Victoria Werenkraut

National Scientific and Technical Research Council | conicet · Laboratorio Ecotono -INIBIOMA

Main Animals not only forage for abundant and nearby resources, but their diets can also be influenced by abiotic and geographic factors. This often results in non‐random interactions among species. We investigate how seed density, distance from nest, abiotic (e.g., climate stability, temperature, precipitation) and geographic factors (e.g., latitu...

Although invasive alien species have long been recognized as a major threat to nature and people, until now there has been no comprehensive global review of the status, trends, drivers, impacts, management and governance challenges of biological invasions. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)...

Extreme events are important determinants of environmental changes at multiple geographical and temporal scales, influencing the ecology and evolution of species. Volcanism in particular can modify entire landscapes through ash deposition, affecting the survival and abundance of susceptible species and favouring tolerant ones. However, there is sti...

Monitoring changes in species composition near active volcanoes is important to identify environmental factors that maintain biological diversity after major disturbances. We investigated the taxonomic composition of epigaeic beetles' assemblages in five mountains in north‐western Patagonia (Argentina) in the aftermath of the 2011 Puyehue Cordón‐Ca...

Predation is an important force structuring ecological communities. However, it is still controversial whether larger predator groups are more efficient at exploiting abundant resources. Here, we explored the association between the number of foragers and predation ability in generalist ant species that differ in forager numbers when exploiting res...

Building and testing general principles is key to accelerate scientific progress. Here, we review the studies performed in Argentina in which ants were used as model organisms, in the context of ecological theories, hypotheses and concepts. Specifically, we focus on ant studies performed under the conceptual frameworks of ecological engineering, in...

Invasive alien species generate adverse ecological, economic and social impacts in the invaded area. This is particularly alarming as the establishment of alien species shows no sign of saturation worldwide. Among invasive alien species, social wasps of the Vespidae family are well known to negatively impact the biodiversity and economy in the inva...

The harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) was introduced in numerous countries around the world as a biological control agent but nowadays it is considered as a pest itself. It is a highly invasive species that has negative impacts on native biodiversity, may affect some crops, and causes a nuisance to humans. Despite its relevance worldwide, the...

1. Ants provide multiple ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling. Although most studies on nests effects on soil fertility and plant performance include species with large nests, species with less apparent nests may have a relevant effect, especially if they are widespread, abundant, and/or inhabit nutrient‐poor soils. 2. We studied the effe...

Social insects, i.e. ants, bees, wasps and termites, are key components of ecological communities, and are important ecosystem services (ESs) providers. Here, we review the literature in order to (i) analyse the particular traits of social insects that make them good suppliers of ESs; (ii) compile and assess management strategies that improve the s...

The Antarctic is considered to be a pristine environment relative to other regions of the Earth, but it is increasingly vulnerable to invasions by marine, freshwater and terrestrial non-native species. The Antarctic Peninsula region (APR), which encompasses the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands, is by far the most...

Volcanic eruptions often modify the structure and function of ecosystems at large geographical scales. However, the extent to which species diversity patterns respond to these major natural disturbances is still poorly known. We tested the shape of the species richness – elevation relationship (SRER) and its environmental correlates (thermal enviro...

Predicting and understanding the biological response to future climate change is a pressing challenge for humanity. In the 21st century, many species will move into higher latitudes and higher elevations as the climate warms. In addition, the relative abundances of species within local assemblages is likely to change. Both effects have implications...

There is considerable controversy around the patterns and processes that influence spatial variation in taxonomic composition in mountain environments. We analysed elevational variation in the taxonomic composition of epigaeic spider assemblages across five mountains in north-western Patagonia (Argentina) to examine the relative importance of dispe...

Changes in the environmental conditions experienced by naturally occurring populations are frequently accompanied by changes in adaptive traits allowing the organism to cope with environmental unpredictability. Phenotypic plasticity is a major aspect of adaptation and it has been involved in population dynamics of interacting species. In this study...

Firewood can act as a long-distance dispersal vector for wood-infesting insects both within and among countries. Recently, we detected the alien carpenter ant Camponotus mus in firewood transported from central Argentina to Patagonia. This species generates significant economic losses in its native range and has invader potential. Moreover, global...

Studies on spatial density dependence in parasitism have paid scarce attention to how changes in host density at different hierarchical scales could influence parasitism in an herbivore at a particular scale. Here, we evaluated if rates of parasitism per leaf (by the whole parasitic complex and by dominant species) of the specialist leaf miner Liri...

Ants are recognized as one of the major sources of soil disturbance world‐wide. However, this view is largely based on isolated studies and qualitative reviews. Here, for the first time, we quantitatively determined whether ant nests affect soil fertility and plant performance, and identified the possible sources of variation of these effects. Usin...

Arid environments have long been perceived as simple and homogeneous ecosystems, but slight differences in precipitation, topography and soil attributes result in a variety of distinct plant associations. The availability of different vegetation types leads to a non-uniform distribution of resources and abiotic conditions, which may affect the spat...

We present evidence from the standard cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding marker and from new collections, showing that the males and females of C. ecotono Werenkraut & Ramírez were mismatched, and describe the female of that species for the first time. An undescribed male from Chile is assigned to the new species Coptoprepes laudani, to...

Aim In ectotherms, the colour of an individual's cuticle may have important thermoregulatory and protective consequences. In cool environments, ectotherms should be darker, to maximize heat gain, and larger, to minimize heat loss. Dark colours should also predominate under high UV‐B conditions because melanin offers protection. We test these predic...

1. Leaf‐cutting ants ( LCA s) are considered as one of the most important agents of soil disturbances that affect vegetation patterns, but these assertions are based on isolated studies or anecdotal data. In this study, meta‐analysis techniques were used to quantitatively analyse the generality of these effects and determine some of their sources o...

Humans affect biological diversity and species distribution patterns by modifying resource availability and generating novel environments where generalist species benefit and specialist species are rare. In particular, cities create local homogenization while roads fragment habitat, although both processes can increase food availability for some sp...

Biogeographic transitions may play a significant role in generating unique biodiversity patterns along different spatial dimensions of the geobiosphere. The extent, however, to which the presence of large-scale biogeographic transitions interacts with local environmental variation to account for elevational patterns in species diversity still remai...

Organisms that survive a volcanic eruption are part of the biological legacies that are fundamental to subsequent succession and ecosystem development. In January 2012, the summer immediately after the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, we evaluated the short-term response of epigaeic beetle abundance to ash deposition. We focu...

Los organismos que sobreviven a una erupción volcánica son parte fundamental del legado biológico determinante de la subsecuente sucesión y desarrollo del ecosistema. En enero 2012, en el verano inmediato a la erupción del complejo volcánico Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, evaluamos la respuesta a corto plazo de la abundancia de coleópteros epigeos al depós...

AimOur aims were: (1) to study the shape of the species richness-elevation and abundance-elevation relationships (SRER and AER, respectively) in epigaeic mountain beetles; and (2) to analyse how richness and abundance of the beetles vary across the full gradient and within the forests and steppes in association with environmental variables represen...

1. Altitudinal gradients offer a unique scenario to elucidate how the increase in harsh climatic conditions towards the top of the mountain interacts with other environmental factors at regional and local scale to influence the spatial variation in local species composition and biodiversity maintenance. We analysed the altitudinal variation in the...

We compiled 109 species richness-altitude (SRA) relationships in arthropods to test the hypothesis that identification of shape and robustness of pattern are contingent on the selection of studies included in meta-analysis. We used attributes of their sampling design to distinguish three subsets of data according to stringent, intermediate, and lax...

We review the spider genus Coptoprepes Simon, endemic of the southern forests in Chile and Argentina, and present a phylogenetic analysis of the 10 known species of the genus together with other 91 representatives of the family Anyphaenidae. Coptoprepes is confirmed as a member of the tribe Amaurobioidini. The sister group of Coptoptepes is the gen...

Abstract Competition is a major aspect of the ecology of insect communities exploiting ephemeral and fragmented resources. We analysed the effect of intraspecific (single species culture) and interspecific (mixed species culture) competition on larval viability, developmental time and wing length in the cactophilic Drosophila buzzatii and Drosophil...

Aim To analyse quantitatively the extent to which several methodological, geographical and taxonomic variables affect the magnitude of the tendency for the latitudinal ranges of species to increase with latitude (the Rapoport effect). Location Global. Methods A meta-analysis of 49 published studies was used to evaluate the effect of several methodo...