Events of non-natural mortality in human-dominated landscapes are especially challenging for populations of large vertebrates with K strategies. Among birds, vultures are one of the most threatened groups experiencing sharp population declines due to non-natural mortality. Factors causing non-natural mortality are usually studied separately. However, the potential use of an integrated index able to predict large-scale mortality risks of avian scavengers could be especially useful for planning...

The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), native to the southern United States and north-eastern Mexico, is currently the most widely distributed crayfish globally, as well as one of the invasive species with most devastating impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Reconstructing the introduction routes of invasive species and identifying the motivations that have led to those movements is necessary to accurately reduce the likelihood of further introductions. In this study, the temporal...

A principios de año se puso en marcha el proyecto...

Factors such as the particular combination of parasite-mosquito species, their co-evolutionary history, and the host’s parasite load greatly affect parasite transmission. However, the importance of these factors in the epidemiology of mosquito-borne parasites, such as avian malaria parasites, is largely unknown. Here, the competence of two mosquito species (Culex pipiens and Aedes (Ochlerotatus) caspius), for the transmission of four avian Plasmodium lineages...

A significant link between forest loss and fragmentation and outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans has been documented. Deforestation may alter the natural circulation of viruses and change the composition, abundance, behaviour and possibly viral exposure of reservoir species. This in turn might increase contact between infected animals and humans. Fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae have been suspected as reservoirs of the Ebola virus. At present, the only evidence associating...