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Premise: Water is the most limiting factor in dryland ecosystems, and plants are adapted to cope with this constraint. Particularly vulnerable are phreatophytic plants from groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in regions that have to face water regime alterations due to the impacts of climate and land-use changes. Methods: We investigated two aspects related to the water-use strategy of a keystone species that dominates one of the few terrestrial GDEs in European drylands (Ziziphus lotus): where it obtains water and how it regulates its use. We (1) evaluated plants’ water sources and use patterns using a multiple-isotope approach (δH, δO, and ΔC); (2) assessed the regulation of plant water potential by characterizing the species on an isohydric–anisohydric continuum; and (3) evaluated plants’ response to increasing water stress along a depth-to-groundwater (DTGW) gradient by measuring foliar gas exchange and nutrient concentrations. Results: Ziziphus lotus behaves as a facultative or partial phreatophyte with extreme anisohydric stomatal regulation. However, as DTGW increased, Z. lotus (1) reduced the use of groundwater, (2) reduced total water uptake, and (3) limited transpiration water loss while increasing water-use efficiency. We also found a physiological threshold at 14 m depth to groundwater, which could indicate maximum rooting length beyond which optimal plant function could not be sustained. Conclusions: Species such as Z. lotus survive by squandering water in drylands because of a substantial groundwater uptake. However, the identification of DTGW thresholds indicates that drawdowns in groundwater level would jeopardize the functioning of the GDE., This research was done in the framework of the LTSER Platform “The Arid Iberian South East LTSER Platform - Spain (LTER_EU_ES_027)” and supported by the European project LIFE Adaptamed (LIFE14349 CCA/ES/000612), the Spanish Ecological Transition Ministry (through Biodiversity Foundation) project CO-ADAPTA. (CA_CC_2016), and the RTI2018-102030-B-I00 project of the University of Almería (PPUENTE2020/001). F.G. was financially supported by the “HIPATIA” research program of the University of Almeria, and the Spanish government supported M.T.T. with a FPU predoctoral fellowship (16/02214)

The establishment of non-native, habitat-forming seaweeds into new areas may trigger changes in ecosystem functioning, including the spatial redistribution of native biodiversity. These changes can in turn affect socio-economic systems. We studied the question whether the spatial behaviour of marine anglers is altered by the presence of a non-native seaweed using a novel image-based method to measure fisher movements. A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) was applied to high resolution tracking data of marine recreational boat anglers exploiting a coastal fishery half covered by a recently introduced tropical seaweed, Halimeda incrassata. We then examined if the presence of the non-native seaweed affected the transition probability between two key behavioural states of the anglers: searching and fishing. The analysis revealed a significant effect of the seaweed presence at site-level on angler movement behaviour, but in the opposite direction that we predicted: the presence of the non-native seaweed led a decrease in the use of invaded patches although these patches are known to host an increased fish abundance. Invaded sites thus were attractive to the target fishes, but not for anglers, leading to repulsion. We conclude that, at the patch level non-native habitat forming seaweeds can exert substantial impacts on fisher behaviour in marine recreational fisheries. We discuss future studies needed to shed light to the social-economic impact of H. incrassata for local temperate recreational fisheries., JA was supported by a Ramon y Cajal Grant (grant no. RYC2018-024488-I) and the intramural research project JSATS (grant no. PIE 202030E002) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the Spanish National Research Council. This study has been developed within the research project AutoNatura2000dos funded by the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica - Fundación Biodiversidad through the program PLEAMAR and the Fondo Europeo Marítimo Pesquero (FEMP). We thank Antoni Grau (Govern de les Illes Balears, Direcció General de Pesca) for supporting and authorizing this study and all researcher involved in the field work. RA received funding through the European Union (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund) and the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany) (Grant MV-I.18-LM-004, B 730117000069), and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Grants 01LC1826E and 033W046A).

The increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves is one of the most unquestionable effects of climate change. Therefore, the progressive increase in maximum temperatures will have a clear incidence on the increase in mortality, especially in countries that are vulnerable due to geographical location or their socioeconomic characteristics. Different research studies show that the mortality attributable to heat is decreasing globally, and research is centred on future scenarios. One way of detecting the existence of a lesser impact of heat is through the increase in the so-called temperature of minimum mortality (TMM). The objective of this study is to determine the temporal evolution of TMM in two Spanish provinces (Seville and Madrid) during the 1983-2018 period and to evaluate whether the rate of adaptation to heat is appropriate. We used the gross rate of daily mortality due to natural causes (CIEX: A00-R99) and the maximum daily temperature (°C) to determine the quinquennial TMM using dispersion diagrams and realizing fit using quadratic and cubic curvilinear estimation. The same analysis was carried out at the annual level, by fitting an equation to the line of TMM for each province, whose slope, if significant (p

Self-incompatibility in Rosaceae is determined by a Gametophytic Self-Incompatibility System (GSI) that is mainly controlled by the multiallelic locus S. In apricot, the determination of self- and inter-(in)compatibility relationships is increasingly important, since the release of an important number of new cultivars has resulted in the increase of cultivars with unknown pollination requirements. Here, we describe a methodology that combines the determination of self-(in)compatibility by hand-pollinations and microscopy with the identification of the S-genotype by PCR analysis. For self(in)compatibility determination, flowers at balloon stage from each cultivar were collected in the field, hand-pollinated in the laboratory, fixed, and stained with aniline blue for the observation of pollen tube behavior under the fluorescence microscopy. For the establishment of incompatibility relationships between cultivars, DNA from each cultivar was extracted from young leaves and S-alleles were identified by PCR. This approach allows establishing incompatibility groups and elucidate incompatibility relationships between cultivars, which provides a valuable information to choose suitable pollinizers in the design of new orchards and to select appropriate parents in breeding programs., Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades-European Regional Development Fund, European Union: AGL2016-77267-R, AGL2015-74071-JIN, Instituto de Investigacion Agropecuaria (INIA): RFP2015-00015-00, RTA2017-00003-00, Gobierno de Aragon-European Social Fund, European Union: A12_17R, Fundacion Biodiversidad, Agroseguro S.A.

46 pages, Spatial ecology and behaviour of a species is essential to assess its vulnerability to environmental and anthropogenic stressors and consequently develop efficiency management strategies. Elasmobranchs, as k-strategy species are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, especially in coastal areas. Speciesspecific conservation management has proven to be challenging, due to insufficient information on their biology and ecology. In this study we used a VPS acoustic telemetry array to identify biological and environmental drivers for presence, space use and activity of the endangered undulate ray, Raja undulata, within an MPA in the southern Galician coast (NW Spain). Movement and behaviour were mainly driven by diel and seasonal patterns, activity levels differed between sexes and temperature and upwelling conditions were less important drivers for behaviour. No effect of body size was observed. While the presence in the study area and home range size decreased from summer to autumn, activity increased towards mid-September and followed a clear diel cycle with nocturnal activity peaks. We hypothesised that foraging and reproduction are likely to be the main underlying biological drivers. Our work thus represents an important contribution to the understanding of the ecology of this endangered, yet commercially important skate in Europe and provides important insights for management strategies., This thesis was supported by a JAE Intro ICU scholarship granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and University. It was part of the TAC project in collaboration with the Fundación Biodiversidad and the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge through the Pleamar Programme, which was co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). This project has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 793627 (BEMAR).

African swine fever (ASF) is a severe viral disease that is currently spreading among domestic pigs and wild boar (Sus scrofa) in large areas of Eurasia. Wild boar play a key role in the spread of ASF, yet despite their significance, little is known about the key mechanisms that drive infection transmission and disease persistence. A mathematical model of the wild boar ASF system is developed that captures the observed drop in population density, the peak in infected density and the persistence of the virus observed in ASF outbreaks. The model results provide insight into the key processes that drive the ASF dynamics and show that environmental transmission is a key mechanism determining the severity of an infectious outbreak and that direct frequency dependent transmission and transmission from individuals that survive initial ASF infection but eventually succumb to the disease are key for the long-term persistence of the virus. By considering scenarios representative of Estonia and Spain we show that faster degradation of carcasses in Spain, due to elevated temperature and abundant obligate scavengers, may reduce the severity of the infectious outbreak. Our results also suggest that the higher underlying host density and longer breeding season associated with supplementary feeding leads to a more pronounced epidemic outbreak and persistence of the disease in the long-term. The model is used to assess disease control measures and suggests that a combination of culling and infected carcass removal is the most effective method to eradicate the virus without also eradicating the host population, and that early implementation of these control measures will reduce infection levels whilst maintaining a higher host population density and in some situations prevent ASF from establishing in a population., Xander O’Neill was supported by The Maxwell Institute Graduate School in Analysis and its Applications, a Centre for Doctoral Training funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/L016508/01), the Scottish Funding Council, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the COST Action ASF-STOP CA15116, from the MCIU project CGL2017-89866-R and support from Fundación Biodiversidad, Ministerio de Transición Ecológica.

Runcinids are poorly known minute marine slugs inhabiting intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky shores. Among the European species, Runcina brenkoae, described from the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean, has been described to display chromatic variability, placing in question the true identity and geographic distribution of the species. In this paper we investigate the taxonomic status of R. brenkoae based on specimens from the central and western Mediterranean Sea and the southern Iberian coastline of Portugal and Spain, following an integrative approach combining multi-locus molecular phylogenetics based on the mitochondrial markers cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and 16S rRNA and the nuclear gene histone H3, together with the study of morpho-anatomical characters investigated by scanning electron microscopy. To aid in species delimitation, the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery and Bayesian Poisson tree process methods were employed. Our results indicate the existence of a complex of three species previously identified as R. brenkoae, namely two new species here described (R. marcosi n. sp. and R. lusitanica n. sp.) and R. brenkoae proper., Los runcináceos son pequeñas babosas marinas poco conocidas que habitan en costas rocosas intermareales y submareales poco profundas. Entre las especies europeas, Runcina brenkoae descrita originalmente en el mar Adriático en el Mediterráneo, se describió mostrando una variabilidad cromática que cuestionaba la verdadera identidad de la especie y su distribución geográfica. En este artículo, investigamos el estatus taxonómico de R. brenkoae a partir de especímenes del mar Mediterráneo central y occidental, y del sur de las costas Ibéricas de Portugal y España, siguiendo un enfoque integrador que combina una filogenia molecular multi-locus basada en los marcadores mitocondriales citocromo c oxidasa subunidad I y 16S rRNA, y el gen nuclear histona H3, junto con el estudio de los caracteres morfoanatómicos estudiados mediante microscopía electrónica de barrido. Para ayudar en el proceso de delimitaciones de especies, se emplearon los métodos “Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery” y el “Bayesian Poisson Tree Processes”. Nuestros resultados ponen de manifiesto la existencia de un complejo de tres especies previamente identificadas como R. brenkoae, a saber, dos nuevas especies aquí descritas (R. marcosi n. sp. y R. lusitanica n. sp.) y R. brenkoae propiamente dicha.

Nocturnal birds rely on achromatic visual signals to assess rivals and potential mates, but variation in the expression of these displays has been understudied. Here we use UV-visible reflectance spectrometry to study colour variation and the potential signalling function of the dark brown chest and white rump plumage – a colour pattern conspicuously exhibited during twilight courtship displays – in nocturnal Mediterranean Storm Petrels Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis from three islands with different exposures to predation and human disturbance. Human activity may increase perceived predation risk and thus affect activity budgets and the physiological stress response, with possible consequences on the relationship between individual body condition and plumage coloration. We found that chest and especially rump feathers reflected in the ultraviolet (UV) but there was no evidence of sexual dichromatism. However, we found support for a male-specific signalling role of plumage coloration. Indeed, chest yellow–red chroma and rump UV chroma were positively related to body condition in males, but only in the two islands representing the poorer environmental conditions. Therefore, environmental variability can potentially modify the reliability of achromatic displays, with possible consequences on sexual selection patterns in a nocturnal bird., European Fisheries Fund (EFF 2007‐2013) ‐ Fundación Biodiversidad (Spanish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Environment). Grant Number: AQUA&PAIÑO (FEP‐FB 20122054) European Commission ‐ University of Padova. Grant Number: ACCORDO N. 2017/2018

Baki Yokes, Mehmet ... et al.-- 17 pages, 21 figures, 3 tables, In the present article, new records are given for 18 species (6 native, 9 alien and 3 cryptogenic), belonging to 5 Phyla (i.e. Chlorophyta, Cnidaria, Annelida, Mollusca and Chordata), from 8 Mediterranean countries: Spain: A large population of Polycerella emertoni reported from the Ebro Delta, the presence of Spinimuricea klavereni is confirmed for the first time in the Catalan coast; Italy: the new record of Cryptonome turcica extends its distribution to the western Mediterranean Sea, the findings of Mawia benovici constitute the southernmost record of this species in the Adriatic Sea; Slovenia: second record of the alien seaslug Cuthona perca in the Mediterranean Sea; Montenegro: Styela plicata communities were recorded in Boka Kotorska Bay; Albania: the native great torpedo ray Tetronarce nobiliana recorded for the first time in Albanian waters; Greece: first record of Lagocephalus sceleratus in the Greek side of the Adriatic, the records of Cassiopea andromeda and Pterois miles are first records of these species from the Ionian Sea, the colonial ascidians Aplidium coeruleum and Didemnum protectum are recorded for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean, an extremely abundant population of Melibe viridis is found in Messolonghi lagoon, the record of Synchiropus sechellensis is the range expansion of this species in Greek Seas, Acetabularia caliculus is recorded for the first time from Greece; Cyprus: first records of Callionymus filamentosus and Haminoea cyanomarginata from the island; Turkey: the presence of Berthellina citrina in the Mediterranean is confirmed, Their work was performed under the MitiCap and ResCap projects, which are founded by the Fundación Biodiversidad from the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica, trough the Pleamar Program, co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. [...] The sampling has been funded by the Horizon 2020 project N. 634495 “Science, Technology, and Society Initiative to minimize Unwanted Catches in European Fisheries (MINOUW)”. [...] The sampling was funded by the EU-funded project: ‘Training Network for Monitoring Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas’ [MMMPA: FP7-PEOPLE2011-ITN, grant number 290056]

8 pages, 4 figures, supplementary material https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00576/full#supplementary-material, The deep sea is considered the largest environment on Earth, providing multiple ecosystem services to human societies. Although its relevance has long been recognized, not enough attention and interest is generally given to it by society, and its study is almost non-existent in formal and informal education. Getting the deep sea closer to the general public would considerably benefit from the commitment of scientists involved in deep-sea research, who could generate effective educational tools based on their own personal experiences in research projects. Here we report the development of an immersive workshop that displays video footage and sounds recorded during scientific dives inside a replica of a submarine. The workshop recreates with as much detail as possible the experience of researchers when exploring the deep sea using modern technologies, in this case a manned submersible. The workshop is conducted by scientists from the same research team which carried out the study, aiming to transmit their expertise and personal experience to participants. The workshop is complemented with additional spaces that allow the exchange of knowledge and ideas between scientists and the general public. It also shows other, more intrusive, sampling methodologies traditionally used to prospect and study the deep sea, putting them in contrast with modern techniques, more respectful with the environment. Since its first exhibition in 2010, the workshop has been displayed at over 50 events held in different locations around Spain, including educational fairs, museums, schools and fishermen associations. Over 6,000 participants have taken part in the activity, most of which have expressed their opinions and suggestions about the workshop by voluntarily filling a specific survey, and thus helping to improve it. They also stated which aspects of the deep-sea life were unknown to them. Thanks to its versatility and to its simple operation, this educational workshop opens a wide range of possibilities to significantly improve the current knowledge on marine life (and deep-sea ecosystems in particular) by the general public, also aiming to reduce the distance between academia and citizenship, The materials required to develop the workshop, including the wooden replica and most of its accessories, were funded by the LIFE+ INDEMARES project (LIFE 07/NAT/E/00732). The costs of executing the workshop were provided by the project El Mar a Fons, a joint venture between the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and Obra Social La Caixa. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)

18 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, supporting information https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14630, Tuna are globally distributed species of major commercial importance and some tuna species are a major source of protein in many countries. Tuna are characterized by dynamic distribution patterns that respond to climate variability and long-term change. Here, we investigated the effect of environmental conditions on the worldwide distribution and relative abundance of six tuna species between 1958 and 2004 and estimated the expected end-of-the-century changes based on a high-greenhouse gas concentration scenario (RCP8.5). We created species distribution models using a long-term Japanese longline fishery dataset and two-step generalized additive models. Over the historical period, suitable habitats shifted poleward for 20 out of 22 tuna stocks, based on their gravity centre (GC) and/or one of their distribution limits. On average, tuna habitat distribution limits have shifted poleward 6.5 km per decade in the northern hemisphere and 5.5 km per decade in the southern hemisphere. Larger tuna distribution shifts and changes in abundance are expected in the future, especially by the end-of-the-century (2080–2099). Temperate tunas (albacore, Atlantic bluefin, and southern bluefin) and the tropical bigeye tuna are expected to decline in the tropics and shift poleward. In contrast, skipjack and yellowfin tunas are projected to become more abundant in tropical areas as well as in most coastal countries' exclusive economic zones (EEZ). These results provide global information on the potential effects of climate change in tuna populations and can assist countries seeking to minimize these effects via adaptive management, This research was funded by the Basque Government (Department Deputy of Agriculture, Fishing, and Food Policy) and Fundación Biodiversidad (Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing, Food and Environment; CLIREMAR project). M. Erauskin has benefited from a Basque Government scholarship through Economic Development and Infrastructures Department. [...] A. Cabre is grateful for the “Beatriu de Pinos” fellowship and the program Marie Curie Actions COFUND of the 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development of the European Union

Trabajo presentado al 12th European Ornithologists’ Union Congress, celebrado en Cluj Napoca (Romania) del 26 al 30 de agosto de 2019., The European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur), is a seed-eating trans-Saharan migratory species, holding in Spain the most important part of the western European breeding population. Turtle doves have declined strongly in recent decades (including in Spain). Factors leading to decline include reduced survival and productivity due to degradation of key feeding and nesting habitats. There is, however, insufficient data on reproductive parameters and habitats in Spain, where the primary breeding habitat is a mixture of wooded areas and scrubland close to grassland or farmland areas. Based on data collected in 2018 and 2019 (including 32 nests in 2018), we present breeding success of turtle doves in two Spanish regions (Castilla la Mancha and Catalonia), and how this varies in relation to characteristics of the nesting habitat. We found nests to occur in both Pinus and Quercus trees. Breeding success increased with height from the ground to the nest, and also with distance from the nest to the main trunk in Quercus trees, but not in Pinus trees (which are, in general higher). We discuss implications for designing measures to improve productivity of this vulnerable species.

In this study, we analyze the linkage between atmosphere and ocean modes and winter flood variability over the 20th century based on long‐term flow‐discharge series, historical archives, and tree‐ring records of past floods in the North Atlantic Basin (NAB). The most extreme winter floods occurred in 1936 and had strong impacts on either side of the Atlantic. We hypothesize that the joint effects of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Arctic Oscillation (AO), which is closely related to the North Atlantic Oscillation, play a significant role when describing flood variability in North America and Europe since 1900. Statistical modeling supports the assumption that the response of flood anomalies over the NAB to AO phases is subsidiary of SST phases. Besides, we shed light on the extraordinarily winter flood of 1936 that was characterized by very high SSTs over both the Atlantic and Pacific (>98th percentile) and very low, negative values of AO (, This study was funded by the Institute for Environmental Sciences (University of Geneva) without any specific grant. S.B. acknowledges support from the FP7 project ERA‐CLIM2. J.A.B.C. thanks Sebastian Guillet, Christophe Corona, and Jaime Madrigal for their comments. G.B. appreciates the support of Fundación Biodiversidad (MITECO) through research project DAM‐ADAPT. D.B. and R.G.‐H. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the PALEOSTRAT (CGL2015‐69699‐R) project and the European Project 603557‐STRATOCLIM under program FP7‐ENV.2013.6.1‐2.

Knowledge of a species' potential distribution and the suitability of available habitat are fundamental for effective conservation planning and management. However, the quality of information on the distribution of species and their required habitats is highly variable in terms of accuracy and availability across taxa and regions, particularly in tropical landscapes where accessibility is especially challenging. Species distribution models (SDMs) provide predictive tools for addressing gaps for poorly surveyed species, but they rarely consider biases in geographical distribution of records and their consequences. We applied SDMs and variation partitioning analyses to investigate the relative importance of habitat characteristics, human accessibility, and their joint effects in the global distribution of the Critically Endangered Blue-throated Macaw Ara glaucogularis, a species endemic to the Amazonian flooded savannas of Bolivia. The probability of occurrence was skewed towards more accessible areas, mostly secondary roads. Variability in observed occurrence patterns was mostly accounted for by the pure effect of habitat characteristics (76.2%), indicating that bias in the geographical distribution of occurrences does not invalidate species-habitat relationships derived from niche models. However, observed spatial covariation between land-use at a landscape scale and accessibility (joint contribution: 22.3%) may confound the independent role of land-use in the species distribution. New surveys should prioritise collecting data in more remote (less accessible) areas better distributed with respect to land-use composition at a landscape scale. Our results encourage wider application of partitioning methods to quantify the extent of sampling bias in datasets used in habitat modelling for a better understanding of species-habitat relationships, and add insights into the potential distribution of our study species and opportunities for its conservation., Field work was supported by The World Parrot Trust while travelling (by JLT and FH) was supported by Junta de Andalucía (PAI RNM107) and Fundación Biodiversidad. JADL is coordinating the Proyecto de Conservación Paraba Barba Azul with the support of the World Parrot Trust. We also thank Dirección General de Biodiversidad y Áreas Protegidas (Viceministerio de Medio Ambiente y Aguas, Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia) and Gobernación del Beni for institutional support. The idea of this collaborative work arose from a visit of FH and JLT to the Proyecto de Conservación Paraba Barba Azul funded by the Fundación Noel Kempff Mercado.

Embryonic implantation is a key step in the establishment of pregnancy. In the present work, we have carried out an in-depth proteomic analysis of the secretome (extracellular vesicles and soluble proteins) of two bovine blastocysts embryonic trophectoderm primary cultures (BBT), confirming different epithelial–mesenchymal transition stages in these cells. BBT-secretomes contain early pregnancy-related proteins and angiogenic proteins both as cargo in EVs and the soluble fraction. We have demonstrated the functional transfer of protein-containing secretome between embryonic trophectoderm and maternal MSC in vitro using two BBT primary cultures eight endometrial MSC (eMSC) and five peripheral blood MSC (pbMSC) lines. We observed that eMSC and pbMSC chemotax to both the soluble fraction and EVs of the BBT secretome. In addition, in a complementary direction, we found that the pattern of expression of implantation proteins in BBT-EVs changes depending on: (i) their epithelial–mesenchymal phenotype; (ii) as a result of the uptake of eMSC-or pbMSC-EV previously stimulated or not with embryonic signals (IFN-τ); (iii) because of the stimulation with the endometrial cytokines present in the uterine fluid in the peri-implantation period., Ministerio de Economía Industria y Competitividad to Ramírez M. A. (AGL2015-70140-R), Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación to Ramírez M. A. (PID2019-107145RB-I00) and to Yáñez-Mo M. (BIO2017-86500-R), Spanish Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, through Fundación Biodiversidad to Ramírez M. A. (PRCV00820) and European Union’s Horizon 2020

Negative impacts of invasive species are widely accepted, but there is increasing evidence that neutral or positive effects are more prevalent than initially recognized, particularly for species which are of different functional / trophic group than the invader. We used a BACI design to examine how fish communities responded to the invasion of Halimeda incrassata, an ecosystem engineer which colonizes sandy habitats in the Western Mediterranean. While invasion did not alter overall species richness or diversity, we detected positive, negative and neutral responses by different fish species, which has important ecological and socio-economic implications. Contrasting responses likely result from different alterations that this alga conferred, putatively increasing prey availability via habitat creation, or limiting burial and camouflage abilities of fish. Our results highlight that effects of ecosystem engineers can be multiple and complex, and that predictions of invasive species are not straight forward., Funding for this work was provided by the Project “Invasión del alga tropical Halimeda incrassata en Baleares: ecología y dinámica de invasion” (AAEE119/2017, Balearic Islands Government) to F.T., PHENOFISH (CTM2015-69126-C2-1-R; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities) and AUTONATURA 2000 DOS (2018/1862; Fundación Biodiversidad, Pleamar program) to J.A. J. A. was supported by a Ramón y Cajal Grant funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant no. RYC2018-024488-I).

Self-incompatibility (SI) is one of the most efficient mechanisms to promote out-crossing in plants. However, SI could be a problem for fruit production. An example is apricot (Prunus armeniaca), in which, as in other species of the Rosaceae, SI is determined by an S-RNase-based-Gametophytic Self-Incompatibility (GSI) system. Incompatibility relationships between cultivars can be established by an S-allele genotyping PCR strategy. Until recently, most of the traditional European apricot cultivars were self-compatible but several breeding programs have introduced an increasing number of new cultivars whose pollination requirements are unknown. To fill this gap, we have identified the S-allele of 44 apricot genotypes, of which 43 are reported here for the first time. The identification of Sc in 15 genotypes suggests that those cultivars are self-compatible. In five genotypes, self-(in)compatibility was established by the observation of pollen tube growth in self-pollinated flowers, since PCR analysis could not allowed distinguishing between the Sc and S8 alleles. Self-incompatible genotypes were assigned to their corresponding self-incompatibility groups. The knowledge of incompatibility relationships between apricot cultivars can be a highly valuable tool for the development of future breeding programs by selecting the appropriate parents and for efficient orchard design by planting self-compatible and inter-compatible cultivars., This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades—European Regional Development Fund, European Union (AGL2016-77267-R, and AGL2015-74071-JIN); Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (RFP2015-00015-00, RTA2014-00085-00, RTA2017-00003-00); Gobierno de Aragón—European Social Fund, European Union (Grupo Consolidado A12_17R), Fundación Biodiversidad, and Agroseguro S.A

Determining discrete and demographically independent management units within wildlife populations is critical for their effective management and conservation. However, there is a lack of consensus on the most appropriate criteria to delimit such management units. A multi-disciplinary, multi-scale approach that combines tools informing in the short-term (i.e. photo-identification), with mid-term ecological tracers (stable isotopes –δC, δN and δS– and persistent organic pollutants –POPs–), and mid- to long-term genetic markers (microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA), was used to define management units within bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) inhabiting the southern Iberian Peninsula. Although genetically indistinguishable, individuals inhabiting the Strait of Gibraltar and the Gulf of Cadiz showed differences in their isotopic composition and the concentrations of certain POPs. Accordingly, the lack of photographic recaptures between the two sites pointed to the existence of at least two different ecological management units that segregate spatially and may require different conservation strategies. Different time-scale approaches can reveal different management units. The results highlighted the use of medium- and short-term approaches for properly identifying ecologically different units for effective management and conservation. Furthermore, these results have important management implications as European legislation promotes specific management plans for this species., This work was funded by Loro Parque Foundation, CEPSA, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Fundación Biodiversidad, LIFE+ Indemares [LIFE07NAT/E/000732], LIFE ‘Conservación de Cetáceos y tortugas de Murcia y Andalucía’ [LIFE02NAT/E/8610] and ECOCET project [CGL2011‐25543]. R.dS. and J.G. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I [SEV‐2012‐0262], and also R.dS. by the ‘Subprograma Juan de la Cierva’.

Estimating abundance and population size is essential for many ecological and conservation studies of parrots. Achieving these goals requires methods that yield reliable estimates, but parrot traits can make them difficult to detect, count, and capture. We review established and emergent sampling and analytical methods used to estimate parrot abundance and population size, focusing on their assumptions, requirements, and limitations. Roost surveys are cost-effective if all roost locations in a region are known and stable, which is uncommon. Capture¿recapture methods incorporate detection probability, but capturing, marking and resighting parrots can be difficult. Distance sampling estimates detection probability and surveys multiple species simultaneously, but is sensitive to the spatial distribution of individuals and excludes birds in flight. Roadside transects can cover large areas and survey multiple species, but habitats near roads may differ from the surrounding areas, biasing abundance estimates. Occupancy surveys and hierarchical models usually require spatially and temporally replicated datasets. Both allow estimation of detection probability; the former dispenses with count data, while the latter is a versatile set of methods that can incorporate multiple processes influencing detection and abundance. Finally, passive acoustic surveys can sample multiple species simultaneously, but identification of vocalisations can be difficult and time-consuming., F.V.D. was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (206107/2014-5). S.R.B. was supported as a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and by NSF grant IOS-1558145. Funding to J.L.T. to study parrot populations was provided mostly by Fundación Repsol and Fundación Biodiversidad.

Despite the efforts of the European Commission to implement measures that offset the detrimental effects of agricultural intensification, farmland bird populations continue to decline. Pesticide use has been pointed out as a major cause of decline, with growing concern about those agro-chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors. We report here on the effects of flutriafol, a ubiquitous systemic fungicide used for cereal seed treatment, on the physiology and reproduction of a declining gamebird. Captive red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa; n = 11–13 pairs per treatment) were fed wheat treated with 0%, 20% or 100% of the flutriafol application rate during 25 days in late winter. We studied treatment effects on the reproductive performance, carotenoid-based coloration and cellular immune responsiveness of adult partridges, and their relationship with changes in oxidative stress biomarkers and plasma biochemistry. We also studied the effect of parental exposure on egg antioxidant content and on the survival, growth and cellular immune response of offspring. Exposed partridges experienced physiological effects (reduced levels of cholesterol and triglycerides), phenotypical effects (a reduction in the carotenoid-based pigmentation of their eye rings), and most importantly, severe adverse effects on reproduction: a reduced clutch size and fertile egg ratio, and an overall offspring production reduced by more than 50%. No effects on body condition or cellular immune response of either exposed adult or their surviving offspring were observed. These results, together with previous data on field exposure in wild partridges, demonstrate that seed treatment with flutriafol represents a risk for granivorous birds; they also highlight a need to improve the current regulation system used for foreseeing and preventing negative impacts of Plant Protection Products on wildlife. The ingestion of flutriafol treated seeds reduces partridge's reproductive output and represents a threat for granivorous bird populations., This work was supported by CSIC (Intramural 201330E041), FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de la Caza with the partnership of Fundación Biodiversidad. Ana Lopez Antia is a postdoctoral researcher of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). This study contributes to the project REGRESEEDS supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ref. CGL2016-75278-R).

Congreso Ibérico sobre Agua subterránea, medio ambiente, salud y patrimonio (2018. Salamanca), La recuperación hídrica del humedal del Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel en 2010, tras un largo periodo de sequía (2006-09) que desecó el humedal, trajo consigo la recuperación del ecosistema acuático y presencia de aguas cristalinas y amplios tapices de carófitas (Chara spp.) en el fondo. En el año 2011 tiene lugar un cambio en el aspecto del agua y se observa una pérdida gradual de la vegetación sumergida junto con un aumento de la turbidez en el agua, además de un incremento en la población de peces bentónicos. Durante 2015-16 el Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) diseña una amplia red de muestreo, para estudiar la calidad del agua del humedal y su entorno, incluyendo las aguas superficiales y subterráneas. El objetivo del muestreo era conocer si el aspecto anómalo que presentaba el humedal junto con la pérdida de la biodiversidad, podía estar inducido por la entrada de contaminantes. Tras el estudio de la calidad del agua se pudo afirmar que las concentraciones de los compuestos químicos inorgánicos (iones mayoritarios, elementos traza y metales), orgánicos (herbicidas y plaguicidas) y nutrientes no superaban los valores máximos recogidos en las legislaciones medioambientales vigentes y se descartó que la situación actual se debiera principalmente a la contaminación de las aguas. Lo que sí se pudo constatar es una alta población de peces bentónicos que parece que está generando un fuerte impacto en el medio acuático. Los trabajos en el humedal de Las tablas de Daimiel se han retomado durante 2018, a través de un proyecto que está llevando a cabo el IGME con el apoyo de la Fundación Biodiversidad. El objetivo del trabajo es evaluar las causas que han llevado al humedal a alcanzar un estado de aguas turbias y sin vegetación bentónica. Con tal fin se están estudiando una serie de variables que pueden incidir en el desarrollo de las carófitas (hidroquímica del agua superficial y subterránea, nutrientes, turbidez, fitoplancton y radiación solar), y la influencia que tiene sobre las mismas, la abundante población de peces que ha sido identificada, que incluye varias especies exóticas invasoras (Lepomis gibbosus, Ameiurus melas y Cyprinus carpio), conocidas por su alta capacidad de modificar el medio., Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, España

Este artículo contiene 10 páginas, 4 figuras, 1 tabla., The biotic resistance hypothesis predicts that more diverse communities should have greater resistance to invasions than species-poor communities. However for facultative and obligate epiphytic invaders a high native species richness, abundance and community complexity might provide more resources for the invader to thrive to. We conducted surveys across space and time to test for the influence of native algal species abundance and richness on the abundance of the invasive facultative epiphytic filamentous alga Lophocladia lallemandii in a Mediterranean Cystoseira balearica seaweed forest. By removing different functional groups of algae, we also tested whether these relationships were dependent on the complexity and abundance of the native algal community. When invasion was first detected, Lophocladia abundance was positively related to species richness, but the correlation became negative after two years of invasion. Similarly, a negative relationship was also observed across sites. The removal experiment revealed that more complex native communities were more heavily invaded, where also a positive relationship was found between native algal richness and Lophocladia, independently of the native algal abundance. Our observational and experimental data show that, at early stages of invasion, species-rich seaweed forests are not more resistant to invasion than species-poor communities. Higher richness of native algal species may increase resource availability (i.e. substrate) for invader establishment, thus facilitating invasion. After the initial invasion stage, native species richness decreases with time since invasion, suggesting negative impacts of invasive species on native biodiversity., This project has received funding from the Spanish Ministry Projects (CGL2016-76341-R and CGL2015-65346-R) and Fundación Biodiversidad. This output reflects only the authors’ views and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. Managers of ACNP are acknowledged for sampling permissions. This is a contribution to CoCoNET (FP7 Grant Agreement: 287844) and INTRAMURAL CSIC 201330E065. EBD receives financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economı´a y Competitividad, through the Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R ? D ? I (SEV-2012-0262). EC is a member of the Marine Conservation Research Group (www. medrecover.org) from the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Parrots (Psittaciformes) have been viewed as efficient consumers of the reproductive structures of plants. Consequently, parrots have been excluded from studies focusing on plant–animal mutualistic relationships as they have been considered only as plant antagonists. This prevailing view is challenged, however, by recent studies showing that (1) several parrot species are the main seed dispersers of some plant species through stomatochory; (2) the proportion of seeds removed and dispersed to long distances is high in some plant–parrot systems; (3) seeds dispersed by parrots are able to produce seedlings, even in some cases after being partially consumed; (4) tiny seeds are also legitimately dispersed by parrots through endozoochory; (5) seeds dropped by parrots under the mother tree can be consumed and secondarily dispersed by a variety of other species; and (6) parrots can also pollinate and heal their food plants by consuming their parasites. Through both antagonistic and mutualistic interactions with their food plants, parrots can exert cascading effects on the plants’ life cycles and shape the structure and functioning of ecosystems. The later was evaluated by a few studies showing how parrots may shape vegetal landscapes by influencing the spatial distribution and demography of their food plants and vegetal communities. On the other hand, mutualistic interactions lead to an increase of the parrot community robustness when facing the loss of plant species. We provide guidance for further research on the multiple plant–parrot interactions, also encouraging the assessment of how the ongoing decline and extirpation of parrot populations may cause regional losses of key ecological functions., This review benefited from our own work on parrots, funded by Fundación Biodiversidad, Fundación Repsol, World Parrot Trust, a Severo Ochoa award (to F.H.), and ParrotNet COST Action Group, conducted in collaboration with a number of researchers.

Background: Climate change may increase the risk of biological invasions. However, current knowledge of this interaction is limited. Aims: We aimed to quantify (1) the effect of climate change on the potential distribution of invasive plant species in Spain, (2) the importance of the area of origin of such species and (3) the vulnerability of different biogeographic provinces to future changes in climatic suitability for invaders. Methods: We applied six methods of species distribution modelling to assess the variation of climatically suitable areas for 40 alien plants. We developed a Potential Area Change Index and used it as the response variable in modelling for three future emissions scenarios and three global circulation models over three time periods. The area of origin and biogeographic province in Spain were also considered. Results: We found a highly specific response for each plant species rather than a clear trend for the entire set of species. Predicted climate suitability increased over higher emission scenarios and longer projected time lags. Neotropical species showed the greatest potential climatic range expansion. We detected a strong interaction between the geographic origin of a species and the biogeographic province. Conclusions: Special attention should be given to the areas where aridification of climate is projected and where introduced neotropical species are likely to expand their range. Future work should develop accurate species-specific approaches that allow the management invasive plant species., This work was supported by the Fundación Biodiversidad.

Co-occurring species are expected to distribute themselves unevenly throughout ecological niche dimensions to avoid competitive exclusion. However, few studies have previously investigated spatial and trophic factors structuring an entire cetacean community. Here, we combined density surface models (DSMs) with two dimension (δN and δC) isotopic niche spaces in order to identify the mechanistic processes underlying niche partitioning for the most abundant cetacean species inhabiting the Alboran Sea: the long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas), the Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), the Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), and the short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis). DSMs provide a spatially-explicit assessment of species distribution through key spatial and environmental gradients, whereas isotopic niches characterize habitat and resource use. Our isotopic niche approach pointed to habitat and/or trophic segregation between the small (striped and short-beaked common dolphins) and large-sized cetacean species (Risso's and bottlenose dolphins, and long-finned pilot whales). Conversely, DSMs suggested a larger degree of spatial segregation among species by depth, with some overlap for offshore species (long-finned pilot, Cuvier's beaked whales and Risso's dolphins) and also between bottlenose and common dolphins. Thus, both components of the ecological niche apparently played an important role in explaining niche partitioning among species, which, in turn, might explain the high abundance and diversity of cetaceans in the Alboran Sea. Further, when both methodologies were applied in isolation, the structure and functioning of this cetacean community was poorly resolved. The combination of both approaches is therefore desirable when investigating niche partitioning among ecologically similar species within communities., This work was funded by Fundación Loro Parque, Fundación Biodiversidad, CEPSA (Compañía Española de Petroleos S.A.), EcoCet Project [CGL2011-25543], LIFE + Indemares [LIFE07NAT/E/000732], LIFE “Conservación de Cetáceos y Tortugas de Murcia y Andalucía” [LIFE02NAT/E/8610]. Thanks to the Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente and the Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua (Junta de Andalucía) and to CREMA (Centro de Recuperación de Especies Marinas Amenazadas). J.G., F.R, and R.dS. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness through the Severo Ochoa Program for Centers of Excellence in R + D + I [SEV-2012-0262]. F.R was also supported by the “Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación Program” [IJCI-2015-24531].

Trabajo presentado en la XV Reunión Nacional de Geomorfología: Geomorfología del “Antropoceno”: Efectos del cambio global sobre los procesos geomorfológicos, celebrada en Palma, Mallorca (España) del 11 al 14 de septiembre de 2018, This paper discusses the advances in the development of new data and methods that allow the reconstruction of long series of extreme flood data, and the application of flood analysis tools in conditions of climatic variability (past records and future projections). The work focuses on one case studies located in the Rambla de la Viuda (Maria Cristina Dam), with Mediterranean climate.The aim is to compare the effects of climate change on future extreme floods, with changes in flood frequency laws determined from paleo-­‐grazed and historical data. This methodology aims to improve the impact of climate change on hydrological extremes and their application to the design of sensitive infrastructures, with emphasis on dams. Hydro-­‐ climatic indicators will be estimated using historical, instrumental and climate series data projected with CMIP5 models., Este trabajo ha sido financiado por Fundación Biodiversidad (MAPAMA) a través del proyecto Adaptapresa, y por la CICYT Proyectos FLOOD-­‐ MED (CGL2008-­‐06474-­‐C02-­‐01), TETIS-­‐MED (CGL2008-­‐06474-­‐C02-­‐02) y EPHIMED (CGL2017-­‐ 86839-­‐C3-­‐1-­‐R).

Environmental conditions experienced by a species during its evolutionary history may shape the signals it uses for communication. Consequently, rapid environmental changes may lead to less effective signals, which interfere with communication between individuals, altering life history traits such as predator detection and mate searching. Increased temperature can reduce the efficacy of scent marks released by male lizards, but the extent to which this negative effect is related to specific biological traits and evolutionary histories across species and populations have not been explored. We experimentally tested how increased temperature affects the efficacy of chemical signals of high‐ and low‐altitude populations of three lizard species that differ in their ecological requirements and altitudinal distributions. We tested the behavioral chemosensory responses of males from each species and population to male scent marks that had been incubated at one of two temperatures (cold 16°C or hot 20°C). In high‐altitude populations of a mountain species (Iberolacerta monticola), the efficacy of chemical signals (i.e., latency time and number of tongue flicks) was lower after scent marks had been exposed to a hot temperature. The temperature that scent marks were incubated at did not affect the efficacy of chemical signals in a ubiquitous species (Podarcis muralis) or another mountain species (I. bonalli). Our results suggest that specific ecological traits arising through local adaptation to restricted distributions may be important in determining species vulnerability to climatic change., This work was supported by Fundación Biodiversidad and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture (predoctoral grant to M. I‐C, FPU12/04148).

The primary prey of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Strait of Gibraltar is the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus). All killer whales observed in this area hunt tuna by chasing individual fish until they become exhausted and can be overcome. However, a subset of pods also interact with a dropline tuna fishery which has developed since 1995. Here, we investigated the social structure within and among social units (pods). Our data suggested that social structure was shaped by maternal kinship, which appears to be a species-specific trait, but also by foraging behavior, which is less common at the intra-population level. At the start of the study, only one cohesive pod interacted with the fishery, which during the course of the study underwent fission into two socially differentiated pods. Social structure within these two fishery-interacting pods was more compact and homogenous with stronger associations between individuals than in the rest of the population. Three other pods were never seen interacting with the fishery, despite one of these pods being regularly sighted in the area of the fishery during the summer. Sociality can influence the spread of the novel foraging behaviors and may drive population fragmentation, which, in this example, is already a critically small community. Observations of social changes in relation to changes in foraging at the earliest stages of diversification in foraging behavior and social segregation may provide insights into the processes that ultimately result in the formation of socially isolated discrete ecotypes in killer whales., This work was funded by Loro Parque Foundation, CEPSA, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Fundación Biodiversidad, LIFE+ Indemares (LIFE07NAT/E/000732) and LIFE “Conservación de Cetáceos y tortugas de Murcia y Andalucía” (LIFE02NAT/E/8610), and “Plan Nacional I+D+I ECOCET” (CGL2011-25543) of the Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad.” RdS and JG were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV-2012-0262),” and also RdS by the “Subprograma Juan de la Cierva.”

Linares, Cristina ... et. al.-- 23 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables, [EN] Climate change is impairing ecosystems around the world. The assessment of the ecological responses of marine ecosystems within the ongoing environmental change is pivotal for conservation of our natural heritage and for a proper management of marine protected areas. Among marine Mediterranean habitats, coralligenous assemblages are highly diverse and exhibit a great structural complexity. In some sectors of the Archipelago of Cabrera National Park, there is an exceptional coralligenous habitat dominated by the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata. The main goal of the project was to describe the thermal regime of this environment and to study the effects and consequences of thermal anomalies related to climate change over P. clavata and the associated coralligenous assemblages as well as to evaluate the recover capacity of the gorgonian populations. Two positive thermal anomalies detected in 2007 and 2011 sharply affected the studied coralligenous habitat, and specially the red gorgonians. Our monitoring shows a generalized loss of gorgonians at the shallowest depth range of distribution of the species (between 35 and 45 depth), while the colonies living at deeper waters were hardly affected. These thermal anomalies also affected other species associated to the coralligenous habitat, being tunicates and cnidarians the most affected. Experiments performed in aquaria showed contrasting thermal tolerance thresholds among the most representative coralligenous species, which helps to explain the changes observed at the community level in the field. Field experiments demonstrate that P. clavata has an important structural role in coralligenous outcrops, although its presence does not mitigate neither the impact of thermal anomalies on the species present in the understory assemblage nor the invasion of the coralligenous habitat by alien algae. This study shows important changes in the structure of benthic habitats associated to climate change, with loss of habitat complexity and negative effects on the associated biodiversity, [ES] El cambio global afecta a la biodiversidad. Conocer las respuestas de los hábitats a este nuevo contexto ambiental es uno de los retos más importantes para la conservación. El coralígeno es un hábitat mediterráneo emblemático caracterizado por albergar una gran biodiversidad y ser muy vulnerable al cambio global. En sectores muy concretos del Parque Nacional Marítimo-Terrestre del Archipiélago de Cabrera se desarrolla un extraordinario coralígeno dominado por la gorgonia roja (Paramuricea clavata). El objetivo principal de este proyecto ha sido caracterizar el régimen térmico de la zona y estudiar los efectos y las consecuencias del cambio climático sobre P. clavata y el coralígeno asociado, así como evaluar su capacidad de recuperación. Dos eventos de mortalidad masiva de la gorgonia roja afectaron gravemente al coralígeno dominado por esta especie. Estas mortalidades están relacionadas con fuertes anomalías térmicas positivas (2007 y 2011). El seguimiento realizado muestra claramente la pérdida casi total de las gorgonias en el rango más somero de su distribución inicial (entre 35 y 45 m de profundidad) mientras que las colonias más profundas (por debajo de los 45 metros) han resultado menos afectadas. Dichas anomalías térmicas también han tenido efectos significativos en el resto de la comunidad del coralígeno, viéndose muy afectadas algunas especies de tunicados y cnidarios. Experimentos realizados en acuarios con las especies más representativas del coralígeno han mostrado diferentes umbrales de termotolerancia, lo que ayuda a explicar los cambios a nivel de comunidad observados en el campo. Experimentos in situ también demuestran el rol estructural de la gorgonia P. clavata, aunque ésta no contribuye de forma significativa a la resistencia del resto de especies del coralígeno frente a los efectos del cambio climático y a la invasión del coralígeno por algas exóticas, Este trabajo se ha beneficiado de la financiación de los proyectos «Efectos del cambio global sobre la biodiversidad marina del Parque Nacional de Cabrera: el caso de la comunidad del coralígeno de Paramuricea clavata» financiado por la Fundación Biodiversidad (2008-2010) y «Respuesta de la comunidad del coralígeno del Parque Nacional de Cabrera al cambio climático» financiado por el OAPN (2012-2016)

Trabajo presentado en el XI Congreso de Ficología de Latinoamérica y El Caribe y la IX Reunión Iberoamericana de Ficología, celebrado en Cali (Colombia), del 5 al 10 de noviembre de 2017, Dictyota fasciola is a relatively common species of eulittoral pools and the shallow subtidal in the NE Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Dictyota mediterranea is a rarer species, endemic from the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea where it occupies a similar habitat than the preceding species. As occurs in the majority of Dictyota species, these two taxa are notoriously difficult to identify based on morphological, anatomical, or reproductive characters. Indeed, D. mediterranea was reduced to a synonym of D. fasciola by Feldmann (1937) on the basis of similarities in color, width of the axes, and shape of the apices. However, D. mediterranea shows a terete thallus at the base and the apex – but complanate in the middle part – and a multilayered medulla. In contrast, axes of D. fasciola are all complanate, and a multilayered medulla is restricted to the basal parts of the thallus. Previous molecular phylogenetic studies indicated that both species are closely related (Tronholm et al. 2010), but results pointed out clear genetic differentiation among them. In our current project, we aim to examine the evolutionary relationship between these two species from phylogeographic and systematic points of view, Financial support was provided by Fundación Biodiversidad

This paper provides a new methodological approach to analyse secular patterns of flooding (magnitude and frequency) from sedimentary evidence (palaeofloods), taking into account changes in channel geometry, and their links to historical environmental changes and the inherent social and demographic evolution within the catchment. A case study analysis was focused in Rambla de la Viuda (drainage area of 1500 km2) whose stream flow is related to extreme rainfalls. A 500 years sedimentary archive was reconstructed from eight stratigraphic profiles comprising continuous sequences of slackwater flood deposits interbedded with episodic colluvial and edaphic horizons. Discharge estimates associated to sedimentary flood evidences were obtained from one-dimensional hydraulic modelling. The stratigraphic units were sampled to characterise their geochemical and paleobotanical (phytoliths) contents. Palaeoflood chronology was obtained from radiocarbon and luminescence (OSL) dating, supported by documentary data (written historical documents). A high frequency and high magnitude palaeoflood period took place during the 15th-middle 16th century, which seem to correlate in time with general wetter conditions. Three short-term environment stability conditions (land use and climatic) also made possible the development of three paleosols. The lowest flood magnitude and discharges in the sedimentary record was found between the mid-17th to mid-18th centuries, under prevailing drier environmental conditions. Episodic high magnitude flooding took place at late 18th century, correlating in time with palaeovegetation and geochemical evidences of important changes on land use (deforestation and grazing). Poorer developed soils were found at upper stratigraphic sequences (19th century) characterised by thick units of colluvium deposits, usually culminating sequences of short-lived continuous slackwater flood units. Despite of the potential human influence (land-use) on soil hydrology, the long-term behaviour of high magnitude floods (>1000 m3 s-1) has been stationary over the last 500 years., This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research projects FLOOD-MED (ref. CGL2008-06474-C02-01), and CLARIES (ref. CGL2011-29176), by the CSIC PIE Intramural Project (ref. 200430E595), and by Fundación Biodiversidad (MAPAMA) through research project DAMadapt.

Pesticide coated seeds are known to be potentially toxic for birds, but the risk of poisoning will depend on how likely the individuals are to consume them. To refine the risk assessment of coated seed consumption by birds we studied the consumption and avoidance of seeds treated with imidacloprid, thiram, maneb or rhodamine B under different scenarios of food unpredictability (diversity or changes in food sources). In a first set of experiments, we examined during four days the amount of ingested food by red-legged partridges (. Alectoris rufa) when offered untreated seeds, treated seeds or both. In the latter case, we also assessed the effect of a daily interchange in the position of feeders containing treated and untreated food. A second experiment, conducted with imidacloprid only, consisted of offering, during 27. h, fixed overall amounts of treated and untreated food, equally distributed in a different number of feeders per pen (1, 2, 4 or 8 feeders of each type of food) in order to diversify food sources. All the tested pesticide-treated seeds were avoided in two-choice experiments, and imidacloprid and thiram were also avoided in one-choice experiments. We found that imidacloprid treated seeds were avoided, probably as a consequence of a conditioned aversion effect due to the post-ingestion distress. However, under a diversification of two-choice food sources with multiple feeders, imidacloprid-treated seeds were ingested by partridges at increasing amounts that can produce sublethal effects or even death. Thiram treated seeds were also initially avoided in one-choice experiment, but probably mediated by a sensory repellence that progressively decreased with time. Our results reveal that the risk of pesticide exposure in birds may increase by unpredictability of food resources or prolonged availability of coated seeds, so pesticide registration for seed coating should consider worst-case scenarios to avoid negative impacts on farmland birds., Study financed by FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de Caza with the partnership of Fundación Biodiversidad.

Memoria presentada por Ana López Antia para optar al grado de Doctor por la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha., La conservación de las aves agrícolas es uno de los mayores retos de conservación en Europa. El declive de estas aves está claramente ligado a la transformación del sistema de producción agrícola que se viene dando desde mediados del pasado siglo. Uno de los puntos de partida de esta tesis es que la intensificación agrícola ha llevado a una reducción en el alimento natural disponible para las aves agrícolas, viéndose éstas obligadas a buscar fuentes alternativas de alimento como la semilla de siembra, lo que puede suponer una elevada exposición a plaguicidas en el caso de ser estas semillas ¿blindadas¿ (p.e. tratadas con plaguicidas). La semilla de siembra como vía de exposición a plaguicidas en las aves del medio agrícola constituye el principal objeto de estudio de esta tesis. Uno de los objetivos de la tesis es investigar el efecto de la ingestión de semillas tratadas con varios plaguicidas (fungicidas e insecticidas) sobre la salud y el éxito reproductor de la perdiz roja (Alectoris rufa). Para ello hemos estudiado simultáneamente múltiples biomarcadores en los tres estadios del proceso reproductivo: individuos adultos reproductores, huevos y descendencia. Un segundo objetivo ha sido estudiar el riesgo de exposición de las perdices y de otras aves a las semillas tratadas en el campo. Entre los fungicidas, tanto el difenoconazol a la dosis de aplicación recomendada como el tiram a una dosis equivalente al 20% de la recomendada, reducen la tasa de fertilidad de los huevos. Además, el tiram retrasa el comienzo de la puesta y reduce el tamaño de la misma. Estos efectos podrían explicarse por una disrupción del sistema endocrino causada por los plaguicidas y/o por un desequilibrio en el sistema antioxidante que generaría daño oxidativo (comprobado en el caso del tiram) sobre las células y órganos sexuales, y que llevaría a las perdices a invertir menos recursos en reproducción para compensar la pérdida de antioxidantes. Los pollitos que nacen de progenitores tratados con tiram presentan una respuesta inmune celular reducida, lo que compromete su supervivencia en caso de enfermedad. Entre los insecticidas, las semillas tratadas con imidacloprid a la dosis recomendada de aplicación resultaron letales para las perdices, acumulándose además el imidacloprid en los tejidos de las aves. A una dosis inferior a la de aplicación, el imidacloprid, reduce el tamaño de puesta y afecta a la respuesta inmune celular de la descendencia. La ingestión de semillas tratadas con fipronilo (en una proporción del 20% del alimento diario), produce una reducción de la ingesta de alimento con la consiguiente pérdida de condición corporal, la cual a su vez desencadena una cascada de efectos, muy relacionados entre sí, que afectan a la fisiología de los individuos y reducen su éxito reproductor. Los efectos más destacables son la reducción en la respuesta inmune celular, en los niveles de hormonas sexuales y en la tasa de fertilidad de los huevos. Además, los pollitos que nacen de estos huevos también presentan una respuesta inmune celular reducida. Mediante el estudio de buches de perdices cazadas hemos comprobado que las semillas de siembra son una fuente de alimento y una importante vía de ingestión de plaguicidas para las perdices silvestres. Se ha podido comprobar que el 32.3 % de las perdices cazadas en otoño presentan residuos de plaguicida en su tracto digestivo. Además, la semilla de cereal de invierno supone un 53.4% de la biomasa total ingerida por las perdices de octubre a febrero. Teniendo en cuenta las dosis recomendadas de aplicación para el tratamiento de semillas, el porcentaje de semillas de siembra en la dieta de las perdices, y la densidad de semillas en el campo (11.3 semillas/m2 en el centro del campo y 43.4 semillas /m2 en los bordes ), las perdices podrían obtener una dosis capaz de producir una intoxicación aguda por tiram, imidacloprid y fipronilo o una intoxicación crónica por oxicloruro de cobre, maneb y tebuconazol en una superficie de tan solo 6 a 50 m2 de los campos recientemente sembrados., Esta tesis ha sido financiada por Fedenca (Real Federación Española de Caza) y la Oficina Nacional de la Caza con la participación de la Fundación Biodiversidad.

World-wide, many seabirds are affected by fisheries in opposing ways: as a source of mortality from bycatch, but also by providing discards as a predictable and abundant food resource. This applies to the Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, the most endangered European seabird, whose time to extinction was estimated at only ˜40 years a decade ago. Since the previous assessment, new data and more sophisticated demographic modelling have become available, and new fishing policies from the European Union (Common Fisheries Policy, CFP) will apply, posing different scenarios for the viability of the species. Thus, there is both an urgent need and an opportunity for a more reliable update of the conservation status of the species. Demographic data were collected between 1985 and 2014 at one of the world's largest colonies. Most demographic parameters were estimated using multievent capture–recapture modelling. Some parameters, such as bycatch rate, immature individual survival and recruitment, were estimated for the first time. We incorporated estimates into stochastic population models to forecast time to extinction and assess the viability under different management scenarios, accounting for upcoming fishing policies. Adult survival was much lower than expected (0·809, SE: 0·013) and largely influenced by bycatch, which accounted for a minimum of 0·455 (SE: 0·230) of total mortality. Breeding success was positively correlated with discard availability. Recruitment started at low rates in 3-year-old birds (0·030, SE: 0·0455), increasing in following age classes and was almost complete at 6 years. Under the present scenario, we predict a time to extinction of 61 years (95% CI: 55–69). Synthesis and applications. Population projections suggest that the actual impact of fisheries on Balearic shearwaters is unsustainable and the imminent discard ban under the new Common Fisheries Policy may accelerate the declining trend. This study demonstrates that reducing the bycatch rates of fisheries is an unavoidable and urgent conservation measure for avoiding the extinction of the species. We also advise setting up demographic long-term studies, to allow researchers to diagnose, with reliability, the effectiveness of management actions. These actions will also benefit many other marine top-predator species affected by this anthropogenic impact., Funds were provided by FEDER programme (Balearic Government), the Spanish Ministries of Economy and Competitiveness (ref. CGL2013-42203-R) and Agriculture, Food and Environment, the H2020 framework EU programme (MINOUW project) and Fundación Biodiversidad.

Theory predicts that contrasting properties of mutualistic and antagonistic networks differentially promote community resilience to species loss. However, the outcome of most ecological interactions falls within a continuum between mutualism and antagonism, and we ignore the extent to which this interactions’ continuum might influence community stability. Using a large data set of interactions, we compared co-extinction cascades that either consider or ignore the mix of beneficial and detrimental actions that parrots exert on plants. When the antagonism–mutualism continuum was considered, a combination of the properties that separately enhance community stability in ecological networks emerged. This combination of properties led to an overall increase of the parrot community robustness to face plant species loss. Our results highlight that the conditional outcomes of interactions can influence the structure of ecological networks, thus affecting our predictions of community stability against eventual changes., Funding was provided by Zoo de Barcelona and Biorena (January 2011), Junta de Andalucía (PAI RNM107 to J.L.T. and F.H., April–September 2011), Fundación Biodiversidad (2012–2013), and a Severo Ochoa ‘microproyecto’ award (to F.H.). A.M.-N. was supported by a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación postdoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (IJCI-2015-23498).

A key goal for wildlife managers is identifying discrete, demographically independent conservation units. Previous genetic work assigned killer whales that occur seasonally in the Strait of Gibraltar (SoG) and killer whales sampled off the Canary Islands (CI) to the same population. Here we present new analyses of photo-identification and individual genotypes to assess the level of contemporary gene flow and migration between study areas, and analyses of biomarkers to assess ecological differences. We identified 47 different individuals from 5 pods in the SoG and 16 individuals in the CI, with no matches found between the areas. Mitochondrial DNA control region haplotype was shared by all individuals sampled within each pod, suggesting that pods have a matrifocal social structure typical of this species, whilst the lack of shared mitogenome haplotypes between the CI and SoG individuals suggests that there was little or no female migration between groups. Kinship analysis detected no close kin between CI and SoG individuals, and low to zero contemporary gene flow. Isotopic values and organochlorine pollutant loads also suggest ecological differences between study areas. We further found that one individual from a pod within the SoG not seen in association with the other four pods and identified as belonging to a potential migrant lineage by genetic analyses, had intermediate isotopic values and contaminant between the two study areas. Overall our results suggest a complex pattern of social and genetic structuring correlated with ecological variation. Consequently at least CI and SoG should be considered as two different management units. Understanding this complexity appears to be an important consideration when monitoring and understanding the viability of these management units. Understand the viability will help the conservation of these threatened management units., This work was funded by Loro Parque Foundation, CEPSA, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Fundación Biodiversidad, LIFE+ Indemares (LIFE07NAT/E/000732) and LIFE “Conservación de Cetáceos y tortugas de Murcia y Andalucía” (LIFE02NAT/E/8610), “Plan Nacional I+D+I ECOCET” (CGL2011-25543) of the Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad”. R. d. S. and J. G. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R+D+I (SEV-2012-0262)>, and also R. d. S. by the “Subprograma Juan de la Cierva”. Genetic analysis at the University of British Columbia was supported by the Vancouver Aquarium and assisted by Allyson Miscambell.

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and the more persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have well-established dose-dependent toxicities to birds, fish and mammals in experimental studies, but the actual impact of OC pollutants on European marine top predators remains unknown. Here we show that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB “hotspots” for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas., The research was conducted by the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Program (CSIP) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) under contract to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales. Additional funding for toxicological analyses was provided by ASCOBANS under contract “SSFA2010-3” and by the Fundació Barcelona Zoo. The Gulf of Cádiz and Strait of Gibraltar samples collection were sponsored by Loro Parque Foundation, Fundación Biodiversidad, CEPSA and ECOCET Project (CGL2011-25543) and logistical support for sample sexing was provided by Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC (LEM-EBD). Samples from Galicia were obtained with the support of Direccion Xeral de Conservacion da Natureza-Xunta de Galicia, co-financed with European Regional Development Funds (ERDF/FEDER). S. Murphy was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the Seventh European Community Framework Programme. R. de Stephanis and J. Giménez were supported by the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R + D + I (SEV-2012-0262). A. D. Foote was supported by a Lawski Foundation stipend.

The red-breasted goose Branta ruficollis is a globally threatened species (IUCN Vulnerable) and the only European goose species currently in decline. Working on the wintering grounds on the Black Sea Coast, we address two potential causes of decline of this species for the first time: lead poisoning, and contamination from pesticides. We quantified the densities of spent Pb shot in three wetlands used by the geese in north-east Bulgaria, and analysed the Pb concentration in the faeces of red-breasted geese and the more abundant greater white-fronted geese Anser albifrons, using Al concentration as an indicator of soil ingestion. Pb shot densities in sediments were low, and we found no evidence for Pb shot ingestion in red-breasted geese. On the other hand, we found that the geese were feeding on wheat whose seeds were treated with four fungicides: thiram, tebuconazole, difenoconazole and fludioxonil, and the two first were even detected in geese faecal samples. Using data on the daily food intake, we estimated the exposure levels of the geese to these fungicides, both by measuring the concentrations remaining on seeds and by estimating the amount used to coat the seeds at the time of sowing. We found that the exposure rates estimated during the sowing period for both geese species can exceed the recognized hazardous doses for thiram, and to a lesser extent for tebuconazole, which indicates that some pesticides may be playing a previously overlooked role in the decline of red-breasted geese., The field study was supported by the Life project LIFE/NAT/BG09/00230 “Safe Ground for Redbreasts”. Laboratory work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant CGL2010-17030) and FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de la Caza with the partnership of Fundación Biodiversidad.

A complex balance has arisen between the bluefin tuna, killer whales, and human activities in the Strait of Gibraltar. Recent changes in fishing effort have dramatically decreased tuna stocks, breaking this balance. Killer whales exhibit two strategies for feeding on tuna: active hunting and depredation on a drop-line fishery. From 1999 to 2011, a small community of 39 individuals was observed in the Strait in spring and summer. All individuals displayed active hunting and 18 of themalso depredated on the fishery. These differences in foraging behaviour influenced life-history parameters. Adult survival for interacting and non-interacting individuals was estimated at 0.991 (SE=0.011) and 0.901 (SE=0.050), respectively. Juvenile survival could only be estimated for interacting individuals as 0.966 (SE = 0.024), because only one juvenile and one calf were observed among non-interacting individuals. None of the interacting calves survived after 2005, following the decrease in drop-line fishery catches. Calving rate was estimated at 0.22 (SE = 0.02) for interacting individuals and 0.02 (SE = 0.01) for non-interacting. Calving interval, which could only be calculated for interacting groups, was 7 years. The population growth rate was positive at 4% for interacting individuals, and no growth was observed for non-interacting individuals. These differences in demographic parameters could be explained by access to larger tuna through depredation. Consequently, we found that whales would need more tuna to cover their daily energy requirementswhile actively hunting. Therefore, our findings suggest an effect of artificial food provisioning on their survival and reproductive output. Urgent actions are needed to ensure the conservation of this, already small, community of killer whales. These include its declaration as Endangered, the implementation of a conservation plan, the creation of a seasonal management area where activities producing underwater noise (i.e. military exercise, seismic surveys or evenwhale watching activities) are forbidden fromMarch to August, and the promotion of bluefin tuna conservation. Additionally, energetic requirements of this whale community should be taken into account when undertaking ecosystem-based fishery management for the Atlantic bluefin tuna stock. In the meantime, as marine predators are most sensitive to changes in fish abundance when prey abundance is low, we suggest an urgent short-term action. Artisanal fisheries, such as drop-lines, should be promoted instead of purse seiners in the Mediterranean Sea. This will help to maintain the survival and reproductive output of the whale community until showing clear signs of recovery and stability, and/or their prey stock recovers., This work was funded by Loro Parque Foundation, CEPSA, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Fundación Biodiversidad, LIFE + Indemares (LIFE07NAT/E/000732) and LIFE “Conservación de Cetáceos y tortugas de Murcia y Andalucía” (LIFE02NAT/E/8610), and “Plan Nacional I + D + I ECOCET” (CGL2011-25543) of the Spanish “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad”.

8 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, 1 appendix supplementary data https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.08.008, Although beaches can be hazardous environments, few studies have identified injuries in broad coastal areas. We performed a retrospective descriptive study of injuries and other services provided by lifeguards during 2012 along the Spanish Mediterranean beaches. The trend in jellyfish stings was also examined for the period 2008–2012 using a standardised Sting Index. Obtaining data relied on voluntary cooperation of local authorities, resulting in data provided from 183 cities out of 234 present in the study area and 760 beach lifeguard stations (LGS) out of about 1200. Lifeguard stations provided an average of 89 days of service per year, from late June to the beginning of September. A total of 176,021 injuries were reported, of which jellyfish stings were the main need for assistance with 59.7% (n = 116,887) of the injuries and 257.0/LGS, followed by wounds (14.4%, 50.9/LGS), and sunburn (3.3%, 15.8/LGS). Apart from attending injuries, beach lifeguard services provided 21,174 other services such as help to disabled people (57.9/LGS), blood pressure measurements (12.7/LGS), rescues at sea (6.5/LGS), lost children (5.7/LGS), and transfers to the hospital (4.6/LGS). Official reported fatalities for all the beaches in 2012 were 24. We proposed a Sting Index (SI) to allow comparisons of the incidence of stings between years and/or localities by standardising jellyfish stings by the total of all injuries. Historical data were consistent enough to calculate SI between 2010 and 2012 and showed an oscillating pattern without a clear trend (2008: 2.4, 2009: 1.3, 2010: 2.4, 2011: 2.0, 2012: 2.6). Estimation of total number of jellyfish stings for all the beaches present in the area would reach 184,558 for 2012. There were very few fatalities in comparison with other coastal regions, probably due to the combination of a calm sea, a low number of high dangerous situations, and a high percentage of lifeguarded beaches during the bathing season. Nevertheless, although Spanish Mediterranean beaches could be described as low risk, we propose measures to facilitate a precautionary management to prevent injuries based on a real-time beach assistance database of injuries to identify high-incidence assistance categories, This research was carried out under contract LIFE 08 NAT ES 0064 (to CB and VF) co-financed by the European Commission (www.cubomed.eu), the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (Dirección General de Sostenibilidad de la Costa y el Mar) contract 2013/28-5158, the Dirección General del Agua of the Regional Government of Valencia (grant T7588000/512.10) and the Fundación Biodiversidad (grant LIFE Cubomed 2013/2014)

Due to reductions in winter food resources, newly sown cereal seeds have become a key component of many bird species' diets, but these seeds are often treated with pesticides that may cause toxic effects. To complete an appropriate risk assessment, data on treated seed toxicity need to be combined with information about the risk of exposure of birds in the field and the factors that modulate such exposure. We studied the abundance of pesticide-treated seeds available for birds in the field, the pesticides and their concentrations in treated seeds, and the bird species observed in the field that were feeding on these pesticide-treated seeds. The exposure of red-legged partridge to treated winter cereal seeds was characterized through the analysis of crop and gizzard contents of hunted individuals (n = 189). Moreover, we measured the contribution of cereal seeds in the autumn–winter diet of partridges in order to assess the potential risk of exposure to pesticide-treated seeds. Density of treated seeds on the soil surface after sowing (11·3 ± 1·2 seeds m in the centre of field and 43·4 ± 5·5 seeds m in the headlands) was enough to provide, in an area between 6 and 50 m, doses of six active ingredients above those indicating acute (i.e. a dose capable of killing 50% of individuals of a sensitive species) and / or chronic (no observed effect level) toxicity. Up to 30 bird species were observed consuming treated cereal seeds in recently sown fields. Corn bunting was identified as an appropriate focal passerine species for the risk assessment of pesticide-treated seeds. We found that treated seeds were an important route of pesticide ingestion for red-legged partridge; pesticide residues (six fungicides and two insecticides) were found in 32·3% of crops and gizzards. Cereal seeds represented more than half (53·4 ± 4·3%) of total biomass consumed by partridges from October to February. Synthesis and applications. The field exposure data combined with previous studies about the toxicity to partridges of using pesticide-treated seeds point to an unacceptable risk of this practice to farmland birds. Our results suggest that the prophylactic use of pesticide-coated seeds should be avoided, with the approval of this treatment considered on a case-by-case basis and accompanied with specific measures to minimize risks of adverse effects on avian communities., This study was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (Project OAPN 755/2012), CSIC (Intramural 201330E041),FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de la Caza with the partnership of Fundación Biodiversidad.

14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, supporting Information https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137272, Frequently, population ecology of marine organisms uses a descriptive approach in which their sizes and densities are plotted over time. This approach has limited usefulness for design strategies in management or modelling different scenarios. Population projection matrix models are among themost widely used tools in ecology. Unfortunately, for the majority of pelagic marine organisms, it is difficult to mark individuals and follow themover time to determine their vital rates and built a population projectionmatrixmodel. Nevertheless, it is possible to get time-series data to calculate size structure and densities of each size, in order to determine the matrix parameters. This approach is known as a “demographic inverse problem” and it is based on quadratic programming methods, but it has rarely been used on aquatic organisms.We used unpublished field data of a population of cubomedusae Carybdea marsupialis to construct a population projection matrix model and compare two different management strategies to lower population to values before year 2008 when there was no significant interaction with bathers. Those strategies were by direct removal of medusae and by reducing prey. Our results showed that removal of jellyfish fromall size classes was more effective than removing only juveniles or adults.When reducing prey, the highest efficiency to lower the C. marsupialis population occurred when prey depletion affected prey of all medusae sizes. Our model fit well with the field data and may serve to design an efficient management strategy or build hypothetical scenarios such as removal of individuals or reducing prey. TThis This sdfsdshis method is applicable to othermarine or terrestrial species, for which density and population structure over time are available, This research was carried out under contract LIFE 08 NAT ES 0064 (to CB and VLF) cofinanced by the European Commission (www. cubomed.eu), the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Dirección General del Agua of the Regional Government of Valencia and the Fundación Biodiversidad. This work was also partially supported by Spanish Ministry of Education and Science co-funded by FEDER This research was carried out under contract LIFE 08 NAT ES 0064 (to CB and VLF) cofinanced by the European Commission (www.cubomed.eu), the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Dirección General del Agua of the Regional Government of Valencia and the Fundación Biodiversidad. This work was also partially supported by Spanish Ministry of Education and Science co-funded by FEDER

Fipronil is an insecticide commonly used in agriculture, but there are growing concerns over its environmental impacts (e.g., harmful effects on pollinators). Fipronil-treated seed ingestion might threaten granivorous farmland birds, in particular, Gallinaceous birds that are particularly sensitive to this insecticide. We report here on exposure risk and effects in a game bird of high socioeconomic importance, the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa). We fed captive birds with untreated maize (controls) or with a mixture of untreated–treated maize (ratio 80:20; exposed birds) during 10 days at the beginning of the breeding period (n = 12 pairs in each group). We first show that exposed partridges did not reject treated seeds but reduced food intake and lost body condition. We further studied the effects of treated seed ingestion on adult survival, oxidative balance, plasma biochemistry, carotenoid-based coloration, cellular immune response, steroid hormone levels, and reproduction. Fipronil exposure altered blood biochemistry and sexual hormone levels and reduced cellular immune response, antioxidant levels, and carotenoid-based coloration. Exposed pairs also had reduced egg fecundation rate and produced eggs with fewer antioxidants and offspring that had reduced cellular immune response. These negative effects on adult partridges, their reproductive performance, and offspring quality highlight that fipronil-treated seed ingestion is a significant threat to wild birds., The present study was financed by FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de Caza with the partnership of Fundacion Biodiversidad.

The ingestion of imidacloprid treated seeds by farmland birds may result in exposure to toxic amounts of this insecticide. Here we report on the effects that the exposure to the recommended application rate and to 20% of that rate may produce on birds feeding on treated seeds. Experimental exposure to imidacloprid treated seeds was performed on red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) (n=15 pairs per treatment group: control, 20% or 100% of the recommended application rate) during two periods that corresponded to the autumn (duration of exposure: 25 days) and late winter (10 days) cereal sowing times in Spanish farmlands. We studied effects on the survival, body condition, oxidative stress biomarkers, plasma biochemistry, carotenoid-based coloration, T-cell mediated immune response and reproduction of exposed adult partridges, and on the survival and T-cell immune response of their chicks. The high dose (recommended application rate) killed all partridges, with mortality occurring faster in females than in males. The low dose (20% the recommended application rate) had no effect on mortality, but reduced levels of plasma biochemistry parameters (glucose, magnesium and lactate dehydrogenase), increased blood superoxide dismutase activity, produced changes in carotenoid-based integument coloration, reduced the clutch size, delayed the first egg lay date, increased egg yolk vitamins and carotenoids and depressed T-cell immune response of chicks. Moreover, the analysis of the livers of dead partridges revealed an accumulation of imidacloprid during exposure time. Despite the moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids in the European Union, birds may still be at high risk of poisoning by these pesticides through direct sources of exposure to coated seeds in autumn and winter., This study financed by FEDENCA (Real Federación Española de Caza) and Oficina Nacional de Caza (Project number: UCTR100161) with the partnership of Fundación Biodiversidad.