Mosquito community composition plays a central role in the transmission of zoonotic vector-borne pathogens. In this study it was evaluated how the mosquito community affects the seroprevalence of West Nile virus (WNV) in house sparrows along an urbanisation gradient in an area with the endemic circulation of this virus. 2544 birds and 34.0829 mosquitoes were sampled in 45 localities, analysed in 15 groups, each containing one urban, one rural and one natural area. WNV seroprevalence was...

During the past decades, managed honeybee stocks have increased globally. Managed honeybees are particularly used within mass-flowering crops and often spill over to adjacent natural habitats after crop blooming. This study uniquely shows the simultaneous impact that honeybee spillover has on wild plant and animal communities in flower-rich woodlands via changes in plant–pollinator network structure that translate into a direct negative effect on the reproductive success of a dominant...

Modern literature on plant dispersal by birds focuses mainly on the importance of frugivory and scatter-hoarding, yet recent studies show that endozoochory by migratory waterbirds is an important mechanism of long-distance dispersal for a broad range of plants. Nevertheless, there is a lack of empirical field studies that identify the plants dispersed by waterbirds in a comprehensive manner. In particular, so far there are no detailed studies of the level of spatial variation in the plant...

Although roadkill studies on a large scale are challenging, they can provide valuable information to assess the impact of road traffic on animal populations. Over 22 months, 45 road sections of 10 km within a global biodiversity hotspot in Andalusia, in southern Spain, were surveyed. The region was divided into five ecoregions differing in environmental conditions and landscape characteristics and the relative magnitude, composition and spatiotemporal patterns of vertebrate (birds, mammal,...

The colonisation of new suitable habitats is crucial for species survival at evolutionary scale under changing environmental conditions. However, colonisation potential may be limited by philopatry that facilitates exploiting successful habitats across generations. This study examined the mechanisms of long distance dispersal of the philopatric loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) by analysing 40 sporadic nesting events in the western Mediterranean. The analysis of a fragment of the...