Taxonomic inflation as a conservation trap for inbred populations.

Conservation is prioritized based on accepted taxa. As a consequence, a conservation incentive exists to emphasize inter-population differences to define taxa, potentially leading to taxonomic inflation. But stressing the uniqueness of threatened populations has the side effect of hindering conservation actions that promote inter-population gene flow, such as genetic rescue.

Introduced and extinct: neglected archival specimens shed new light on the historical biogeography of an iconic avian species in the Mediterranean.

Collection specimens provide valuable and often overlooked biological material that enables addressing relevant, long-unanswered questions in conservation biology, historical biogeography, and other research fields. Here, we use preserved specimens to analyze the historical distribution of the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus, Phasianidae), a case that has recently aroused the interest of archeozoologists and evolutionary biologists. The black francolin currently ranges from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent, but, at least since the Middle Ages, it also had a circum-Mediterranean distribution.

Niche dynamics along two centuries of multiple crayfish invasions.

The realised ecological niches of species may change in response to dynamic abiotic and biotic environments, particularly under fast global change. To fully understand the dynamics of niche features and their drivers, it is essential to have a long-term view of species distributions and the factors that may have influenced them. Here, we analysed the distribution and niche dynamics of the Italian crayfish (Austropotamobius fulcisianus) in the Iberian Peninsula over the past 200 years.

A horizon scan exercise for aquatic invasive alien species in Iberian inland waters.

As the number of introduced species keeps increasing unabatedly, identifying and prioritising current and potential Invasive Alien Species (IAS) has become essential to manage them. Horizon Scanning (HS), defined as an exploration of potential threats, is considered a fundamental component of IAS management. By combining scientific knowledge on taxa with expert opinion, we identified the most relevant aquatic IAS in the Iberian Peninsula, i.

A 16th-century biodiversity and crop inventory.

Documenting and understanding long-term biodiversity change is limited by the availability of historical data, particularly from periods preceding major anthropogenic changes associated with the Industrial Revolution. We mined the information of a standardized historical survey developed in 628 localities across Spain between 1574 and 1582 (Relaciones Topográficas de Felipe II) with the goal of producing a general characterization of Spanish settlements, including, though not limited to, natural resources. From this survey, we were able to gather 7309 records for 75 wild plant taxa, 89 wild animal taxa, and 60 crop and domestic animal taxa.

Severe, rapid and widespread impacts of an Atlantic blue crab invasion.

The Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) has rapidly invaded coastal environments in the western Mediterranean, but there is no consistent assessment of its impacts yet. We use interviews and long-term data series in the Ebro Delta (NE Spain) to: i) characterise the evolution of the blue crab invasion; and ii) identify its impacts. The blue crab was first recorded in 2012, but its expansion started around 2016, with an exponential increase in abundance between 2017 and 2018.

An accessible optimisation method for barrier removal planning in stream networks.

Barriers associated to human infrastructure are a widespread impact in freshwater ecosystems worldwide, disrupting connectivity along river networks and key processes. Restoration of connectivity has risen in the last decade, with thousands of dams, weirs and culverts removed. Spatial optimisation methods can help inform decision on what barriers to remove to maximise gain in connectivity under limited budgets.

Historical citizen science to understand and predict climate-driven trout decline.

Historical species records offer an excellent opportunity to test the predictive ability of range forecasts under climate change, but researchers often consider that historical records are scarce and unreliable, besides the datasets collected by renowned naturalists. Here, we demonstrate the relevance of biodiversity records developed through citizen-science initiatives generated outside the natural sciences academia. We used a Spanish geographical dictionary from the mid-nineteenth century to compile over 10 000 freshwater fish records, including almost 4 000 brown trout (Salmo trutta) citations, and constructed a historical presence-absence dataset covering over 2 000 10 × 10 km cells, which is comparable to present-day data.

Global ecological impacts of invasive species in aquatic ecosystems.

The introduction of invasive species, which often differ functionally from the components of the recipient community, generates ecological impacts that propagate along the food web. This review aims to determine how consistent the impacts of aquatic invasions are across taxa and habitats. To that end, we present a global meta-analysis from 151 publications (733 cases), covering a wide range of invaders (primary producers, filter collectors, omnivores and predators), resident aquatic community components (macrophytes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates and fish) and habitats (rivers, lakes and estuaries).

Interdisciplinarity to reconstruct historical introductions: solving the status of cryptogenic crayfish.

Anciently introduced species can be confounded with native species because introduction pre-dates the first species inventories or because of the loss of the collective memory of the introductions. The term 'cryptogenic species' denotes species of unknown or unclear status (native versus non-native) in a given territory, and disciplinary approaches are often insufficient for solving their true status. Here, we follow an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to solve the status of a cryptogenic species, proposing that building on evidence from multiple disciplines can produce robust and clarifying insights.

[West Nile virus infection].

West Nile virus (WNV) is an arbovirus usually transmitted by mosquitoes. The main reservoirs are birds, although the virus may infect several vertebrate species, such as horses and humans. Up to 80% of human infections are asymptomatic.

Climate change or land use dynamics: do we know what climate change indicators indicate?

Different components of global change can have interacting effects on biodiversity and this may influence our ability to detect the specific consequences of climate change through biodiversity indicators. Here, we analyze whether climate change indicators can be affected by land use dynamics that are not directly determined by climate change. To this aim, we analyzed three community-level indicators of climate change impacts that are based on the optimal thermal environment and average latitude of the distribution of bird species present at local communities.

Invasive species and habitat degradation in Iberian streams: an analysis of their role in freshwater fish diversity loss.

Mediterranean endemic freshwater fish are among the most threatened biota in the world. Distinguishing the role of different extinction drivers and their potential interactions is crucial for achieving conservation goals. While some authors argue that invasive species are a main driver of native species declines, others see their proliferation as a co-occurring process to biodiversity loss driven by habitat degradation.

Bird community specialization, bird conservation and disturbance: the role of wildfires.

1. Although niche theory predicts that disturbance should favour generalist species, the community-level implications of this pattern have been sparsely analysed. Here, we test the hypothesis that disturbance favours generalist species within communities, analysing effects of wildfires in bird communities in a Mediterranean climate area as a case study.

Homogenization dynamics and introduction routes of invasive freshwater fish in the Iberian Peninsula.

Nonnative invasive species are one of the main global threats to biodiversity. The understanding of the traits characterizing successful invaders and invasion-prone ecosystems is increasing, but our predictive ability is still limited. Quantitative information on biotic homogenization and particularly its temporal dynamics is even scarcer.