Search

Carotenoid staining has been repeatedly shown to serve as a sexually selected individual quality signal. In different species, individuals that show brighter carotenoid-based signals have been found to have superior feeding abilities, recover faster from disease, and generally enjoy better body condition. In the common crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), the colour has also been related to the different populations, with northern and central European populations being described as redder than those in the Mediterranean region. A study in the Pyrenees showed that long-winged individuals had lower apparent survival, and the proportion of red individuals was higher in long-winged birds, concluding that they could be nomadic birds (that travel long distances). A priori, if the red crossbills are more mobile than the yellow and orange ones, their apparent survival will be lower. However, in our study, red males showed a greater survival than males of other colours and almost double than that of the yellow ones. These results suggest that red coloration is linked to higher quality individuals regardless of their mobility. Die Farbgebung durch Carotinoide hat sich schon oft als ein geschlechtsspezifisches Signal für individuelle Qualität herausgestellt. Für unterschiedliche Tierarten hat man festgestellt, dass Individuen, die hellere, auf Carotinoiden basierende Farb-Signale aussenden, eine bessere Nahrungsaufnahme haben, sich schneller von Krankheiten erholen und allgemein in besserer körperlichen Verfassung sind. Beim Fichtenkreuzschnabel (Loxia curvirostra) wurde die Farbgebung auch mit verschiedenen Populationen in Verbindung gebracht, wobei die nord- und mitteleuropäischen Populationen als rötlicher beschrieben wurden als die des Mittelmeerraums. Eine Untersuchung in den Pyrenäen zeigte, dass Tiere mit längeren Flügeln eine offenbar geringere Überlebensrate und einen höheren Anteil an rötlichen Individuen aufwiesen, woraus zu schließen wäre, dass es sich um nomadisierende Vögel handeln könnte (die weite Strecken zurücklegen). Wenn die roten Fichtenkreuzschnäbel mobiler als die gelben und orangefarbenen sind, könnte ihre Überlebensrate mutmaßlich geringer sein. Aber in unserer Untersuchung lebten rötliche Männchen länger als andersgefärbte und fast doppelt so lang wie die gelblichen Männchen. Diese Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die rote Färbung mit höherwertigen Individuen verbunden ist, unabhängig von deren Mobilität.

Zoos and aquaria, often regarded as preservation-cum-entertainment enterprises, are also actors in the effort to curb the biodiversity crisis: raising awareness, supporting conservation, and conducting research. We assessed trends in zoo and aquaria research topics and study organisms over time worldwide. For the zoos and aquaria registered in the Species360’s Zoological Information Management System and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, we compiled metadata on their research published in the peerreviewed literature indexed in Scopus and carried out a keyword frequency analysis. The production of scientific papers by zoos increased at a much faster rate than the average accrual of scientific papers in the literature. Evolution of research themes ran parallel to that of biological sciences (e.g., development of molecular genetics or increased awareness about conservation). The focus of 48.5% of zoo-led research was on vertebrates, of which mammal research was 33.7%. Whether zoos are effectively contributing to conservation may still be debatable, but our results highlight their institutional efforts to increase knowledge about the species in their care. Los zoológicos y los acuarios, con frecuencia considerados empresas de conservación y entretenimiento, también son actores en el esfuerzo por reducir la crisis de la biodiversidad al crear conciencia, apoyar a la conservación y llevar a cabo investigaciones. Evaluamos las tendencias en los temas de investigación y los organismos de estudios en los zoológicos y los acuarios en todo el mundo a través del tiempo. Compilamos los metadatos de las investigaciones realizadas en los zoológicos y acuarios registrados en el Sistema de Manejo de Información Zoológica de Species360 y en la Asociación Mundial de Zoológicos y Acuarios que han sido publicadas en la literatura revisada por pares indexada en Scopus y realizamos un análisis de frecuencias de palabras clave. La producción de artículos científicos por zoológicos se incrementó a una tasa mucho más rápida que la acumulación promedio de artículos científicos en la literatura. La evolución de los temas de investigación fue paralela a la de las ciencias biológicas (p. ej.: desarrollo de la genética molecular o incremento en la conciencia por la conservación). El enfoque del 48.5% de las investigaciones conducidas por los zoológicos estuvo sobre los vertebrados. De este 48.5%, el 33.7% fueron investigaciones sobre mamíferos. Todavía puede debatirse si los zoológicos están contribuyendo efectivamente a la conservación, pero nuestros resultados resaltan sus esfuerzos institucionales por incrementar el conocimiento sobre las especies bajo su cuidado.

Different indices have been developed to quantify the extent and severity of river fragmentation. These indices vary depending on the specific goals of the study. Here, we present a new Conservation Connectivity Index (CCIP) for potamodromous fish species that considers the conservation value (richness, rarity and vulnerability) of river segments. The Iberian Peninsula holds > 20 endemic and endangered potamodromous fish species as well as > 1000 large dams (> 1 hm3 of capacity). The CCIP was calculated for the eight most important river basins of the Iberian Peninsula and compared to the Dendritic Connectivity Index (DCIP) developed by Cote et al. in 2009, which uses only river length as a habitat variable. With the use of both DCIP and CCIP, the dams were analysed and ranked according to their impacts on the river basin. The main results show that Iberian river basins are heavily fragmented, with river basin connectivity percentages of less than 20% in most cases using both DCIP and CCIP. CCIP values are slightly higher than DCIP values in almost all cases. When the impact of individual dams is analysed, differences also appear between the DCIP and CCIP. CCIP highlights the impact of dams located in areas of high fish conservation value while DCIP emphasize the impact of dams fragmenting large river segments. The CCIP appears to be adequate to highlight important sites for conservation in river connectivity studies. It could be applied in different studies and river basins around the world to prioritize dam removals or plan new dam locations.

River connectivity is essential for the correct functioning of freshwater ecosystems at all scales. However, it has not received the necessary attention by researchers, managers and policymakers until recent years. In this review, we recap the state of knowledge in river connectivity and its applications to conservation. We describe the particular characteristics of river connectivity and summarise the effects of its interruption in different freshwater ecosystem elements. We then focus on the effects of the lack of segment connectivity in fish species and review the different methods developed to study it. The application of connectivity in freshwater fish conservation areas is also reviewed, which highlights the lack of studies on this subject. Finally, connectivity restoration is studied. The review addresses these topics in a general way and then focus on the Iberian Peninsula.The Iberian Peninsula is an interesting place to study river connectivity because it has one of the highest numbers of dams per square kilometre and a large number of endemic and endangered freshwater fish species. Despite the high number of fish species affected by water extraction and damming, river connectivity and its effect in Iberian freshwater fish populations have not been well studied. A small number of studies analyse the effect of small dams in nearby fish communities, but large-scale impact assessments are scarce.

The advent of online data aggregator infrastructures has facilitated the accumulation of Digital Accessible Knowledge (DAK) about biodiversity. Despite the vast amount of freely available data records, their usefulness for research depends on completeness of each body of data regarding their spatial, temporal and taxonomic coverage. In this paper, we assess the completeness of DAK about terrestrial mammals distributed across the Iberian Peninsula. We compiled a dataset with all records about mammals occurring in the Iberian Peninsula available in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and in the national atlases from Portugal and Spain. After cleaning the dataset of errors as well as records lacking collection dates or not determined to species level, we assigned all occurrences to a 10-km grid. We assessed inventory completeness by calculating the ratio between observed and expected richness (based on the Chao2 richness index) in each grid cell and classified cells as well-sampled or under-sampled. We evaluated survey coverage of well-sampled cells along four environmental gradients and temporal coverage. Out of 796,283 retrieved records, quality issues led us to remove 616,141 records unfit for this use. The main reason for discarding records was missing collection dates. Only 25.95% cells contained enough records to robustly estimate completeness. The DAK about terrestrial mammals from the Iberian Peninsula was low, and spatially and temporally biased.

This dataset gathers information about the macroinvertatebrate samples and environmental variables collected on rivers of the Ebro River Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), the second largest catchment in the Iberian Peninsula. The collection is composed of 1,776 sampling events carried out between 2005 and 2015 at more than 400 sampling sites. This dataset is part of a monitoring network set up by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, the official body entrusted with the care of the basin, to fulfill the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive. Biological indices based on the freshwater macroinvertebrate communities were used to evaluate the ecological status of the water bodies within the basin. Samples were qualitatively screened for all occurring taxa. Then, all individuals from all taxa in a quantitative subsample of each sample were counted. Biological indices were calculated to estimate water quality at each sampling site. All samples are kept at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Navarra.

This book collects the main outcomes that were generated during the implementation of the LIFE+RESPIRA project (LIFE13 ENV/ES/000417), carried out in the city of Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. The research was conducted by a cross-functional team made up of more than 30 researchers belonging to three entities: The University of Navarra, the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT) and Environmental Management of Navarra (GAN-NIK).

Background Primary biodiversity records (PBR) are essential in many areas of scientific research as they document the biodiversity through time and space. However, concerns about PBR quality and fitness-for-use have grown, especially as derived from taxonomical, geographical and sampling effort biases. Nonetheless, the temporal bias stemming from data ageing has received less attention. We examine the effect of changes in land use in the information currentness, and therefore data obsolescence, in biodiversity databases. Methods We created maps of land use changes for three periods (1956–1985, 1985–2000 and 2000–2012) at 5-kilometres resolution. For each cell we calculated the percentage of land use change within each period. We then overlaid distribution data about small mammals, and classified each data as ‘non-obsolete or ‘obsolete,’ depending on both the amount of land use changes in the cell, and whether changes occurred at or after the data sampling’s date. Results A total of 14,528 records out of the initial 59,677 turned out to be non-obsolete after taking into account the changes in the land uses in Navarra. These obsolete data existed in 115 of the 156 cells analysed. Furthermore, more than one half of the remaining cells holding non-obsolete records had not been visited at least for the last fifteen years. Conclusion Land use changes challenge the actual information obtainable from biodiversity datasets and therefore its potential uses. With the passage of time, one can expect a steady increase in the availability and use of biological records—but not without them becoming older and likely to be obsolete by land uses changes. Therefore, it becomes necessary to assess records’ obsolescence, as it may jeopardize the knowledge and perception of biodiversity patterns.

In this paper five datasets are described that provide information about records of mammals in the Vertebrate Collection of the Museum of Zoology of the University of Navarra (MZNA-VERT). The datasets contain 3,466 records belonging to 20 species of mammals sampled across the transition zone between the Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographical regions (north Iberian Peninsula). The datasets include both distributional data (georeferenced records) and basic biometric data of most of the vouchered specimens stored in the museum facilities. The samples originated mainly within research projects and PhD theses carried out in the former department of Zoology and Ecology of the University of Navarra between 1982 and 2011. The Darwin Core Archive Format datasets are accessible through GBIF.

En esta guía quedan recogidos todos los grupos de mamíferos que tienen presencia en el entorno de Pamplona, así como sus principales características.

Se presenta el Catálogo actualizado de la Colección de Anfibios y Reptiles del Museo de Zoología de la Universidad de Navarra. Una pequeña parte de la colección se halla expuesta al público y forma parte del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de la Universidad de Navarra. A fecha de edición, la colección completa incluye más de 2500 ejemplares, de los que dos tercios son anfibios. Entre otras, 50 especies ibéricas están representadas en la colección.