New Publication on animal traits and pathogens!

Xu, Y., Laine, [ ..] Santangeli, A., [...], Lehikoinen, A. 2024 Slow-lived birds and bats carry higher pathogen loads. One Earth, 7, 1–12.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2024.04.021.

In a shell: The study investigates how species traits and local climate factors identify pathogen reservoir hosts among birds and bats in Europe. Species with slower life paces, sedentary habits, and forest habitats show high pathogen prevalence, with temperature being a crucial predictor.

Summary: Wildlife and zoonotic diseases are increasingly impacting human society, the food chain, and wildlife; therefore, proactive mitigation tools for predicting large-scale risk of the relevant pathogens are urgently needed. Birds and bats are large-scale disease reservoirs and transmitters. However, holistic understanding for which bird and bat species act as reservoirs for pathogens remains understudied. Here, we test the extent to which the features related to the mobile species and local climate identify reservoir hosts for the 18 most-sampled pathogens across Europe. Species with slower pace of life (i.e., larger bodied and longer lived), sedentary species, and forest species had high pathogen prevalence. Temperature was the most important predictor for pathogen prevalence, but its effects varied in different directions. Overall, host species traits and climatic gradients robustly predicted pathogen prevalence, especially for non-vector-transmitted pathogens. We offer a data-driven basis for developing targeted interventions to mitigate impacts of zoonotic diseases, particularly in the face of climate change.

New publication on bird conservation and aesthetic!

Santangeli, A., Haukka, A., Morris, W. et al. What drives our aesthetic attraction to birds?. npj biodivers 2, 20 (2023).

In a shell: Understanding our relationship with other species is crucial. This study reveals that people are most aesthetically attracted to smaller birds with vivid colors and extreme ornaments. Unveiling the visual features underpinning our aesthetic attraction to birds is a critical step towards optimizing conservation

Abstract: In the Anthropocene, the era when the imprint of humans on nature is pervasive across the planet, it is of utmost importance to understand human relationships with other species. The aesthetics of nature, and of species, is one of the values that plays a role in shaping human-nature relationships. 

Birds are ubiquitous across the world. The beauty of birds exerts a powerful tug on human emotions, and bird-rich areas attract scores of eco-tourists. People naturally find some birds more beautiful or interesting than others, but we currently lack a global understanding of the specifics of what makes a species aesthetically attractive. Here, we used a global citizen-science database on bird attractiveness covering nearly all extant bird species, to show that there are specific visual features that drive our aesthetic appeal for some bird species over others. First, our aesthetic attraction is highest for smaller birds with specific, vivid colors (e.g., blue and red, and departing from brown-grey) and extreme ornaments (a long crest or tail). Second, our aesthetic attraction is highest for species with broad ranges, possibly because such species may be more familiar to us. The features that make us attracted to a particular bird strongly align with broad human visual aesthetic preferences in modern society. Unveiling the visual features underpinning our aesthetic attraction to birds is a critical step towards optimizing conservation (e.g., via conservation marketing) and education campaigns, and leverage the cultural ecosystem service potential of birds.

 

 

New Publication on Lizard evolutionary demography

Rotger, A., Igual, J.M. and Tavecchia, G., 2020,  Contrasting size-dependent life-history straegy in an insular lizard. Current Zoology, https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoaa019

Abstract: In many species with continuous growth, body size is an important driver of life-history tactics and its relative importance is thought to reflect the spatio-temporal variability of selective pressures. We developed a deterministic size-dependent integral projection model (IPM) for three insular neighbouring lizard populations with contrasting adult body sizes to investigate how size-related selective pressures can influence lizard life-history tactics. 

Photo; G. Tavecchia

 For each population, we broke down differences in population growth rates into contributions from size-dependent body growth, survival, and fecundity. A life table response experiment (LTRE) was used to compare the population dynamics of the three populations and quantify the contributions of intrinsic demographic coefficients of each population to the population growth rate (λ). Perturbation analyses revealed that the largest adults contributed the most to the population growth rate, but this was not true in the population with the smallest adults and size-independent fertility. Although we were not able to identify a single factor responsible for this difference, the combination of the demographic model on a continuous trait coupled with a life table response experiment analysis revealed how sister populations of the same species follow different life strategies and showed different compensatory mechanisms among survival, individual body growth and fertility.Our results indicate that body size can play a contrasting role even in closely related and closely spaced populations.

A press note (in Spanish) here

New Publication on individual-based model and extinction!

Graciá, E., Rodríguez-Caro, R., Sanz-Aguilar, A., [...] Giménez, A., 2020. Assessment of the key evolutionary traits that prevent extinctions in human-altered habitats using a spatially explicit individual-based model. Ecological Modelling Vol 415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108823

Abstract: Identifying key evolutionary strategies that support population persistence remains a challenging task for biodiversity conservation. Here we assess if animal adaptations to cope with low densities (i.e. that facilitate mate-findings or promote spatial aggregation of individuals) can allow species to persist in human-altered habitats.
A spatially explicit and individual-based model was developed to assess if, and under what circumstances, such adaptations maintain population viability. The model was parameterised with data from the movement and demography of the spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) and simulated scenarios with differences in adult survivorships, initial population sizes and habitat alterations. Habitat alterations reduced population viability, and extinction rates were dependent on population characteristics and mate-finding distance. In contrast, philopatry around the birthplace did not prevent extinctions. Our results highlight the importance of considering specific spatial traits of species when assessing their vulnerability to human habitat alterations.