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Variation in species richness across the tree of life, accompanied by the incredible variety of ecological and morphological characteristics found in nature, has inspired many studies to link traits with species diversification. Angiosperms are a highly diverse group that has fundamentally shaped life on earth since the Cretaceous, and illustrate how species diversification affects ecosystem functioning. Numerous traits and processes have been linked to differences in species richness within this group, but we know little about how these interact and their relative importance. Here, we synthesized data from 152 studies that used state-dependent speciation and extinction (SSE) models on angiosperm clades. Intrinsic traits related to reproduction and morphology were often linked to diversification but a set of universal drivers did not emerge as traits did not have consistent effects across clades. Importantly, dataset properties were correlated to SSE model results - trees that were larger, older, or less well-sampled tended to yield trait-dependent outcomes. We compared these properties to recommendations for SSE model use and provide a set of best practices to follow when designing studies and reporting results. Finally, we argue that SSE model inferences should be considered in a larger context incorporating species’ ecology, demography and genetics.

The present study analyzes the biodiversity\ of staphylinid beetles in the Daroca region (Zaragoza), within the framework of a project for the study of saproxylic beetles associated with heads of poplars or pollarded poplars (Populus nigra L. 1753). The differences in biodiversity between poplar heads located in a traditional agricultural matrix and a forest matrix are also studied. The study area corresponds to two zones, separated from each other by 15 Km, in the fluvial channel of the Huerva River, one in the municipality of Badules, with poplar heads with rainfed agricultural matrix, and another in the municipal term of Herrera de Los Navarros, with fields of headland poplars With a forest matrix. Two replicates were used per area: Molino de las Saladas and La Paridera in Herrera de los Navarros and Badules-I and Badules-2, corresponding to Badules. In each of them two traps of each type were used. The specimens were sampled using three types of traps, commonly used for the collection of xylophagous insects: bottle trap, multi-funnel or Lindgren trap, and window trap or flight interceptor. The field work was carried out between May 13 and November 3, 2019, coinciding With the maximum activity\ of the species. A total of 288 traps were placed, in Which 994 specimens were collected, belonging to 65 species distributed in seven subfamilies, Aleocharinae, Omaliinae, Oxytelinae, Paederinae, Staphylininae, Steninae and Tachyporinae, Of the 65 species, only three can be considered very abundant and four very frequent.Of the three types of traps used, the most effective was the multi-funnel trap with 553 specimens captured, the second was the bottle trap with 298 and the window trap with 143 specimens. in the Badules area, more specimens were collected, 718 and 56 species, than in Herrera de los Navarros, 276 specimens of 33 species. This draws attention because it was expected to find less biodiversity in Badules, with a rainfed agricultural matrix.This fact could be justifed by the fact that in agricultural environments there is more heterogeneity of habitats than in a forest environment, which is more uniform. 24 species of staphylinids were common in both study areas, suggesting that they have broader ecological valences. Geographically, species with wide, cosmopolitan, subcosmopolitan and palearctic distributions predominate, and very few species are Iberian/Hispanic endemics. Faunistically of the 65 species studied, 39 were new records for the province of Zaragoza,23 new records for the Aragonese community This result shows how little known certain regions of the Iberian Peninsula are in terms of insect diversity. El presente estudio analiza]a la biodiversidad de coleypteros estaflínidos en la comarca de Daroca (Zaragoza), en el marco de un proyecto para el estudio de coleypteros saproxílicos asociados a chopos cabeceros o chopos trasmochos (Populus nigra L.1753). También se estudian las diferencias de biodiversidad entre chopos ubicados en una matriz agrícola tradicional y una matriz forestal. El área de estudio han sido dos zonas, separadas entre sí por 15 Km, en el cauce fluvial del río Huerva, una en el término municipal de Badules, con chopos cabeceros con matriz agrícola de secano, y otra en el término municipal de Herrera de los Navarros, con campos de chopos cabeceros con matriz forestal. Se utilizaron dos réplicas por zona: Molino de las Saladas y La paridera en Herrera de los Navarros y Badules-I y Badules-2, correspondientes a Badules. En cada uno de ellos se utilizaron dos trampas de cada tipo. Los ejemplares se muestrearon utilizando tres tipos de trampas, utilizadas comúnmente para la recolección de insectos xilófagos: trampa de botella, trampa multiembudo o Lindgren y trampa de ventana o interceptación de Vuelo. El trabajo de campo se llevó a cabo entre el 13 de mayo y el3 de noviembre de 2019, coincidiendo con la máxima actividad de la especie. En total se colocaron 288 trampas, en las que se colectaron 994 ejemplares, pertenecientes a 65 especies distribuidas en siete subfamilias, Aleocharinae,Omaliinae, Oxytelinae,Paederinae, Staphylininae, Steninae y Tachyporinae. De las 65 especies, solo tres pueden considerarse muy abundantes y cuatro muy frecuentes. De los tres tipos de trampas utilizadas, la más efectiva fue la trampa multiembudo con 553 ejemplares capturados, la segunda fue la trampa botella con 298 y la trampa ventana con 143 ejemplares. En la zona de Badules se recolectaron más ejemplares,718 y 56 especies, que en Herrera de los Navarros, 276 ejemplares de 33 especies. Esto llama la atención porque se esperaba encontrar menor biodiversidad en Badules, con una matriz agrícola de secano. Este hecho se podría justificar que en ambientes agrícolas hay más heterogeneidad de hábitats que en un ambiente forestal, más uniforme. 24 especies de estaflínidos eran comunes en ambas áreas de estudio, lo que sugiere que tienen valencias ecológicas más amplias. Geográficamente predominan especies con distribuciones amplias, cosmopolita, subcosmopolita y paleártica, y muy pocas especies son endémicas ibéricas/hispánicas. Faunísticamente de las 65 especies estudiadas, 39 resultaron nuevas citas para la provincia de Zaragoza, 23 nuevas citas para la Comunidad de Aragón. Este resultado muestra lo poco conocidas que son ciertas regiones de la Península, Ibérica en cuanto a la diversidad de insectos.

Legumes are one of the main sources of vegetable protein, and it has also been shown that, after consumption, beneficial effects can be obtained for human health, since they can help reduce blood glucose levels, as they are considered a low glycemic index food, promote bone health, and contain bioactive compounds with different biological activities such as hypotensive or hypocholesterolemic, among others. This group of foods are considered complete foods since they contain proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, among other nutritional components; however, they also have antinutritional factors (ANF), which are defined as non-fibrous natural substances that can cause a negative effect on the nutritional value of some foods, as well as on health since they hinder or inhibit the assimilation of some nutrients. For this reason, it is of great importance to apply processing methods to reduce or eliminate the presence of these ANF in legumes.

Reliable information for the conservation of many insects is lacking due to a poor knowledge of their ecology. Here, we review the biological knowledge about the European stag beetle (Lucanus cervus), in which recent advances are improving the basis for successful conservation. A review of the biological and ecological literature about this species identified an exponential increase in both total and peer‐reviewed articles after Natura 2000 regulations. Recent progress in the last two decades has been made in solving taxonomic problems, as well as in habitat description through radiotelemetry and habitat models. Dependence on large old‐growth forest has given place to a more complex picture of habitat use along the distribution range of this species. Monitoring protocols have been developed that will allow to assess conservation status and actual decline. Stag beetle conservation would benefit from a better understanding of larval demography, quantification of microhabitat requirements, landscape genetics and quantification of historical and current threats. Lessons learned include the need to solve taxonomic problems and to target methodological bottlenecks. The stag beetle is one of the few European saproxylic organisms that can engage the broad public through outreach activities and therefore its role as an umbrella species should be promoted.

Here, we review the literature on sexual lability in dioecious angiosperm species with well-studied sex chromosomes. We distinguish three types of departures from strict dioecy, concerning either a minority of flowers in some individuals (leakiness) or the entire individual, which can constantly be bisexual or change sex. We found that for only four of the 22 species studied, reports of lability are lacking. The occurrence of lability is only weakly related to sex chromosome characteristics (number of sex-linked genes, age of the non-recombining region). These results contradict the naive idea that lability is an indication of the absence or the recent evolution of sex chromosomes, and thereby contribute to a growing consensus that sex chromosomes do not necessarily fix sex determination once and for all. We discuss some implications of these findings for the evolution of sex chromosomes, and suggest that more species with well-characterized lability should be studied with genomic data and tools.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Sex determination and sex chromosome evolution in land plants’.

AIMS: Plant recruitment may occur immediately after seed dispersal from the mother plant, or be delayed through the formation of soil seed banks. These strategies are known to be mediated by adaptations of seed dispersal and reproductive phenology, which if analyzed together can provide valuable information about the regeneration strategies of species. We explored whether dispersal syndrome and/or seed dispersal phenology control the similarity between standing vegetation, seed rain and soil seed bank in a seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) in Southern Ecuador. LOCATION: Arenillas Ecological Reserve, Southwestern Ecuador, the biogeographic region of Pacific Coastal Ecuador. METHODS: We recorded standing vegetation of woody species in a 9‐ha permanent plot and sampled soil seed bank from 265 cores of 0.06 m². Additionally, we sampled seed rain from 265 seed traps of 0.64 m² for one year. We evaluated similarity in species composition, species richness, and abundance between the three components for all species and for each dispersal syndrome. RESULTS: The community we studied showed a high similarity in species composition between components. The similarity was influenced by dispersal syndrome and the seed dispersal phenology. Similarity between seed rain and standing vegetation was high in species that dispersed in the rainy season, such as zoochorous species, while for autochorous species, compared with the other dispersal syndromes it was higher between seed bank and standing vegetation. CONCLUSIONS: In our SDTF, dispersal phenology seemed to influence whether seeds had direct germination or entered the soil seed bank and influenced the match between seed rain and soil seed bank, suggesting different regeneration strategies related to dispersal ability.

In a scenario with declining biodiversity and habitat loss, botanic gardens could serve as refuges for invertebrates, but the opportunities they offer for animal conservation are still poorly understood. Odonata is a good model group for conservation studies, because it includes threatened species and responses to habitat disturbance are well documented. In this study, we assessed the role of the botanic garden of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain as a refuge for members of Odonata by analysing their taxonomic and functional diversity. We explored if the small size of the botanic garden might constrain the taxonomic diversity of Odonata and if low habitat diversity might limit their functional diversity. We sampled adult Odonata from five water bodies along a gradient of human impact and characterized the Odonata communities based on 12 functional traits in Odonata. We used a species-area relationship to control for differences in the size of water bodies. Compared with natural lakes, the Odonata communities contained less species and their functional diversity was lower in the botanic garden ponds, where generalist species were basically hosted. Despite these limitations, the botanic garden ponds hosted the number of species expected for natural water bodies with the moderate surface area and functional diversity, thereby demonstrating that they are a valuable habitat for Odonata in an urban environment. Appropriate management involving the removal of exotic fish and habitat diversification, including creating lotic environments, would increase the taxonomic and functional diversity of Odonata in this urban system.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10201-022-00704-3.

Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is one of the most serious health problems worldwide since 25% of the population suffers from it and 80% of these are at risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus. MS is defined as a series of metabolic abnormalities constituted by arterial hypertension (HTN), abdominal obesity, dyslipidemias, glucose intolerance and/or insulin resistance (IR). Proteins are long chains of amino acids and have a characteristic three-dimensional structure that is essential for their specific function. These are a source of bioactive peptides that can have beneficial effects on health. Bioactive peptides are small peptide chains composed of 2 to 15 amino acid residues, obtained by industrial food processing or during gastrointestinal digestion; after oral administration, they exert their beneficial effect on the cardiovascular, digestive, immune, and nervous systems. Therefore, the objective of this review is to describe investigations about the positive effects of different kinds and sources of protein, fractions, or peptides in MS.

Smell plays an important role in the sensory ecology of birds. Although birds are considered to rely mainly on sight and hearing, use of smell in the reproduction, communication and foraging behaviours of many birds has been documented. However, there is very little information about the role of smell in foraging by nectarivorous birds. We tested the ability of the Amazilia Hummingbird Amazilia amazilia s. l. to use olfactory signals during foraging. Individuals were exposed to two feeders, one of which emitted a floral essence. Contrary to our expectations, no significant differences were found in the choice of feeders based on their odour. Our results suggest that neither male nor female Amazilia Hummingbirds use smell in the search for food but employ other senses, mainly sight. —Nunez, P., Mendez, M. & Lopez-Rull, I. (2021). Can foraging hummingbirds use smell? A test with the Amazilia Hummingbird Amazila amazilia. Ardeola, 68: 433-444.

La presencia del Síndrome Metabólico (SM) en personas con discapacidad es preocupante y poco estudiada. Determinar los factores de riesgo para SM en estudiantes de educación especial. Estudio multicéntrico descriptivo, transversal y observacional realizado en Centros de Atención Múltiple. Diagnósticos: Discapacidades Motriz, Intelectual (DI), Múltiple (DMO), Síndrome de Down (SD), Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA), Retraso psicomotor (RPM) y de adquisición del lenguaje. Total 48 estudiantes, promedio de edad: 11.0 años, peso: 39.3 kg y talla: 1.3 m; 54.2% de la población con DI; 45% presentó peso normal, 15.3% bajo peso, 39.6% exceso de peso; las principales alteraciones clínicas fueron en dientes (35.4%); 14.6% presentó 3 o más factores de riesgo para SM; y 47.9% consumo energético elevado. Los estudiantes de educación especial presentaron factores de riesgo para SM, aumentando las complicaciones propias de su discapacidad y afectando más su salud.Palabras clave: síndrome metabólico; factores de riesgo; discapacidad; educación especial; estudiantes. AbstractMetabolic Syndrome (MS) in people with disabilities is worrying and little studied. This paper describes MS risk factors in students with special needs. Multicentric descriptive, transversal and observational study, carried out in Multiple Care Centers. Diagnostics: Disabilities Motor, Intelectual (ID), Multiple, Down Syndrome, Autism spectrum disorder, Psychomotor retardation and language delay. A total of 48 students took part of the study. The mean of age: 11.0 years, weight: 39.3 kg, height 1.3 m; 54.2% of students presented ID; 45% with normal weight; 15.3% with low weight and 39.6% with overweight; principal clinical alterations were in teeth (35.4%); 14.6% presented 3 or more MS risk factors; and 47.9% with a high energy intake. Students with special needs had MS risk factors, which increase the number of complications of their disabilities, affecting more their health.Keywords: Metabolic syndrome, risk factors, discapacity, special education, students

Resumen: La gran diversidad biológica con la que cuenta México es un factor esencial para la riqueza en cuanto corresponde al reino fungi, la Sierra y Huasteca Hidalguense cuenta con ecosistemas muy diversos que permiten una mayor diversidad de hongos. El objetivo principal del presente estudio es conocer el uso que los habitantes le dan a los hongos en cinco localidades de la Huasteca, Hidalguense. Se realizaron visitas durante el mes de septiembre del 2017, efectuando un total de 52 entrevistas abiertas en total a personas adultas mayores de 40 años. El único uso que se encontró es alimenticio, presentándose siete diferentes maneras de guisado. El hongo más utilizado es el llamado amarillo o Chiquinte. Los pobladores hacen referencia a los hongos un agradable sabor similar al pescado. De acuerdo con la información recabada, se obtuvieron un total de tres géneros (Cantharellus, Pleurotus y Auricularia) y dos especies de hongos (Ustilago maydis y Agaricus bisporus). Se obtuvieron nueve nombres locales para los hongos. Algunos nombres hacen referencia a la misma especie. En cuanto a su temporada, son obtenidos en época de lluvias y en diferentes sustratos. La diferenciación de los hongos comestibles y no comestibles fue en base a los colores mencionados por los pobladores. Comestibles: morado, blanco y amarillo, no comestibles: rojo y gris. Es importante mencionar que los pobladores de las cinco localidades aún conservan conocimiento sobre los hongos silvestres comestibles.

Interspecific interactions play an important role in community assembly. A basic ecological question is whether interactions are specialized (one to one) or generalized (many to many). Specialization of interactions should ideally be assessed across several populations because species could be specialists at a particular site but generalists when several sites are considered. Mycorrhizal interactions are fundamental for orchid life and distribution, but their level of specialization is still under debate. To understand the extent to which epiphytic orchids are specialists in their mycorrhizal interactions, we studied the richness and phylogenetic structure of mycobionts across different sites, and the similarity in the mycobiont composition between coexisting orchid species. We sequenced the nrDNA ITS2 region and explored the mycobiont communities associated with two epiphytic orchids, Epidendrum marsupiale and Cyrtochilum pardinum, at two elevations within two sites in Ecuador. We found 108 OTUs belonging to Serendipitaceae (66), Ceratobasidiaceae (22), Atractiellales (11) and Tulasnellaceae (9). Orchids at the highest elevations hosted the highest OTU richness. The two orchid species shared a high percentage of mycobionts between all sites. No phylogenetic structure within orchid mycorrhizal communities was found at any sites or elevations. Our results indicate that the studied orchids are generalists and share a broad group of mycobionts (16 OTUs) with no apparent niche segregation within or between sites.

Crop wild relatives can be a useful source of genotypes that maximise crop survival and yield in specific habitats. Lupinus angustifolius is an annual forb with crop varieties derived from a narrow genetic basis but that are cultivated worldwide. Its seeds have high nutritional value, but they naturally contain alkaloids with anti-nutritive factors. The study of its wild populations can be useful to find genotypes that contribute to higher climate resilience and greater yield under stressing environmental conditions. Using a common garden, we evaluated ecotypic differentiation in four natural populations from two contrasting latitudes in terms of plant biomass, seed mass and number, alkaloid content in seeds for the three main alkaloids present in the plant and seed colour, including its possible influence on post-dispersal predation. Correlations among traits were also assessed. We found differences among populations for all traits except final biomass. Northern populations had lighter seeds and a tendency to yield more seeds when they produced white seeds, compared to southern populations and variegated seeds. Regardless of latitude, populations showed differences in alkaloid concentration, with all three alkaloids found generally in high or low concentrations in each population. Proportion of white seed morphs varied in each population. Seed colour did not influence predator preference. In addition, white seed colour was related to a low alkaloid content. Our results evidence the existence of natural ecotypic differentiation in L. angustifolius not only due to latitudinal range, but also to local environmental factors. White seed coat colour could be used as a visual clue for identification of low-alkaloid genotypes, a priority trait in L. angustifolius breeding programmes.

Simple Summary Conservation of insects requires a reliable knowledge of their distribution. Such knowledge is hard to obtain in many cases, due to lack of human power and funding for extensive surveys. Three ways out of this problem have been suggested: (1) data already available in museum collections, (2) data already available in the entomological literature and (3) use of citizen science projects as a cheap, efficient way to survey extensive territories. We assessed the contribution of each of these sources of information in delineating the Spanish distribution of the European stag beetle. Although citizen science quickly contributed more grid cells than the other sources, some grid cells were uniquely contributed by museum and publication data. Thus, the three sources of information need to be combined when targeting endangered species in a broad, heterogenous, sparsely populated territory such as Spain. Abstract Reliable distribution maps are in the basis of insect conservation, but detailed chorological information is lacking for many insects of conservation concern (the Wallacean shortfall). Museum collections, entomological publications and citizen science projects can contribute to solve this Wallacean shortfall. Their relative contribution to the knowledge on the distribution of threatened insects has been scarcely explored, but it is important given that each of these three sources of information has its own biases and costs. Here we explore the contribution of museum data, entomological publications and citizen science in delineating the distribution of the European stag beetle in Spain. Citizen science contributed the highest number of records and grid cells occupied, as well as the highest number of grid cells not contributed by any other information source (unique grid cells). Nevertheless, both museum data and publications contributed almost 25% of all unique grid cells. Furthermore, the relative contribution of each source of information differed in importance among Spanish provinces. Given the pros and cons of museum data, publications and citizen science, we advise their combined use in cases, such as the European stag beetle in Spain, in which a broad, heterogeneous, sparsely populated territory has to be prospected.

The dataset presented in this data paper supports “Breaking down insect stoichiometry into chitin-based and internal elemental traits: Patterns and correlates of continent-wide intraspecific variation in the largest European saproxylic beetle” (Orlowski et al. 2020). Here we present the supplementary data and description of methods on the following: (1) mass of elytra and abdomens across 28 local Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus populations in Europe. (2) Population origin and coverage of six major land-cover types, including transport infrastructure, measured in three radii (500 m, 1000 m and 5000 m) around the sampling sites of these populations. (3) The relationship between the mass and concentrations of elements measured in abdomens and elytra in 28 Stag Beetle populations and major land-cover types around the sampling sites.

Biotic interactions play an important role in the assembly and stability of communities. All orchids depend on mycobionts for early establishment, but whether individual orchid species depend on a specific or broad spectrum of mycobionts is still a matter of debate. Tulasnellaceae (Basidiomycota) is the richest and most widespread mycobiont worldwide. We assessed Tulasnellaceae richness in epiphytic and terrestrial orchids in different habitats, and evaluated the degree of generalism in orchid-Tulasnellaceae interactions and the robustness of this mutualistic system to the extinction of mycobiont partners. We sampled 114 orchid individuals including all common and rare species in 56 plots of 1 m2 in 3 habitats: pristine forest, regenerating forest and a landslide site in a tropical montane rainforest in Southern Ecuador. We found 52 orchid and 29 Tulasnellaceae species. The composition of Tulasnellaceae OTUs was moderately to highly similar across habitats and between orchid growth forms. A significantly nested network architecture indicated the existence of a core of generalist Tulasnellaceae OTUs interacting with both rare and common orchids. Terrestrial and epiphytic orchids showed significant differences in robustness to the extinction of their Tulasnellaceae mycobionts. Thus, generalist mycobionts may be relevant for the preservation of hyperdiverse orchid communities in the tropics.

Conservation of threatened saproxylic beetles, which are often elusive, faces the problem of efficient monitoring. Lack of standard monitoring protocols has hindered the much needed assessment of temporal trends in phenology and abundance of the stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, and the development of landscape ecology studies. Our main objective was to illustrate how transects at dusk, implemented by means of citizen science projects, could provide reliable information on habitat characterization and population trends in the stag beetle. Abundance and phenology was studied in a longitudinal study during 7 years in E Spain. Habitat characterization was studied in a transversal study in N Spain. Our longitudinal study detected between-year variation in phenology (up to 4 weeks in peak activity) and abundance (twofold among maxima and minima recorded). In addition, both our longitudinal and transversal studies detected variation among sites in abundance, that was related to rainfall in the previous winter. In this sense, transects at dusk were a suitable monitoring method. Abundance variation could not be related to habitat variables. Nevertheless, we provide one of the few descriptions available of stag beetle habitat at scales of tens to hundreds of meters. Forest was the dominant vegetation in a 25 m buffer around the transects. However, open natural vegetation prevailed in a 1000 m buffer around the transects, indicating strong habitat fragmentation. We conclude that transects at dusk are easily implemented in citizen science projects and provide much needed information about temporal trends in abundance, phenology and habitat description of stag beetles.

Endozoochory is a prominent form of seed dispersal in tropical dry forests. Most extant megafauna that perform such seed dispersal are ungulates, which can also be seed predators. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is one of the last extant megafauna of Neotropical dry forests, but whether it serves as a legitimate seed disperser is poorly understood. We studied seed dispersal patterns and germination after white-tailed deer gut passage in a tropical dry forest in southwest Ecuador. Over 23 mo, we recorded ca 2000 seeds of 11 species in 385 fecal samples. Most seeds belonged to four species of Fabaceae: Chloroleucon mangense, Senna mollissima, Piptadenia flava, and Caesalpinia glabrata. Seeds from eight of the 11 species dispersed by white-tailed deer germinated under controlled conditions. Ingestion did not affect germination of C. mangense and S. mollissima, whereas C. glabrata showed reduced germination. Nevertheless, the removal of fruit pulp resulting from ingestion by white-tailed deer could have a deinhibition effect on germination due to seed release. Thus, white-tailed deer play an important role as legitimate seed dispersers of woody species formerly considered autochorous. Our results suggest that more research is needed to fully understand the ecological and evolutionary effects of the remaining extant megafauna on plant regeneration dynamics in the dry Neotropics.

Stoichiometric, trophic and ecotoxicological data have traditionally been acquired from patterns of variation in elemental traits of whole invertebrate bodies, whereas the critical issue of the extracellular origin of some portion of elements, such as those present in ingested food and internal organs, has been ignored. Here we investigated an unexplored, yet crucial, question relating to whether, and to what degree, metals from two major body fractions: exoskeleton (elytra) and internal (body organs with gut material present in abdomens), are correlated with each other in wild populations of the largest European saproxylic insect, the Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus, and how metals from these two fractions vary with insect size and local habitat conditions. We examined the continent-wide variation in the concentrations of 12 chemical elements (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Ni) measured in the elytra and abdomen of specimens from 28 populations inhabiting an urban-woodland habitat gradient across the species’ entire distributional range from Spain to Russia. Across populations, elemental concentrations (except Ni and Pb) were 2–13 times higher in abdominal samples than in elytra, and the magnitude of these differences was related to both insect size and local habitat conditions. Smaller individuals from both woodland and urban habitat tended to have higher concentrations of trace elements (Zn, As, Cd, Pb and Ni). The concentration of only six elements (Mg, K, Na, Mn, Cd and Ni) was correlated in the elytra and abdomen at the individual and population levels, implying a limitation to the broader applicability of elytra as a surrogate for internal elemental pools. We highlight that in non-feeding adult saproxylic beetles, minerals, acquired during the larval stage, may be concentrated in the large quantities of residual body fat.

The Mediterranean Red List assessment is a review of the conservation status at regional level of approximately 6,000 species of animals and plants. This report summarizes the results for a key group of Mediterranean biodiversity: saproxylic beetles. Despite their key role in the ecosystem´s health and food chain, saproxylic beetles are still largely misunderstood and the current information gaps on these species´ population status, trends, and distribution are a reflection on how little we still know about them. The geographical scope followed for this assessment is the Mediterranean region according to the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot, with the exception of the Macaronesian islands, which have not been included in this study. All the obligate saproxylic beetles endemic or almost endemic to the Mediterranean region – 320 species and 1 subspecies – are included.

La homogeneización antrópica de los hábitats reduce la biodiversidad, pero se desconoce su efecto sobre la ocurrencia y frecuencia de interacciones planta-visitante floral. Aquí exploramos cómo la heterogeneidad ambiental a pequeña escala (decenas de metros) contribuye a la diversidad de interacciones planta-visitante floral en dos ecosistemas alpinos. Para ello, obtuvimos redes de interacciones planta-visitante floral en mosaicos de hábitat de ambos ecosistemas y calculamos la importancia de dos fuentes de reemplazo de interacciones entre hábitats: cambios de identidad de especies (reemplazo de especies); y diferencias en las interacciones entre las especies compartidas por los hábitats, i.e. las especies interaccionan solo en un subconjunto de los hábitats en los que coexisten. La heterogeneidad aumentó la diversidad de interacciones, las diferencias en las interacciones entre especies compartidas contribuyeron considerablemente a la diversidad de interacciones y las plantas interaccionaron con más visitantes florales donde eran más abundantes. Las interacciones variaron más de lo predicho por la variación de especies, así que el reemplazo de especies no predice bien el reemplazo de interacciones. Nuestros resultados apoyan el importante papel de la heterogeneidad espacial para mantener una elevada diversidad de interacciones planta-visitante floral.

Male and female unisexual flowers have repeatedly evolved from the ancestral bisexual flowers in different lineages of flowering plants. This sex specialization in different flowers often occurs within inflorescences. We hypothesize that inflorescence architecture may impose a constraint on resource availability for late flowers, potentially leading to different optima in floral sex allocation and unisexuality. Under this hypothesis we expect that inflorescence traits increasing the difference in resource availability between early and late flowers would be phylogenetically correlated with a higher level of sexual specialization. To test this hypothesis, we performed a comparative analysis of inflorescence traits (inflorescence size, number of flowers and flower density) in the sunflower family, which displays an extraordinary variation in floral sexual specialization at the inflorescence level, i.e. hermaphroditic, gynomonoecious and monoecious species. We found that species with a complete sex separation in unisexual flowers (monoecy) had significantly denser inflorescences. Furthermore, those species arranging their flowers in denser inflorescences also showed greater differences in the size of early and late fruits, a proxy of resource variation between flowers. Our findings support the idea that floral sexual specialization and consequently sexual segregation may be the consequence of different floral sex allocation optima driven by the sequential development of flowers that results in a persistent resource decline from earlier to later flowers.

Understanding prey selectivity by carnivorous plants has increased in the three decades since the publication of The Carnivorous Plants by Juniper et al., but progress has been uneven across the various genera. We now know that there is prey selectivity in Nepenthes and Drosera but there is significant disagreement as to whether selectivity exists in other genera. Much remains to be done for other taxa and to test results from prior studies that rely only on correlative data.

In the last 15 years, a complex networks perspective has been increasingly used in the robustness assessment of ecological systems. It is therefore crucial to assess the reliability of such tools. Based on the traditional simulation of node (species) removal, mutualistic pollination networks are considered to be relatively robust because of their 1) truncated power-law degree distribution, 2) redundancy in the number of pollinators per plant and 3) nested interaction pattern. However, species removal is only one of several possible approaches to network robustness assessment. Empirical evidence suggests a decline in abundance prior to the extinction of interacting species, arguing in favour of an interaction removal-based approach (i.e. interaction disruption), as opposed to traditional species removal. For simulated networks, these two approaches yield radically different conclusions, but no tests are currently available for empirical mutualistic networks. This study compared this new robustness evaluation approach based on interaction extinction versus the traditional species removal approach for 12 alpine and subalpine pollination networks. In comparison with species removal, interaction removal produced higher robustness in the worst-case extinction scenario but lower robustness in the best-case extinction scenario. Our results indicate that: 1) these two approaches yield very different conclusions and 2) existing assessments of ecological network robustness could be overly optimistic, at least those based on a disturbance affecting species at random or beginning with the least connected species. Therefore, further empirical study of plant–pollinator interactions in disturbed ecosystems is imperative to understand how pollination networks are disassembled.

Background and aims Onset of reproduction and reproductive allocation patterns are key components of plant reproductive strategies. Life history theory predicts that plants in adverse environments for juvenile performance start reproduction at smaller sizes and exhibit higher reproductive allocation compared to their counterparts in favourable environments. Life history theory will gain in generality if its predictions are shown to apply to a broad range of organisms and modes of reproduction. This study tested whether the asexual reproductive strategy of a lichenized fungus changed along a climatic gradient. Methods The variation in threshold size for asexual reproduction and asexual reproductive allocation of the lichen Lobarina scrobiculata was assessed in 18 populations (9665 individuals) along a climatic gradient spanning 800 km in latitude in Southern Europe. Using generalized linear models and standardized major axis regressions, the allometric relationships and the associated variation in climatic factors according to the changes in the threshold size for reproduction and reproductive allocation patterns were assessed. Key Results The onset of reproduction was size-dependent and the reproductive allocation increased with individual size. Both the threshold size for reproduction and the reproductive allocation varied along the rainfall gradient. A lower threshold size for reproduction and higher reproductive allocation in drier, adverse locations were found. Therefore, populations in drier locations fitted the predictions of life history theory for sexually reproducing organisms in adverse environments for juvenile performance. Conclusions This study highlights the applicability of the life history theory to fungi and to modes of reproduction other than sexual reproduction. Based on the intraspecific variation in the asexual reproductive strategy of a fungal organism with climatic factors, these findings expand the scope of life history theory predictions and increase our understanding of life history diversity and reproductive strategies across environments.

Global threats to plant-pollinator interactions are potentially serious in alpine ecosystems, which combine great diversity with particular fragility. We utilized tools from complex network theory to assess the robustness to species extinction of two Spanish alpine pollination networks. A comparison with ten additional alpine and subalpine pollination (ASP) networks allowed us to give our assessment a broader scope and provide a general view of ASP network robustness. We found a broad range of robustness among ASP networks. The two Spanish pollination networks ranked intermediate to high in robustness. This could be due to two of their structural features, connectance (proportion of potential interactions actually observed) and asymmetry (normalized difference between pollinator and plant richness), which showed a positive relationship with network robustness. A finer-scale focus on the two Spanish networks did not reveal differences between endemic and nonendemic plants in their functional role ...

Premise of research. Sex allocation theory considers that, given limited resources, a trade-off must exist between allocations to competing functions, such as accessory and primary sexual organs, or between allocations to primary male and female sexual organs. However, phenotypic and genotypic correlations between floral components have often been found to be positive. A view of resource allocation from a phenotypic-integration perspective could shed light on these apparently paradoxical results. Resource allocation, and not only floral metric traits, can also be significantly integrated because of genetic or developmental constraints or functional contribution to offspring production. We describe the allocation of resources to inflorescence components and assess for the first time whether resources can also be phenotypically integrated in Tussilago farfara L. (Asteraceae), a species with inflorescences functioning as pollination units.Methodology. We studied the absolute and proportional allocation of re...