Tuning the second-generation SDI: Theoretical aspects and real use cases.

Masó J., Pons X., Zabala A. (2012). Tuning the second-generation SDI: Theoretical aspects and real use cases. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 26: 983-1014.

Duration of prepupal summer dormancy regulates synchronization of adult diapause with winter temperatures in bees of the genus Osmia.

Sgolastra F., Kemp W.P. Maini S., Bosch J. (2012) Duration of prepupal summer dormancy regulates synchronization of adult diapause with winter temperatures in bees of the genus Osmia. Journal of Insect Physiology 58: 924-933.

Pautes de biodiversitat al llarg de gradients altitudinals.

  1. de Mendoza G, Catalan J (2012) Pautes de biodiversitat al llarg de gradients altitudinals. I Congrés Internacional de Biologia de Catalunya (I CIBICAT): Global Questions on Advanced Biology, 9 al 12 de juliol. Poster.

Synthesizing greenhouse gas fluxes across nine European peatlands and shrublands – responses to climatic and environmental changes.

Carter M.S., Larsen K.S. Emmett B., Estiarte M., Field C., Leith I.D., Lund M., Meijide A., Mills R.T.E., Niinemets Ü., Peñuelas J., Portillo-Estrada M., Schmidt I.K. Selsted M.B. Sheppard L.J., Sowerby A., Tietema A., Beier C. (2012). Synthesizing greenhouse gas fluxes across nine European peatlands and shrublands – responses to climatic and environmental changes. Biogeosciences, 9: 3739-3755.

Mapping from heterogeneous biodiversity monitoring data sources

Sardà-Palomera F, Brotons L, Villero D, Sierdsema H, Newson S, Jiguet F (2012) Mapping from heterogeneous biodiversity monitoring data sources. Biodiversity and Conservation 21: 2927-2948.

Flexible dispersal strategies in native and non-native ranges: environmental quality and the ‘good–stay, bad–disperse’ rule

Hui C, Roura-Pascual N, Brotons L, Robinson RA, Evans KL (2012) Flexible dispersal strategies in native and non-native ranges: environmental quality and the ‘good–stay, bad–disperse’ rule. Ecography 35: 1024-1032.

Ant functional responses along environmental gradients

Arnan X., Cerda X., Retana J. (0) Ant functional responses along environmental gradients. Journal of Animal Ecology. 83: 1398-1408.
Link
Doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12227

Abstract:

Understanding species distributions and diversity gradients is a central challenge in ecology and requires prior knowledge of the functional traits mediating species' survival under particular environmental conditions. While the functional ecology of plants has been reasonably well explored, much less is known about that of animals. Ants are among the most diverse, abundant and ecologically significant organisms on earth, and they perform a great variety of ecological functions. In this study, we analyse how the functional species traits present in ant communities vary along broad gradients in climate, productivity and vegetation type in the south-western Mediterranean. To this end, we compiled one of the largest animal databases to date: it contains information on 211 local ant communities (including eight climate variables, productivity, and vegetation type) and 124 ant species, for which 10 functional traits are described. We used traits that characterize different dimensions of the ant functional niche with respect to morphology, life history and behaviour at both individual and colony level. We calculated two complementary functional trait community indices ('trait average' and 'trait dissimilarity') for each trait, and we analysed how they varied along the three different gradients using generalized least squares models that accounted for spatial autocorrelation. Our results show that productivity, vegetation type and, to a lesser extent, each climate variable per se might play an important role in shaping the occurrence of functional species traits in ant communities. Among the climate variables, temperature and precipitation seasonality had a much higher influence on functional responses than their mean values, whose effects were almost lacking. Our results suggest that strong relationships might exist between the abiotic environment and the distribution of functional traits among south-western Mediterranean ant communities. This finding indicates that functional traits may modulate the responses of ant species to the environment. Since these traits act as the link between species distributions and the environment, they could potentially be used to predict community changes under future global change scenarios.

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The ecological benefits of larger colony size may promote polygyny in ants

Boulay R., Arnan X., Cerda X., Retana J. (0) The ecological benefits of larger colony size may promote polygyny in ants. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 27: 2856-2863.
Link
Doi: 10.1111/jeb.12515

Abstract:

How polygyny evolved in social insect societies is a long-standing question. This phenomenon, which is functionally similar to communal breeding in vertebrates, occurs when several queens come together in the same nest to lay eggs that are raised by workers. As a consequence, polygyny drastically reduces genetic relatedness among nestmates. It has been suggested that the short-term benefits procured by group living may outweigh the costs of sharing the same nesting site and thus contribute to organisms rearing unrelated individuals. However, tests of this hypothesis are still limited. To examine the evolutionary emergence of polygyny, we reviewed the literature to build a data set containing life-history traits for 149 Palearctic ant species and combined this data set with a reconstructed phylogeny. We show that monogyny is the ancestral state and that polygyny has evolved secondarily and independently throughout the phylogenetic tree. The occurrence of polygyny is significantly correlated with larger colony size, dependent colony founding and ecological dominance. Although polydomy (when a colony simultaneously uses several connected nests) tends to occur more frequently in polygynous species, this trend is not significant when phylogenetic history is accounted for. Overall, our results indicate that polygyny may have evolved in ants in spite of the reduction in nestmate relatedness because large colony size provides immediate ecological advantages, such as the more efficient use of temporal food resources. We suggest that the competitive context of ant communities may have provided the conditions necessary for the evolution of polygyny in some clades.

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Reassessing global change research priorities in mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems: How far have we come and where do we go from here?

Doblas-Miranda E., Martinez-Vilalta J., Lloret F., Alvarez A., Avila A., Bonet F.J., Brotons L., Castro J., Curiel Yuste J., Diaz M., Ferrandis P., Garcia-Hurtado E., Iriondo J.M., Keenan T.F., Latron J., Llusia J., Loepfe L., Mayol M., More G., Moya D., Penuelas J., Pons X., Poyatos R., Sardans J., Sus O., Vallejo V.R., Vayreda J., Retana J. (0) Reassessing global change research priorities in mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems: How far have we come and where do we go from here?. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 24: 25-43.
Link
Doi: 10.1111/geb.12224

Abstract:

Aim: Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems serve as reference laboratories for the investigation of global change because of their transitional climate, the high spatiotemporal variability of their environmental conditions, a rich and unique biodiversity and a wide range of socio-economic conditions. As scientific development and environmental pressures increase, it is increasingly necessary to evaluate recent progress and to challenge research priorities in the face of global change. Location: Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems. Methods: This article revisits the research priorities proposed in a 1998 assessment. Results: A new set of research priorities is proposed: (1) to establish the role of the landscape mosaic on fire-spread; (2) to further research the combined effect of different drivers on pest expansion; (3) to address the interaction between drivers of global change and recent forest management practices; (4) to obtain more realistic information on the impacts of global change and ecosystem services; (5) to assess forest mortality events associated with climatic extremes; (6) to focus global change research on identifying and managing vulnerable areas; (7) to use the functional traits concept to study resilience after disturbance; (8) to study the relationship between genotypic and phenotypic diversity as a source of forest resilience; (9) to understand the balance between C storage and water resources; (10) to analyse the interplay between landscape-scale processes and biodiversity conservation; (11) to refine models by including interactions between drivers and socio-economic contexts; (12) to understand forest-atmosphere feedbacks; (13) to represent key mechanisms linking plant hydraulics with landscape hydrology. Main conclusions: (1) The interactive nature of different global change drivers remains poorly understood. (2) There is a critical need for the rapid development of regional- and global-scale models that are more tightly connected with large-scale experiments, data networks and management practice. (3) More attention should be directed to drought-related forest decline and the current relevance of historical land use.

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Dwarf trees, super-sized shrubs and scaling: Why is plant stature so important?

Mencuccini M. (0) Dwarf trees, super-sized shrubs and scaling: Why is plant stature so important?. Plant, Cell and Environment. 38: 1-3.
Link
Doi: 10.1111/pce.12442

Abstract:

[No abstract available]

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