42 documents found, page 1 of 5
Dynamics of post fire plant community assembly in Doñana coastal dunes
Chozas, Sergio; Mira, André F.; Serrano, Manuel; Medina, Nagore G.; Hortal, Joaquín; Díaz-Barradas, María CruzFire significantly contributes to the distribution, composition, and functioning of ecosystems. It is also among the most damaging disturbances, exacerbated by increasing fire intensity and extent due to climate change. However, some ecosystems, like Mediterranean scrublands, recover quickly due to species’ adaptations to frequent fire regimes. This study investigates the community assembly processes during a s...
eBryoSoil: a citizen science application to monitor changes in soil ecosystems
Mira, André F.; Hortal, Joaquín; Portela, Ana Paula; Albertos, Belén; Estébanez, Belén; Branquinho, Cristina; Vieira, Cristiana; Hespanhol, HelenaBiological soil covers (BSCs) play a pivotal role in ecosystem functioning by enhancing soil stability, mediating nutrient cycling, and influencing soil hydrology. Recognized as ecosystem engineers, they can physically modify, maintain, or create habitats, facilitating plant community development. Through these intricate interactions, BSCs contribute significantly to ecological processes, highlighting their imp...
A trait‐based framework for dung beetle functional ecology
deCastro‐Arrazola, Indradatta; Andrew, Nigel R.; Berg, Matty P.; Curtsdotter, Alva; Lumaret, Jean‐Pierre; Menéndez, Rosa; Moretti, MarcoTraits are key for understanding the environmental responses and ecological roles of organisms. Trait approaches to functional ecology are well established for plants, whereas consistent frameworks for animal groups are less developed. Here we suggest a framework for the study of the functional ecology of animals from a trait-based response–effect approach, using dung beetles as model system. Dung beetles are a...
Dung removal increases under higher dung beetle functional diversity regardless...
Noriega, Jorge Ari; Hortal, Joaquín; deCastro-Arrazola, Indradatta; Alves-Martins, Fernanda; Ortega, Jean C. G.; Bini, Luis Mauricio; Andrew, Nigel R.Dung removal by macrofauna such as dung beetles is an important process for nutrient cycling in pasturelands. Intensification of farming practices generally reduces species and functional diversity of terrestrial invertebrates, which may negatively affect ecosystem services. Here, we investigate the effects of cattle-grazing intensification on dung removal by dung beetles in field experiments replicated in 38 p...
Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
Chozas, Sergio; Chefaoui, Rosa M.; Correia, Otília; Santos, Ana M. C.; Hortal, JoaquínSpecies' environmental requirements and large-scale spatial and evolutionary processes determine the structure and composition of local communities. However, ecological interactions also have major effects on community assembly at landscape and local scales. We evaluate whether two xerophytic shrub communities occurring in SW Portugal follow constrained ecological assembly dynamics throughout large geographical...
Knowledge gaps hamper understanding the relationship between fragmentation and ...
Sobral-Souza, Thadeu; Stropp, Juliana; Santos, Jessie Pereira; Prasniewski, Victor Mateus; Szinwelski, Neucir; Vilela, BrunoMade available in DSpace on 2022-05-01T05:29:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-06-25; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES); Background. A key challenge for conservation biology in the Neotropics is to understand how deforestation affects biodiversity at various levels of landscape fragmen...
Aridity drives the loss of dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity in th...
Castro Sánchez‐Bermejo, Pablo; deCastro‐Arrazola, Indradatta; Cuesta, Eva; Davis, Adrian L. V.; Moreno, Claudia E.; Sánchez‐Piñero, FranciscoAim Aridity gradients are of great interest for understanding the responses of biodiversity to water availability and water stress. However, little is known about the responses of many animal groups, which are crucial for assessing the effects of climate change. Here, we study the effects of aridity on dung beetle communities, a group with well-known responses to large-scale environmental gradients. Location Sa...
Short- and long-term temporal changes in the assemblage structure of Amazonian ...
Noriega, Jorge Ari; Santos, Ana M. C.; Calatayud, Joaquín; Chozas, Sergio; Hortal, JoaquínSpecies diversity varies in space and time. Temporal changes in the structure and dynamics of communities can occur at different scales. We investigated the temporal changes of dung beetle assemblages in the Amazonian region along seasons, years, and successional stages. We evaluated if assemblage structure changes between temporal scales and whether such changes affect the functional structure of communities. ...
Current climate, but also long‐term climate changes and human impacts, determin...
Santos, Ana M. C.; Cianciaruso, Marcus V.; Barbosa, Ana Márcia; Bini, L. Mauricio; Diniz‐Filho, J. Alexandre F.; Faleiro, Frederico V.AIM: Historical climate variations, current climate and human impacts are known to influence current species richness, but their effects on phylogenetic and trait diversity have been seldom studied. We investigated the relationship of these three factors with the independent variations of species, phylogenetic and trait diversity of European mammals. Considering the position of the 0 ⁰C isotherm in the Last Gla...
A niche perspective on the range expansion of symbionts
Mestre, Alexandre; Poulin, Robert; Hortal, JoaquínRange expansion results from complex eco-evolutionary processes where range dynamics and niche shifts interact in a novel physical space and/or environment, with scale playing a major role. Obligate symbionts (i.e. organisms permanently living on hosts) differ from free-living organisms in that they depend on strong biotic interactions with their hosts which alter their niche and spatial dynamics. A symbiotic l...