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AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S This study was funded by projects: IB20089 from the Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital of the Junta de Extremadura and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, P11-RNM-7038 from Junta de Andalucía, and PR(19_ECO_0070) from Ayudas Fundación BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica 2019. MF was supported by a Juan de la Cierva 2017 Formación contract (FJCI-2017-34394) from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie (grant agreement No 844285, ‘EpiEcoMod’) and she is currently funded by a Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral contract (RYC2021- 031613-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). JJP was supported by the Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el Bueno. JMP was supported by ProyExcel_00049 financed by Proyectos I+D+i of Junta de Andalucía 2021. LGL was supported by Junta de Extremadura (IB20089, Post-Doc grant). JM was supported by a Juan de la Cierva - Formación contract (FJCI-2017-34109) from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and he is currently supported by a postdoctoral researcher contract for scientific excellence under the Plan Propio de I+D+i of the Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha (UCLM), co-funded by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). LZG was supported by funds from the Hungary's National Research, Development and Innovation Office (K135841, RRF-2.3.1-21-2022- 00006). We also acknowledge the comments of four anonymous reviewers who improved the final version of this manuscript., DATA AVA I L A B I L I T Y S TAT E M E N T Data supporting the conclusions of this study are available in the supplementary material to this article. Any further details are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request., Aim The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location Global. Time period 2002–2019. Major taxa studied Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests. Results Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected. Main conclusions Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows., Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía, Grant/Award Number: P11-RNM-7038, Fundación BBVA, Grant/Award Number: PR(19_ECO_0070, Junta de Extremadura, Grant/Award Number: IB20089 and PO17024, Marie Sklodowska- Curie Actions, Grant/Award Number: 844285, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/Award Number: FJCI-2017-34109 and FJCI-2017-34394, Proyectos I+D+i of Junta de Andalucía 2021, Grant/Award Number: ProyExcel_00049, Universidad de Castilla- La Mancha

13 pages, 4 figures, supporting Information https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05606.-- Data availability statement: Data available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zs7h44j8s (Figuerola et al. 2021), Coastal hypoxia has become an increasingly acknowledged threat to coral reefs that is potentially intensifying because of increased input of anthropogenic nutrients. Almirante Bay (Caribbean Panama) is a semi-enclosed system that experiences hypoxia in deeper waters which occasionally shoals onto shallow coral reefs, suffocating most aerobic benthic life. To explore the long-term history of reefs in the bay we extracted reef matrix cores from two reefs that today experience contrasting patterns of oxygenation. We constructed a 1800-year-long record of gastropod assemblages and isotope compositions from six U-Th chronologically-constrained reef matrix cores. We extracted two cores from each reef at 3 m water depth and two additional cores from a deeper part (4.8 m) of the hypoxia-exposed reef. Results show that the deeper part of the hypoxic reef slowed in growth and stopped accreting approximately 1500 years BP while the shallow part of the reef continued to accrete to the present day, in agreement with a model of expanding hypoxia at this time. Our proxy-based approach suggests that the patterns of increasing herbivores and decreasing carbon isotope values in the deeper part of the hypoxic reef may have been driven by an increase in hypoxia via eutrophication caused by either natural changes or human impacts. Similar patterns in these paleoindicators occurred in the shallow part of the hypoxic reef during the last few decades. This suggests that the deep water hypoxia may be expanding to depths as shallow as 3 m and that shallow reefs are at greater risk due to increased human activity, This project and the research visit of BF to Texas A&M Univ. were financially supported by the Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT; 47-2017-4-FID16-239), Sistema Nacional de Investigación (SENACYT), the Scholarly Studies Program (Smithsonian Institution), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Texas A&M University and donations from M. Selin and family, J. Bilyk, V. and B. Anders, J. and M. Bytnar and the Young Presidents Organization (Los Angeles Gold Chapter). BF was supported by a STRI postdoctoral fellowship and the postdoctoral fellowships programme Beatriu de Pinós funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 programme of research and innovation of the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 801370 (Incorporation grant 2019 BP 00183) and the Juan de la Cierva programme funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Incorporation grant IJCI-2017-31478). With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence' accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

10 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00995-3, The increasing urbanisation of the natural environment affects species differently. While most species cannot cope with these human impacts, others can persist or may even be favoured in these anthropogenic ecosystems. Among the different urban-adapted wildlife species, the populations of different species of opportunistic gulls have increased in urban areas and some have established breeding populations at a global scale. Although the ecology of these predators is relatively well-known in their natural environment, accurate knowledge about their urban ecology is very scarce. Here, we investigated the foraging ecology (habitat use, spatial movements and feeding) of an urban population of yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) inhabiting the city of Barcelona (north-eastern Spain). We examined the diet of this urban population by analysing the stomach contents of chicks distributed throughout the urban area of Barcelona. The foraging movements of breeding gulls were investigated using GPS devices and habitat landscape information. The results show that this urban population of yellow-legged gull exploits different food resources, highlighting the consumption of urban birds and marine resources from fishery discards. In line with the diet results, GPS tracking data indicated that although yellow-legged gulls were able to use different types of habitats close to the city, they mainly foraged in urban and fishing port areas. In conclusion, yellow-legged gulls have adapted to exploit the food resources associated with urban environments. This study provides useful information to discuss management options measures to control the yellow-legged gull populations nesting in urban areas, This study is part of the BCN-Gulls project funded by the Barcelona Zoo Foundation and the Ramón y Cajal project (RYC-2015-17809) led by J.N., With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long-term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and eco-logical processes in the wild. Furthermore, their number and global distribution provides a unique opportunity to assess the generality of patterns and to address broad-scale global issues (e.g. climate change)., To solve data integration issues and enable a new scale of ecological and evolution-ary research based on long-term studies of birds, we have created the SPI-Birds Network and Database (www.spibirds.org)—a large-scale initiative that connects data from, and researchers working on, studies of wild populations of individually recognizable (usually ringed) birds. Within year and a half since the establishment, SPI-Birds has recruited over 120 members, and currently hosts data on almost 1.5 million individual birds collected in 80 populations over 2,000 cumulative years, and counting., SPI-Birds acts as a data hub and a catalogue of studied populations. It prevents data loss, secures easy data finding, use and integration and thus facilitates collab-oration and synthesis. We provide community-derived data and meta-data stand-ards and improve data integrity guided by the principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR), and aligned with the existing metadata lan-guages (e.g. ecological meta-data language)., The encouraging community involvement stems from SPI-Bird's decentralized ap-proach: research groups retain full control over data use and their way of data management, while SPI-Birds creates tailored pipelines to convert each unique data format into a standard format. We outline the lessons learned, so that other communities (e.g. those working on other taxa) can adapt our successful model. Creating community-specific hubs (such as ours, COMADRE for animal demogra-phy, etc.) will aid much-needed large-scale ecological data integration., The SPI-Birds have been supported by an NWO personal grant (grant number 016.Veni.181.054) to A.C., and a Research Council of Norway grant: 223257 (SFF-III) and 267511 (EVOCLIM).

5 pages, 2 figures, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46326-1.-- Data are available in a central PostgreSQL database at UvA-BiTS (http://www.uva-bits.nl/virtual-lab), Wildlife that exploit human-made habitats hosts and spreads bacterial pathogens. This shapes the epidemiology of infectious diseases and facilitates pathogen spill-over between wildlife and humans. This is a global problem, yet little is known about the dissemination potential of pathogen-infected animals. By combining molecular pathogen diagnosis with GPS tracking of pathogen-infected gulls, we show how this knowledge gap could be filled at regional scales. Specifically, we generated pathogen risk maps of Salmonella, Campylobacter and Chlamydia based on the spatial movements of pathogen-infected yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) equipped with GPS recorders. Also, crossing this spatial information with habitat information, we identified critical habitats for the potential transmission of these bacteria in southern Europe. The use of human-made habitats by infected-gulls could potentially increase the potential risk of direct and indirect bidirectional transmission of pathogens between humans and wildlife. Our findings show that pathogen-infected wildlife equipped with GPS recorders can provide accurate information on the spatial spread risk for zoonotic bacteria. Integration of GPS-tracking with classical epidemiological approaches may help to improve zoonosis surveillance and control programs, Tracking devices were funded by ICTS-RBD through a demonstrative project for the ESFRI-LifeWatch (Science and Technology Infrastructure for Biodiversity Data and Observatories; Ref: SP34567) project supported by European Regional Funds. JN was partially funded by the Andalucía Talent Hub Program (Andalusian Knowledge Agency and European Union’s Seventh Framework Program; Ref: 291780) and by the Spanish National Program Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2015-17809)

Desecheo Island (117 ha) was historically an important seabird island in the Caribbean with 15 species recorded, of which seven are known to breed, including major populations of brown boobies and red‐footed bobbies. The introduction of invasive mammals, plus the use of the island as a bombing range, contributed to the extirpation of five of the seven known breeding populations of seabird species and vastly reduced numbers of the remaining two species. The island became a National Wildlife Refuge in 1976 and major conservation interventions have included the eradication of invasive goats, rhesus macaques and rats between 1976 and 2016. Removing these critical threats from the island has allowed other active restoration goals to be realized, including restoring seabird colonies to the island. Here, we report on the installation of social attraction equipment in 2018 to augment bridled tern and brown noddy colonies and establish a species of conservation concern, the Audubon's shearwater. We supported these actions through a review of historic seabird nesting and roosting on Desecheo. Motion‐sensing cameras were installed to document activity at each social attraction site and evaluate the effectiveness of our methods. During the 2 years of deployment and monitoring, a total of seven bridled tern nests were documented in new and historic sites for the species, two of them next to a decoy colony; however, no brown noddy visits or nests were detected. In 2018 and 2019, one and two Audubon's shearwaters, respectively, were attracted to one of the sound system speakers, representing the first record for this species on the island. Social attraction efforts on Desecheo appears to be a feasible activity that may help support seabird recolonization and support conservation goals for this National Wildlife Refuge.

Mosquito host utilization is a key factor in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens given that it greatly influences host-vector contact rates. Blood-feeding patterns of mosquitoes are not random, as some mosquitoes feed on particular species and/or individuals more than expected by chance. Mosquitoes use a number of cues including visual, olfactory, acoustic, and thermal stimuli emitted by vertebrate hosts to locate and identify their blood meal sources. Thus, differences in the quality/intensity of the released cues may drive host selection by mosquitoes at both inter- and intra-specific levels. Such patterns of host selection by mosquitoes in space and time can be structured by factors related to mosquitoes (e.g. innate host preference, behavioural plasticity), to hosts (e.g. emission of host-seeking cues, host availability) or to both (e.g. pathogen infection). In this study, we review current evidence, from phenomena to mechanisms, of how these factors influence host utilization by mosquitoes. We also review the methodologies commonly used in this research field and identify the major challenges for future studies. To bridge the knowledge gaps, we propose improvements to strengthen traditional approaches and the use of a functional trait-based approach to infer mosquito host utilization in natural communities.

The effects of tillage on soil structure, physiology and microbiota structure were studied in a long-term field experiment, with side-to-side plots, established to compare effects of conventional tillage (CT) vs no-till (NT) agriculture. After 27 years, part of the field under CT was switched to NT and vice versa. Soil texture, soil enzymatic profiles and the prokaryotic community structure (16S rRNA genes amplicon sequencing) were analyzed at two soil depths (0–5 and 5–10 cm) in samples taken 6, 18 and 30 months after switching tillage practices. Soil enzymatic activities were higher in NT than CT, and enzymatic profiles responded to the changes much earlier than the overall prokaryotic community structure. Beta diversity measurements of the prokaryotic community indicated that the levels of stratification observed in long-term NT soils were already recovered in the new NT soils 30 months after switching from CT to NT. Bacteria and Archaea OTUs that responded to NT were associated with coarse soil fraction, soil organic carbon and C cycle enzymes, while CT responders were related to fine soil fractions and S cycle enzymes. This study showed the potential of managing the soil prokaryotic community and soil health through changes in agricultural management practices.

BF received funding from the post-doctoral fellowships programme Beatriu de Pinós funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 Programme of Research and Innovation of the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 801370 (Incorporation grant 2019 BP 00183) and the Juan de la Cierva Programme funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Incorporation grant IJCI-2017-31478). PC and HJG were supported by NERC core funding to the BAS “Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation” Team., The polar regions provide valuable insights into the functioning of the Earth’s regulating systems. Conducting field research in such harsh and remote environments requires strong international cooperation, extended planning horizons, sizable budgets and longterm investment. Consequently, polar research is particularly vulnerable to societal and economic pressures during periods of austerity. The global financial crisis of 2008, and the ensuing decade of economic slowdown, have already adversely affected polar research, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has added further pressure. In this article we present the outcomes of a community survey that aimed to assess the main barriers and success factors identified by academic researchers at all career stages in response to these global crises. The survey results indicate that the primary barriers faced by polar early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) act at institutional level, while mitigating factors are developed at individual and group levels. Later career scientists report pressure toward taking early retirement as a means of institutions saving money, reducing both academic leadership and the often unrecognized but vital mentor roles that many play. Gender and social inequalities are also perceived as important barriers. Reorganization of institutional operations and more effective strategies for long-term capacity building and retaining of talent, along with reduction in non-research duties shouldered by EMCRs, would make important contributions toward ensuring continued vitality and innovation in the polar research community., Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia), Horizon 2020 Programme of Research and Innovation of the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 801370, Juan de la Cierva Programme funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Incorporation grant IJCI-2017-31478), NERC core funding to the BAS “Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation” Team

Humans and wildlife are at risk from certain vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and West Nile and yellow fevers. Factors linked to global change, including habitat alteration, landuse intensification, the spread of alien species, and climate change, are operating on a global scale and affect both the incidence and distribution of many vector-borne diseases. Hence, understanding the drivers that regulate the transmission of pathogens in the wild is of great importance for ecological, evolutionary, health, and economic reasons. In this literature review, we discuss the ecological factors potentially affecting the transmission of two mosquito-borne pathogens circulating naturally between birds and mosquitoes, namely,West Nile virus (WNV) and the avian malaria parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Traditionally, the study of pathogen transmission has focused only on vectors or hosts and the interactions between them, while the role of landscape has largely been ignored. However, from an ecological point of view, it is essential not only to study the interaction between each of these organisms but also to understand the environmental scenarios in which these processes take place. We describe here some of the similarities and differences in the transmission of these two pathogens and how research into both systems may facilitate a greater understanding of the dynamics of vector-borne pathogens in the wild.

The breadth of habitat occupied by a species, and the rate at which a species can expand into new habitats has important ecological and evolutionary consequences. Here we explore when extant species of free-living cupuladriid bryozoans expanded into new benthic Caribbean habitats that emerged during the final stages of formation of the Isthmus of Panama. Habitat breadth was estimated using the abundances of over 90,000 colonies in ten cupuladriid species, along with the ecological and sedimentary characteristics of the samples in which they occurred. Data reveal that all species expanded their habitat breadths during the last 6 Myr, but did so at a different tempo. ‘Young’ species - those that originated after 5 Ma - expanded relatively quickly, whereas ‘old’ species - those that originated before 9 Ma - took a further 2 Myr to achieve a comparable level of expansion. We propose that, like invasive species, young species are less restrained when expanding their habitat breadths compared to older well-established species. Understanding the mechanism causing this restraint requires further research

1. Large-scale environmental forces can influence biodiversity at different levels of biological organization. Climate, in particular, is often associated with species distributions and diversity gradients. However, its mechanistic link to population dynamics is still poorly understood. 2. Here, we unravelled the full mechanistic path by which a climatic driver, the Atlantic trade winds, determines the viability of a bird population. 3. We monitored the breeding population of Eleonora's falcons in the Canary Islands for over a decade (2007–2017) and integrated different methods and data to reconstruct how the availability of their prey (migratory birds) is regulated by trade winds. We tracked foraging movements of breeding adults using GPS, monitored departure of migratory birds using weather radar and simulated their migration trajectories using an individual-based, spatially explicit model. 4. We demonstrate that regional easterly winds regulate the flux of migratory birds that is available to hunting falcons, determining food availability for their chicks and consequent breeding success. By reconstructing how migratory birds are pushed towards the Canary Islands by trade winds, we explain most of the variation (up to 86%) in annual productivity for over a decade. 5. This study unequivocally illustrates how a climatic driver can influence local-scale demographic processes while providing novel evidence of wind as a major determinant of population fitness in a top predator

There is an increasing urgency in gaining greater understanding of the factors that affect vulnerability to extinction, given the current levels of species loss. Parasites often reduce host fitness and can thus exert an important influence on host population dynamics, exacerbating vulnerability to extinction. However, empirical support for the hypothesis that parasites can increase vulnerability to extinction is rare. A crucial factor limiting tests of the hypothesis is data availability. An extensive review of the literature revealed that common avian malaria and avian malaria–like haemosporidian parasites are seldom investigated in endangered birds. We stress the importance of assessing the occurrence of haemosporidians and other parasites in vertebrate species of high conservation concern

Changes in environmental conditions, whether related or not to human activities, are continuously modifying the geographic distribution of vectors, which in turn affects the dynamics and distribution of vector-borne infectious diseases. Determining the main ecological drivers of vector distribution and how predicted changes in these drivers may alter their future distributions is therefore of major importance. However, the drivers of vector populations are largely specific to each vector species and region. Here, we identify the most important human-activity-related and bioclimatic predictors affecting the current distribution and habitat suitability of the mosquito Culex pipiens and potential future changes in its distribution in Spain. We determined the niche of occurrence (NOO) of the species, which considers only those areas lying within the range of suitable environmental conditions using presence data. Although almost ubiquitous, the distribution of Cx. pipiens is mostly explained by elevation and the degree of urbanization but also, to a lesser extent, by mean temperatures during the wettest season and temperature seasonality. The combination of these predictors highlights the existence of a heterogeneous pattern of habitat suitability, with most suitable areas located in the southern and northeastern coastal areas of Spain, and unsuitable areas located at higher altitude and in colder regions. Future climatic predictions indicate a net decrease in distribution of up to 29.55%, probably due to warming and greater temperature oscillations. Despite these predicted changes in vector distribution, their effects on the incidence of infectious diseases are, however, difficult to forecast since different processes such as local adaptation to temperature, vector-pathogen interactions, and human-derived changes in landscape may play important roles in shaping the future dynamics of pathogen transmission. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

Alien mosquito and vertebrate host species may create novel epidemiological scenarios for the transmission of pathogens naturally circulating in the invaded area. The exotic Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) has established populations in Europe and is currently considered an invasive pest. Due to their high abundance in urban areas, Monk parakeets could be involved in the transmission of pathogens, potentially a ecting wildlife and livestock. To test this hypothesis, we determined the prevalence and diversity of three vector-borne parasites, namely Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon, in Monk parakeets from Barcelona. Many areas of southern Europe shelter high densities of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, which in addition to native mosquito species could a ect the transmission of mosquito-borne parasites, such as avian Plasmodium. Thus, we also sampled mosquitoes in the area to trace their blood-feeding hosts and determine the presence of Plasmodium parasites. Monk parakeets were neither infected by Plasmodium nor by Haemoproteus parasites, and only five individuals (3.13%; n = 160) were infected by Leucocytozoon. Monk parakeets were bitten by Culiseta longiareolata and represented 9.5% of Culex pipiens blood meals. The invasive Ae. albopictus showed a clear anthropophilic feeding pattern, with humans dominating its diet. Three Plasmodium lineages were detected in pools of Cx pipiens. These results suggest that Plasmodium circulating in the area cannot develop in the invasive Monk parakeet, in spite of the relatively high fraction of native mosquito vectors feeding on this species in its invaded distribution range.

Halimubieke, Naerhulan et al., When individuals breed more than once, parents are faced with the choice of whether to re-mate with their old partner or divorce and select a new mate. Evolutionary theory predicts that, following successful reproduction with a given partner, that partner should be retained for future reproduction. However, recent work in a polygamous bird, has instead indicated that successful parents divorced more often than failed breeders (Halimubieke et al. in Ecol Evol 9:10734–10745, 2019), because one parent can beneft by mating with a new partner and reproducing shortly after divorce. Here we investigate whether successful breeding predicts divorce using data from 14 well-monitored populations of plovers (Charadrius spp.). We show that successful nesting leads to divorce, whereas nest failure leads to retention of the mate for follow-up breeding. Plovers that divorced their partners and simultaneously deserted their broods produced more ofspring within a season than parents that retained their mate. Our work provides a counterpoint to theoretical expectations that divorce is triggered by low reproductive success, and supports adaptive explanations of divorce as a strategy to improve individual reproductive success. In addition, we show that temperature may modulate these costs and benefts, and contribute to dynamic variation in patterns of divorce across plover breeding systems

14 pages, 5 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.3354/ame01948, Organisms living in the sea are exposed to fouling by other organisms. Many benthic marine invertebrates, including sponges and bryozoans, contain natural products with antimicrobial properties, since microbes usually constitute the first stages of fouling. Extracts from 4 Antarctic sponges (Myxilla (Myxilla) mollis, Mycale tylotornota, Rossella nuda, and Anoxycalyx (Scolymastra) joubini) and 2 bryozoan species (Cornucopina pectogemma and Nematoflustra flagellata) were tested separately for antifouling properties in field experiments. The different crude extracts from these invertebrates were incorporated into a substratum gel at natural concentrations for an ecological approach. Treatments were tested by submerging plates covered by these substratum gels under water in situ during 1 lunar cycle (28 d) at Deception Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Remarkably, the butanolic extracts of M. tylotornota and C. pectogemma showed complete growth inhibition of microscopic eukaryotic organisms, one of the succession stages involved in biofouling. Our results suggest that different chemical strategies may exist to avoid fouling, although the role of chemical defenses is often species-specific. Thus, the high specificity of the microbial community attached to the coated plates seems to be modulated by the chemical cues of the crude extracts of the invertebrates tested, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

The Dilution Effect Hypothesis (DEH) argues that greater biodiversity lowers the risk of disease and reduces the rates of pathogen transmission since more diverse communities harbour fewer competent hosts for any given pathogen, thereby reducing host exposure to the pathogen. DEH is expected to operate most intensely in vector-borne pathogens and when species-rich communities are not associated with increased host density. Overall, dilution will occur if greater species diversity leads to a lower contact rate between infected vectors and susceptible hosts, and between infected hosts and susceptible vectors. Field-based tests simultaneously analysing the prevalence of several multi-host pathogens in relation to host and vector diversity are required to validate DEH. We tested the relationship between the prevalence in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) of four vector-borne pathogens– three avian haemosporidians (including the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium and the malaria-like parasites Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon) and West Nile virus (WNV)–and vertebrate diversity. Birds were sampled at 45 localities in SW Spain for which extensive data on vector (mosquitoes) and vertebrate communities exist. Vertebrate censuses were conducted to quantify avian and mammal density, species richness and evenness. Contrary to the predictions of DEH, WNV seroprevalence and haemosporidian prevalence were not negatively associated with either vertebrate species richness or evenness. Indeed, the opposite pattern was found, with positive relationships between avian species richness and WNV seroprevalence, and Leucocytozoon prevalence being detected. When vector (mosquito) richness and evenness were incorporated into the models, all the previous associations between WNV prevalence and the vertebrate community variables remained unchanged. No significant association was found for Plasmodium prevalence and vertebrate community variables in any of the models tested. Despite the studied system having several characteristics that should favour the dilution effect (i.e., vector-borne pathogens an area where vector and host densities are unrelated, and where host richness is not associated with an increase in host density), none of the relationships between host species diversity and species richness, and pathogen prevalence supported DEH and, in fact, amplification was found for three of the four pathogens tested. Consequently, the range of pathogens and communities studied needs to be broadened if we are to understand the ecological factors that favour dilution and how often these conditions occur in nature.

Vector and host communities, as well as habitat characteristics, may have important but different impacts on the prevalence, richness and evenness of vector-borne parasites. We investigated the relative importance of (1) the mosquito community composition, (2) the vertebrate community composition and (3) landscape characteristics on the prevalence, richness and evenness of avian Plasmodium. We hypothesized that parasite prevalence will be more affected by vector-related parameters, while host parameters should be also important to explain Plasmodium richness and evenness. We sampled 2,588 wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and 340,829 mosquitoes, and we performed vertebrate censuses at 45 localities in the Southwest of Spain. These localities included urban, rural and natural landscapes that were characterized by several habitat variables. Twelve Plasmodium lineages were identified in house sparrows corresponding to three major clades. Variation partitioning showed that landscape characteristics explained the highest fraction of variation in all response variables (21.0%–44.8%). Plasmodium prevalence was in addition explained by vector-related variables (5.4%) and its interaction with landscape (10.2%). Parasite richness and evenness were mostly explained by vertebrate community-related variables. The structuring role of landscape characteristics in vector and host communities was a key factor in determining parasite prevalence, richness and evenness, although the role of each factor differed according to the parasite parameters studied. These results show that the biotic and abiotic contexts are important to explain the transmission dynamics of mosquito-borne pathogens in the wild.

The ecology of the vertebrate host contributes to the geographical range expansion of ticks. In this study, we investigated which tick taxa that infest and are dispersed by birds along African-Western Palaearctic flyways during northward migration, and whether bird ecology was associated with tick taxa. Materials and methods: Ticks were collected from birds trapped at bird observatories in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Israel during the spring migration of 2014 and 2015, using mist nets. The tick-infested bird species were classified into guilds, using different combinations of the variables: migration distance, wintering region, foraging behaviour, and winter habitat. Ticks were molecularly determined to genus and species level by sequencing fragments of the 12S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene and by phylogenetic inference, using the Maximum Likelihood algorithm. Data were analysed using descriptive measures, graphs, Chi2 tests, the Tukey-Kramer test, and a parametric linear model (generalized linear model) in order to analyse and adjust for characteristics in the bird guilds and their relationship to collected tick taxa. Results: Most (84.2%) of the 10,209 trapped birds were long-distance migrants, of which 2.4% were infested by ticks. The most common tick species was Hyalomma rufipes (77.7%; 447/575), a known vector and reservoir of Crimean- Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. Bird guilds containing only long-distance migrants with wintering areas in Africa were associated with the tick species H. rufipes (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, bird winter habitat was associated with H. rufipes (p = 0.003); with bird species overwintering in open habitat (p = 0.014) and wetlands (p = 0.046) having significantly more H. rufipes as compared to birds with a winter habitat comprising forest and shrubs (p = 0.82). Conclusions: With climate change, the likelihood of establishment of permanent Hyalomma populations in central and northern Europe is increasing. Thus, surveillance programs for monitoring the risk of introduction and establishment of H. rufipes in the Western-Palaearctic should be established. Our study suggests that migratory bird species wintering in African open habitats and wetlands are good candidates for monitoring potential introduction.

Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are vectors of pathogens that affect wildlife, livestock and, occasionally, humans. Culicoides imicola (Kieffer, 1913) is considered to be the main vector of the pathogens that cause bluetongue disease (BT) and African horse sickness (AHS) in southern Europe. The study of blood-feeding patterns in Culicoides is an essential step towards understanding the epidemiology of these pathogens. Molecular tools that increase the accuracy and sensitivity of traditional methods have been developed to identify the hosts of potential insect vectors. However, to the present group's knowledge, molecular studies that identify the hosts of C. imicola in Europe are lacking. The present study genetically characterizes the barcoding region of C. imicola trapped on farms in southern Spain and identifies its vertebrate hosts in the area. The report also reviews available information on the blood-feeding patterns of C. imicola worldwide. Culicoides imicola from Spain feed on blood of six mammals that include species known to be hosts of the BT and AHS viruses. This study provides evidence of the importance of livestock as sources of bloodmeals for C. imicola and the relevance of this species in the transmission of BT and AHS viruses in Europe., This study was partially funded by projects CGL2015‐65055‐P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, P11‐RNM‐7038, from the Junta de Andalucía and a Microproyecto funded by the internal Estación Biológica de Doñana proposal financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence in Research, Development and Innovation programme (SEV‐2012‐0262). Funds were also partially provided by EU grant HEALTH.2010.2.3.3‐3 project 261391 EuroWestNile. JM‐dlP and MF were funded by a Juan de la Cierva contract and a Formación de Profesorado Universitario grant, respectively.

Wetlands are productive ecosystems that play an important role in the Earth´s carbon cycle and thus global carbon budgets. Climate variability affects amount of material entering and the metabolic balance of wetlands, thereby modifying carbon dynamics. This study presents spatiotemporal changes in air-water CO2 exchange in the vast wetlands of Donana (Spain) in relation to different hydrological cycles. Water sources feeding Donana, including groundwater and streams, ultimately depend on the fluctuating balance between annual precipitation and evapotranspiration. Hence, in order to examine the contribution of the rainfall pattern to the emission/capture of CO2 by a range of aquatic habitats in Donana, we took monthly measurements during severely wet, dry and normal hydrological years (2010-2013). During wet hydrological cycles, CO2 outgassing from flooded marshes markedly decreased in comparison to that observed during subsequent dry-normal cycles, with mean values of 25.84±19 and 5.2±8 mmol m-2 d-1, respectively. Under drier meteorological conditions, air-water CO2 fluxes also diminished in permanent floodplains and ponds, which even behaved as mild sinks for atmospheric CO2 during certain periods. Increased inputs of dissolved CO2 from the underground aquifer and the stream following periods of high rainfall are believed to be behind this pattern. Large lagoons with a managed water supply from an adjacent estuary took up atmospheric CO2 nearly permanently. Regional air-water carbon transport was 15.2 GgC y-1 under wet and 1.24 GgC y-1 under dry meteorological conditions, well below the estimated net primary production for Donana wetlands, indicating that the ecosystem acts as a large CO2 sink

There are a number of remote archipelagos distributed between 45 and 60 °S. The biota of these islands provide useful information to describe and understand patterns in biodiversity and biogeography as well as potential impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. They are in key locations either side of the Polar Front but also have limited influence from human activities. Here we investigate one taxon, bryozoans, on South Atlantic shelf habitats of the Falkland (FI) and the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia (SG). We present new data on spatial distribution in these islands, as well as an analysis of the bryozoological similarities between these and neighbouring regions. A total of 85 species of cheilostome bryozoans (351 samples) were found, belonging to 33 genera, including 18 potentially new genera and 23 new species. Remarkably 68% and 41% of species were reported for the first time at FI and SG, respectively. The highest and the lowest value of species richness and species/genus ratio were found at East (EFI) and West Falkland (WFI), respectively, likely showing a tendency for stronger intrageneric competition. New data from this study were jointly analysed with data from the literature and existing databases, revealing new bathymetric ranges in 32 species. The biogeographic affinities of the bryozoans found give further evidence of the hypothesis of sequential separation of Gondwana and support the changing concept that although the Polar Front acts as a circumpolar biogeographic barrier it is not as impermeable as originally thought. Potential dispersal mechanisms are also discussed.

Environmental and biological factors play important roles in determining the skeletal morphology and mineralogy of modular colonial organisms such as bryozoans. The broad bathymetrical ranges of Antarctic bryozoans make them useful organisms for evaluating depth-related changes in colony morphology, including branch diameter, which has been shown to decrease with depth in various ramose colonial animals. The current study focuses on the bryozoan Fasciculipora ramosa, using 32 specimens collected at East Antarctica from 185 to 597 m deep during the CEAMARC cruise (2007–2008). In order to test for the expected inverse relationship between depth and branch diameter, measurements of branch diameters were made. Levels of Mg in the calcite skeleton were determined as this was also predicted to follow changes in branch diameter. A significant negative correlation was found between branch diameter and depth. No significant relationship was detected between branch diameter and skeletal Mg, suggesting that these variables are driven by different factors. The thickest branches were found in current-influenced sites on Adelie Bank where temperature and salinity are both lower and planktonic food supply may also be different from the other sites. Further studies are needed along a wider bathymetrical range to clarify which factors influence branch diameter as well as Mg content in F. ramosa and to test its potential as an environmental indicator.

Nest materials used by animals can have profound effects on developing offspring. They can modify the bacterial and parasitic environment of the nest, and can influence parental investment through sexual signalling processes. In spotless starlings, Sturnus unicolor, green plants and feathers are known nest materials with such functions. The aim of our study was to experimentally assess their influence on nestlings' telomere length and attrition, which are good predictors of their survival prospects. In a full-factorial experiment, we explored these effects in two different populations, together with the potential effects of hatching date, ectoparasitism, bacterial environment and nestling growth. Telomere length and attrition largely depended on population identity and hatching date. After correcting for these effects, the addition of feathers resulted in higher rates of telomere attrition. The addition of plants did not affect nestling telomeres in general, but did in interaction with location: in Hueneja, the experimental addition of green plants resulted in longer telomeres. Feather pigmentation also did not affect telomere length or attrition in general, but did in interaction with location: in Hueneja, the experimental addition of unpigmented feathers resulted in nestlings with longer telomeres and lower attrition rates. Moreover, prevalence of staphylococci on the skin of 8-day-old nestlings was negatively related to telomere lengths of fledglings. Taken together, these results suggest a direct link between nest material composition and nestling telomere length and dynamics. This relationship could be partially mediated by the antimicrobial and/or antiparasitic properties of nest materials or by sexual signalling processes. We discuss possible roles of maternal effects, parasites, immunity and nestling growth in explaining these experimental effects., Funding was provided by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad and European funds (FEDER) (CGL2013-48193-C3-1-P, CGL2013-48193-C3-2-P, CGL2012-30759, CGL2015-65055-P). J.M.P., G.T. and M.R.R. were supported respectively by Juan de la Cierva, Ramón & Cajal and Talentia postdoctoral contracts.

We documented the appearance and elevated abundance of the uncommon dingy purplewing butterfly, Eunica monima (Stoll) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), and pronounced herbivory on its host plant Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg. (Burseraceae) shortly after island-wide rat (Rattus rattus [L.]; Muridae) removal from Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico. We confirmed the species as E. monima by using both molecular and morphological analyses of larvae and adults. This is a first-time record of E. monima for the island of Desecheo, one of relatively few documented appearances in Puerto Rico during the last 100 yr, and an uncommon documentation of an outbreak of this species in the Caribbean. Although experimental manipulation would be needed to identify the cause of the E. monima population outbreak, we discuss possible cause-and-effect scenarios.

Understanding ecosystem response to disturbances and identifying the most critical traits for the maintenance of ecosystem functioning are important goals for microbial community ecology. In this study, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and metagenomics to investigate the assembly of bacterial populations in a full-scale municipal activated sludge wastewater treatment plant over a period of three years, including a period of nine month of disturbance, characterized by short-term plant shutdowns. Following the reconstruction of 173 metagenome-assembled genomes, we assessed the functional potential, the number of rRNA gene operons and thein situgrowth rate of microorganisms present throughout the time series. Operational disturbances caused a significant decrease in bacteria with a single copy of the ribosomal RNA (rrn) operon. Despite only moderate differences in resource availability, replication rates were distributed uniformly throughout time, with no differences between disturbed and stable periods. We suggest that the length of the growth lag phase, rather than the growth rate, as the primary driver of selection under disturbed conditions. Thus, the system could maintain its function in the face of disturbance by recruiting bacteria with the capacity to rapidly resume growth under unsteady operating conditions.IMPORTANCEIn this work we investigated the response of microbial communities to disturbances in a full-scale activated sludge wastewater treatment plant over a time-scale that included periods of stability and disturbance. We performed a genome-wide analysis, which allowed us the direct estimation of specific cellular traits, including the rRNA operon copy number and the in situ growth rate of bacteria. This work builds upon recent efforts to incorporate growth efficiency for the understanding of the physiological and ecological processes shaping microbial communities in nature. We found evidence that would suggest that activated sludge could maintain its function in the face of disturbance by recruiting bacteria with the capacity to rapidly resume growth under unsteady operating conditions. This paper provides relevant insights into wastewater treatment process, and may also reveal a key role for growth traits in the adaptive response of bacteria to unsteady environmental conditions.

Aim: Parental care improves the survival of offspring and therefore has a major impact on reproductive success. It is increasingly recognized that coordinated biparental care is necessary to ensure the survival of offspring in hostile environments, but little is known about the influence of environmental fluctuations on parental cooperation. Assessing the impacts of environmental stochasticity, however, is essential for understanding how populations will respond to climate change and the associated increasing frequencies of extreme weather events. Here we investigate the influence of environmental stochasticity on biparental incubation in a cosmopolitan ground-nesting avian genus. Location: Global. Methods: We assembled data on biparental care in 36 plover populations (Charadrius spp.) from six continents, collected between 1981 and 2012. Using a space-for-time approach we investigate how average temperature, temperature stochasticity (i.e. year-to-year variation) and seasonal temperature variation during the breeding season influence parental cooperation during incubation. Results: We show that both average ambient temperature and its fluctuations influence parental cooperation during incubation. Male care relative to female care increases with both mean ambient temperature and temperature stochasticity. Local climatic conditions explain within-species population differences in parental cooperation, probably reflecting phenotypic plasticity of behaviour. Main conclusions: The degree of flexibility in parental cooperation is likely to mediate the impacts of climate change on the demography and reproductive behaviour of wild animal populations.

This study was conducted to investigate whether functions encoded in the metagenome could improve our ability to understand the link between microbial community structures and functions in activated sludge. By analyzing data sets from six industrial and six municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), covering different configurations, operational conditions, and geographic regions, we found that wastewater influent composition was an overriding factor shaping the metagenomic composition of the activated sludge samples. Community GC content profiles were conserved within treatment plants on a time scale of years and between treatment plants with similar influent wastewater types. Interestingly, GC contents of the represented phyla covaried with the average GC contents of the corresponding WWTP metagenome. This suggests that the factors influencing nucleotide composition act similarly across taxa and thus the variation in nucleotide contents is driven by environmental differences between WWTPs. While taxonomic richness and functional richness were correlated, shotgun metagenomics complemented taxon-based analyses in the task of classifying microbial communities involved in wastewater treatment systems. The observed taxonomic dissimilarity between full-scale WWTPs receiving influent types with varied compositions, as well as the inferred taxonomic and functional assignment of recovered genomes from each metagenome, were consistent with underlying differences in the abundance of distinctive sets of functional categories. These conclusions were robust with respect to plant configuration, operational and environmental conditions, and even differences in laboratory protocols. IMPORTANCE This work contributes to the elucidation of drivers of microbial community assembly in wastewater treatment systems. Our results are significant because they provide clear evidence that bacterial communities in WWTPs assemble mainly according to influent wastewater characteristics. Differences in bacterial community structures between WWTPs were consistent with differences in the abundance of distinctive sets of functional categories, which were related to the metabolic potential that would be expected according to the source of the wastewater.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of a change in management on the soil microbial community and C sequestration. We conducted a 3-year field study in La Pampa (Argentina) with rotation of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in zero tillage alternating with rye (Secale cereale) and vetch (Vicia villosa ssp. dasycarpa). Soil was sampled once a year at two depths. Soil organic matter fractions, dissolved organic matter, microbial biomass (MBC) and community composition (DNA extraction, qPCR, and phospholipid FAME profiles) were determined. Litter, aerial- and root biomass were collected and all material was analyzed for C and N. Results showed a rapid response of microbial biomass to a bacterial dominance independent of residue quality. Vetch had the highest diversity index, while the fertilized treatment had the lowest one. Vetch–sorghum rotation with high N mineralization rates and diverse microbial community sequestered more C and N in stable soil organic matter fractions than no-till sorghum alone or with rye, which had lower N turnover rates. These results reaffirm the importance of enhanced soil biodiversity for maintaining soil ecosystem functioning and services. The supply of high amounts of N-rich residues as provided by grass–legume cover crops could fulfill this objective. EEA Anguil Fil: Frasier, Ileana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Noellemeyer, Elke. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Figuerola, Eva Lucia Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; Argentina Fil: Erijman, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular; Argentina Fil: Permingeat, Hugo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina Fil: Quiroga, Alberto Raul. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina

The number of moults per annual cycle and their final spatial pattern (i.e. topography) show high interspecific variation in the order Passeriformes. Factors behind this variability remain obscure, especially for variability in spatial pattern among species. Here, we explored the relative influence of ten ecological, ontogenetic, social and sexual factors on the evolution of autumn moult (feather replacement largely undertaken by migratory species, which is not necessarily an independent episode within their moult cycle) and prealternate moult among Northern Hemisphere species of the family Motacillidae using phylogenetically controlled analyses, ancestral state reconstruction and analyses of correlated evolution. The results strongly support the presence of prealternate moult and absence of autumn moult as ancestral states in this family. A high rate of change between related species indicates phylogenetic independence among prealternate moult patterns and examined factors. Migration distance and gregariousness are the most important factors influencing prealternate moult evolution, and point toward natural selection and sociality as the most important evolutionary drivers of prealternate moult in Motacillidae. Breeding latitude, seasonal plumage change, winter plumage conspicuousness, sexual dichromatism, plumage maturation and extent of preformative moult show a minor influence, and suggest that ontogeny and sexual selection may have played a limited role in shaping prealternate moult in Motacillidae.

Urbanization changes the landscape structure and ecological processes of natural habitats. While urban areas expose animal communities to novel challenges, they may also provide more stable environments in which environmental fluctuations are buffered. Species´ ecology and physiology may determine their capacity to cope with the city life. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying organismal responses to urbanization, and whether different physiological systems are equally affected by urban environments remain poorly understood. This severely limits our capacity to predict the impact of anthropogenic habitats on wild populations. In this study, we measured indicators of physiological stress at the endocrine, immune and cellular level (feather corticosterone levels, heterophil to lymphocyte ratio, and heat-shock proteins) in urban and non-urban European blackbirds (Turdus merula) across 10 European populations. Among the three variables, we found consistent differences in feather corticosterone, which was higher in non-urban habitats. This effect seems to be dependent on sex, being greater in males. In contrast, we found no significant differences between urban and non-urban habitats in the two other physiological indicators. The discrepancy between these different measurements of physiological stress highlights the importance of including multiple physiological variables to understand the impact of urbanization on species' physiology. Overall, our findings suggest that adult European blackbirds living in urban and non-urban habitats do not differ in terms of physiological stress at an organismal level. Furthermore, we found large differences among populations on the strength and direction of the urbanization effect, which illustrates the relevance of spatial replication when investigating urban-induced physiological responses., JDI was funded by a postdoctoral contract (TAHUB-104) from the program “Andalucía Talent Hub” (co-funded by the European's Union Seventh Framework Program Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions -COFUND- and the regional Government of Andalucía). DG was funded by a research grant from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (CGL2014-55577-R). JF was funded by a research grant from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2012-30759). ADF was supported by a Severo-Ochoa grant from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SVP-2014-068571).

Human driven changes such as increases in oceanic CO2, global warming and pollution may negatively affect the ability of marine calcifiers to build their skeletons/shells, especially in polar regions. Here we address, for the first time, spatio-temporal variability of skeletal Mg-calcite using bryozoan and serpulid species as models in a recruitment experiment of settlement tiles in East Antarctica. Mineralogies were determined using X-ray diffractometry for 754 specimens belonging to six bryozoan species (four cheilostome and two cyclostome species) and two serpulid species from around Casey Station. All species had calcitic skeletons. Intra- and interspecific variability in wt% MgCO3 in calcite among most species contributed to the biggest source of variation overall. Therefore, biological processes seem to be the main factor controlling the skeletal Mg-calcite in these taxa. However, spatial variability found in wt% MgCO3 in calcite could also reflect local impacts such as freshwater input and contaminated sediments. The vulnerability of these species to global change is also examined and those species with high-Mg calcite skeletons and low thermal tolerance (e.g. Beania erecta) could be particularly sensitive to near-future global ocean chemistry changes.

The present paper reports on 22 bryozoan species collected from 25 localities on the Southwestern Atlantic continental shelf and slope by the Instituto Español de Oceanografía vessel RV Miguel Oliver (2008–2010). Two new genera, Amynaskolia n. gen. and Biconcavus n. gen., and twenty new cheilostome species are described: Amastigia zigzag n. sp., Membranicellaria balanyai n. sp., Figularia dimorpha n. sp., Biconcavus batmani n. sp., Smittina acicularis n. sp., Smittoidea granulosa n. sp., Amynaskolia foramina n. sp., Mawatarius avilae n. sp., Mucropetraliella reticulata n. sp., Ipsibuffonella umbonata n. sp., Microporella gappai n. sp., Fenestrulina curviscutum n. sp., Fenestrulina multiflorum n. sp., Malakosaria cecilioi n. sp., Osthimosia incisa n. sp., Spigaleos simplex n. sp., Reteporella kuklinskii n. sp., Reteporella maryae n. sp., Reteporella taylori n. sp., Orthoporidra nova n. sp.. New taxonomic remarks are also included for two little-known species: Melicerita atlantica Busk, 1884 and Arachnopusia tubula Hayward & Thorpe, 1988. Membranicellaria balanyai n. sp., Mawatarius avilae n. sp. and Ipsibuffonella umbonata n. sp. represent the third described species of their genera, whereas Spigaleos simplex n. sp., Malakosaria cecilioi n. sp. and Orthoporidra nova n. sp. are the fourth, fifth and sixth described species of their genera respectively. Spigaleos (Celleporidae) and Arachnopusia tubula (Arachnopusiidae), previously reported only from Antarctica, Ipsibuffonella (Buffonellodidae), reported from tropical and subtropical regions, and Mucropetraliella (Petraliidae) all represent first records for the Patagonian region, expanding their geographic distributions northwards and southwards, respectively. These results highlight the importance of sampling the slope and deep waters of South American and Antarctic margins and basins, filling significant gaps in the knowledge of the biodiversity and biogeographic ranges of certain taxa in these unique and varied ecosystems.

Fecha de aceptación del trabajo: 2017-12-05., [Background] Space use by animals is determined by the interplay between movement and the environment, and is thus mediated by habitat selection, biotic interactions and intrinsic factors of moving individuals. These processes ultimately determine home range size, but their relative contributions and dynamic nature remain less explored. We investigated the role of habitat selection, movement unrelated to habitat selection and intrinsic factors related to sex in driving space use and home range size in Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica. We used GPS collars to track ibex across the year in two different geographical areas of Sierra Nevada, Spain, and measured habitat variables related to forage and roost availability., [Results] By using integrated step selection analysis (iSSA), we show that habitat selection was important to explain space use by ibex. As a consequence, movement was constrained by habitat selection, as observed displacement rate was shorter than expected under null selection. Selection-independent movement, selection strength and resource availability were important drivers of seasonal home range size. Both displacement rate and directional persistence had a positive relationship with home range size while accounting for habitat selection, suggesting that individual characteristics and state may also affect home range size. Ibex living at higher altitudes, where resource availability shows stronger altitudinal gradients across the year, had larger home ranges. Home range size was larger in spring and autumn, when ibex ascend and descend back, and smaller in summer and winter, when resources are more stable. Therefore, home range size decreased with resource availability. Finally, males had larger home ranges than females, which might be explained by differences in body size and reproductive behaviour., [Conclusions] Movement, selection strength, resource availability and intrinsic factors related to sex determined home range size of Iberian ibex. Our results highlight the need to integrate and account for process dependencies, here the interdependence of movement and habitat selection, to understand how animals use space. This study contributes to understand how movement links environmental and geographical space use and determines home range behaviour in large herbivores., This study was funded by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, project CGL2004–03171/BOS. DSV was supported by project RECUPERA 2020, Hito 1.1.1, cofinanced by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

Global warming and direct anthropogenic impacts, such as water extraction, largely affect water budgets in Mediterranean wetlands, thereby increasing wetland salinities and isolation, and decreasing water depths and hydroperiods (duration of the inundation period). These wetland features are key elements structuring waterbird communities. However, the ultimate and net consequences of these dynamic conditions on waterbird assemblages are largely unknown. We combined regular sampling of waterbird presence through one annual cycle with in-situ data on relevant environmental predictors of waterbird distribution to model habitat selection for 69 species in a typical Mediterranean wetland network in southwestern Spain. Species associations with environmental features were subsequently used to predict changes in habitat suitability for each species under three climate change scenarios (encompassing changes in environmental predictors that ranged from 10% to 50% change as predicted by regional climatic models). Waterbirds distributed themselves unevenly throughout environmental gradients and water salinity was the most important gradient structuring the distribution of the community. Environmental suitability for the guilds of diving birds and vegetation gleaners will decline in future climate scenarios, while many small wading birds will benefit from changing conditions. Resident species and those that breed in this wetland network will also be more negatively impacted than those using this area for wintering or stopover. We provide a tool that can be used in a horizon-scanning framework to identify emerging issues in waterbird conservation and to anticipate suitable management actions., The study was supported by the European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 641762 to ECOPOTENTIAL project. Field data were collected under the project "Propuesta metodolo´gica para diagnosticar y pronosticar las consecuencias de las actuaciones humanas en el estuario del Guadalquivir" financed by Autoridad Portuaria de Sevilla. F. Ramı´rez was partially funded by ECOPOTENTIAL and “Subprograma Juan de la Cierva-Incorporacio´n; Ministerio de Economı´a, Industria y Competitividad” (IJCI-2015- 24531). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Antarctic benthic communities are largely structured by predation, which leads to the development of mechanisms of repellence. Among those mechanisms, chemical defences are quite extensive, yet poorly understood. To increase knowledge about the role of chemical defences in the Southern Ocean ecosystems, we assessed the incidence of feeding repellents in sessile and vagile invertebrates from nine phyla: Porifera, Cnidaria, Nemertea, Annelida, Mollusca, Bryozoa, Echinodermata, Hemichordata, and Tunicata (Ascidiacea). Samples were collected at depths of 120–789 m in the eastern Weddell Sea and Bouvet Island, and at depths ranging 0–100 m in the South Shetland Islands. When possible, specimens were dissected to study anatomical allocation of repellents. The common, eurybathic sea star Odontaster validus was chosen to perform feeding repellence bioassays, using diethyl ether (lipophilic) and butanol (hydrophilic) extracts from these samples. Among the 75 species tested, 52 % were studied for the first time for anti-predatory properties. Results provide further evidence of the prevalence of defensive metabolites in Antarctic organisms, with 47 % of the species exhibiting significant repellence within their lipophilic extracts. They also suggest a wider use of nonpolar defensive chemicals. Sessile taxa displayed highest repellence activities, with ascidians, cnidarians, and sponges being the most chemically protected. Overall, the present study indicates that natural products by mediating trophic interactions between prey and their potential predators play an important role in structuring Antarctic benthic ecosystems., SI