Gema Escribano-Avila

• PhD Natural Resources Conservation
• PostDoc Position at Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies

Lince ibérico con collar emisor libe-rado en 2018 en los Montes de To-ledo, en el momen-to de su liberación. La recuperación de esta especie ame-nazada está consi-derada como uno de los programas de conservación más exitosos del mundo. Las cadenas tróficas son mecanismos muy im-portantes en el funcionamiento de los ecosiste-mas que resultan de las...

Current global change scenarios demand knowledge on how anthropogenic impacts affect ecosystem functioning through changes in food web structure. Frugivorous mesocarnivores are a key link in trophic cascades because, while their abundance and behaviour are usually controlled by apex predators, they can provide high‐quality seed‐dispersal services t...

The Seed Dispersal Syndrome Hypothesis (SDSH) posits that fruit traits predict the main dispersers interacting with plant species. Mammalian dispersers, relying heavily on olfactory cues, are expected to select dull-colored, scented, and larger fruits compared to birds. However, challenges like overabundant seed predators and context-dependency of...

Agricultural intensification, afforestation and land abandonment are major drivers of biodiversity loss in semi‐natural grasslands across Europe. Reversing these losses requires the reinstatement of plant–animal interactions such as pollination. Here we assessed the differences in species composition and patterns of plant‐pollinator interactions in...

Illustration outreaching the main results of our study published in PNAS: Juan P. González-Varo, Jörg Albrecht, Juan M. Arroyo, Rafael S. Bueno, Tamara Burgos, Gema Escribano-Ávila, Nina Farwig, Daniel García, Juan C. Illera, Pedro Jordano, Przemysław Kurek, Sascha Rösner, Emilio Virgós & William J. Sutherland (2023) Frugivore-mediated seed dispers...

Illustration outreaching the main results of our study published in PNAS: Juan P. González-Varo, Jörg Albrecht, Juan M. Arroyo, Rafael S. Bueno, Tamara Burgos, Gema Escribano-Ávila, Nina Farwig, Daniel García, Juan C. Illera, Pedro Jordano, Przemysław Kurek, Sascha Rösner, Emilio Virgós & William J. Sutherland (2023) Frugivore-mediated seed disper...

Seed dispersal by frugivores is a fundamental function for plant community dynamics in fragmented landscapes, where forest remnants are typically embedded in a matrix of anthropogenic habitats. Frugivores can mediate both connectivity among forest remnants and plant colonization of the matrix. However, it remains poorly understood how frugivore com...

Illustration outreaching the main results of our study published in PNAS: Juan P. González-Varo, Jörg Albrecht, Juan M. Arroyo, Rafael S. Bueno, Tamara Burgos, Gema Escribano-Ávila, Nina Farwig, Daniel García, Juan C. Illera, Pedro Jordano, Przemysław Kurek, Sascha Rösner, Emilio Virgós & William J. Sutherland (2023) Frugivore-mediated seed dispers...

Mesopredators abundance is often limited by top‑order predators and also by key food resources. However, the contribution of these bidirectional forces to structure carnivore community is still unclear. Here, we studied how the presence and absence of an apex predator which is currently recovering its former distribution range, the Iberian lynx (Ly...

Las recientes recolonizaciones y reintroducciones de grandes depredadores ofrecen una oportunidad única para estudiar su efecto en la cadena trófica y en la dinámica del ecosistema. Algunas funciones ecosistémicas como la dispersión de semillas podrían verse afectadas por una cascada trófica que involucre interacciones entre depredadores. Aquí, que...

Climate change is forcing the redistribution of life on Earth at an unprecedented velocity1,2. Migratory birds are thought to help plants to track climate change through long-distance seed dispersal3,4. However, seeds may be consistently dispersed towards cooler or warmer latitudes depending on whether the fruiting period of a plant species coincid...

Semi-natural grasslands harbour many of Europe's species of conservation interest. Although larger grasslands are the focus of most conservation activity, many grassland fragments are scattered across landscapes –in small patches or along linear elements– which can form Grassland Green Infrastructure (GGI). GGI has the potential to enhance landscap...

Apex predators play a key role in ecosystems, and their conservation could be a main tool to maintain and improve global biodiversity. They are part of numerous food webs affecting lower levels through trophic cascades. Recent reintroductions and restorations of large predators around the world offer a unique opportunity to learn about the effects...

Apex predators play a key role in ecosystems, and their conservation could be a main tool to maintain and improve global biodiversity. They are part of numerous food webs affecting lower levels through trophic cascades. Recent reintroductions and restorations of large predators around the world offer a unique opportunity to learn about the effects...

Los grandes depredadores desempeñan un papel fundamental en los ecosistemas, y su conservación podría ser una herramienta clave para mantener la biodiversidad global. Forman parte de numerosas cadenas tróficas y podrían tener efectos en cascada sobre niveles tróficos inferiores y procesos ecosistémicos esenciales. En los ecosistemas mediterráneos d...

Free-range livestock grazing is a widespread human activity that not only modifies natural vegetation but also leads to interactions with wild ungulates. Most commonly, the interactions between cattle and wild ungulates have been studied with a focus on competition for high-quality forage. However, other mechanisms, such as the risk of parasite inf...

The disappearance of native seed dispersers due to anthropogenic activities is often accompanied by the introduction of alien species, which may to some extent replace the ecological service provided by the extinct ones. Yet, little empirical evidence exists demonstrating the evolutionary consequences of such alien ‘replacement’. Here, we document...

Cuando hacemos modelos ecológicos, normalmente nos interesa conocer la importancia y el efecto de una serie de variables potencialmente explicativas en una variable respuesta de interés. Tradicionalmente, la estrategia escogida por muchos ecólogos ha sido la de contrastar nuestro modelo con una hipótesis nula o la de añadir o quitar variables expli...

Anthropogenic noise is a growing ubiquitous and pervasive pollutant as well as a recognised stressor that spreads throughout natural ecosystems. However, there is still an urgent need for the assessment of noise impact on natural ecosystems. This article presents a multidisciplinary study which made it possible to isolate noise due to road traffic...

Seed dispersal mediated by animals is a pivotal ecological interaction in the tropics. Despite a long tradition of tropical seed dispersal studies, only recently the drivers of the structure of seed dispersal networks are beginning to be uncovered at macroecological scales. The knowledge on tropical seed dispersal comes mainly from avian dispersal...

Endozoochory is a prominent form of seed dispersal in tropical dry forests. Most extant megafauna that perform such seed dispersal are ungulates, which can also be seed predators. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is one of the last extant megafauna of Neotropical dry forests, but whether it serves as a legitimate seed disperser is poorly...

Neotropical dry forests are among the most diverse and threatened ecosystems worldwide. The extent and knowledge of Neotropical dry forests are quite heterogeneous with forests located in the Ecuadorian province especially diverse, threatened and poorly studied. In this work, we review patterns and conservation status of biodiversity, ecosystem pro...

Spatial patterns of plant species are determined by an array of ecologica factors including biotic and abiotic environmental constraints and intrinsic species traits. Thus, an observed aggregated pattern may be the result of short-distance dispersal, the presence of habitat heterogeneity, plant-plant interactions or a combination of the above. Here...

Habitat loss and subsequent fragmentation of natural habitats caused by anthropogenic activities constitute a major threat to biodiversity. A conservation strategy for habitat remnants is the creation of protected areas, although the size and connectivity of reserves may restrict the viability of populations. In this context, protected areas genera...

Genotyping of maternally derived seed tissues yield direct estimates of seed dispersal distances that are instrumental in forecasting the response of plant communities to drivers of global change, such as fragmentation or the expansion of invasive species. Obtaining robust assessments of seed dispersal distances requires comparing reliable multiloc...

A nivel global, dos tendencias opuestas gobiernan el uso de la tierra: la intensificación y el abandono. Esta última supone una oportunidad para la recuperación de los ecosistemas, una necesidad urgente dada la actual crisis ambiental. La comunidad de dispersores frugívoros es determinante para recuperar la estructura y complejidad de la vegetación...

Tropical dry forests are among the most diverse and threaten ecosystems. Unfortunately, we lack basic knowledge on regeneration dynamics in which seed dispersal play an instrumental role. The main dispersal syndrome in tropical dry forests is endozoochory. Yet, which are the plant-frugivore interactions shaping the seed dispersal network is still u...

1. Land abandonment due to increasing depopulation of rural areas is an ongoing trend in developed countries worldwide. Abandoned lands represent an opportunity for ecosystem recovery, an urgent need for biodiversity conservation. Seed dispersal services provided by ani-mals are a key feature for this process. Different dispersers may differentiall...

According to the Cort-Fitness Hypothesis, higher stress levels (glucocorticoids) in vertebrates are correlated to lower fitness. However, recent studies have failed to validate this hypothesis. A proposed wider framework suggests that reproduction can be perceived as an overload adds up to other environmental challenges that individuals must adjust...

Seed dispersal is typically performed by a diverse array of species assemblages with different behavioral and morphological traits which determine dispersal quality (DQ, defined as the probability of recruitment of a dispersed seed). Fate of ecosystems to ongoing environmental changes is critically dependent on dispersal and mainly on DQ in novel s...

Land abandonment is one of the most powerful global change drivers in developed countries where recent rural exodus has been the norm. Abandonment of traditional land use practices has permitted the colonization of these areas by shrub and tree species. For fleshy fruited species the colonization of new areas is determined by the dispersal assembla...

Faeces abundance and number of J. thurifera seeds per faeces. MW: mature woodland. NCA: new colonization areas. AL: active agricultural lands. Mh: Microhabitat. N: Number of faeces* ha−1. Nj: Percentage of faeces with J. thurifera seeds respect the total number of faeces. S/N: average number of J. thurifera seeds*faece−1. (DOCX)

Due to the increasing demand for methods to quantify adrenal activity in response to stressors in wild animals, we evaluated whether stimulation with adrenocorticopic hormone (ACTH) increases faecal cortisol metabolite levels in European badgers.We also conducted several experiments to evaluate the effect of storage time and collection methods on c...