Open Call for Research Projects in ICTS-Doñana!

The Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure Doñana Biological Reserve (ICTS-Doñana) announces the opening of a call for international research projects in the Doñana Natural Space.

Selected projects will receive a grant of up to €10,000 per application, intended to cover expenses such as travel and per diems for researchers, consumables, and small research project materials.

Priority will be given to international projects that collaborate with Spanish research teams in Doñana Natural Space, that make use of the facilities of the ICTS and/or use environmental monitoring data provided by ICTS-Doñana.

The call for proposals will remain open until 30 June 2024, with priority given to projects led by young researchers and women.

Send your research project in Spanish or English with the CV of the Principal Researcher to direccion.ebd@csic.es

Download Application model

Funding: Junta Andalucía Call QUAL21-020



Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks

Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks

The honeybee Apis mellifera is the primary managed species worldwide for both crop pollination and honey production. Owing to beekeeping activity, its high relative abundance potentially affects the structure and functioning of pollination networks in natural ecosystems. Given that evidences about beekeeping impacts are restricted to observational studies of specific species and theoretical simulations, experimental data are still lacking to test for their larger-scale impacts on biodiversity. Here a three-year field experiment in a natural ecosystem was used to compare the effects of pre- and post-establishment stages of beehives on the pollination network structure and plant reproductive success. Results show that beekeeping reduces the diversity of wild pollinators and interaction links in the pollination networks. It disrupts their hierarchical structural organization causing the loss of interactions by generalist species, and also impairs pollination services by wild pollinators through reducing the reproductive success of those plant species highly visited by honeybees. High-density beekeeping in natural areas appears to have lasting, more serious negative impacts on biodiversity than was previously assumed. informacion[at]ebd.csic.es: Valido et al (2019) Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks. Sci Rep https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41271-5DO


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5