Javier Seoane

Autonomous University of Madrid | UAM · Department of Ecology

The occurrence of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa, hereafter PPM) in Mediterranean pine forests and plantations is of increasing concern as processes such as global warming and forest cover expansion have amplified the frequency and virulence of outbreaks. This study attempts to provide as complete an overview as possible of th...

Unmasking the ecological processes responsible for the dynamics of a population is a necessary step toward understanding its threats and viability. We examined a fitness proxy (reproductive success) of an endangered raptor in relation to its ecological niche and spatial distribution to provide insights into the dynamics and potential threats to the...

El III Atlas de Aves tiene como objetivo recoger la información sobre la época reproductora de las aves en España. La información se ordena en forma fichas de especies de aves, incluyendo el hábitat, la distribución y el área de ocupación, el tamaño de población y su evolución. Este atlas es una herramienta fundamental para conocer el estado de con...

Apex predators play key roles in food webs and their recovery can trigger trophic cascades in some ecosystems. Intra‐guild competition can reduce the abundances of smaller predators and perceived predation risk can alter their foraging behaviour thereby limiting seed dispersal by frugivorous carnivores. However, little is known about how plant–frug...

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...

Apex predators drive top‐down effects in ecosystems and the loss of such species can trigger mesopredator release. This ecological process has been well documented in human‐modified small areas, but for management and conservation of ecological communities, it is important to know which human factors affect apex predator occurrence and which mediat...

1. We address associations of taxonomic diversity (TD), functional diversity (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD) of ant assemblages with gradients of elevation to assess whether energetic limitations or deterministic or stochastic niche-building processes are more relevant to the assembly of communities. 2. We sampled ant assemblages using pitfal...

The next reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2021- 2027 (currently extended to 2023-2030) requires the approval by the European Commission of a Strategic Plan with environmental objectives for each Member State. Here we use the best available scientific evidence on the relationships between agricultural practices and bi...

Niche overlap and breadth are fundamental characteristics of ecological niches that have been hypothesized to relate both to environmental conditions and to biotic interactions within a community. Abiotic factors and interspecific competition may have opposing effects on those niche characteristics by respectively filtering out species from the nic...

Limited data exist regarding sex bias and viral decay in children with HIV. We investigated the sex differences in viral decay in 25 perinatally HIV-infected children. Females presented faster phase I viral decay regardless of their age at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, baseline CD4 percentages, or baseline RNA levels. Also, for each mont...

Moult is a vital and endogenously controlled process in the avian life. However, birds may modulate their feather renovation properties, such as the extent of moult, based on exogenous factors. Despite the large body of knowledge about moult patterns, numerous questions remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to improve our knowledge about the fact...

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...

Habitat fragmentation is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem productivity mediated by direct human impact. Its consequences include genetic depauperation, comprising phenomena such as inbreeding depression or reduction in genetic diversity. While the capacity of wild and domestic herbivores to sustain long-distanc...

Elevational gradients are a powerful tool to investigate how abiotic factors affect ecosystems and to predict the possible consequences of climate change. Here, we investigated the assemblage-level responses of seed size, ant worker size, and rates of seed removal by ants along a 1700 m elevational gradient in Mediterranean grasslands of central Sp...

Background The study of biodiversity spatial patterns along ecological gradients can serve to elucidate factors shaping biological community structure and predict ecosystem responses to global change. Ant assemblages are particularly interesting as study cases, because ant species play a key role in many ecosystem processes and have frequently been...

Nestedness indices for dry grassland ant assemblages in surveys from all study areas in central Spain. Guadarrama range (-G2014- year 2014: 18 grasslands, 35 species; -G2015- year 2015: 6 grasslands, 26 species) and Serrota range (-S2015- year 2015: 6 grasslands, 20 species). Indices are Nestedness metric based on Overlap and Decreasing Fill (NODF)...

Relationships between temperature and elevation. Linear regressions between elevation and mean annual (air) temperature (top left, R2 = 94%), maximum (soil) temperature (top right, R2 = 80%), minimum (soil) temperature (bottom left, R2 = 96%), and mean annual rainfall (bottom right, R2 = 91%). Regressions built for Guadarrama 2014 data (n = 18 site...

Multiple-site dissimilarities of beta diversity. Multiple-site dissimilarities accounting for the spatial turnover (βSIM) and the nestedness components (βNES) of beta diversity, and sum of both values (βSOR) for dry grassland ant assemblages in all study areas in central Spain. G2014: Guadarrama range 2014; G2015: Guadarrama range 2015; S2015: Serr...

Temporal validation of the relationship between nestedness and elevation. Generalized additive model (GAM) of nestedness ranks (based on nestedness temperature index) on elevation in ant assemblages from Guadarrama range (central Spain) fit to Guadarrama 2014 data and validated with Guadarrama 2015 data. (TIF)

Ant species occurrences and environmental characteristics of sampling plots. IDPlot: plot identification. Survey: G2014 for Guadarrama range in 2014, G2015 for Guadarrama range in 2015 and S2015 for Serrota range in 2015. For each sampling plot we give the elevation (in m), latitude and longitude (UTM, datum European 1950), mean annual rainfall (Me...

Spatial validation of the relationship between nestedness and elevation. Generalized additive model (GAM) of nestedness ranks (based on nestedness temperature index) on elevation in ant assemblages from Guadarrama range (central Spain) fit to Guadarrama 2014 data and validated with Serrota 2015 data. (TIF)

Habitat fragmentation is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity conservation and productivity, that are mediated by direct human impact. Its consequences include genetic depauperation, including phenomena such as inbreeding depression or reduction in genetic diversity. While the capacity of wild and domestic herbivores to sustain long-distance...

Habitat fragmentation is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity conservation and productivity, that are mediated by direct human impact. Its consequences include genetic depauperation, including phenomena such as inbreeding depression or reduction in genetic diversity. While the capacity of wild and domestic herbivores to sustain long-distance...

The study of biodiversity spatial patterns along ecological gradients can serve to elucidate factors shaping biological community structure and predict ecosystem responses to global change. Ant assemblages are particularly interesting as study cases, because ant species play a key role in many ecosystem processes and have frequently been identified...

Delayed plumage maturation occurs in birds when subadult plumage is retained until after the first breeding season. We analysed data from 114 Black Wheatears (Oenanthe leucura), which were trapped during 2014–2016 in southeastern Spain, to explore whether biometric measurements, and more specifically tail pattern, differed among age and sex classes...

Global warming and direct anthropogenic impacts, such as water extraction, largely affect water budgets in Mediterranean wetlands, thereby increasing wetland salinities and isolation, and decreasing water depths and hydroperiods (duration of the inundation period). These wetland features are key elements structuring waterbird communities. However,...

Habitat associations from an independent dataset. Analyses on habitat associations for the waterbird community using an independent, coarser, but longer time series on monthly surveys within the same study area and for four consecutive annual cycles (2004–2009). These analyses were used to validate the general results and the robustness of model ou...

Model outputs (GAMs). Estimates for the main environmental predictors obtained from species-specific (69 spp) Generalized Additive Models. (PDF)

Changes in habitat suitability. Estimated change in habitat suitability predicted per each species, scenario (CC10, CC30 and CC50) and modelling technique (GAMs and BRTs). (PDF)

Model outputs (BRTs). Relative importance of the main environmental predictors obtained from species-specific (69 spp) Boosted Regression Trees. (PDF)

Evidence regarding population trends of endangered species in special protection areas and their recovery ability from catastrophic disturbances is scarce. We assessed the population trend of the Gran Canaria blue chaffinch (Fringilla polatzeki), a habitat specialist endemic to the pine forest of Inagua in the Canary Islands, following a devastatin...

Las aves usan diferentes tipos de señales, tales como la biometría y el plumaje, en un gran número de contextos (búsqueda de pareja, comportamiento territorial, comunicación, etc.). Sin embargo, su función y evolución difiere entre especies y no se conoce por completo. En este trabajo hemos analizado la biometría de 114 collalbas negras (Oenanthe l...

Habitat selection of endangered species in peripheral populations must be considered when designing effective conservation plans, as these populations tend to occupy atypical habitats where species-environment relationships are not well understood. We examined patterns of habitat use in peripheral populations of the endangered Dupont’s Lark Chersop...

Dolphinfish are little known migratory fish targeted by sport, artisanal and commercial fleets. In this study, we analyzed a 10 year database of incidental catches of the tuna purse seine fleet in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico with the aim to understand the environmental determinants of the spatial distribution and seasonal migration patterns of dol...

Los gradientes altitudinales implican cambios en las condiciones climáticas a escala geográfica pequeña, y por ello constituyen un excelente laboratorio natural para el estudio de la relación entre clima y procesos ecológicos. Este trabajo evalúa la variación en la recolección de semillas con elaiosoma por hormigas en un gradiente altitudinal medit...

See Iberomyrmex 9 (2017): Several species of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the genus Aphaenogaster present an unusual behavior consisting of depositing solid materials, such as sand grains, fragments of dried leaves, straws or other kind of debris on liquids offered as bait. This behavior has been defined by the majority of authors who have stu...

Elevation represents an important selection agent on self-maintenance traits and correlated life histories in birds, but no study has analysed whether life-history variation along this environmental cline is consistent among and within species. In a sympatric community of passerines, we analysed how the average adult survival of 25 open-habitat spe...

Aim We analyse when and why closely related species start to coexist in sympatry at the range (continental) scale, and in syntopy at the local (community) scale. We contrast the idea that limiting similarity and time constrain the transition to sympatry of sister lineages after their initial allopatric split, with the hypothesis of ecological conve...

Disentangling the relative influence of the environment and biotic interactions in determining species coexistence patterns is a major challenge in ecology. The zonation occurring along elevation gradients, or at bioclimatic contact zones, offers a good opportunity to improve such understanding because the small scale at which the partitioning occu...

The structure and composition of deep-sea fish assemblages living on the middle slope off NW Africa (26º–33º N) were investigated. Data were collected by six commercial trawlers during experimental fishing (1027 hauls) at depths between 800 and 1515 m. A total of 1115727 fish specimens, belonging to 37 families and 96 species (24 Elasmobranchii, 5...

AimTo examine the relationship between abundance and species richness in a bird community in order to (a) test the effects of sampling and three increased population size hypotheses and (b) assess the effects of energetic constraints (climate and habitat) on the relationship. LocationThe Cantabrian Mountains (c.16,000km(2)), Spain, within the tempe...

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The fit between life histories and ecological niche is a paradigm of phenotypic evolution, also widely used to explain patterns of species co-occurrence. By analysing the lifestyles of a sympatric avian assemblage, we show that species’ solutions to environmental problems are not unbound. We identify a life-history continuum structured on the cost...

Elevation gradients are associated with sharp environmental clines that play a crucial role in the phenotypic diversification of animal populations. In a variety of organisms, the reproductive output of females declines with elevation in parallel to the drop in environmental productivity and shortening of the breeding season. Little evidence is ava...

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El patrón de distribución biogeográfica de un conjunto de especies puede ser útil para conocer cómo interactúan entre ellas y con el ambiente, así como para anticipar cómo les afectarán cambios futuros como los climáticos. En concreto, el patrón altitudinal de las comunidades de hormigas en pastizales de la Sierra de Guadarrama permite conocer mejo...

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ESTUDIADAS LAS ESTRATEGIAS DE MÁS DE VEINTE ESPECIES DE AVES FORESTALES Las inclemencias invernales suponen un reto difícil de superar para las aves de los melojares montanos de la sierra de Guadarrama. Para aumentar sus probabilidades de supervivencia, estos organismos rastrean el mosaico de condiciones ambientales en busca de las áreas forestales...

In winter, foraging activity is intended to optimize food search while minimizing both thermoregulation costs and predation risk. Here we quantify the relative importance of thermoregulation and predation in foraging patch selection of woodland birds wintering in a Mediterranean montane forest. Specifically, we account for thermoregulation benefits...

The strong season-to-season variation (seasonality) in abiotic factors and productivity shape the changing patterns of species distribution and diversity throughout the year in temperate ecosystems. However, the determinants of seasonal changes within animal communities have rarely been explored, and the prognosis of community variation typically r...

Drove roads are the traditional corridors used by pastoralists for seasonal movements of livestock (transhumance). They cover a considerable land area in Mediterranean countries and, although they are an obvious source of landscape diversity, their influence on the diversity and composition of animal assemblages has not been documented. Ant communi...

Although energy is a major driver of global patterns of biodiversity and species distribution, the test of species-energy relationships needs further development using fine-grained approaches involving different functional groups of species and small geographical scales of known characteristics (habitat heterogeneity, food availability, direct meas...

What are the effects of traditional drove roads on landscape pattern and plant communities? Madrid Autonomous Region, Central Spain. We selected four study localities in different landscape units. Within each locality, we selected eight sites and within each site, we established three 1-ha plots, each corresponding to one of three situations: drove...

Question What are the effects of traditional drove roads on landscape pattern and plant communities? Location Madrid Autonomous Region, Central Spain. Methods We selected four study localities in different landscape units. Within each locality, we selected eight sites and within each site, we established three 1-ha plots, each corresponding to one...

Road density is being increased due to a constant development of the transport network. This fact is especially noticeable in peri-urban areas, becoming crucial the planning and management of activities. In most of the studies which analyze road effects focused on population items, the weakness of the analysis performed questions the results. We st...

http://www.lmcarrascal.eu/pdf/surrogates.pdf

A better understanding of the species-energy relationship needs to be developed using fine-grained approaches that involve the use of small geographical scales of known characteristics, such as habitat heterogeneity, food availability, direct measures of temperature, and functional groups of species. We carried out a two-year study to analyze the e...

Here we analyze the factors determining the seasonality of an avian community inhabiting montane oakwoods of Central Spain, a Mediterranean ecosystem with large seasonal variation in climate. We sampled 40 oakwood plots showing a broad range of environmental conditions with a triple objective: (1) to compare the determinants of species richness bet...

1. There is a prominent role of the energy-related factors, over habitat structure, on bird abundance under limiting wintering conditions. 2. The influence of food availability on bird abundance is mediated by vegetation structure, with a lower influence in mature oakwoods. 3. An increase in winter temperature due to global warming could play a p...

Due to the growing awareness of potential impacts of roads, managers demand well-designed studies about the implications of linear infrastructures on ecosystems. We illustrate the application of Before–During–After and Before–During–After-Control–Impact designs (BDA and BDACI) to assess effects of highway construction and operation using a populati...

Proneness to extinction varies naturally and continuously according to the ecological phenomena that compound rarity even before anthropogenic effects may play a role. This is particularly obvious in islands, where populations are often (and naturally) small and fragmented and, consequently, conservation priority lists may have a large number of sp...

A better understanding of species-energy relationships needs to be developed using fine-grained approaches that involve the use of small geographical scales of known characteristics, such as habitat heterogeneity, food availability, direct measures of temperature, and functional groups of species. We carried out a 2-year study to analyze the effect...

The complex pattern and relationships of Spanish natural environments are revealed by a land classification that is constructed using a statistical procedure for identifying similar environmental areas, regardless of their geographic location across the country. Rather than treating all environments as equally different, the dissimilarity between t...

Tesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Ecología. Fecha de lectura: 25-11-2002

We estimated the breeding population size and assess the habitat relationships of Black-bellied Sandgrouse in the Eastern Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Spain) by means of a survey based on 1,787 0.5-km line transects and distance sampling done in 2005 and 2006. The population comprised 2,906 individuals (90% CI: 2,363-3,...

This paper updates estimates of population size, distribution and habitat preferences of the endemic Canary Islands stonechat Saxicola dacotiae on the basis of data gathered across their whole distribution range, the island of Fuerteventura. We surveyed 1,462 0.5-km line transects during the reproductive seasons in 2005 and 2006, distributed across...