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Factors Regulating the Invasion of Two Mediterranean Anurans the Role of Niche Conservatism, Species Interaction and Habitat Selection

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Factors Regulating the Invasion of Two Mediterranean Anurans the Role of Niche Conservatism, Species Interaction and Habitat Selection FACTORS REGULATING THE INVASION OF TWO MEDITERRANEAN ANURANS THE ROLE OF NICHE CONSERVATISM, SPECIES INTERACTION AND HABITAT SELECTION Daniel Escoriza Dipòsit legal: Gi. 1353-2015 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/300902 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ca Aquesta obra està subjecta a una llicència Creative Commons Reconeixement Esta obra está bajo una licencia Creative Commons Reconocimiento This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence TESI DOCTORAL FACTORS REGULATING THE INVASION OF TWO MEDITERRANEAN ANURANS THE ROLE OF NICHE CONSERVATISM, SPECIES INTERACTIONS AND HABITAT SELECTION DANIEL ESCORIZA BOJ 2014 TESI DOCTORAL FACTORS REGULATING THE INVASION OF TWO MEDITERRANEAN ANURANS THE ROLE OF NICHE CONSERVATISM, SPECIES INTERACTIONS AND HABITAT SELECTION DANIEL ESCORIZA BOJ 2014 PROGRAMA DE DOCTORAT EN CIÈNCIA I TECNOLOGIA DE L'AIGUA DIRIGIDA PER: DANI BOIX I MASAFRET MEMÒRIA PRESENTADA PER OPTAR AL TÍTOL DE DOCTOR PER LA UNIVERSITAT DE GIRONA El Dr. Dani Boix i Masafret, de l’Institut d’Ecologia Aquàtica de la Universitat de Girona, DECLARO: Que el treball titulat FACTORS REGULATING THE INVASION OF TWO MEDITERRANEAN ANURANS THE ROLE OF NICHE CONSERVATISM, SPECIES INTERACTIONS AND HABITAT SELECTION, que presenta Daniel Escoriza Boj per a l’obtenció del títol de doctor, ha estat realitzat sota la meva direcció. i, perquè així consti i tingui els efectes oportuns, signo aquest document. Girona, 6 d’octubre de 2014 Estudiar els amfibis és observar un mostra del passat en l'evolució dels vertebrats. Els amfibis han arribat a sobreviure en els nostres dies tot i la dominància establerta per llinatges més moderns de vertebrats, molt més intel·ligents i competitius, com són els mamífers o les aus. No obstant això, no es pot deixar d'admirar a un grup en què algun dels seus components formen part de llinatges originaris del Triàsic. I una d'aquestes espècies, pertanyent a un llinatge relicte, pràcticament extingit en el Plistocè, s'ha convertit en una espècie invasora. El fet d'una espècie tan aparentment primitiva i ineficient s'hagi transformat en un invasor d'èxit, colonitzant un paisatge summament alterat i sota unes noves condicions ambientals, és molt estimulant per a qualsevol científic. Esbrinar la mecànica subjacent en aquesta invasió és l'objectiu d'aquesta tesi. Em plau dedicar aquesta tesi a la meva família i a la meva dona que han suportat sis anys de dedicació als Discoglossus. Vull agrair el suport que he rebut pels meus companys dins de l'Institut d'Ecologia Aquàtica de la Universitat de Girona, especialment al Dr. Dani Boix, però també al Dr. Albert Ruhí i a en Jordi Sala. Aixi mateix a les persones que d'una manera o altra han ajudat en la consecució final d'aquest treball, al Dr. Ali Bouatour (Institut Pasteur de Tunis), a la Dra. Jihène Ben Hassine (University of Tunis el Manar) i a la Dra. Soumia Fahd (Abdelmalek Esaâdi University). Finalment a tota la gent de Sicília, Tunísia i Marroc que m'han ajudat a explorar els seus meravellosos països. “I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream; that's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor ... and surviving.” Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, Apocalypse Now (1979) “In the beginning, there was darkness. And the darkness was without form, and void. And in addition to the darkness there was also me. And I moved upon the face of the darkness. And I saw that I was alone. Let there be light.” Bomb #20, Dark Star (1974) PUBLICATIONS Escoriza, D., & Boix, D. (2012). Assessing the potential impact of an invasive species on a Mediterranean amphibian assemblage: a morphological and ecological approach. Hydrobiologia, 680(1), 233–245. Escoriza, D., Ben Hassine, J., & Boix, D. (2014). Factors regulating the invasive success of an alien frog: a comparison of the ecology of the native and alien populations. Hydrobiologia, 730(1), 127– 138. Escoriza, D., & Boix, D. (2014). Reproductive habitat selection in alien and native populations of the genus Discoglossus. Acta Oecologica, 59, 97–103. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 3 ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 4 ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Figure 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 6 ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 7 ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 8 ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 9 ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 10 ................................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 11 ................................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 12 ................................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 13 ................................................................................................................................... 55 Figure 14 ................................................................................................................................... 55 Figure 15 ................................................................................................................................... 64 Figure 16 ................................................................................................................................... 74 Figure 17 ................................................................................................................................... 74 Figure 18 ................................................................................................................................... 76 Figure 19 ................................................................................................................................... 78 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Table 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Table 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 40 Table 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 40 Table 5 ....................................................................................................................................... 41 Table 6 ....................................................................................................................................... 43 Table 7 ....................................................................................................................................... 43 Table 8 ....................................................................................................................................... 44 Table 9 ....................................................................................................................................... 45 Table 10 ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Table 11 ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Table 12 ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Table 13 ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Table 14 ..................................................................................................................................... 54 Table 15 ..................................................................................................................................... 62 Table 16 ..................................................................................................................................... 63 Table 17 ..................................................................................................................................... 64 Table 18 ..................................................................................................................................... 65 Table 19 ....................................................................................................................................
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