. bourgaeana populations within a fragmented landscape at the Doñana Biosphere Reserve (SW Spain). There were marked differences among provenances for seedling emergence and growth, as well as for recruitment, but no evidence of local adaptation was found. Shrubs generally had a positive or neutral effect on P. bourgaeana seedling performance with, for example survival underneath shrubs being, on average, twice as high as in open microhabitats. Interestingly, however, the magnitude and even the sign of such plant–plant interactions changed with both sowing locality and seed provenance. For instance, shrubs enhanced seedling survival and recruitment at the end of the study in four of the five sowing localities, whereas it decreased it in the remaining locality. Also, although nurse shrubs lessened seedling size of two provenances, it did not have a significant effect on the other three. Synthesis and applications. We show how revegetation success can be maximized, not only by selecting the most appropriate plant material, taking advantage of plant facilitative interactions and selecting the right restoration site, but also by using these factors in an integrated fashion. We propose local managers efficiently undertake future revegetation campaigns by mixing seeds from several genetically adequate source populations in numbers weighted according to previously estimated provenance-specific recruitment successes. Our novel approach can help to guide revegetation of many tree and plant species living in stressful conditions, such as arid, semi-arid and high mountain habitats., This research was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CGL2007‐63488/BOS). A.R.C., P.J.G. and J.M.F. were funded by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (grants SFRH/BD/130527/2017, SFRH/BPD/115781/2016, IF/00728/2013 respectively).