Habitat Preferences of Breeding Amphibians in Eastern Spain

The aim of this research was to determine the reproductive habitat preferences of several species of amphibians in eastern Spain. We recorded amphibia presence/absence and measured biotic and abiotic variables at 67 ponds in a 43.5 km2 area representing a wide variety of aquatic ecosystems, such as temporary and semipermanent cisterns, drinking troughs, and natural and artificial ponds, all of various sizes and depths. We used this information to predict occupancy using Generalized Linear Models. We built models for the Iberian Ribbed Newt (Pleurodeles waltl), Iberian Green Frog (Pelophylax perezi), Common Midwife Toad (Alytes obstetricans), Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita), and Mediterr…

Are Iberian ribbed newts Pleurodeles waltl Michahelles, 1830 negatively affecting the populations of other amphibians?

Metacommunities from bacteria to birds: stronger environmental selection in mediterranean than in tropical ponds

AbstractThe metacommunity concept provides a theoretical framework that aims at explaining organism distributions by a combination of environmental filtering, dispersal and drift. With the development of statistical tools to quantify and partially isolate the role of each of these processes, empirical metacommunity studies have multiplied worldwide. However, few works attempt a multi-taxon approach and even fewer compare two distant biogeographical regions using the same methodology. Under this framework, we tested the expectation that temperate (mediterranean-climate) pond metacommunities would be more influenced by environmental and spatial processes than tropical ones, because of stronge…

Environment and Space Rule, but Time also Matters for the Organization of Tropical Pond Metacommunities

Metacommunities are dynamic systems, but the influence of time independently of environmental change in their configuration has been rarely considered. Temporary ponds are excellent ecosystem models, as they have well-defined boundaries in time and space; their communities are relatively isolated through a landscape matrix, and the progress of time leads to major changes through ecological succession and in habitat suitability related to hydroperiod dynamics. Therefore, strong temporal effects are expected to influence their metacommunity structure. We surveyed 30 temporary ponds along the dry tropical region of western Costa Rica and Nicaragua at three different moments of their hydroperio…

Trade and stowaways: molecular evidence for human-mediated translocation of eastern skinks into the western Mediterranean: supplementary material

Human movements in the regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea have caused a great impact in the composition of terrestrial fauna due to the introductions of several allochthonous species, intentionally or not. Reptiles are one of the groups where this anthropic impact is most evident, owing to the extensive intra-Mediterranean dispersals of recent chronologies. Chalcides ocellatus is a widespread skink with a natural distribution that covers almost the entire Mediterranean Basin. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain its origin: natural dispersions and human translocations. Previous molecular data suggest the occurrence of a recent dispersal phenomenon across the Mediterranean Sea…

Artificial grass in parks as a potential new threat for urban bird communities

Summary Green areas are key habitats for urban avifauna. Urban parks stand out from other anthropic habitats especially in providing trophic resources for many bird species. Consequently, modifications of these green zones can imply major changes in urban biodiversity. Potential pernicious urban remodelling is taking place in parks of eastern Spain because natural grass is being replaced with artificial grass to save water and to avoid management. This study aimed to determine whether remodelled parks with artificial grass harbour lower avian diversity (alpha, beta and gamma diversity) than traditional parks with natural grass. We surveyed 21 parks with artificial grass and 24 parks with na…

Trade and stowaways: molecular evidence for human-mediated translocation of eastern skinks into the western Mediterranean

Human movements in the regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea have caused a great impact in the composition of terrestrial fauna due to the introductions of several allochthonous species, intentionally or not. Reptiles are one of the groups where this anthropic impact is most evident, owing to the extensive intra-Mediterranean dispersals of recent chronologies. Chalcides ocellatus is a widespread skink with a natural distribution that covers almost the entire Mediterranean Basin. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain its origin: natural dispersions and human translocations. Previous molecular data suggest the occurrence of a recent dispersal phenomenon across the Mediterranean Sea…