Jordi Figuerola

Estación Biológica de Doñana · Department of Wetland Ecology

The common house mosquito Culex pipiens s.l., widely distributed in Europe, Africa, and North America has two recognized biotypes, Cx. pipiens biotype pipiens and Cx. pipiens biotype molestus, which hybridize. Despite their morphological similarities, these biotypes may exhibit ecological differences. This complex ecological mosaic may affect the i...

West Nile virus (WNV) is a flavivirus naturally circulating between mosquito vectors and birds, occasionally infecting horses and humans and causing epidemiologically relevant outbreaks. In Spain, the first big WNV outbreak was recorded in 2020, resulting in 77 people infected and 8 fatalities, most of them in southern Spain. Culex perexiguus was i...

The migratory culling hypothesis posits that infected individuals are less likely to survive long-distance migration due to physiological and behavioral effects, but this lacks empirical evidence. Here, we tested this hypothesis by sampling 357 passerines from 11 species during their autumn migration to wintering grounds in two different areas, i)...

Rice is a crucial food source and an important economic activity globally. Rice fields provide habitats for birds and other organisms but also serve as ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, including potential vectors such as Culex, Aedes, and Anopheles. There is an urgent need to manage mosquitoes associated with rice crops, as they are important...

Background Aedes albopictus is catalogued as one of the 100 most dangerous species worldwide. Native to Asia, the species has drastically increased its distribution range, reaching all continents except Antarctica. The presence of Ae. albopictus in Spain was first reported in 2004 in Cataluña (NE Spain), and it is spreading in the country. Methods...

Background Culicoides midges have been well-studied in Spain, particularly over the last 20 years, mainly because of their role as vectors of arboviral diseases that affect livestock. Most studies on Culicoides are conducted using suction light traps in farmed environments, but studies employing alternative trapping techniques or focusing on natura...

Background. Culicoides midges have been well-studied in Spain, particularly over the last 20 years, mainly because of their role as vectors of arboviral diseases that affect livestock. Most studies on Culicoidesare conducted using suction light traps in farmed environments, but studies employing alternative trapping techniques or focusing on natura...

The transmission system of vector-borne diseases is highly complex, involving the interaction between various species of vectors and reservoirs (vertebrate hosts) that affect pathogen transmission. Different abiotic factors modulate these biotic interactions. For instance, climate change can accelerate the reproductive and developmental cycles of v...

Background: Lyme disease (LD) is an emergent vector-borne disease caused by Borrelia spp. and transmitted through infected ticks, mainly Ixodes spp. Our objective was to determine meteorological and environmental factors associated with LD transmission in Europe and the effect of climate change on LD. Materials and methods: A systematic review foll...

ABSTRACT West Nile virus (WNV) is the most widely distributed mosquito-borne flavivirus in the world. This flavivirus can infect humans causing in some cases a fatal neurological disease and birds are the main reservoir hosts. WNV is endemic in Spain, and human cases have been reported since 2004. Although different studies analyse how climatic co...

Malaria remains one of the most important infectious diseases globally due to its high incidence and mortality rates. The influx of infected cases from endemic to non-endemic malaria regions like Europe has resulted in a public health concern over sporadic local outbreaks. This is facilitated by the continued presence of competent Anopheles vectors...

Comprehending symbiont abundance among host species is a major ecological endeavour, and the metabolic theory of ecology has been proposed to understand what constrains symbiont populations. We parameterized metabolic theory equations to investigate how bird species' body size and the body size of their feather mites relate to mite abundance accord...

Recent outbreaks of the West Nile virus have been reported in southern Spain, a region with important wetland habitats for migratory birds. Here, we analyzed the role of species association and abiotic parameters on the abundance of seven mosquito species in the Doñana National Park, Spain. We applied the Joint Species Distribution Models (JSDM), u...

Avian malaria parasites provide an important model for studying host-pathogen interactions, yet understanding their dynamics in vectors under natural conditions is limited. We investigated the effect of vector abundance, species richness and diversity, and habitat characteristics on avian Plasmodium prevalence and lineage richness in Culex pipiens...

Urbanization is increasing worldwide, producing severe environmental impacts. Biodiversity is affected by the expansion of cities, with many species being unable to cope with the different human-induced stressors present in these landscapes. However, this knowledge is mainly based on research from taxa such as plants or vertebrates, while other org...

Intraspecific phenotypic variability is key to respond to environmental changes and anomalies. However, documenting the emergence of behavioral diversification in natural populations has remained elusive due to the difficulty of observing such phenomenon at the right time and place. Here, we investigated how the emergence of a new trophic strategy...

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by protozoans of the genus Plasmodium that affects both humans and wildlife. The fitness consequences of infections by avian malaria are well known in birds, however, little information exists on its impact on mosquitoes. Here we study how Culex pipiens mosquitoes transcriptionally respond to infection by...

West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito vector-borne zoonosis with an increasing incidence in Europe that has become a public health concern. In Spain, although local circulation has been known for decades, until 2020, when a large outbreak occurred, West Nile Virus cases were scarce and mostly occurred in southern Spain. Since then, there have been ne...

Urbanization is associated with drastic shifts in biodiversity. While some species thrive in urban areas, the impact of inhabiting these human-altered environments on organism physiology remains understudied. We investigated how exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) affects the physiology of yellow-...

Global change is an important driver of the increase in emerging infectious diseases in recent decades. In parallel, interest in nature has increased, and different citizen science platforms have been developed to record wildlife observations from the general public. Some of these platforms also allow registering the observations of dead or sick bi...

Mosquitoes, including invasive species like the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, alongside native species Culex pipiens s.l., pose a significant nuisance to humans and serve as vectors for mosquito-borne diseases in urban areas. Understanding the impact of water infrastructure characteristics, climatic conditions, and management strategies on...

recent outbreak in 2020 in Spain with 77 human cases and eight fatalities. However, the factors explaining the observed changes in the incidence of WNV in Europe are not completely understood. Longitudinal monitoring of WNV in wild animals across Europe is a useful approach to understand the eco-epidemiology of WNV in the wild and the risk of spill...

Migrant bird populations often show substantial variation in route choice and timing. Determining whether this population‐level variation is driven by between‐individual differences and/or flexibility within individuals is key to identifying drivers of migration patterns. ‘Repeatability' (R, the proportion of population‐level variation attributable...

Aim The increasing spread of vector‐borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness...

The European population of Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata arquata) is a near-threatened wader subspecies that has undergone pronounced population declines over the past 30 years. To assess the demography and viability of its global population, we surveyed studies quantifying demographic rates (productivity and survival) and complemented this rev...

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by protozoans of the genus Plasmodium that affects both humans and wildlife. The fitness consequences of infections by avian malaria are well known in birds, however, little information exists on its impact on mosquitoes. Here we study how Culex pipiens mosquitoes transcriptionally respond to infection by...

Emerging infectious diseases are one of the most important global health challenges because of their impact on human and animal health. The vector-borne West Nile virus (WNV) is transmitted between birds by mosquitos, but it can also infect humans and horses causing disease. The local circulation of WNV in Spain has been known for decades, and sinc...

Introduction/objective West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the most widely distributed flaviviruses worldwide. It is considered an endemic and emerging pathogen in different areas of the Europe and Mediterranean countries (MR). Mosquitoes of the genus Culex spp. are the main vectors, and birds its main vertebrate hosts. It can occasionally infect mamma...

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a pesticide that was commonly used for decades worldwide. The use of DDT was banned decades ago in Europe due to its high toxicity and persistence in the environment, bioaccumulation in living organisms and biomagnification through food webs. However, monitoring using both invasive and non‐invasive methods h...

The risk of autochthonous transmission of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Europe greatly depends on the capacity of Aedes albopictus to transmit ZIKV. Experimental studies of the vector competence of European populations of this invasive mosquito species provided contrasting results, that may suggest differences between mosquito populations in ZIKV competence...

Living organisms are exposed to a wide range of substances - internal and external - which act like reactive oxygen species (ROS). Oxidative damage accurs when the balance between ROS and antioxidant defenses is altered. Urbanization and parasite infection are both important sources of ROS with different harmful effects on wildlife health, but the...

Reports of West Nile virus (WNV) associated disease in humans were scarce in Spain until summer 2020, when 77 cases were reported, eight fatal. Most cases occurred next to the Guadalquivir River in the Sevillian villages of Puebla del Río and Coria del Río. Detection of WNV disease in humans was preceded by a large increase in the abundance of Cule...

The migratory behavior of wild birds contributes to the geographical spread of ticks and their microorganisms. In this study, we aimed to investigate the dispersal and co-occurrence of Francisella and spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) in ticks infesting birds migrating northward in the African-Western Palaearctic region (AWPR). Birds were trapp...

The identification of the vertebrate blood meal sources of mosquitoes allows insight to better understand the dynamics of vector-borne pathogens. To do so, different approaches have been used, based on the use of the remains of blood present in the abdomen of recently engorged mosquito females. Among others, different authors have used serological...

Control of rodent populations is a big challenge because of the rapid evolution of resistance to commonly used rodenticides and the collateral negative impacts that these products may have on biodiversity. Second-generation anticoagulants are very efficient but different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Vkorc1 gene may confer resistanc...

Haemosporidian parasites are common in birds but are seldom reported in seabirds. The absence of vectors or genetic resistance to infection have been proposed to explain this pattern. However, screening of blood parasites in many seabirds has been done only by visual inspection of blood smears, which can miss low-intensity infections, and molecular...

Mosquitoes breeding in urban sewage infrastructure are both a source of nuisance to the local population and a public health risk, given that biting mosquitoes can transmit pathogenic organisms to humans. The increasing presence of the invasive mosquito species Aedes albopictus in European cities has further exacerbated the problems already caused...

Purpose West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the most widely distributed flaviviruses worldwide, and it is considered an endemic and emerging pathogen in different areas of Europe and the Mediterranean. Mosquitoes of the genus Culex spp. transmit it, and its main vertebrate hosts are birds, although it can occasionally infect mammals, including humans....

The yellow-legged gull is an opportunistic and generalist bird that has colonised urban areas, where it has found very favourable trophic resources but also causes disturbance to humans and damage to infrastructure. Here, we investigated the potential role that gulls play in the dispersal of plants in Barcelona, a highly populated city of north-wes...

Anthropogenic activities such as intensification of agriculture, animal husbandry and expansion of cities can negatively impact wildlife through its influence on the availability of high-quality food resources and pathogen transmission. The house sparrow (Passer domesticus), an urban exploiter, is undergoing a population decline. Nutritional constr...

Introduction: The ecology of the vertebrate host contributes to the geographical range expansion of ticks. In this study, we investigated which tick taxa that infest and are dispersed by birds along African-Western Palaearctic flyways during northward migration, and whether bird ecology was associated with tick taxa. Materials and methods: Ticks...

Flying over the open sea is energetically costly for terrestrial birds. Despite this, over-water journeys of many birds, sometimes hundreds of kilometres long, are uncovered by bio-logging technology. To understand how these birds afford their flights over the open sea, we investigated the role of atmospheric conditions, specifically wind and uplif...

Haemosporidian parasites are common in birds, but often are not in seabirds. The absence of vectors/genetic resistance to infection have been proposed to explain this pattern. Examination of different host populations is required to confirm the absence of blood parasites in widespread host species, which could be differently exposed to blood parasi...

Background Route choice and travel performance of fly-forage migrants are partly driven by large-scale habitat availability, but it remains unclear to what extent wind support through large-scale wind regimes moulds their migratory behaviour. We aimed to determine to what extent a trans-equatorial fly-forage migrant engages in adaptive drift throug...

Humans and wildlife are at risk from certain vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and West Nile and yellow fevers. Factors linked to global change, including habitat alteration, landuse intensification, the spread of alien species, and climate change, are operating on a global scale and affect both the incidence and distribution of many v...

The Dilution Effect Hypothesis (DEH) argues that greater biodiversity lowers the risk of disease and reduces the rates of pathogen transmission since more diverse communities harbour fewer competent hosts for any given pathogen, thereby reducing host exposure to the pathogen. DEH is expected to operate most intensely in vector-borne pathogens and w...

The uropygial gland of birds produces an oily secretion with different functions, mainly related to plumage protection. In addition, the volatile compounds of this secretion may act as chemical signals that provide information to conspecifics, but it is also possible that those compounds may further attract hematophagous insect vectors such as thos...

Cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) in Spain increased in summer 2020. Here we report on this increase and the local, regional and national public health measures taken in response. We analysed data from regional surveillance networks and the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network, both for human and animal West Nile virus (WNV)...

The genera Phlebovirus transmitted by Diptera belonging to the Psychodidae family are a cause of self-limited febrile syndrome in the Mediterranean basin in summer and autumn. Toscana virus can also cause meningitis and meningoencephalitis. In Spain, Toscana, Granada, Naples, Sicily, Arbia and Arrabida-like viruses have been detected. The almost wi...

Urbanization is an important human-driven process that leads to biodiversity loss and alters the interactions between organisms, including disease transmission. Although urbanization affects both host and vector communities, the effects on vector-borne pathogens are still poorly understood. Here, we monitored variation in prevalence and richness of...

Background: Leishmaniasis is a neglected zoonosis produced by 20 different flagellated parasites of the Leishmania genus, a protozoan transmitted to humans and other vertebrates by the bite of dipteran insects of the Phlebotominae subfamily. It is endemic in Mediterranean countries and the number of cases is expected to increase due to climate chan...

The recent spread of invasive mosquito species, such as Aedes albopictus and the seasonal sporadic transmission of autochthonous cases of arboviral diseases (e.g., dengue, chikungunya, Zika) in temperate areas, such as Europe and North America, highlight the importance of effective mosquito-control interventions to reduce not only nuisance, but als...

Mosquito host utilization is a key factor in the transmission of vector-borne pathogens given that it greatly influences host-vector contact rates. Blood-feeding patterns of mosquitoes are not random, as some mosquitoes feed on particular species and/or individuals more than expected by chance. Mosquitoes use a number of cues including visual, olfa...

This chapter deals with the movements, mostly foraging movements, of Eleonora's falcons during the breeding season. It provides an overview of the differences between sexes and the role of wind conditions determining food availability in foraging movements. All birds used in this chapter are adults breeding on the Canary Islands.

The environment, directly and indirectly, affects many mosquito traits in both the larval and adult stages. The availability of food resources is one of the key factors influencing these traits, although its role in mosquito fitness and pathogen transmission remains unclear. Larvae nutritional status determines their survivorship and growth, having...

Whilst the immune system often varies seasonally and exhibits differences between males and females, the general patterns in seasonality and sex differences across taxa have remained controversial. Birds are excellent model organisms to assess these patterns, because the immune system of many species is well characterised. We conducted a meta-analy...