New Publication on Scopoli's Shearwater!

Hernandez, N., Genovart, M., Igual, J.-M. and Oro, D., 2015 The influence of environmental conditions on the age pattern in breeding performance in a transequatorial migratory seabird. Forntiers in Ecology and Evolution.http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00069

 Abstract: Several studies of marine top predators, above all of seabirds, have analyzed the effects of either individual age or environmental fluctuations on reproduction; nevertheless, little is known about the age patterns in breeding performance in a variable environment.

Photo: Pedro Trejo (c)

To investigate the simultaneous influence of age and environmental conditions on laying dates and egg volumes, we tested different climate and food availability indices in a transequatorial migratory seabird using female data from a 23-year study. Our results show an improvement in breeding parameters with age (i.e., earlier laying dates and greater egg volumes) but no pattern of senescence in older age groups. The best models showed an interaction of time and age in breeding performance, i.e., the age pattern of breeding performance changed each year likely as a result of environmental variability.
Nevertheless, climatic indexes used here explained part of that annual variability: NAO and SOI index accounted for 24 and 20% of deviances in laying dates and egg volume, respectively. Part of that unexplained variability might be related to other processes such as intermittent breeding and the individual quality of breeders, which were not assessed in our study.

GEP on AIR!

Alejandro Martinez-Abrain speaks of the New Paradigm of Conservation Biology at "Balears fa Ciència", here (at min.15)

Award!

The publication by Sergio et al. (2014) has been awarded as the best publication of year 2014 of the Estacion Biologica de Doñana (CSIC) in the action framework of the Severo Ochoa (category : senior scientist). 

Congratulations, Fabrizio!

GEP at the DEVOTES SUMMER SCHOOL

Sergi Pérez Jorge from the GEP presented the study “Integrative assessment of human dimension on the conservation of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin in Kenya” at the DEVOTES-EUROMARINE Summer School in Donostia-San Sebastian.

The course explored the potential and recent advances in the integrative assessment of marine systems (based upon strong new monitoring tools, such as genomics), including the various ecosystem components (from plankton to marine mammals), at different scales (from water bodies to regional seas), and in management applications (e.g. to the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Water Framework Directive (WFD)).

Introductory course : CAPTURE-MARK-RECAPTURE AND –RECOVERY ANALYSIS

UPCOMING WORKSHOP : 21-26 November 2016 !!!!!

23-27 November 2015, Mallorca, SPAIN

The course aims to introduce students, researchers and environmental managers to the theory and practical aspects of the analysis of capture-mark-recapture and –recovery data to estimate survival, recruitment and dispersal probabilities. The course is based on theoretical classes as well as practical sessions with real and simulated data.

Dead line for registration: 24 September 2015 
Places: 20

New publication : a new term in evolutionary biology and paleontology

Martinez-Abrain, A. 2015 Stoch-aptation: a new term in evolutionary biology and paleontology. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution. doi:10.4033/iee.2015.8.6.n

Following two seminal papers published in the journal Paleobiology by Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba several decades ago, I suggest a new term (stoch-aptation) to refer to those individual traits or sets of traits that provide, just by chance, fitness adventages to species when faced with catastrophes (i.e. geological events triggering massive mortality), and that may lead to the origin of taxonomical entities above the species level.

Photo from http://www.aqua.org/explore/animals/chambered-nautilus

I provide as an example of stoch-aptations the set of features that helped mammals pass the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition, as well as traits behind the success of living fossils. However, the identification of specific stoch-aptations can be difficult. This missing term is necessary and useful to (a) consolidate the idea of selection at different hierarchical levels, (b) acknowledge the role of chance in the evolution of higher taxonomical categories and (c) think of the role of geological catastrophes as generators of innovation.

New publication on Raptors on Islands

Sanz-Aguilar A, de Pablo F, Donázar JA. Age-dependent survival of island vs. mainland populations of two avianscavengers: delving into migration costs. Oecologia, in press (doi:10.1007/s00442-015-3355-x) 

Abstract: Large terrestrial long-lived birds (including raptors) are typically sedentary on islands, even when they are migratory on the mainland. Density-dependent variation in the age at first breeding has been described as responsible for the long-term persistence of long-lived bird populations on islands. However, sedentary island populations may also benefit from higher survival rates derived from the absence of migration costs, especially for young individuals. Thus, sedentary island populations can mimic a natural experiment to study migration costs. 

Photo: Felix de Pablo

We estimated the age-dependent survival of two sedentary raptors on Menorca Island (Egyptian vultures Neophron percnopterus and red kites Milvus milvus) and compared these estimates with those reported for other migratory and sedentary populations. In Menorca, Egyptian vultures, but not red kites, showed low levels of human-related mortality resulting in extremely high survival probabilities, probably due to different diet choices and behavioral patterns. Juvenile Egyptian vultures and red kites in the studied population had lower survival probabilities than adults. This difference, however, was smaller than those reported for mainland migrant populations, which showed a lower juvenile survival rate. In fact, between-population comparisons suggested that survival of the young in migrant populations may be triggered by mortality factors in wintering areas. In contrast, adult survival may respond to mortality factors in breeding areas. Our results suggest that raptor species that become sedentary on islands may benefit from higher pre-breeder survival prospects in comparison with their mainland migrant counterparts. This fact, in combination with an earlier age at first reproduction, may facilitate their persistence.