Mariano A Rodriguez-Cabal

Mariano A Rodriguez-Cabal
University of Vermont | UVM · Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

PhD
I am a field ecologist with broad interests on factors that generate, maintain and threat biodiversity.

About

93
Publications
33,343
Reads
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Citations
Introduction
I am a research ecologist with broad interests on factors that generate, maintain and threat biodiversity.
Additional affiliations
August 2021 - present
University of Vermont
Position
  • Research Assistant Professor
October 2013 - present
National University of Comahue
Position
  • Researcher
December 2014 - November 2015
University of British Columbia
Position
  • Research Associate
Education
August 2008 - December 2012
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Field of study
  • PhD in Ecology and Evolution
August 2005 - January 2008
University of Florida
Field of study
  • Master of Science, 2008. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
January 1997 - July 2003
National University of Comahue
Field of study
  • Licentiate in Biological Science

Publications

Publications (93)
Article
Two rising challenges in ecology are understanding the linkages between above- and belowground components of terrestrial ecosystems and connecting genes to their ecological consequences. Here, we blend these emerging perspectives using a long-term common-garden experiment in a coastal dune ecosystem, whose dominant shrub species, Baccharis pilulari...
Article
Full-text available
Climate change affects communities both directly and indirectly via changes in interspecific interactions. One such interaction that may be altered under climate change is the ant-plant seed dispersal mutualism common in deciduous forests of eastern North America. As climatic warming alters the abundance and activity levels of ants, the potential e...
Article
Full-text available
Significance Examining the effects of species gains and losses is fundamental to understanding the assembly and disassembly of ecological communities in a changing world. However, field-based empirical studies that demonstrate the disassembly of mutualistic webs are exceedingly rare. In this study, we take advantage of an ongoing natural experiment...
Article
Full-text available
The tens rules states that 10 % of all introduced species establish and about 10 % of those species become invasive. Several studies have failed to support the tens rule. However, these studies are beset by a general weakness: many unsuccessful invasions are never reported, and without these data tests of the tens rules are inadequate. Here, using...
Article
Full-text available
The role of negative interactions in shaping ecological communities and the realized niches of species has been a focus of considerable research for at least decades. Traditionally, the discrepancy between the size of the fundamental and realized niches of a species was attrib-uted to the effect of negative interactions, such that the realized nich...
Article
Full-text available
Communities worldwide are losing multiple species at an unprecedented rate, but how communities reassemble after these losses is often an open question. It is well established that the order and timing of species arrival during community assembly shapes forthcoming community composition and function. Yet, whether the order and timing of species los...
Article
An ongoing restoration challenge is to recover native communities after the removal of invasive species. Because priority effects (i.e. the order and timing of species arrival) can strongly determine the trajectory of community assembly, their intentional manipulation is gaining attention to manage invasive plants and achieve restoration goals. Yet...
Article
‘Rewilding’ is a nature conservation strategy gaining prominence worldwide. Established in the Northern Hemisphere, rewilding initiatives have increasingly been proposed in Argentina, but their relative merits, feasibility of implementation and accountability have lacked adequate analysis and discussion. Recently, 125 scientists and practitioners w...
Article
Full-text available
As biological invasions increasingly threaten biodiversity, the removal of invasive nonnative species emerges as a possibility to recover the structure and function of native communities. Yet, we have limited knowledge of how communities assemble after nonnative removals. Since most ecosystems are invaded by multiple nonnative species, the impact o...
Article
Full-text available
Species interactions are critical for maintaining community structure and dynamics, but the effects of invasive species on multitrophic networks remain poorly understood. We leveraged an ongoing invasion scenario in Patagonia, Argentina, to explore how non-native ungulates affect multi-trophic networks. Ungulates disrupt a hummingbird-mistletoe-mar...
Article
Full-text available
En los últimos años se han desarrollado en Argentina distintas intervenciones relacionadas con el rewilding (o re-asilvestramiento), abarcando una variedad de especies (e.g., grandes carnívoros, ungulados, psitácidos) y ecorregiones (e.g., Chaco Húmedo y Seco, Estepa Patagónica). El reasilvestramiento es definido como una estrategia aplicada en el...
Article
Full-text available
Ecological Monographsis going through some important changes, and 2023 will be a transformative year with the crea-tion of a brand-new board of editors. We have recently welcomed Mar Sobral as our new Associate Editor-in-Chief,Matthias Schleuning as our new Editor of Concepts & Synthesis, and Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal as a Subject-matterEditor who wi...
Preprint
Full-text available
Species interactions are the backbone of the structure and dynamics of communities. The extensive research into the link between structure and stability has been primarily theoretical and focused on monotrophic networks. Therefore, how the disruption of multitrophic interactions alters communities' response to perturbations in nature remains an ope...
Article
Full-text available
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity can affect animal activity patterns under environmental conditions that fluctuate over time and space. The activity timing and habitat structure are essential components of the animals' choices. Here we studied the spatio-temporal activity dynamics of an arboreal marsupial (Dromiciops gliroides) with a key ecologi...
Article
Full-text available
The Monitos del monte (genus Dromiciops) are endemic marsupials displaying a key ecological role inside the Patagon-ian temperate forest, a region of hotspot for biodiversity. Here, we predicted the potential distribution of D. gliroides and D. bozinovici and evaluated their conservation issues by quantifying the protected surface of both species....
Article
Full-text available
A growing body of work examines the direct and indirect effects of climate change on ecosystems, typically by using manipulative experiments at a single site or performing meta-analyses across many independent experiments. However, results from single-site studies tend to have limited generality. Although meta-analytic approaches can help overcome...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding what drives non‐native species naturalization (the establishment of a self‐sustainable population outside its native range) is a central question in invasion science. Plant capacity for long‐distance dispersal (LDD) is likely to influence the spread and naturalization of non‐native species differently according to their introduction p...
Poster
Ungulates are important agents of natural selection in different ecosystems. Although the negative effects of introduced ungulates on plant communities have been well documented, few studies have assessed their indirect effects on successive trophic levels. As herbivory by ungulates can alter the nutritional, chemical and structural characteristics...
Article
Full-text available
Many invasion hypotheses propose biotic interactions as the main mechanism to explain non‐native species' success. Despite the evidence that the strength of biotic interactions varies with abiotic context, it remains unclear whether the importance of the different mechanisms proposed to explain invasion predictably varies with the abiotic context a...
Article
Full-text available
Rising temperature has been associated with increased occurrence of herbivorous insect outbreaks, explained by several direct and indirect mechanisms. Whereas natural enemies are known key drivers of forest‐defoliating insect cycles, indirect effects of temperature on insect's ability to defend against pathogens and parasitoids (e.g., immunocompete...
Article
Full-text available
Invasions by multiple nonnative species threaten native communities worldwide. We know that interactions among nonnative species influence nonnative success. However, we know relatively less about the influence of community assembly history on the interactions within nonnative species and thereby invasion success. To investigate this, we transplant...
Article
Full-text available
Seed dispersal by vertebrate animals is critical for the establishment of fleshy-fruited plant species. In regions with impoverished faunas, such as the Patagonian temperate forest, the arboreal marsupial Dromiciops gliroides plays a key role as a seed disperser. Here, we assessed the ecological role of D. gliroides as a seed disperser and their po...
Article
Full-text available
Determining how climate affects biotic interactions can improve understanding of drivers of context‐dependence and inform predictions of how interactions may influence plants under future climates. In arid environments, the community‐level impacts of seed predators may depend strongly on aridity; yet, long‐term studies documenting impacts of graniv...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the impacts of global change on ecological communities is a major challenge in modern ecology. The gain or loss of particular species and the disruption of key interactions are both consequences and drivers of global change that can lead to the disassembly of ecological networks. We examined whether the disruption of a hummingbird–mis...
Article
Full-text available
It is not uncommon for one or a few species, and their interactions, to have disproportionate effects on other species in ecological communities. Such keystone interactions might affect how communities respond to the invasion of non‐native species by preventing or inhibiting the establishment, spread or impact of non‐native species. We explore whet...
Article
Full-text available
Predation is the main cause of nest failure among birds. Habitat characteristics play a critical role in affecting nest predation by modifying nest conspicuousness and ease of access to predators. Here, using artificial nests containing a canary egg and a model clay egg we examined and compared nest predation rates and the principal nest predators...
Article
Post-dispersal seed predation is a key process regulating plant population dynamics and community composition. Because food preference (i.e., seed species selection) can interact with habitat features such as vegetation characteristics, integrating both is important for a better understanding of the processes that drive plant community structure. I...
Article
Full-text available
The ideal‐weed hypothesis predicts that invasive plants should be less dependent on mutualisms. However, evidence in favor of or against this hypothesis comes mainly from observational studies. Here, we experimentally tested this hypothesis using a two‐factor greenhouse experiment, comparing the seedling growth response of different Pinus species (...
Article
Full-text available
Herbivory by non-native species can create strong direct and indirect effects on plant and arthropods communities that can potentially cross ecosystem boundaries. Yet, the cross-ecosystems impacts of non-native species are poorly understood. We took advantage of ongoing invasions by non-native ungulates in Patagonia, Argentina, to examine their cro...
Article
Full-text available
The naturalization of an introduced species is a key stage during the invasion process. Therefore, identifying the traits that favor the naturalization of non‐native species can help understand why some species are more successful when introduced to new regions. The ability and the requirement of a plant species to form a mutualism with mycorrhizal...
Article
Full-text available
Why some species become invasive while others do not remains an elusive question. It has been proposed that invasive species should depend less on mutualisms, because their spread would then be less constrained by the availability of mutualistic partners. We tested this idea with the genus Pinus, whose degree of invasiveness is known at the species...
Article
Full-text available
One of the greatest challenges in contemporary ecology is to understand how the homogenization of biodiversity at all levels of organization and spatial scales will influence the assembly of communities and the functioning of ecosystems. Such homogenization can occur through the gain of non-native species and the loss of native species. Here, we sh...
Article
Full-text available
Why some non-native plant species invade, and others fail remains an elusive question. Plant invasion success has been associated with specific species traits. Yet, we have limited knowledge of the mechanisms relating these traits to invasion potential. General patterns of biotic resistance by seed predation may provide a mechanism that helps separ...
Article
Full-text available
Why some non-native plant species invade, and others fail remains an elusive question. Plant invasion success has been associated with specifc species traits. Yet, we have limited knowledge of the mechanisms relating these traits to invasion potential. General patterns of biotic resistance by seed predation may provide a mechanism that helps separa...
Article
Full-text available
There are many hypotheses aiming to explain invasion success, but evaluating individual hypotheses in isolation may hinder our ability to understand why some species invade and others fail. Here we evaluate the interaction between propagule pressure, seed predation and missed mutualism in the invasion success of the pine, Pinus ponderosa. We evalua...
Article
Full-text available
Capsule: Studies of nest predation using artificial nests need to consider the effect of egg size on the types of predator that are detected. Aims: To estimate the nest predation rate in the Patagonian temperate forest and evaluate the influence of egg size on predator guild. Methods: On different plant species, we placed 108 nests each containing...
Article
Full-text available
Generalist seed predators are an important factor shaping non-native species invasion. Their effect is highly influenced by abiotic conditions, yet how the importance of this biotic filter changes in a gradient of abiotic conditions is still poorly understood. In this study, we assessed seed predation of non-native conifer species along a precipita...
Article
Full-text available
The removal of nonnative species can lead to re-invasion by nonnative species, especially in communities with multiple co-occurring invaders. Biotic and abiotic conditions shape community structure, reducing the predictability of nonnative management. We evaluated plant community recovery after the removal of nonnative pines with an emphasis on the...
Article
Full-text available
Pathogen accumulation can decrease, increase, or not change invasive species abundance, but their impacts may persist in all scenarios.
Article
Full-text available
We restate the key point in Policelli et al. (2017): the lack of evidence on pathogen accumulation controlling invasive populations calls for active management. As Flory et al. (2017) put clearly: ‘‘no waiting for pathogens to suppress invaders.’’
Conference Paper
Los depredadores generalistas de semillas pueden ser un filtro importante a la invasión de especies no-nativas. Las condiciones abióticas influyen en la abundancia de depredadores y en el nivel de granivoría. Sin embargo, aún no es claro cómo cambia la intensidad de este filtro en gradientes abióticos. Así como sí varía de manera diferencial entre...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
A large proportion of agricultural fields are often abandoned after a few years of use. Without any intervention, these landscapes show a slow reversion to native ecosystems, or to ecosystems dominated by anemophilous species. One of the main barriers to regeneration of vegetation is poor supply of seeds. In relation to this limitation, the use of...
Article
Full-text available
Many host-plants exhibit genetic variation in resistance to pathogens; however, little is known about the extent to which genetic variation in pathogen resistance influences other members of the host-plant community, especially arthropods at higher trophic levels. We addressed this knowledge gap by using a common garden experiment to examine whethe...
Article
Many host-plants exhibit genetic variation in resistance to pathogens; however, little is known about the extent to which genetic variation in pathogen resistance influences other members of the host-plant community, especially arthropods at higher trophic levels. We addressed this knowledge gap by using a common garden experiment to examine whethe...
Article
Full-text available
Phenology, or the timing of life cycle events, is a key trait of organisms that has significance for how communities are assembled and ecosystems function. Although variation in phenology in plants has received increased attention over the past decade as a result of changing climate, we are only beginning to understand the role of genetic variation...
Article
Full-text available
Aims While a growing number of studies have demonstrated the importance of intraspecific differences within plant species on associated arthropod communities, little is known regarding the relative strength of these effects compared to environmental factors. In this study, we examined whether intraspecific plant differences and nutrient fertilizati...
Article
Full-text available
Native ecosystems are continuously being transformed mostly into agricultural lands. Simultaneously, a large proportion of fields are abandoned after some years of use. Without any intervention, altered landscapes usually show a slow reversion to native ecosystems, or to novel ecosystems. One of the main barriers to vegetation regeneration is poor...
Article
Movement between host plants during the growing season is a common behaviour among insect herbivores, although the mechanisms promoting these movements are poorly understood for many systems. Two possible reasons why insect herbivores relocate include compensating for host plant quantity and/or quality changes and the avoidance of natural enemies....
Article
Full-text available
Research in eco-evolutionary dynamics and community genetics has demonstrated that variation within a species can have strong impacts on associated communities and ecosystem processes. Yet, these studies have centred around individual focal species and at single trophic levels, ignoring the role of phenotypic variation in multiple taxa within an ec...
Article
Full-text available
The impacts of invasive alien species are greatest when they become dominant members of a community, introduce novel traits, and displace native species. Invasions by alien mollusks represent a novel context by which to compare trait differences between generalist native and introduced herbivores in terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we determined the a...
Article
Full-text available
Community genetics research has posited a genetic basis to the assembly of ecological communities. For arthropod herbivores in particular, there is strong support that genetic variation in host plants is a key factor shaping their diversity and composition. However, the specific plant phenotypes underlying herbivore responses remain poorly explored...
Data
In June 2013, we collected 60 caterpillars (of instars 4-7), that had been active for approximately seven days, and used net bags (made from polyester, with holes of about 1.3mm2) to contain each caterpillar on a single branch of 60 haphazardly chosen Arctic willow individuals. For half of these caterpillars (n = 30) we moved them every four days t...
Article
Full-text available
A ‘genes-to-ecosystems’ approach has been proposed as a novel avenue for integrating the consequences of intraspecific genetic variation with the underlying genetic architecture of a species in order to shed light on the relationships among hierarchies of ecological organization (genes individuals communities ecosystems). However, attempts to ident...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Background/Question/Methods Local adaptation, defined as when individuals evolve towards an optimal phenotype within a given environment, has been shown to be an important component of niche specialization and speciation. There is growing evidence that the phenotypic variation that corresponds from adaptation can also have consequences for the as...
Article
A classic pattern in biogeography is the decline in species richness from lower to higher latitudes. Communities, however, can also vary with other geographical patterns, such as the abiotic gradients that occur from coastal to interior habitats. In this study, we surveyed arthropod communities and herbivore pressure on populations of a dominant sh...
Preprint
Climate change affects communities both directly and indirectly via changes in interspecific interactions. One such interaction that may be altered under climate change is the ant-plant seed dispersal mutualism common in deciduous forests of the eastern US. As climatic warming alters the abundance and activity levels of ants, the potential exists f...
Preprint
Full-text available
Climate change affects communities both directly and indirectly via changes in interspecific interactions. One such interaction that may be altered under climate change is the ant-plant seed dispersal mutualism common in deciduous forests of the eastern US. As climatic warming alters the abundance and activity levels of ants, the potential exists f...
Preprint
Full-text available
Climate change affects communities both directly and indirectly via changes in interspecific interactions. One such interaction that may be altered under climate change is the ant-plant seed dispersal mutualism common in deciduous forests of the eastern US. As climatic warming alters the abundance and activity levels of ants, the potential exists f...
Article
King and Tschinkel (2013) report on a manipulative experiment aimed at assessing the effects of a well-studied invasive ant species (Solenopsis invicta) on the species density and worker abundance of native ants in a relatively undisturbed longleaf pine savanna in northern Florida. Admittedly, the experiment was an impressive undertaking in that it...
Article
Full-text available
AimsIn this study, we examine two common invasion biology hypotheses - biotic resistance and fluctuating resource availability - to explain the patterns of invasion of an invasive grass, Microstegium vimineum.Methods We used 13-year-old deer exclosures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA, to examine how chronic disturbance by deer browsing...
Data
The tens rules states that 10 % of all introduced species establish and about 10 % of those species become invasive. Several studies have failed to support the tens rule. However, these studies are beset by a general weakness: many unsuccessful invasions are never reported, and without these data tests of the tens rules are inadequate. Here, using...