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"Plant-ungulate dynamics in Mediterranean areas with high inter-annual variation in plant productivity". Ungulates are keystone elements of many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as they often regulate vegetation composition and cover, and play crucial roles in other ecological processes (e.g. soil fertilization). In recent decades, strong increases in the abundance and activity of wild ungulates have been reported across temperate and boreal ecosystems. The ecological, economic and social impacts of this changes are potentially strong, and they are receiving increasing attention among researchers, practitioners and policy makers. To understand the reasons behind the current changes in ungulate abundance across different regions of the planet, we must deepen our knowledge of the factors that govern their population dynamics. A key element in forecasting their causes and impacts is the concurrent changes in food availability – i.e. the interplaying influences ofplant production and herbivore consumption, and the role of the spatial and movement ecology of the ungulates in regulating such interaction. My PhD thesis focuses on the population dynamics and spatial ecology of the wild and domestic ungulates of the Doñana National Park. The objective is to provide knowledge and criteria for the sustainable management of ungulates in environments with high variability in rainfall and plant productivity. For this purpose, I propose a multidisciplinary approach involving the use of several techniques, including population analysis (historical data on ungulate population counts), demographic models, movement and space use analysis (based on data from GPS-tracked individuals) and spatial models (plant productivity and phenology, based on EO data).

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