Publications

The Canary Islands harbor four species of the genus Reichardia according to the current knowledge. Three of them are endemic to the archipelago, one is widespread but probably also native. The discovery of a putative population of R. intermedia on La Gomera as a fifth Reichardia species triggered the revisiting of neglected historical occurrence reports of Reichardia for the Canarian archipelago. We combined phylogenetic and morphological evidence to confirm the identity of the newly discovered population and assessed the previous reports for the archipelago. Based on these findings, we confirm the presence of R. intermedia in the Canary Islands.

• Climate change is forcing species to shift their distribution ranges. Animal seed dispersers might be particularly important in assisting plants tracking suitable climates to higher elevations. However, this role is still poorly understood due to a lack of comprehensive multi-guild datasets along elevational gradients.
• We compiled seed dispersal networks for the five altitudinal vegetation belts of the Tenerife Island (0–3718 m above sea level) to explore how plant and animal species might facilitate the mutual colonisation of uphill habitats under climate change.
• The overall network comprised 283 distinct interactions between 73 plant and 27 animal species, with seed dispersers offering viable pathways for plants to colonise upper vegetation belts. A pivotal role is played by a lizard as island-level hub, while four birds and one introduced mammal (rabbit) are also important connectors between belts. Eleven plant species were empirically found to be actively dispersed to elevations beyond their current known range, with observed vertical dispersal distances largely surpassing those required to escape climate change. Furthermore, over half of the plants arriving at higher elevations were exotic.
• Functionally diverse disperser communities are crucial for enabling plants tracking climate change on mountains, but exotic plants might particularly benefit from this upward lift.

We examined the distribution of termites along an elevational gradient in the western Rif Mountains of northern Morocco. Sampling followed standardized protocols at nine forest sites (125, 325, 488, 715, 850, 1150, 1316, 1544, and 1700 masl), all except the lowest site within the Intercontinental Mediterranean Biosphere Reserve. We found a total of three termite species, with Reticulitermes grassei (Rhinotermitidae) being the most abundant, followed by Kalotermes flavicollis (Kalotermitinae) and Amitermes sp. (Terminidae). Comparing microhabitat preferences, we found R. grassei and Amitermes sp. exclusively in buried wood and under rocks, and K. flavicollis exclusively in dead tree trunks and surface wood. The findings reveal the distribution of microhabitats along an elevation gradient and the corresponding preferences of termite species across these microhabitats. We found that total termite density decreased significantly with elevation (rs = −0.40; p < 0.001), but with distinct differences among species. Kalotermes flavicollis and Amitermes sp. showed a strong negative correlation between density and elevation. In contrast, for R. grassei, the most common termite, we found no significant correlation. Termite density also varied among forest types, with a non-significant trend (p = 0.075) of higher density in the cork oak forest (hits/m2 = 0.06) compared to holm oak (0.04) and fir–cedar (0.02) forests. This research contributes to the limited knowledge of termite diversity and ecology in northern Africa and western Mediterranean forests.

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is a naturally occurring phenomenon, during which high concentrations of sub-10 nm particles are created through gas to particle conversion. The NPF is observed in multiple environments around the world. Although it has observable influence onto annual total and ultrafine particle number concentrations (PNC and UFP, respectively), only limited epidemiological studies have investigated whether these particles are associated with adverse health effects. One plausible reason for this limitation may be related to the absence of NPF identifiers available in UFP and PNC data sets. Until recently, the regional NPF events were usually identified manually from particle number size distribution contour plots. Identification of NPF across multi-annual and multiple station data sets remained a tedious task. In this work, we introduce a regional NPF identifier, created using an automated, machine learning based algorithm. The regional NPF event tag was created for 65 measurement sites globally, covering the period from 1996 to 2023. The discussed data set can be used in future studies related to regional NPF.

Una de las principales consecuencias ecológicas del declive de la biodiversidad es la pérdida de interacciones mutualistas tales como la dispersión de semillas. Tras casi 2000 años de uso humano intensivo del bosque de cedro canario (Juniperus cedrus) en el Parque Nacional del Teide (cumbre de Tenerife, islas Canarias), esta formación se encuentra actualmente muy fragmentada y relegada a zonas de difícil acceso. Además, los profundos cambios medioambientales sufridos por este hábitat podrían haber causado la rarefacción o casi extinción de la cohorte de los escasos frugívoros que se encuentran en la zona. Aquí pretendemos evaluar la hipótesis de que la red de interacciones entre plantas endozoócoras y vertebrados frugívoros en este ecosistema de alta montaña está actualmente depauperada. Las observaciones directas realizadas en las seis únicas especies de fruto carnoso (Bencomia exstipulata, Ephedra nebrodensis, Juniperus cedrus, Aria edulis, Rhamnus integrifolia y Rosa cannadas-teydensis) y el análisis de los excrementos y egagrópilas colectadas en el campo, mostraron que a pesar de que estas especies vegetales son escasas y sus poblaciones dispersas, todas ellas están conectadas en la red ecológica. Desde el punto de vista de la conservación, la escasez que muestran en el Parque las seis especies endozoócoras que hemos estudiado implica que cuatro de ellas exhiben un estado vulnerable de conservación. Por ello, para prevenir que el sistema de dispersión de semillas colapse ecológicamente, resulta de suma importancia la urgente regeneración del antiguo cedral canario (así como de las especies de fruto carnoso acompañantes) de Las Cañadas del Teide, simultáneamente con la recuperación de los gremios de frugívoros autóctonos.

1. Woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidea) constitute a diverse and ecologically significant group inhabiting a great variety of ecosystems with a crucial role for ecosystem functioning, but strongly overlooked in conservation efforts and threats to species and populations are hardly studied.

2. In this study, we evaluate for the first time the potential impact of an emerging unregulated trade on the woodlice of Spain.

3. We conducted a search for all Spanish species nationally and internationally traded via online shops and studied various aspects of the nature of this market and its tendency.

4. We found 56 species currently traded in international stores, and an additional 30 species through transactions on social media. Furthermore, the amount and number of species are increasing and far from stabilising, with higher prices paid for endemic than non-endemic species.

5. This situation puts pressure on local populations, potentially inducing local extinctions, affecting ecosystem functioning.

6. Other potential future threats such as genetic contamination of native populations and the introduction of alien species cannot be ruled out.

7. The conservation of woodlice faces significant challenges due to a lack of assessments of species conservation status and conservation action plans for the most affected species.

8. We propose preventive measures, such as the creation of whitelists or blacklists, essential to protect (endemic) species and mitigate the threat of invasive species.

El 19 de septiembre de 2021 se inició en La Palma la primera erupción volcánica en tierra de los últimos 50 años en Canarias. Abarcó más de 12 km², destruyendo unas 3000 construcciones y provocando la evacuación de aproximadamente 7000 personas. Por primera vez en Canarias, un equipo multidisciplinar de biólogos y volcanólogos accedió lo más cerca posible del edificio volcánico y de las coladas de lava, recogiendo datos sin precedentes sobre la evolución de la biodiversidad a lo largo de una erupción. Se estudiaron los principales grupos de plantas y animales, intentando además calificar y cuantificar su estado durante esta catástrofe natural. Los resultados obtenidos demostrarían que las erupciones volcánicas han de ser consideradas como uno de los principales agentes de evolución en las islas oceánicas, estando relacionados con la capacidad de rebrote de las coníferas, la adquisición de la condición leñosa de muchas plantas nativas o los cambios tróficos y de comportamiento de algunas especies de vertebrados.

As the global population continues to grow, so does the demand for longer, healthier lives and environmentally responsible choices. Consumers are increasingly drawn to naturally sourced products with proven health and wellbeing benefits. The marine environment presents a promising yet underexplored resource for the cosmetics industry, offering bioactive compounds with the potential for safe and biocompatible ingredients. This manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the potential of marine organisms for cosmetics production, highlighting marine-derived compounds and their applications in skin/hair/oral-care products, cosmeceuticals and more. It also lays down critical safety considerations and addresses the methodologies for sourcing marine compounds, including harvesting, the biorefinery concept, use of systems biology for enhanced product development, and the relevant regulatory landscape. The review is enriched by three case studies: design of macroalgal skincare products in Iceland, establishment of a microalgal cosmetics spin-off in Italy, and the utilization of marine proteins for cosmeceutical applications.

Unprecedented extreme Saharan dust (duxt) events have recently expanded northward from subtropical NW Africa to the Atlantic and Europe, with severe impacts on the Canary Islands, mainland Spain and continental Portugal. These six historic duxt episodes occurred on 3–5 and 22–29 February 2020, 15–21 February 2021, 14–17 January 2022, 29 January–1 February 2022, and 14–20 March 2022. We analyzed data of 341 governmental air quality monitoring stations (AQMSs) in Spain (330) and Portugal (11), where PM10 and PM2.5 are measured with European norm (EN) standards, and found that during duxt events PM10 concentrations are underestimated due to technical limitations of some PM10 monitors meaning that they can not properly measure extremely high concentrations. We assessed the consistency of PM10 and PM2.5 data and reconstructed 1690 PM10 (1 h average) data points of 48 and 7 AQMSs in Spain and Portugal, respectively, by using our novel “duxt-r” method. During duxt events, 1 h average PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were within the range 1000–6000 µg m−3 and 400–1200 µg m−3, respectively. The intense winds leading to massive dust plumes occurred within meteorological dipoles formed by a blocking anticyclone over western Europe and a cutoff low located to the southwest, near the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, or into the Sahara. These cyclones reached this region via two main paths: by deviating southward from the Atlantic mid-latitude westerly circulation or northward from the tropical belt. The analysis of the 2000–2022 PM10 and PM2.5 time series shows that these events have no precedent in this region. The 22–29 February 2020 event led to (24 h average) PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations within the range 600–1840 and 200–404 µg m−3, respectively, being the most intense dust episode ever recorded on the Canary Islands. The 14–20 March 2022 event led to (24 h average) PM10 and PM2.5 values within the range 500–3070 and 100–690 µg m−3 in southeastern Spain, 200–1000 and 60–260 µg m−3 in central Spain, 150–500 and 75–130 µg m−3 in the northern regions of mainland Spain, and within the ranges 200–650 and 30–70 µg m−3 in continental Portugal, respectively, being the most intense dust episode ever recorded in these regions. All duxt events occurred during meteorological anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere characterized by subtropical anticyclones shifting to higher latitudes, anomalous low pressure expanding beyond the tropical belt and amplified mid-latitude Rossby waves. New studies have reported on recent record-breaking PM10 and PM2.5 episodes linked to dipole-induced extreme dust events from North Africa and Asia in a paradoxical context of a multidecadal decrease in dust emissions, a topic that requires further investigation.

Understanding how biotic interactions shape ecosystems and impact their functioning, resilience and biodiversity has been a sustained research priority in ecology. Yet, traditional assessments of ecological complexity typically focus on species-species interactions that mediate a particular function (e.g., pollination), overlooking both the synergistic effect that multiple functions might develop as well as the resulting species-function participation patterns that emerge in ecosystems that harbor multiple ecological functions. Here we propose a mathematical framework that integrates various types of biotic interactions observed between different species. Its application to recently collected data of an islet ecosystem—reporting 1537 interactions between 691 plants, animals and fungi across six different functions (pollination, herbivory, seed dispersal, decomposition, nutrient uptake, and fungal pathogenicity)—unveils a non-random, nested structure in the way plant species participate across different functions. The framework further allows us to identify a ranking of species and functions, where woody shrubs and fungal decomposition emerge as keystone actors whose removal have a larger-than-random effect on secondary extinctions. The dual insight—from species and functional perspectives—offered by the framework opens the door to a richer quantification of ecosystem complexity and to better calibrate the influence of multifunctionality on ecosystem functioning and biodiversity.