News News

Content with tag mediterranean communities .

An EBD study shows that human action negatively affects frugivorous birds in Doñana

A study led by the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) found that fruit-eating birds (frugivorous) in Doñana have experienced negative changes in the last 40 years: a decrease in their abundance, a lower fat reserve, and advances in their migratory timing.
? This could be due to vegetation shifts and increasing temperatures associated with climate change. Changes in the timing of migratory birds’ arrivals and departures can lead to a lack of synchronization between birds and fruit...

Strategies shrubby junipers adopt to tolerate drought differ by site

Drought-induced dieback episodes are globally reported among forest ecosystems but they have been understudied in scrublands. Chronically-stressed individuals are supposed to be more vulnerable prior to drought which triggers death. Drought-triggered dieback and mortality events affecting Mediterranean Juniperus phoenicea scrublands were analyzed in two sites with contrasting climate and soil conditions located in Spain. The radial growth patterns of coexisting living and dead junipers,...

Higher epigenetic diversity could alleviate the loss of genetic diversity

Genetic diversity is generally considered the chief determinant of evolutionary change, but epigenetic diversity is now recognized as another layer of heritable variation with potential adaptive consequences. Epigenetic diversity could sometimes (fragmented populations, stressing habitats) alleviate the loss of genetic diversity and provide an “evolutionary backup” mechanism for wild plants.

Invasion, community functional structure and ecosystem processes

Many studies report a decrease of native species richness in communities after plant invasion by exotic taxa, but the implications of species losses on community functional structure and ecosystem processes have been less explored. The questions addressed are: (1) what are the impacts of invasive plant taxa on the functional structure of the recipient community; and (2) are there links between such functional structure and ecosystem properties representing key ecosystem processes?