Banco Santander. Committed to the Environment

09 Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC / June 2012 Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC / Nº 9 / June 2012 / Published quarterly / Price: 9euros /Price: quarterly /Nº9June2012Published CSIC General Fundación the of Notebooks Crisis The Biodiversity 4 Species Research on Threatened 12 Biodiversity… On 46 Committed totheEnvironment Banco Santander. 68 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

LYCHNOS Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC

Nº 9 JUNE 2012 Executive Editor Reyes Sequera

Assistant Editor Sira Laguna

Page layouts DiScript Preimpresión, S. L.

Illustration Lola Gómez Redondo

Translation Duncan Gilson

Published by

President Emilio Lora-Tamayo D’Ocón

Director Javier Rey Campos

Address Príncipe de Vergara, nº 9 - 2ª derecha; Madrid 28001 www.fgcsic.es

© Fundación General CSIC, 2012. All rights reserved. Use by third parties of the contents of this journal without the prior written consent of the copyright holder may constitute a criminal offence under intellectual property law.

Printed by: DiScript Preimpresion, S. L. Legal Deposit: M-33022-2010. ISSN: 2172-0207 CONTENTS LYCHNOS Nº 9 JUNE 2012

01 The Biodiversity Crisis. Rafael Zardoya...... 4

02 Research on Threatened Species ...... 12 02.1 The Iberian lynx joins the genomic age. Toni Gabaldon ...... 14 02.2 New germinations bring hope for the most endangered Spanish plants. Pedro Jiménez-Mejías, Elena Amat, Inés Álvarez and Pablo Vargas ...... 22 02.3 The relentless fight against chytridiomycosis: the big threat to the world’s amphibians. Andrés Fernández Loras, Jaime Bosch Pérez, Matthew Fisher and Trenton WJ Garner ...... 28 02.4 Endangered birds and farming: new conservation strategy approaches. Laura Cardador, Gerard Bota, David Giralt, Fabián Casas, Beatriz Arroyo, Carlos Cantero, François Mougeot, Lourdes Viladomiu, Judit Moncunill and Lluís Brotons ...... 33 02.5 Scientific progress on the conservation ofPatella ferruginea. Javier Guallart, José Templado, Marta Calvo, Iván Acevedo, Eusebio Bonilla, Josu Pérez, Annie Machordom, Juan B. Peña, Ángel Luque and Paola Martín ...... 40

03 On Biodiversity… ...... 46 03.1 The Mediterranean’s mosaic landscape and its survival: from pastoralism to the role of exotic species. Jorge Cassinello Roldán ...... 48 03.2 Conservation biology viewed from the perspective of evolutionary biology. Xavier Bellés ...... 57 03.3 Secrets of some of the Pyrenees’ threatened plants. María Begoña García ...... 62

04 Banco Santander. Committed to the Environment ...... 68 04.1 Banco Santander, close to nature. División Global Santander Universidades ...... 70 04.2 Interview with José Antonio Villasante ...... 77

05 Forum ...... 80

06 News ...... 84

Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC | Nº 9 | LYCHNOS | 3 01

The Biodiversity Crisis

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The Biodiversity Crisis: scientific and political challenges

For the first time in the history of the planet, one species (ours) is able to alter the global natural balance and cause a new mass extinction. This means governments need to take action with increasing urgency, and the international scientific community needs to be able to act in coordination.

Rafael Zardoya

Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)

n The Origin of Species, ditions end up becoming replacement of species, from events numerous ecological published in 1859, Darwin extinct. The fossil record gives time to time life on Earth has niches were left empty and I gave an elegant demon- an account of the constant faced a number of planet- natural selection worked rap- stration of how the astounding dynamic of replacement of wide mass extinction events. idly to restore the lost level of biological diversity that sur- ancestor species by better According to the fossil record, diversity. However, the new rounds us and of which we adapted descendents over since the Cambrian, 542 mil- dominant groups (in terms of are a part is constantly the course of the planet’s his- lion years ago, there have diversity) do not have to be – renewed by the evolution of tory. Indeed, it is easy to been at least five mass extinc- and in fact, are not usually– new species from existing understand that the species tions. The most recent, and those that dominated before ones. Acting at the level of that coexist with us today are biggest (although the figures the catastrophe. Everyone populations, natural selection just a small fraction of those are not conclusive, some knows that at the end of the is the driving force of evolution that have inhabited the Earth authors calculate that approx- Cretaceous, 65 million years as it determines which spe- over its history, to the extent imately 96% of marine spe- ago, an asteroid impact cies are best adapted to par- that it is calculated that 98% cies and 70% of terrestrial caused the disappearance of ticular environmental condi- of all species known to sci- species disappeared) was in the dinosaurs, within the ter- tions. Those unable to survive ence are extinct. Apart from the Permian, 251 million years restrial vertebrates, and paved optimally in the prevailing con- this continuous gradual ago. After each of these the way for the mammals and

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Rafael Zardoya edge of natural history, evolu- Rafael Zardoya is a CSIC research professor at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias tionary biology, genetics, Naturales [National Museum of Natural Sciences] in Madrid. He has a PhD in ecology, and the social sci- Biology from the Madrid Complutense University (1994) and was a postdoctoral ences. Governments need to researcher at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, under the act with increasing urgency, supervision of Axel Meyer from 1995 to 1997. Since 1999 he has worked at the MNCN-CSIC on the study of molecular markers of phylogenetic relationships in the international scientific diverse taxonomic groups and the evolutionary mechanisms involved in the community needs to be able generation of biological diversity. He is a member of the editorial board of the to work in coordination and Journal of Molecular Evolution, Systematic Biology, Mitochondrial DNA, BMC focus its efforts on under- Bioinformatics, and Animal Biology and Conservation. He is currently on the standing the causes, dimen- DIVERSITAS bioGENESIS international committee and has held various positions of responsibility in the CSIC, being coordinator of the Natural sions and consequences of Resources Area from 2008 to 2012. global biodiversity loss. Inter- Rafael Zardoya. national programmes, such as DIVERSITAS (http://www. diversitas-international.org/), birds to exploit the opportun growth and human “well- ping the “sixth great extinc- aim to make this coordination ity to diversify. being” have been recklessly tion” requires, first of all, well a reality. The organisation’s based on a mistaken view of grounded knowledge of cur- 2012 Strategic Plan identifies Now, for the first time in the nature as an inexhaustible rent biodiversity, its function, four major scientific chal- history of the planet one spe- source of resources. This has and the causes and conse- lenges we face in the immedi- cies (ours) has the ability to led to its over-exploitation and quences of its loss. Secondly, ate future: alter the natural balance on a a blind (but irrational) faith in this knowledge needs to be global scale and cause a new our species’ capacity to invent used as the launch pad from 1) Identifying critical changes mass extinction (at present, our way out of our difficulties. which to make society aware in biodiversity which are around 200 species are dis- Human activity has such an of the problem and drive the harmful and threaten it and appearing a day, which is impact on the planet that it political measures necessary produce the knowledge 1,000 times the natural extinc- has gone from being local to internationally to adapt to and necessary to avoid, limit or tion rate). Technological affecting the global cycles of mitigate biodiversity loss. mitigate them. The aim is to progress has allowed the the elements, water, the cli- investigate, through obser- human population to grow at mate and biodiversity. For Scientific challenges vations, experiments and an unprecedented rate. It is example, so far this year We are at a critical moment modelling, the dynamics of estimated that the world’s alone, two million hectares of for the Earth’s biodiversity, as biodiversity loss, non-linear human population currently forest have been lost world- a direct result of human pres- processes, thresholds and stands at around seven billion, wide (equal to a quarter of the sure. Overcoming this chal- turning points, considering with a net daily growth of 95 area of Spain); desertification lenge will call for improve- the different scales of biolog- thousand. Being heterotrophic has advanced by almost five ments in our knowledge of ical organisation, from genes animals, we need to meet our million hectares (10 times the the mechanisms producing up to ecosystems. minimum energy demands area of Spain); and global car- and sustaining biological (and in the industrialised world bon dioxide emissions have diversity and predict how 2) Understanding how man- they are not just minimum topped 13 billion tonnes. ecosystems will respond to agement decisions influence demands) by consuming nat- man-made global change. the evolutionary and environ ural resources. This puts a There is therefore a pressing The science of biodiversity ment processes of biodi- considerable strain on the need for decisive action to halt aims to be inclusive and inter- versity, and advancing environment. Population this alarming situation. Stop- disciplinary, combining knowl- towards a model of effective

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on temporal and spatial scales never seen before, something which calls for a high level of cohesion across the inter national scientific community. Given the speed at which species are disappearing, new strategies and tools need to be developed with which to conduct an urgent inventory of biodiversity, particularly in tropical regions, and extreme or little explored environments. Systems to monitor biodiversity on different scales and organisational levels are also needed in order to understand the factors explaining changes in biota and identify regions particularly vulnerable to biodiversity loss. Together these efforts should enable us to improve models predicting biodiversity changes in The Cape of Good Hope. A biodiversity hotspot. / Photo courtesy of the author. response to human pressure and to make reliable quantita- tive projections that are useful and sustainable manage- genomic, species, commu- global way (in particular to governments when making ment of current ecosystems, nity and ecosystem level on including scientists from management decisions. allowing us to connect their different spatial and tem countries with high levels of functioning with that of eco- poral scales. Determining the biodiversity) and balanced The huge quantity of data on system services. Similarly, causes of changes in global at the discipline level. Fos- biodiversity and the environ- exploring new forms of man- biodiversity, quantifying its tering interdisciplinarity, ment that is constantly being agement of complex sys- current state, distribution developing national and generated worldwide in dif- tems on different scales and trends. Analyse how supranational networks and ferent formats raises the leading to an improvement human pressure influences links to political managers. challenge of constructing in how biodiversity and glo- these mechanisms and distributed IT-based virtual bal ecosystem services contributes to maintaining In short, in order to be able to infrastructures dedicated to adapt to global change. or changing biodiversity. predict and attenuate the ensuring uniform data, and effect of global change on bio- connection between informa- 3) Understanding the mech- 4) Stepping up efforts to diversity and ecosystem ser tion layers that serve both anisms of diversification, build a community of scien- vices, the challenge is to the international scientific and how biodiversity is gen- tists working on biodiversity understand the structure and community and government. erated and organised at in a coordinated and truly functioning of natural systems The existing networks of

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mobilisation and access to necessary to confront the Change, Convention on have wasted precious time data on taxonomy and spe- challenges of the current bio- Desertification and Conven- and worst of all, the predic- cies distribution, such as GBIF diversity crisis will call for the tion on Biological Diversity tions for the future are far from (http://www.gbif.org/), and active involvement of biodi- (CBD; http://www.cbd.int/). promising. The outlook is for a long-term environmental versity researchers and IT The governing body of the lat- significant reduction in eco- observation systems, such as experts to ensure its success ter is the Conference of the system services, and there is ILTER (http://www.ilternet. over the coming decade. Parties (COP), which has met a real possibility that the com- edu/), supply information to ten times since 1992. The bined effects of the various virtual infrastructures, such Political challenges April 2002 COP meeting in different forms of human pres- as GEOBON (http://www. The consequences of climate The Hague adopted the so- sure irreversibly exceed the earthobservations.org/geobon. change are primarily ecological, called 2010 Biological Diver- thresholds or turning points shtml), DataONE (https://www. but it also has economic, sity Target, which proposed from which the effect of bio dataone.org/) and LIFEWATCH social and energy impacts. To “to achieve by 2010 a signifi- diversity loss will be vertiginous. (http://www.lifewatch.eu/) address global change it is cant reduction of the current which, when fully opera- necessary both to adapt to it rate of biodiversity loss at the In an attempt to learn from tional, will be responsible for and to implement mitigation global, regional and national past experience and mis- ensuring the preservation, measures. This implies policy level as a contribution to pov- takes, the October 2010 COP access, interoperability, use coordination between coun- erty alleviation and to the meeting in Nagoya (http:// and reuse of uniform multi- tries and decision-making benefit of all life on earth.” www.cbd.int/cop10/), set disciplinary data, and at dif- based on scientific know However, in 2010 there was new strategic objectives with ferent scales by the scientific ledge. This was understood in no alternative but to recognise 20 operational targets to be community. They will also 1992, when the first United that the global targets set had met by 2020, some world- provide analysis services Nations Conference on Envir not been met. The various wide, and others at national accessible to policymakers, onment and Development indicators show that the deg- and regional level. The aim is managers and other users. was held, leading directly to radation of natural habitats (in to at least halt the loss of bio- Building the infrastructure the Convention on Climate particular wetlands), the frag- diversity in 2020, if not reduce mentation of ecosystems, loss it. To this end, the assumption of genetic diversity of crops is that it is necessary to and stock, shrinking popula- increase the financial, human tions (in particular tropical ver- and technical resources tebrates) and the risk of pledged and mobilised to fulfil extinction (for example, the agreement’s strategic amphibians and corals) has plan. For example, it is hoped not been halted. What is that by 2020 governments will more, problems such as over- adopt measures to achieve a exploitation, pollution, climate sector level of sustainability of change, dispersion of exotic production and consumption invasive species, which are within safe environmental lim- the direct causes of biodiver- its. Among other actions, it sity loss, have intensified. The proposes to at least halve the actions envisaged have not rate of natural habitat loss; been carried out mainly as a take pollution down to levels result of inadequate financing that are not harmful to eco- Polar fauna is particularly affected by climate change. / Photo courtesy of the author. and contradictory policies. We system functioning; identify

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and prioritize invasive exotic Biodiversity and Ecosystem species and their routes of Services (IPBES; http://www. introduction, with the control ipbes.net/). The platform was and/or eradication of priority formally constituted in Pan- species; ensuring that at least ama in April 2012 and will 17 percent of land area and have its secretariat in Bonn. It continental waters and 10 is modelled on the Inter percent of marine and coastal governmental Panel on Climate areas are protected; restore at Change (IPCC), whose fourth least 15 percent of degraded assessment report (AR4) in land; and make significant 2007 highlighted the existence progress on understanding of a multitude of unequivocal the scientific basis and tech- scientific evidence of system- nologies relating to biodiver- atic warming of the planet’s sity. An additional objective on climate as a result of human which work has been under- activities. IPBES aims to be an way in recent years is to independent point of contact achieve respect for the trad and internationally recognised itional knowledge and prac- by the scientific community tices of relevant indigenous and policy makers that analy- and local communities for the ses and synthesises the best Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Nagoya conservation and sustainable multidisciplinary information 2010. / Photo courtesy of the author. use of biodiversity. The 2010 on biodiversity and ecosystem COP approved the Nagoya services in periodic assess- Protocol, which will regulate ments and makes them avail- through, inter alia, Royal diversity loss events, but in future access and fair and able to governments for deci- Decree 1274/2011, 16 Sep- the subsequent process of equitable participation in the sion making. tember 2011, approving the regeneration, the previously benefits of a genetic resource Strategic Plan for Natural Heri dominant species (in the case (and its derivatives) by the Implementing the Nagoya tage and Biodiversity, Royal of the present crisis, the parties’ issuing an inter accords in the various coun- Decree 139/2011, 4 February human species) tends to national certificate including the tries is a significant challenge. 2011, developing the List of come off worse, and may end prior grounded consent and In this regards, Spain took Wild Species under Special up becoming extinct. Our leg- conditions mutually agreed part in the Nagoya COP and Protection and the Spanish acy for future generations with the local communities. took the stance of the Euro- Catalogue of Threatened Spe- depends on responsible polit- pean Union, which seeks to cies, and Royal Decree ical decisions being made In Nagoya, this international foster compliance with the 1628/2011, 14 November urgently and adequate meas- awareness-raising on the 2020 objectives. The Ministry 2011, regulating the Spanish ures being put in place to miti pressing need to halt the bio- of Agriculture, Food and the List and Catalogue of Exotic gate our impact on the Earth diversity crisis by means of Environment (MAGRAMA, in Invasive Species. Spain will as a system, preventing the direct initiatives for conserva- its Spanish initials) was also shortly be joining IPBES. point of no return from being tion and reduction of triggers responsible for this task, and passed. It is essential that of its loss crystallised in the has backed Law 42/2007, 13 As mentioned, life on Earth these actions be based on a proposed creation of an Inter- December 2007, on Natural has always been able to suc- sound scientific understand- governmental Platform on Heritage and Biodiversity cessfully overcome mass bio- ing of how nature operates.

10 | LYCHNOS | Nº 9 | Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC AnuncioNuevaWeb-ENG-AF.pdf 1 20/09/12 11:31

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Research on Threatened Species

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The Iberian lynx joins the genomic age

This article describes how the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG) has applied Illumina technology, one of the most widely used today, to sequence the genome of the Iberian lynx. Like other genome sequencing strategies, Illumina sequencing starts with the massive random fragmentation of the genomic material.

Toni Gabaldon

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Introduction genetic material to a tiny sam- egy and comparative analysis genome involved hundreds of Although Candiles does not ple allows us to open a win- of the genome. researchers over several realise it, he is about to write dow on to the past and years and cost around three an important page in the his- present of this species. This Biology has undergone a billion dollars, nowadays a tory of his species, in millions window will also be a valuable transformation in recent human genome can be of combinations of just four let- tool in ensuring the future of years, driven by new mass sequenced by just a handful ters: A, C, G, and T. This male the Iberian lynx, the world’s sequencing technologies. of researchers in a few Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), most threatened cat. The aims These techniques, based on months at a cost of a few drawn from the population in and general features of the the parallel determination of thousand dollars. Part of this Sierra Morena, was the individ- Iberian lynx sequencing project the sequences of millions of reduction in the cost and ual selected to produce the have been described in a pre- short DNA fragments allow a effort derives from the fact reference genome for the spe- vious article in this journal full genome to be deciphered that we already have a refer- cies (Figure 1). Applying the (Godoy J.A. (2010) Lychnos at previously unimaginable ence human genome availa- latest technologies in the art of 3:02.1). This article will look at speed and cost. Whereas the ble, which makes it easier to deciphering an organism’s the general sequencing strat- first draft of the human reconstruct that of a new indi-

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vidual. However, it is undeni The sequencing of the giant able that today’s technology panda (Ailuropoda melano- makes determining a full leuca) by the Beijing Genom- genome a much more afford- ics Institute (BGI) in 2009 was able goal. Thanks to this a milestone in the genomics progress, genomic informa- of endangered species. Multi- tion is now available for thou- ple benefits are expected sands of species, although from obtaining the complete the bulk of the organisms genome of a protected spe- sequenced so far have been cies. Firstly, having the bacteria (around 3,000) and genetic map will represent a fungi (around 200), as they huge leap forward in our have much smaller genomes understanding the biology of and are of considerable inter- the species, as it reveals the est from the clinical or indus- activities coded by the trial viewpoint. However, the genome. Analysis of the pan- number of complex organ- da’s genome, for example, isms for which we have the full revealed an absence of genes genome sequence has begun involved in breaking down to increase considerably. cellulose, thus indicating the Thus, we currently have some importance of bacterial flora 30 genomes of plants and 60 for its herbivorous diet. The of vertebrates, and there are full genome of an endangered ambitious international initia- species offers powerful tools tives to sequence not just one with which to study popula- but thousands of species, tion dynamics, demographic such as the Genome10K structures and particular project, which aims to obtain aspects of special relevance, the sequences of 10,000 ver- such as the response to tebrate species and the i5K infectious diseases. An indi- initiative, which aims to do the vidual’s genome contains same thing for 5,000 insects information about past events Figure 1. Candiles, the specimen sequenced. / Photo: María José Pérez. and other arthropods. and enables some of the risks populations face to be Although clinical and industrial assessed, such as the lack of Strategy for sequencing genome of the Iberian lynx. uses remain the main reason genetic diversity or accumula- and annotating the genome Like other genome sequen for sequencing a species, tion of harmful genetic vari The Centro Nacional de cing strategies, Illumina conservation biology has not ations. In the case of the Análisis Genómico [National sequencing is applied after been forgotten by the panda, studying the genome Genomic Analysis Centre] massive random fragmenta- genomic era. Genomic revealed the existence of (CNAG) has used Illumina tion of the genomic material. projects have begun to turn wide genetic diversity, twice technology, one of today’s Fragments of the appropri- their sights on endangered that found in humans, thus most commonly used next ate size are selected and species, despite their lack of holding out hope for their generation sequencing subjected to initial treat- clinical or industrial interest. potential to recover. techniques, to sequence the ment. The sequences are

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are read as they are added reconstruct the first line of by copying the DNA mole- the first chapter. As the cule by means of an enzy- genome is written with just matic replication process. four letters (the four types of This is achieved using bases making up the DNA) nucleotides with fluorescent and some zones are highly marking and controlled rep- repetitive, assembly is much lication termination, allowing more complex than our the genome to be read example would suggest, and “nucleotide by nucleotide.” genomic assembly is an area The real advantage of this of intensive research. One technology is that millions of fruitful strategy for genome fragments are read in paral- assembly, despite the length lel during the operation. limits that exist, is sequen However, there are limits to cing from both ends of a Toni Gabaldon the length of sequence that fragment. This produces two can be read reliably. This is related readings (obtained Toni Gabaldon has an honours degree in Biology from the University of Valencia currently around 100 nucleo from the same fragment) a (1996) and a doctorate in Medical Science from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (2005). Since 2008 he has led the Comparative Genomics group tides. known distance apart. In the at the Genomic Regulation Centre (CRG) in Barcelona, and since 2009 he been case of the Iberian lynx an associate lecturer at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where he teaches Reading short fragments suf- genome, readings of 100 bioinformatics and molecular evolution. fers from the drawback that paired nucleotides were His interests focus on the study of relationships between genotypes and it makes the process of combined in this way using phenotype by means of comparative and evolutionary analysis of genome reconstructing the linear two lengths of insert: one sequences of a multitude of organisms. To this end he uses large-scale sequence of the genome short range, with around 500 computational evolutionary analysis techniques applied to answering a variety of questions, such as the evolution of cellular organelles or the determination more difficult. In the absence nucleotides per insert, and of the molecular basis of genetic or infectious diseases. He has also worked of a reference genome this is one long range, with around on, and on occasions co-led, various international genome sequencing done by “assembling” the four thousand nucleotides. projects. fragments read. Assembling Combining a total of three bil- He has published over 60 papers in international scientific journals, including the genome entails recon- lion of these readings enabled Science, Nature and PloS Biology. He is currently the secretary of the Sociedad structing the order of the a provisional assembly which Española de Biología Evolutiva [Spanish Society of Evolutionary Biology]. fragments based on detec- gave high resolution: each tion of sequence overlaps. nucleotide was read, on The process can be under- average, a hundred times stood by analogy to recon- (100x). However, the assem- structing Don Quixote from bly is still very fragmented, then read automatically in a amplifying the fragments on random fragments of text. as is typical of this type of sequencer (Figure 2), a a solid surface, so that each Thus, the existence of over- sequencing technology, with complex device able to per- sequencing reaction, and its laps between the fragments the presence of thousands form millions of chemical reading, is performed simul- “In a village of La Mancha,” of fragments of differing reactions and take their taneously in a localised way. “La Mancha, the name of lengths (from 2,000 to readings in parallel. In Illu- Deciphering the sequence which,” and “the name of 100,000 bases). The assem- mina this parallel processing consists of “sequencing by which I have no desire to call bled sequence comes to a is based on joining and synthesis,” i.e. nucleotides to mind” would allow us to total of 2.7 million bases,

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very close to the size of ously cloned in a vector. to forty thousand bases, pairs. Finally, work is in genome estimated for the These cloned regions of without the complications progress on an assisted Eurasian lynx, the closest approximately 40,000 base caused by the presence of assembly, using the cat species (2.86 million), and pairs are being used in two sequences in other regions genome as a guide. the preliminary results sug- complementary ways. Firstly, of the genome and the two gest it contains the majority sequencing their ends yields potentially different versions Assembling the genome is of the non-repeating regions p a i r e d s e q u e n c e s a s of each region (one inherited just the first step. Once a suf- and the vast majority of described above, but this from the father and the other ficiently high quality assembly genes. Even so, work is time separated by substan- from the mother). Another has been obtained, the next underway on increasing the tially larger distances. Sec- strategy is random sequen step is to “annotate” it. This contiguity of the assembly by ondly, complete sequencing cing with a different sequen means delimiting what combining two additional of a few of these clones each cing technology –pyrose- regions of the genome corres strategies. One of these con- time allows the reconstruc- quencing– which makes it pond to genes or other sists of sequencing random tion of large fragments of possible to obtain fragments functional elements, and regions of the genome previ- contiguous sequences of up of up to four hundred base assign them, as far as pos sible, a functional annotation. This is a complex process in which intrinsic features associated with functional sequences (de novo prediction) are used, together with similarities with other already annotated genes in other genomes (prediction by homology). Additionally, the lynx genome project uses mass sequencing of tran- scripts, RNA molecules that have been copied in the cell from functional regions of the genome. This “transcrip- tome” is extremely useful in genome annotation, as it makes it possible to delimit genes precisely and discover how their different coding elements combine, also yielding information on the genes expressed in the different tissues. Finally, a possible function will be assigned to the predicted genes by c o m p a r i n g t h e m w i t h Figure 2. Illumina sequencers at CNAG. / Photo: CNAG sequences annotated in

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other organisms. On this We currently have project will not be limited to large regions of the genome. point, the lynx’s genome map producing a reference The project to analyse the will be a useful tool with around 30 genomes genome for the species from lynx genome aims to study which to explore the genetic of plants and 60 of a single individual, but will these events over the course basis of any of the species’ have ten additional genomes of the species’ evolution, so phenotypic variables. vertebrates sequenced to lower reso as to understand what evo lution (four from the Doñana lutionary processes have The genotype of the Ibe- population and six from the moulded its genome and so rian lynx and its feline rela- Sierra Morena). These speci obtain valuable information tives mens were selected using for its conservation. This The lynx is by no means the genetic markers to avoid comparative analysis will first member of the cat family including very closely related take place on several levels: to join the club of organisms individuals, and founders of both within the species, whose genomes have been the captive population were studying genomic variation completely sequenced. favoured, because we have within different populations, Indeed, since 2007 we have more information about them and between different spe the sequence of a domestic and their chances of an cies of cat and other mam cat (Felis catus): a specimen project, called the Big Cat untimely death are lower. mals. At population level, of the Abyssinian breed, Genomics Initiative, not only Finally, a specimen of Eur zones which have a greater called Cinnamon. The aims to sequence single asian lynx (Lynx lynx) has also or lesser diversity between project, funded by the specimens of each species been sequenced at low reso populations are studied to National Institutes of Health but also representative indi lution, allowing comparisons yield molecular markers. (NIH) in the US, was given viduals of subspecies like the between these two related These can be used to opti priority on account of the Asiatic lion, and even hybrids species. mise crossbreeding in the importance of the cat as a between the lion and tiger. captive population or the pet, but also its use as a Other species of cats will Having sequences of related release of specimens in dif model of human illness, as undoubtedly continue to be species, and of individuals of ferent areas, or to boost the cats can suffer from heredi sequenced and it is very the same species, available conservation of genetic tary diseases analogous to likely that in a few years time is extremely useful in diversity of the species and those affecting humans. we will have reference genomic analysis as it makes minimise problems of There are also other projects genomes for each of the 37 it possible to trace in great inbreeding. As regards vari in progress which aim to surviving cat species (Figure detail the genomic changes ations between species, the sequence the genomes of a 3). As with the human occurring in the recent his aim is to study changes at number of cat species. A genome, having a reference tory of a species. These the level of mutations or of couple of years ago, the Bei genome makes sequencing changes may consist of ad the number of copies that jing Genomic Institute (BGI) additional individuals easier hoc mutations in the have recently occurred in the announced that in collabora (and cheaper). This is sequence, which alter the lynx’s evolution, as this will tion with the San Francisco because a lower level of reso identity of a nucleotide and, help us understand how the zoo and other institutions, lution can be used, given that on occasions, the protein species has adapted to the they intended to sequence it can be compared it with sequence that codes it. But particularities of its environ several cats, including the the reference genome rather they may also involve ment. For example, detect tiger (Panthera tigris), lion than having to assemble it changes on a larger scale, ing proteins whose sequence (Panthera leo) and leopard from scratch. In fact, the such as duplications, trans has varied more or less than (Panthera parda). T h i s Iberian lynx sequencing locations, or losses of fairly expected could be indicative

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of the existence of certain lysis with cats and other pondence between related is anticipated that character- forms of selective pressure. sequenced mammals, con- genes of different organisms ising the Iberian lynx genome Likewise, we hope to obtain sisting of the reconstruction with a high degree of preci- will allow us to learn more information about possible of the evolutionary history of sion (a kind of “who’s who” about its biology, understand past epidemics and the each of the genes coded in for each genome), and trace its evolutionary history bet- molecular bases of heredi- the lynx genome. This ana the history of duplications, ter, and ultimately, contribute tary disorders that affect lynx lysis, the first of its kind to be losses and changes in evolu- to the overarching goal of the populations. Finally, on a conducted on a mammal tionary speed occurring in species’ recovery. Project broader level, we aim to con- genome, will make it pos each family of genes, over website: http://lynxgenomics. duct a phylogenomic ana sible to resolve the corres the course of each lineage. It eu/.

Panthera leo, Panthera pardis Panthera onca, Panthera tigris Panthera uncia Neofelis nebulosa, Neofelis diardi Pardofelis temminchi Pardofelis badia Pardofelis marmorata Caracal caracal Caracal aurata Caracal serval Leopardus geoffroyi, Leopardus guigna Leopardus tigrinus, Leopardus jacobita Leopardus colocolo, Leopardus wiedii Leopardus pardalis

Lynx pardina Lynx lynx Lynx canadensis Lynx rufus

Puma concolor Puma yaguarondi Acinonyx jubatus Prionailurus bengalensis Prionailurus viverina Prionailurus planiceps Prionailurus rubiginosus Octolobus manul

Felis catus Felix silvestris Felis margarita Felis nigripes Felis chaus

10 5 1 Today (millions of years) Figure 3. Evolutionary relationships and times of divergence between different groups of cats. On the right is a small photo illustrating each of the groups. The species that have been sequenced or are being sequenced are highlighted in red. / Figure prepared by the author using data from: Eizirik E, Pecon-Slattery J, et al. (2006) Science 311:7377, photographs taken from Wikipedia.

Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC | Nº 9 | LYCHNOS | 19 WWW.FOTCIENCIA.ES

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New germinations bring hope for the most endangered Spanish plants

The authors of this article describe the results of germinating the seeds of five endangered genera of flowering plantsAvellara, Castrilanthemum, Gyrocaryum, Naufraga and Pseudomisopates, highlighting the need to understand the biological cycle of each of these plants that is struggling to survive.

Pedro Jiménez-Mejías, Elena Amat, Inés Álvarez and Pablo Vargas

Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (CSIC)

he FGCSIC proyecto ce- We could call them botany’s of them are endemic to the caryum oppositifolium found ro being run by the Real “lynxes” although, para Iberian Peninsula and Balearic at one site in Seville, Madrid T Jardín Botánico de Ma- doxically, little research has Islands: Avellara fistulosa in and León; Naufraga balearica drid [Royal Botanic Garden, been done on them. More Doñana and a number of sites endemic to the Serra de Tra- Madrid - CSIC] has selected over, these five species are al- in Portugal; Castrilanthemum muntana in Majorca; and five emblematic species for so the sole representatives of debeauxii in the mountains of Pseudomisopates rivas-mar- plant conservation in Spain. their respective genera, and all Castril and Guillimona; Gyro- tinezii from the Sierra de Gre-

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dos, Ávila. What is more, these flowers are relicts of Iberian flora. That is to say, they are species that are remote in taxonomic and/or geo graphic terms. These five plants meet this relict criteria because each is the only species in its genus and no more than three populations of each species remain (Var- gas 2010).

In addition to their value to biology, the fact that all five Elena Amat, Pedro Jiménez-Mejías, Inés Álvarez and Pablo Vargas. species are at extremely high risk of extinction makes preserving and managing their Elena Amat populations a priority. Other- Elena Amat is a predoctoral researcher at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid where she is working on the FGCSIC project wise, we could lose this on living fossils in Iberian flora. She wrote her PhD thesis at the Real Jardín Botánico, on conservation biology of two en- important part of our natural demic Iberian mountain species: Pseudomisopates rivas-martinezii and Erysimum penyalarense, under the supervision of heritage through sheer Dr. Pablo Vargas Gómez. neglect. Managing these species involves studying the Pedro Jiménez-Mejías intrinsic and extrinsic factors Pedro Jiménez-Mejfas is a researcher at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, where he has been working for the past year on threatening them. Under- the FGCSIC project on living fossils in Iberian flora. He has an honours degree in environmental science from the Pablo de Ola- standing their biological cycle vide University, Seville, where he obtained his PhD on taxonomy and systematics of sedges under the supervision of Profes- is crucial to identifying pos sor Modesto Luceño. He has also spent study visits at Kew Gardens (London, England), Oslo (Norway) and Belgrade (Serbia). sible intrinsic factors leading to their population’s stagnation Inés Álvarez or decline. It is also well known that some plants are Inés Álvarez is a CSIC staff scientist and deputy director of research at the Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, where she works on the evolutionary biology of plants line: patterns, processes and mechanisms. She is currently leading a project on the more vulnerable than others evolution of the genus Anacyclus (Compositae, Anthemideae) (CGL2010-)XX) and taking part in the FGCSIC project on at certain stages, which are living fossils. She wrote doctoral thesis on the systematics and phylogeny of the genus Doronicum (Compositae, therefore critical for adequate Senecioneae) at the RJB under the supervision Dr. Gonzalo Nieto Feliner. She spent two years as a postdoctoral growth. The most sensitive researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Wendel (lowa, USA) researching the polyploid genome of cotton, and held a Ramón y Cajal contract at the RJB before obtaining her current position. stages are primarily germin ation and the juvenile stage (seedlings). To this end, we Pablo Vargas set up a series of germination Pablo Vargas is a scientific researcher at Real Jardín Botánico (CSIC), where he has been doing research for the last 25 years. experiments to enable us to His recent interest has been in the study of macro- and microevolutionary patterns and mechanisms explaining the wide determine whether in the diversity of angiosperms and their disappearance. Among the numerous research projects in which he has been involved, the Atlas of Spain’s Endangered Flora, 2001-2008 stands out, on which he worked as part of a large team of researchers. early stages of the plants’ life, breaking the seed case

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represented a problem limit- ing the species’ ability to prosper. In our experiments, all the seeds underwent a simple stratification treatment (approx. 20 days at 4ºC). They were then planted in the same type of soil (50% sand and 50% humus) and germination was monitored weekly for at least five weeks. Monitoring was continued over a further four months in case other, later seedlings emerged. Our work is added to the conclusions of a study recently published in Nature on Naufraga balearica (Cur- sach & Rita 2012). This art icle presents our main find- ings.

Moderate success with Avellara fistulosa A total of 233 healthy seeds were collected from two Avellara fistulosa. / Photo courtesy of the authors. population centres sampled from the sole Spanish population –in Portugal this species is somewhat less threat- Castrilanthemum ous trial, one seedling The threat of predation ened– namely, Doñana emerged two months after o f C a s t r i l a n t h e m u m National Park. The germina- appears to suffer sowing. debeauxii fruits tion rates were average, but This genus is perhaps the promising, even so, with a seed-related The small number of set most promising in terms of success rate of over a third problems. 54% of flowers found on each capit- germination percentages in (39%). The majority of germin ulum stands out, as this nature. Seeds were col- ations took place in the first mature seeds had could suggest difficulty in lected from two different two weeks (21% in the first been attacked by a pollination. Of the 17 flower populations in Sierra de and 17% in the second). No capitula counted, six had Guillimona, Granada, with further germinations were leafminer larva fewer than ten mature fruits, 383 and 81 fruit (achenes). observed during the subse- and only five had more than The difference between the quent three month observa- 20, while the number of samples is due to the differ- tion period (from the fourth flowers per capitulum was ence in the number of indi- week). However, in a previ- between 15 and 20. viduals in each population. A

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value of 67.5% germinations seeds germinated, and in indicates a high level of the third, 4.1%, with hardly reproductive success, any germinations in the although the population dis- fourth and fifth week of tribution was not the same monitoring. (79% and 36.4%, respect ively). As is to be expected However, we discovered an from an annual plant, which unexpected threat. Castrilan- needs to respond quickly to themum appears to suffer seasonal rain and tempera- from a further problem relat- Naufraga balearica. / Photo courtesy of the authors. ture cycles in the harsh ing to its seeds, which must Mediterranean climate, most be what determines the dif- germination was seen in the ferences in germination 54.6% of mature seeds dipteran). There were differ- first week (50.2%). In the between the two populations showed signs of predation by ences in predation between second week, 10.8% of under natural conditions. a leafminer larva (probably a the two populations, with 54% of seeds left intact in the larger population and 27% in the smaller one. Given that the ephemeral Castrilanthe- mum lives in the Baetic mountains alongside abundant congeners of the Leu- canthemopsis and Anthemis genera. It may be that the latter act as a population reser- voir of this insect pest. In follow-up studies on this species we plan to assess whether the presence of these congeners contributes to increased predation of the irregular and elusive Cas- trilanthemum.

The vulnerable Gyro- caryum oppositifolium Gyrocaryum’s conservation status is precarious. The site where it was first found (Seville) is within a protected area, but it has not been found again, and its annual habit makes it elusive. More Castrilanthemum debeauxii. / Photo courtesy of the authors. over, it has no protection in the

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other two sites where it has Gyrocaryum does analysed seeds collected in minate until the first autumn been observed regularly in the field and from populations rains in the field, ex situ trials recent years (León and not receive any conserved ex situ, and as found Naufraga able to ger- Madrid). For our germination protection in the well as providing other data minate shortly after fruit mat- study we have only been able of great value for future con- uration, in mid-summer. to study the Madrid popula- locations where it servation and management Given the similarity of the tion, which is the most abun- has been observed of this highly endangered results obtained with wild and dant of the two. species endemic to the Bale cultivated populations, the in recent years aric islands. With a germina- study’s authors opted for Germination rates were high. tion success rate of between controlled ex situ production Of the 52 seeds sown, 48% (León and Madrid) 40% and 100%, the research- of plants as a means of sup- had germinated by the end of ers discovered that treatment porting the wild population, the first four weeks. The with moderately high temper- which is currently suffering a majority of germinations took atures (25ºC by day and sharp decline. place in the second week, 15ºC by night) were more when peak germination was favourable to germination Fire: the ally of Pseudomi- observed (37%). A further 15 than lower temperatures. sopates rivasmartinezii apparently immature seeds Although seeds did not ger This plant endemic to Sierra were sown, of which three de Gredos suffers from very (20%) managed to germinate low seed viability rates com- in the first week. Unfortu- pared to the other four gen- nately, the seedlings grew era in the basic trials. Tests very slowly and most died were carried out using seeds with just two cotyledons and from the four populations 1-2 pairs of leaves. Even the most remote from one healthiest did not reach the another. The seeds are flowering stage under green- deeply dormant, such that house conditions. We hope only 1% germinate unless to repeat the experiment with chilled first. Once seeds seeds from Madrid and take were subjected to stratifica- measurements of the germin tion (freezing) germination ation success with seeds rates were 18.5%. Even so from the small population in this rate was still low com- Ponferrada (León) for the first pared to the other four gen- time. era. Additional treatment, namely cold thermal shock Naufraga balearica on (-70ºC), hot thermal shock course for correct man- (110ºC), adding ash and hor- agement mones (gibberellins), and The study by Joana Cursach darkness were also tried. Of and Juan Rita (Universitat de these treatments, the add les Illes Balears) obtained ition of ash, which releases promising results for Nau- acids stimulating germin fraga balearica. The authors Pseudomisopates rivas-martinezii. / Photo courtesy of the authors. ation, was the most effective,

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raising germination rates to the regeneration of the giant 35.75%. None of the other redwood has been the object treatments had any signifi- of study over several decades cant effect compared to sim- and the tree is used as a ply chilling the seeds. It model for any study on the therefore seems that the effect of fire on plants. Fire has combination of cold and fire a dual effect: direct and indir- is the key to obtaining max ect (see the data compiled in imum germination of Pseu- Stephen et al. 1999). The domisopates. It is worth not- direct effects include the fact ing that the Sierra de Gredos that the pine cones open at has long been subject to high temperatures. One of the deliberate burning to clear indirect effects is that fire clears pasture for livestock, such the surrounding undergrowth, that the gorse scrub is natur allowing more light to reach the ally pyrophilic. The germina- forest floor. It is this effect that tion experiment carried out has been found in Pseudomi- on this species therefore sopates populations. matches the conditions produced by traditional gorse Genetic diversity may also burning. Fire also has a pos- be a factor in the differing itive effect by eliminating the results obtained with each plant cover shading the population. The seeds from seeds during germination. the population in the Indeed, the germination rate Lóbrega gorge turned out to was just 0.055% when the be around 26% more viable chilled seeds were kept in than those from the other the dark. two populations (Conventos Gyrocaryum oppositifolium. / Photo courtesy of the authors. and Serrota). The most sig- The case of Pseudomi- nificant difference between sopates is similar to that of these populations is that the many constraints for it to The results of germination trials the giant redwood (Sequoia- largest and most vigorous have a healthy seed bank. In on the five endangered genera dendron giganteum), world population of the species is short, we are looking at a are a clear example of the famous in conservation cir- found in the Lóbrega gorge. threatened species that, par- need to understand the bio cles. This colossal tree native This, together with the fact adoxically, needs the disturb logical cycle of each of these to Sierra Nevada (California, that the plants are self- ance of fire to be able to per- plants which is struggling to USA) lives in a Mediterra- incompatible, which implies petuate itself healthily. As a survive. Otherwise we might nean climate (there are five the need for a larger number result, its conservation may lose a valuable part of our nat- regions in the world with a of crosses between geneti- be tied in which maintaining ural heritage without even climate similar to that of the cally different individuals, traditional farming practices knowing how genera that have Mediterranean) where fire is could hinder reproduction in using fire. Future research lived on the Iberian Peninsula frequent and plants have small populations. There- needs to focus on studying and the Balearic Islands for adapted to its destructive f o re , P s e u d o m i s o p a t e s the effect of fire through millions of years germinate, effects. The impact of fire on could be suffering from too experiments in nature. reproduce or die.

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The relentless fight against chytridiomycosis: the big threat to the world’s amphibians

The fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is decimating the world’s amphibians. The authors of this article are studying the disease from the epidemiological angle to build models that will one day be able to predict how it evolves and spreads.

Andrés Fernández Loras, Jaime Bosch Pérez (1) Matthew Fisher (2) Trenton WJ Garner (3)

(1) Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC) (2) Imperial College London (3) Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London

mphibians around the More than a third of the class of vertebrate facing this extremely serious prob- world are in dire straits. almost 7,000 known species such a severe decline as the lem, which affects the planet’s A T h e s e c r e a t u r e s , of amphibian are at risk of dis- Amphibia. This has led scien- biodiversity as a whole. which have lived on the planet appearing. And as if that were tists worldwide to get to work for millions of years, and even not bad enough, over 250 to find what is at the root of Despite the fact the new dis- coexisted with the dinosaurs, species are now already con- the frequent episodes of mor- ease that is killing amphib are today facing the threat of sidered extinct in nature. tality witnessed on all conti- ians was only discovered an infectious disease that is These shocking figures are nents in recent years. And, at recently, some of the many decimating their populations extremely worrying, and in the the same time, efforts are studies conducted have at an unprecedented rate. animal kingdom, no other underway to find solutions to already borne fruit. The cul-

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and the factors encouraging its growth and incidence. In parallel, the fungus’s genome has been sequenced, and it has been found to have three genetically distinct lineages with different degrees of viru- lence.

Spain is among the leaders in contributing to our understanding of this disease and the pathogen causing it, and Spanish scientists are play- ing an active role in a variety of research projects with institutions around the world. One of these is the so-called “Proyecto Cero,” financed and backed by the Fun- dación General CSIC, in which prestigious organisa- tions such as Imperial CoI- lege London, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Museo Nacional de Cien- cias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC) are taking part. As part of Specimen of a Majorcan midwife toad killed by chytridiomycosis in a water course in Majorca. / Photo J. Bosch. this project, the disease is being studied at the epi demiological level in order to prit of the epidemic has been ians, known as chytridiomy- against the clock, and have, build models to predict its identified as a fungus in the cosis, on its list of notifiable among other things, managed future evolution and spread. Chytridiomycota division, diseases. This makes it the to decipher how this patho- These models will also help with the scientific name Bat- first disease to be included gen kills vulnerable amphibian identify which species of rachochytrium dendrobatidis on the list on account of the species. The fungus invades amphibians are worst (Bd). The problem is so ser threat to biodiversity it repre- their skin, which is highly sen- affected. And knowing what ious, and has such a severe sents. sitive and vital in these ani- species are at greatest risk, impact, that the World mals, destabilising their ion will allow us to devote our Organisation for Animal Along with the disease’s balance and triggering cardiac limited resources to trying to Health (the former Inter causes, new discoveries have arrest, for example. Thanks to save them. national Epyzootes Office, 01E) been made about its charac- this research we also know has included the disease this teristics. Research teams much more about the distri- Supporting all these studies, fungus causes in amphib around the world are working bution of the chytrid fungus, which aim to broaden our

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able to the disease. One of Andrés Fernández Loras these species the common midwife toad, Alytes obstet- Andrés Fernández Loras is a contract veterinarian at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), where he is working on the Proyecto Cero project on ricans, was precisely the chytridiomycosis mitigation. He has worked previously on infectious diseases in unfortunate victim of the first African bats, mitigating chytridiomycosis on the island of Montserrat in the outbreak of chytridiomycosis Caribbean, receiving training at the London Zoological Society and Jersey Zoo. discovered in Europe, at the He is currently preparing a doctoral thesis on immune response and mitigation Peñalara natural park in of chytridiomycosis. Madrid. To achieve this goal Andrés Fernández Loras. of mitigating the disease, we have started to combine fungicide treatment of the animals (while they are in their larval state), with various interventions on their Jaime Bosch Pérez (aquatic) environment. For Jaime Bosch Pérez is a CSIC staff scientist and vice president of the Asociación these activities, various Herpetológica Española (Spanish Herpetological Association). He has written points of Spain have been over 90 scientific publications, and began his career with a study of sexual selected, at locations as dif- selection and acoustic communication in amphibians. He has focused on the ferent as Majorca, Zamora, study of emerging diseases specific to amphibians for many of years. He is the Málaga and Teruel, in an lead researcher on various research projects in various locations around the world on amphibian population conservation and monitoring programmes. For effort to eradicate the fungus over ten years he has been in charge of the Peñalara Natural Park Amphibian from them, or at least signifi- Monitoring Programme, where he runs the Sierra de Guadarrama Endangered cantly reduce the fungal bur- Amphibians Breeding Centre. den on infected populations that have not been wiped Jaime Bosch Pérez. out. In Majorca, for example, two years ago one of the world’s first attempts was knowledge of the disease, that aims to combine captive taken a step forward in this made to treat the disease over the last few years con- breeding programmes with a regard, making it a pioneering directly in nature. This servation and captive breed- variety of strategies to miti- project worldwide, in that it involved collecting and treating programmes have been gate the disease in nature. seeks to mitigate the devas- ing all the tadpoles of the set up for the most threatened The aim of this new approach tating effect of the disease on Majorcan midwife toad, populations or species. How- would be to start to combat amphibians in the natural Alytes muletensis, at a spe- ever, the speed with which the the effects of the disease environment. cific site, and returning them fungus has spread around the directly in amphibian popula- to their pond after it had world, and the number of spe- tions in the wild, although we Along these lines, this been dried out. We observed cies at risk of extinction, mean are not yet able to eradicate Proyecto Cero is running that although the chytrid fun- time is not on the amphibians’ the pathogen from the envir mitigation trials at various gus was not completely elim- side. The scientific community onment. points in Spain, focusing its inated from the population, has recently realised that there efforts on midwife toads in its burden was greatly is a need to address the prob- This Proyecto Cero combat- the Ayltes genus, the Euro- reduced. In Málaga, one of lem from a new perspective ing chytridiomycosis has pean species most vulner the other areas in which the

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project worked, in close col- that have colonised their skin Matthew Fisher laboration with David García to survive with them. There- Matthew Fisher is a researcher at from Fuengirola Zoo, we are fore, at some sites, as well Imperial College London, and an investigating various different as treating infected larvae expert on infectious diseases fungicide concentrations to found in the water, we are caused by fungi, in plants and humans, as well as in wild animals. treat the tadpoles of the fencing off bodies of water to He is interested in the environmental Betic midwife toad, Alytes avoid adult specimens com- factors triggering fungal diseases, dickhilleni, and we are also ing into contact with it. and the role of humans in their evaluating raising the water dispersal and perturbation of natural systems. He is currently heading the temperature as an alternative The Proyecto Cero on most ambitious European project on way of eliminating the patho- chytridiomycosis mitigation is chytridiomycosis and has been gen. Increasing the tempera- in full swing. To back these working with Dr. Jaime Bosch since ture improves these cold- mitigation strategies, the disease was discovered in Spain blooded (poikilotherms) research is also being done in 1999. animal’s immune response, to look at the various protein and at the same time, cre- components of the amphibi- ates a somewhat unfavoura- ans’ skin, which help them Matthew Fisher. ble environment for the fun- keep undesirable pathogens gus, which dies at high at bay. Thus, we have temperatures. In Teruel, on embarked on studies to Trenton WJ Garner the other hand, we have characterise amphibians’ teamed up with the regional immune response to the dis- Trenton WJ Garner is a researcher at the Zoological Society of government’s local environ- ease, with a view to achiev- London. His PhD was on aspects of ment department (Servicio ing some form of resistance sexual selection and the genetics of Provincial de Teruel de Medi- to it. We are also trying out amphibian and reptile populations. oambiente del Gobierno de possible immunisation pro For many years his research work has centred on experimental Aragón) to use riskier mitiga- cesses, exposing the animals evaluation of the costs of parasitism tion strategies in the field to less virulent strains of the in hosts, fundamentally in the case such as temporarily drying fungus under experimental of chytridiomycosis and viral out water holes harbouring conditions. This enables diseases of amphibians. He works infected populations. The exposed animals to develop with researchers from around the world, participating in research good news is that the patho- less severe infection when projects in a multitude of countries, genic fungus appears to subsequently exposed to and is one of Europe’s most active have no resistance to the more virulent strains of the herpetologists. absence of water so is unable fungus, demonstrating evi- to survive in a completely dence of an acquired Trenton WJ Garner. dry environment. Neverthe- immune response. Unfortu- less, when all the water has nately our research has also been drained from their envi- shown the chytrid fungus’s A multitude of efforts are for a promising final outcome ronment, adult amphibians capacity for genetic recombin being made by numerous and that we are able to safe- can survive underground in ation, which means that researchers around the world. guard the existence of these contact with the traces of these mitigation strategies The success of this difficult creatures, which are among environmental moisture, need to be managed care- undertaking will depend on the planet’s oldest but still enabling the pathogenic fungi fully. their collaboration. We hope least understood.

Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC | Nº 9 | LYCHNOS | 31 Some medicines should not be kept out of the reach of children

Business AlliAnce for child VAccinAtion

Every year, nearly 8 million children from Africa, Asia and South America die before they are five years old due to common diseases that could be prevented with existing vaccines.

This is why ”la Caixa” has created, along with the GAVI Alliance, the Business AlliAnce for child VAccinAtion. It is an initiative that offers Spanish companies the opportunity to collaborate in the fight against child mortality, as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes.

[You] are the Star

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Endangered birds and farming: new conservation strategy approaches

The sustainable development of farming and conservation of the associated bird life may call for new approaches that harmonise socioeconomic interests with nature conservation in a particular habitat, in a way that integrates conservation activities with farming practices.

Laura Cardador (1), Gerard Bota (1), David Giralt (1) Fabián Casas (2, 3), Beatriz Arroyo (3) Carlos Cantero (4) François Mougeot (2), Lourdes Viladomiu (5) Judit Moncunill (4), Lluís Brotons (1, 6)

(1) Centro Tecnológico Forestal de Cataluña (CTFC) (2) Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC) (3) Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (CSIC) (4) Universidad de Lleida (UDL) (5) Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) (6) Instituto Catalán de Ornitología (ICO)

Farming and biodiversity preservation of a large occupy a large share of the extensively, leading highly In many of the world’s number of species currently land surface. These systems, mixed landscapes able to regions, traditional farming depends on land dedicated to the result of human action support a wide variety of spe- systems possess consider food production. This is par- based on pastoralism and trad cies. able biological value. As a ticularly significant in certain itional farming practices, result of farming’s expansion regions, such as Europe, have arisen on land that has However, over the last few over thousands of years, the where agricultural systems historically been farmed decades, socioeconomic

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kind of habitat. Unless the negative impacts of these two processes can be managed in time, farming systems in many regions of the planet will shrink or suffer greater degradation, resulting in an increase in the number of threatened species.

In Europe, in recent years birds have frequently been found to be one of the taxonomic groups hardest hit by changes in farmed environments. Many species have seen the habitats they need to breed and feed in these envir onments altered or reduced and have suffered a significant decline in their populations and areas of distribution. These declines have been rapid, massive and often widespread, with populations Intensification of farming has resulted in a loss of habitat quality for many biotic groups. /Photo: Carlos Cortés. that have lost as many as 80% of their members and distribution in less than 20 changes and developments in ple, increased mechanisation causes of biodiversity loss in years. Today, 80% of species farming technology have of farming, greater use of many industrialised coun- depending on these environ- exerted power pressure on pesticides and fertilisers, tries. In parallel with agricul- ments in Europe have an these systems, resulting in a increased average field sizes tural intensification, in many unfavourable conservation serious threat to the species and the rise of monoculture countries, zones with lower status. The ability to halt and occupying them, primarily due across a farm or landscape. agricultural potential have reverse the effects of past, to a dual large-scale process This set of changes, known suffered a process of aban- present and future changes in of intensification and aban- as agricultural intensification donment of farming and farming on biodiversity in agri- donment. and intended to obtain more stock rearing activities, linked cultural systems will largely output per hectare farmed, to a process of migration of depend on European Union On the one hand, zones with has at the same time pro- rural populations to towns (EU) and national farming pol- greatest agricultural potential duced a degradation of habi and cities. This rural exodus icies, market demand, and the in many industrialised coun- tat quality for many biotic has caused a gradual change importance society attaches tries have been profoundly groups (vertebrates, flora, in forest habitats in formerly to maintaining natural values altered by changes in pro- arthropods, etc.) and is today farmed areas, with a net loss in these highly humanised duction systems. For exam- considered one of the main of the quantity (area) of this systems.

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Conservation strategies in the EU’s Common Agricul- tion of biodiversity in farming onmentally interesting pro- highly humanised environ- tural Policy (CAP) strategy systems, the results seem to duction systems are only ments since its reform in 2003. This suggest that it has been attractive thanks to the per- To date, most policy and legis has meant that there has insufficient, in general terms, sistence of aid, with the lative mechanisms available been a change in the way to reverse or offset the nega- upshot that if these external for bird conservation in Europe supports its farming tive trends affecting many payments disappear, the Europe’s extensively farmed industry. Farmers no longer biotic groups observed in agricultural practices they are landscapes have mainly been receive support simply for recent decades. This calls for artificially maintaining will do based on designating agri- producing food. Direct aid in a rethink of the effectiveness so too. cultural spaces in the NAT- proportion to output has of traditional biodiversity con- URA 2000 network and envir been eliminated, reducing servation measures and their The Sustainable development onmental compensating the incentives for agricultural socio-economic sustainabil- of farming and conservation mechanisms. These meas- intensification, and the single ity. Efforts to preserve the of the associated birdlife may ures have sought to preserve payment system has been uses and practices of the therefore call for new traditional practices and the introduced, which is subject past, on the basis of eco- approaches seeking to har- most natural and commer- to meeting legal and man- nomic incentives alone, do monise socioeconomic inter- cially least productive –but agement requirements not seem to be able of them- ests and nature conservation environmentally most benefi- regarding environmental pro- selves to maintain and in these systems, by making cial– habitats by means of tection, public health, animal ensure the viability of the sys- conservation activities an compensation payments to welfare, and good farming tem over the long term, par- integral part of farming prac- farmers. In particular, the and environmental condi- ticularly bearing in mind cur- tices. It should not be forgot- specific weight given to agro- tions. r e n t s o c i o - e c o n o m i c ten that farmed landscapes environmental measures has pressures and the new are more dependent on been boosted by the gradual Although the joint strategy emerging technological human activity than other incorporation of decoupling has been often been pre- opportunities. Economic systems. Therefore, more and conditionality in the sub- sented as being the most incentives linked to conser- than ever, conservation sidies to farmers included in appropriate for the conserva- vation may mean these envir actions should be aimed at

The Steppeahead project’s researchers

The members of the Steppeahead project and authors of this article are a multidisciplinary team with experience in ecology, agricultural science and the socio-economics of Mediterranean farming systems. Lluís Brotons, Gerard Bota and David Giralt are specialists in the conservation biology of birds in agricultural environments at the Biodiversity Area of the Catalonia Forest Technology Centre (Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya, CTFC). Beatriz Arroyo belongs to the Wildlife and Game Fauna Ecology and Conservation Group at the CSIC Institute of Hunting Resources Research (Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC). François Mougeot and Fabián Casas are members of the team at the CSIC’s Arid Zone Experimental Station (Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas). Carlos Cantero and Judit Moncunill belong to the Sustainable Agriculture for Arid and Semi-arid Farming Systems Group in the Department of Plant Production and Forestry Science at the University of Lleida (UDL). Lourdes Viladomiu is a member of the research group on Rural Development at the Applied Economics Department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Lluís Brotons, lead researcher.

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preserving the socio The aim is to get point, conservation strat economic development of economic system supporting egies should aim to stimulate these environments. The aim the habitat of species of interest back to the idea of and help farmers find new is therefore to get back to and not so much at maintain- farming systems as activities or ways of obtain- the idea of farming systems ing forced conservation ing direct benefits from the as complex socioecological measures that are often complex conservation of nature, facili systems, in which socio divorced from the reality of socioecological tating an active process of economic and natural realities the farming system in which social transformation. These are closely intertwined, and they are supposed to be systems new activities should main- where the only way to be implemented. In short, in tain the structure and func- able to achieve sustainable these systems the conservation of traditional farming development is by address- tion biology of the future systems, but at the same ing these two realities jointly needs to integrate the social time allow for the socio- again. It is therefore necessary and economic reality of these environments and the human activities taking place in them to ensure they are sustain able over time, confronting the challenge of the intrinsic dynamic of humanised landscapes and giving up, in part, the conservatism underlying the traditional paradigm of conservation, based on the existence of stable unspoiled natural systems.

Now is the time to ask our- selves whether it is possible, realistic or even desirable to try to conserve the biodiversity of these environments by focusing solely on maintaining more or less strict control over the traditional farming practices and uses or whether other alternative activities could also safeguard their biodiversity. Thus, new approaches are therefore being proposed for their conservation based on their active change and A rethink of the effectiveness of traditional biodiversity conservation measures and their socio-economic sustainability is called adaptation. From this view- for. / Photo: Carlos Cortés.

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/// Figure 1. The Steppeahead project aims to develop a /// Figure 2. Farming systems are characterised by highly working methodology allowing different possible farming dynamic environments where a single type of crop or production scenarios to be evaluated in terms of the environmental and system, such as cereals, for example, can produce very socioeconomic characteristics of a given region, based on different landscapes over the course of the year. This means a its capacity to host viable populations of threatened species. given crop can be perceived (or not) as a suitable habitat for a This methodology aims to develop mathematical indices particular species according to the time of year and its ecological integrating information about the changes in the landscape requirements. For example, the figure shows how the red brought about by farming practices, in terms of plant partridge, a bird which tolerates different vegetation structures, structure and availability of food resources, and species’ can use cereal crops throughout the year. The same is not true of ecological requirements, that make it possible to evaluate the other species, such as the calandra lark, the little bustard or the extent to which these practices will be suitable or not for the sand grouse, which have stricter habitat requirements, such that conservation of these species ///////////////////////////////////// cereal crop lands only offer a suitable habitat at certain times of ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// the year ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

FARMING ECOLOGY

Socio-economic Environmental context context SPECIES’ ECOLOGICAL NEEDS

FARMING PRACTICES

Vegetation Food structure Food Vegetation availability structure

INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION

Winter Spring Summer Autumn ADAPTATION OF HABITAT

Red partridge Calandra lark Pin-tailed sandgrouse Little bustard (male and female)

Illustrations: Toni Llobet / Instituto Catalán de Ornitología (IC0).

to develop methodologies New decision-making have on the environment and steppeahead.com) funded by that allow the environmental, methods birds requires the develop- the Fundación CSIC and economic and agricultural As we have seen, the farmed ment of methods allowing the Banco Santander. This is a consequences of these new environment is a highly impact of these changes to multidisciplinary project in activities to be evaluated, dynamic and variable system be predicted even before which biologists (Catalonia offering perceptions of differ- over the short-to-medium they are applied. This is one Forestry Technology Centre ent farming scenarios to facili term. Managing the impact of the lines of work in the and the Institute of Hunting tate decision-making. that changes in farming can Steppeahead project (www. Resources), agronomists

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(University of Lleida) and economists (Barcelona Autonomous University) are taking part. Its aim is to develop new approaches that will make it possible to improve the conservation of threatened species in highly humanised farmed landscapes.

One of the project’s aims is to develop a set of working methods with which to evaluate different possible farming scenarios in relation to the environmental and socio economic characteristics of a New activities should maintain the structure and function of traditional farming systems. / Photo: Judit Moncunill. particular region, based on their capacity to provide a habitat for viable populations may be suitable for a species Regions with vation strategies based on of threatened species. This only if these three compo- them. Thus, applying a more methodology aims to pass on nents are present. These indi- greatest functional or mechanistic farming practices to the start- ces therefore aim to establish agricultural approach, based on species’ ing point of conservation a link between the language environmental requirements, studies, developing indices of conservationists and farm- potential have been such as those being devel- that, based on the changes in ers, thereby smoothing the oped in this project, can the landscape they induce, way for the explicit integration profoundly altered prove more effective. What is make it possible to evaluate of farming practices in con- by changes in more, this kind of approach the extent to which these servation strategies. can allow processes tobe practices are suitable (or not) production systems taken into account that may for the conservation of a par- Traditional conservation be difficult to detect at first ticular species. The work of studies have often been sight but which can have sig- Butler, Vickery and Norris based on a static, typological nificant impacts on species, (2007) is one of the inputs to view of the habitat, in which such as ploughing or the use the development of these landscape units are defined of pesticides and artificial fer- indices, based on the in terms of human percep- tilisers. assumption that species’ tions (e.g. types of vegeta- ecological requirements can tion, land use, etc.). How- By the same token, this be summarised in terms of ever, there is no reason why functional view of the habi- three components: food these habitat categories tat increases the number resources, nesting habitats should match those per- of possible alternatives and feeding habitats. Thus, a ceived by species. This limits for species conservation, particular farming system the effectiveness of conser- as it allows different land-

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scape units to be taken This method aims was perceived by the spe- is an approach that integrates into account, as would be cies as a habitat of the same information about the farming defined from a purely human to bring farming quality as areas of natural practices applied and the perception, can be perceived practices into vegetation (previously con- species’ environmental by species as a single habi- sidered the only habitat suit- requirements, enabling a priori tat. A clear example of this is conservation able for the bird), revealing determination of the capacity given by the work of Davison studies from the that the habitat definitions of a given farming scenario to and Fitzpatrick (2010), cen- used had meant opportun provide a habitat for a viable tring on the conservation outset ities for conservation of spe- bird population. Nevertheless, of the Florida scrub jay (Aph- cies had been overlooked. developing methodologies elocoma coerulescens), that make it possible to trans- an endangered bird that Conservation of endangered late between agricultural and is highly specialised in bird species in highly human- environmental dynamics is scrubland areas. Contrary to ised environments has not essential in order to be able what conservationists had always been approached from to analyse the implications of believed, this work showed a multdisciplinary and mechan human activities on the bio that regenerated pasture istic viewpoint. However this diversity of these systems in a global and holistic way. The objective of the Steppeahead project is to address this challenge. Although the project cannot solve all the problems facing endanger species that live in these habi tats, it does aim to make progress on the development of new approaches that aim to increase the effectiveness of the proposed conservation activities, enable links to be established between the realities of farming and the conservation of these systems, facilitating decision-making, in a rapidly changing world. Conservation biology is often regarded as the biology of threatened species. However, for the Steppeahead project, conservation biology is the challenge of integrating the biology of threatened species into the reality that surrounds The functional view of the habitat increases the number of possible options for species conservation. / Photo: Carlos Cortés. them.

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Scientific progress on the conservation of Patella ferruginea

We are now half way through the time allotted for the FGCSIC’s first Proyectos Cero on Threatened Species. The moment has therefore come to report progress on the species and the work done in coordination and in parallel by all the teams and institutions involved.

Javier Guallart, José Templado, Marta Calvo, Iván Acevedo, Eusebio Bonilla and Annie Machordom (1), Juan B. Peña (2), Josu Pérez (3), Ángel Luque (4) and Paola Martín (5)

(1) Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC) (2) Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal ( IATS-CSIC) (3) Instituto de investigación de la Generalitat de Catalunya (IRTA), Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and the Natural Environment (4) Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) (5) Journalist

ur project is a study in danger of extinction. The for the implementation of the being carried out simultan of the limpet Patel- species is basically limited first of the Fundación Gener- eously in coordination by all O la ferruginea (Ribbed to a number of isolated loca- al del CSIC’s Proyectos Cero the teams and institutions in- Mediterranean Limpet) tions on the coast of Andalu- projects on threatened spe- volved, namely the Museo with the aim of paving the sia and North Africa, and cer- cies. The time has therefore Nacional de Ciencias Natu- way for the recovery of one tain enclaves in Corsica and come to report the progress rales (MNCN-CSIC), Univer- of the few Mediterranean Sardinia. We are now half during this period regarding sidad Autónoma de Madrid species considered to be way through the time allotted this species and the work (UAM), Instituto de Acuicultu-

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lines aim to: 1) deepen our understanding of the basic aspects of the biology of the species that are of particular importance for population management and conservation; 2) understand the populations’ genetic structure and extent to which they are connected; and 3) run trials on the production of juveniles for their potential transfer to other zones.

Research into techniques for the production of juveniles responds to the recommendations of the “Conservation strategy for the Patella ferruginea limpet in Spain,” published by the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, for the trans- Extraction of sperm for the controlled fertilisation of Patella ferruginea. / Photo: Paola Marin. fer of specimens to sites where it is in serious decline or for repopulation in the case of natural disasters (for ra de Torre de la Sal in Castel- It has been found by recruiting them in artificial example, an oil slick), given lón (IATS-CSIC) and General- collectors and through con- that this strategy advises itat de Catalunya’s Institut de that the change in trolled reproduction), in order against relocating adult Re-cerca Agro-Alimentária sex over the course to restore populations specimens. However, in (IR-TA de Sant Caries de la affected by natural catastro- order to repopulate or Rápita in Tarragona). of the limpet’s life phes or repopulate sites reintroduce juveniles it is can take place in from which the species has necessary to have a detailed The project’s overall object recently disappeared. From knowledge of the genetic ive is to develop working both directions, this general perspective, structure of the different nat- methods and a broad know work is underway in parallel ural populations, so as to be ledge base on which to draw both male to female on three main lines, which able to make the right deci- in order to base efforts for and female to male although they take different sions about the groups of the recovery of the species. approaches (and involve dif- specimens and sites suitable One of the key aims is to ferent methods) are comple- for transfer without altering obtain juvenile specimens in mentary and represent differ- the species’ genetic make- sufficient numbers using ent ways of addressing this up. Moreover, it is also aquaculture techniques (both same common goal. These essential to acquire the max-

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imum understanding pos work. A lot of effort is there- characteristics of its optimal specimens matured as sible of the biology of this lim- fore also being put into habitat. males and then subse- pet species, not only in order designing a website and a quently, after reaching a cer- to develop basic techniques variety of audiovisual materials One of the aspects receiving tain age or size, turned into for the transport, mainte- on the progress of the most attention on the coast females. However, our nance in controlled condi- research, so as to publicise is the way the species repro- team’s work on the Chafari- tions, or acclimatisation of the interim results and duces and, specifically, the nas islands has found the specimens, but also for to progress of the project. limpet’s ability to change sex species’ reproductive strat- help manage the species in between successive repro- egy to be much more com- the natural environment. Sig- The field –or rather “sea”– ductive cycles, together with plex. It has been found to be nificant progress has been work is mainly taking place the factors that influence this able to change sex in either made on all these lines of on the Chafarinas islands, process. Patella ferruginea direction at any point in its work, giving grounds for opti- with the support of the staff reproduces just once a year. life, i.e. from male to female mism about the successful and facilities of the National The gonads begin to mature and vice versa, making its achievement of the proposed Parks Agency on the islands. between August and Sep- mode of reproduction a form objectives, despite the diffi- Research is also being done tember, and the process of alternate hermaphro- culty involved. there on the biology of P fer- completes during the ditism. The way this process ruginea, focusing particularly autumn, as the water tem- works, and the factors deter- In parallel with these scientific on its reproductive biology, perature drops. This culmi- mining it are still far from and technical aspects, the its population dynamics, nates in November when, clear, and elucidating it is project is also committed to growth rate, recruitment, with the arrival of the first big currently one of the objects disseminating the results of its traffic displacements, and storms, spawning takes of our research. In practice, place (synchronous release to analyse these issues large of both male and female sample sizes are needed, gametes into the environ- and techniques have to be ment) in a more or less gen- developed taking novel eralised way. The “larvae” approaches to avoid harm- resulting from this external ing the organisms. The fertilisation look for a sub- working protocols we are strate to attach to after developing to determine remaining afloat in the plank- specimens’ sex rely on biop- ton for a few days. They then sies, which pose little risk to transform into tiny juvenile the survival of the analysed limpets which will go on to limpet. Moreover, following form the next generation of sex changes between annual the species. cycles also requires the iden- tification of each of the spe One of the much debated cimens using specific marking features of this species to techniques, and in turn date has been its mode of keeping a detailed photo- reproduction. It had been graphic record of each spe assumed that it was a pro- cimen. Marking also makes it Juveniles (2-3 mm) obtained at the Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal in Castellón toandrous hermaphrodite possible to study the spe- (IATS), resulting from a process of controlled reproduction / Photo: Juan B. Peña. species, i.e. that young cies’ growth rate. Our work

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on the ground is yielding new information about the sea- sonality of the growth rate, the existence of periods in which the shell erodes faster than it grows, and the high degree of variability between specimens as regards these aspects.

Another important issue is the study of recruitment of P. ferruginea juveniles, in particular, the analysis of variations from one year to another. Recruitment is understood to mean the annual incorporation of new individuals in populations, and depends to a large extent on the success of the critical phase of the step from pelagic larva in the plankton to a crawling juve- The members of the research team, from left to right around the table: Marta Calvo, Juan B. Peña, Angel Luque, Eusebio Bonilla, Paola Martín, Josu Pérez, Javier Guallart, José Templado, Iván Acevedo and Annie Machordom. / Photo: MNCN-CSIC. photography nile attached to the rock and service. its subsequent survival. The data available indicate that in the Chafarinas islands there the next, and the influence Young specimens waters off the Chafarinas to is significant, albeit irregular, this can have on the dynam- gather “seeds” from the envir recruitment each year, much ics of the species on a large have been obtained onment. In aquaculture, higher than that found in scale. For this analysis a col- from larvae “seeds” are juveniles that other locations, which is an l a b o r a t i o n h a s b e e n attach spontaneously to artifi- indicator of the excellent launched with a research produced in the cial surfaces. Designing the state of conservation of the group at IMEDEA in the Bal- laboratory right type of collectors for P population on these islands. earic islands, which special- ferruginea juveniles to attach It is worth highlighting that ises in modelling oceano- spontaneously, with charac- recruitment was exceptional graphic and physiochemical teristics facilitating the instal in 2011, possibly the best factors in order to character- lation of a sufficient number of ever described for the spe- ise changes in the waters of these structures, would bring cies. Research is now focus- the Alborán Sea over the obvious advantages in terms ing on determining the fac- long term. of obtaining them. The main tors that can influence the benefit would be that the juven variability of the success of A number of floating collec- iles obtained, whose final recruitment from one year to tors have been set up in the destination would be to be

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transferred to other geograph- The specific under different conditions at growth of these juveniles ical zones if needed in an the Castellón and Tarragona under appropriate conditions. emergency, would present objectives include centres. This involves devel- It is worth noting that the considerable genetic diversity, obtaining juvenile oping or fine tuning a hetero- results obtained to date on in line with the genetic mix of geneous variety of tech- these points have been more gametes that would occur the specimens using niques to address issues than satisfactory. It has been autumn spawning of the aquaculture such as how to maintain possible to reproduce the population of the Chafarinas adults ex situ, inducing egg entire embryonic and larval Islands. techniques laying, maximising the fertil cycle under laboratory condi- isation of gametes, following tions, and more importantly, The work aimed at controlled larval development, achieving juvenile specimens have been reproduction to obtain juven the metamorphosis of swim- obtained from the larvae pro- iles of P ferruginea using ming larvae until they attach duced in the laboratory. It is aquaculture techniques is to the substrate as post- precisely this progression by taking place in parallel and larvae, and the subsequent metamorphosis from larval phase in the water column to crawling juvenile on the substrate that is considered the most critical phase in the development of the life cycle of the species. Having managed to get beyond this phase under artificial conditions is a milestone that augurs well for the success of the project, enabling a methodology to complete the biological cycle and produce juvenile specimens by means of aquaculture techniques to be designed. To do so it is necessary to ensure that these small specimens or recruits survive and grow to sexual maturity.

A third important line of the project is the genetic study of the main populations of P ferruginea. This is being carried out at the Molecular Systematics Laboratory of Laboratory work: inducing egg production Instituto de Acuicultura de Torre de la Sal (IATS) by modifying the temperature. / the Museo Nacional de Photo: Javier Guallart. Ciencias Naturales [National

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also responsible for preparing and correcting the texts of the various scientific papers and articles for non-specialist audiences.

In short, the results obtained so far have been positive in many respects, although challenges remain. Some of the most important achievements include, firstly, having managed to establish the conditions to adapt juveniles and adults to captivity and, secondly, practic ally completing the larval development of the species, reaching metamorphosis to the crawling juvenile stage under laboratory conditions. Never- theless, certain crucial issues still have to be addressed before the controlled reproduction of P ferruginea can be made a reality (i.e. to complete the cycle, in aquaculture terms). Ventral view of a 2mm-long juvenile obtained by controlled reproduction. / Photo: Javier Guallart. In short, our objective is to establish, by means of a multi- Natural Sciences Museum]. markers for this species, ous locations on the Anda- disciplinary approach, the the- The only genetic work pub- which will be applied to their lusian coast. oretical, technical and practical lished to date is based on main populations, located in frameworks for the adequate universal molecular markers the Alboran Sea and the Lastly, the Autonomous Uni- conservation of P ferruginea, which, although they allow Algerian coast. Sufficient versity of Madrid is taking so as to minimise its risk of inferences to be made samples are currently avail- part in matching the research extinction. With effort, ingenu- about the gene flow from able for Ceuta, the Chafari- and results obtained to the ity, and the essential research the past, do not have suffi- nas islands, and certain recommendations of the funding, we will be able to cient resolution to determine points on the coast of “conservation strategy for the establish favourable conditions the genetic status of today’s Morocco and Tunisia. It is Patella ferruginea in Spain” for the survival of a little known populations and how inter- hoped that future surveys and the precepts of the Law and undervalued species, connected they are under will make it possible to com- on Natural Heritage and Bio- which is highly threatened, but current conditions. Our plete the samples the study diversity, regarding the spe- which could become a symbol team previously designed needs with material from Isla cies in the Spanish Catalogue of conservation of marine bio- specific micro-satellite de Alborán, Algeria and vari of Threatened Species. It is diversity.

Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC | Nº 9 | LYCHNOS | 45 03

On Biodiversity ...

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The Mediterranean’s mosaic landscape and its survival: from pastoralism to the role of exotic species

The Mediterranean’s characteristic plant community is under threat from human activities, which have altered its composition and structure, reducing its wealth of species, and, in short, degrading its nature.

Jorge Cassinello Roldán

Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM)

Ecosystem-wide threats level we might think of the systems they inhabit. The ion around to supporting Whenever threatened species blue whale, Bengal tiger or positive effect of using these nature conservation policies. are mentioned, examples giant panda. These species attention-grabbing species is But these examples are just a from Spain’s fauna such as are conservation icons, and well known. Species that the tiny part of the tip of a huge the Iberian lynx, imperial often serve as a “flagship collective imagination finds iceberg. According to the eagle, or monk seal rapidly species” to draw attention to attractive, acceptable and International Union for Con- come to mind. At the global the conservation of the eco- lovable can bring public opin- servation of Nature (IUCN)

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structure, reducing the wealth of species comprising them, and in short, degrading their nature. This is currently the case of the plant community characteristic of the Mediterranean region. Let’s look at why.

The Mediterranean basin: an example of biodiversity The Mediterranean basin is considered a conservation hot spot on account of the wide diversity of biological forms it is home to. Its 2.3 million square kilometres are home to at least 25,000 plant species, corresponding to 10% of the earth’s total, occupying 1.6% of the planet’s land surface. Moreover, approximately half these species are endemic to the Mediterranean, and 12% are rare or threatened. And The Barbary sheep or arui is a grazing species that might be suited to occupying an empty niche in the Mediterranean this percentage is on an environment. / Photo courtesy of the author. upward trend. What has given rise to this fantastic biodiversity? There are four factors to Red List, in 2011 there were biotic factors (organisms) large extent by the direct be taken into account: its bio- 19,570 threatened species. that determine the optimal and indirect human action, is geography, geology, ecology This estimate is based solely conditions for all stages of not limited to specific spe- and history. After the last gla- on those taxonomic groups their life cycle. Species cies, except where they are ciation, the so-called Würm that have been sufficiently therefore live in the company the specific object of interest glacial stage, which peaked assessed, so the real figure of many other animals and and are the target of efforts around 20,000 years ago and could be much higher. plants. Their relationship to to hunt or capture them collapsed dramatically around some will be close, for example directly. Instead, in most 10,000 years ago, a period of No species lives in isolation. if they are a food source, instances the threat affects a change began in the Mediter- They are always part of an potential predator, or simply particular habitat or ecosys- ranean basin, in which the ecosystem in which they find fellow travellers, perhaps tem. Consequently, it can be new and previously unknown their home or ecological competing for resources. It is said that some ecosystems behaviour of the human spe- niche. This could be clear that the warning that are threatened by human cies played a role: resource described as the set of abi- the IUCN admirably sums up action, through the alteration collection. This period is the otic (physical) factors and in its Red List, caused to a of their composition and Neolithic, when our species

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started out as a hunter-gath- like the Eurasian wild horse or erer, and gradually began tarpan (Equus ferus). The fos- farming and herding. This is sil record shows these ungu- was when the domestication late herbivores to have been of plants and animals began. abundant as a group through- The availability of animal and out the basin, resulting in a vegetable foods, without the high level of grazing pressure need for nomadic movements on the plant cover. This led to due to the seasonal changes plant species in the Mediterra- affecting resource availability nean developing physical and led to the creation of stable chemical defences, through a human settlements. This process of co-evolution meant the advent of villages between plants and herbiv- and towns, and trade. A major ores. Moreover, the high transformation took place that degree of diversity among gave rise to our civilisation both woody and herbaceous and, progressively, a no less Mediterranean plants was drastic transformation in the favoured by grazing, as it con- natural environment we live in. trolled the proliferation of The Mediterranean basin has dominant species in the plant therefore witnessed these community. major changes and their consequences. However, the balance Jorge Cassinello Roldán between plants and herbiv- Jorge Cassinello Roldán is a CSIC staff scientist and director of the Instituto de The changes during the ores began to be altered by Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos [Institute of Research into Hunting Neolithic human activities in two com- Resources] (IREC), a joint research institute belonging to the Spanish National At the start of the Neolithic the plementary areas: hunting, Research Council (CSIC), the University of Castile-La Mancha and the Junta de geographical environment and domestication of wild Comunidades [regional government] of Castile-La Mancha. He has an honours degree in Biology from the University of Granada (1988). He completed his was characterised by a broad species. Hunting led to an doctoral thesis at the Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas [Arid Zones diversity of plant ecosystems unprecedented, and exces- Experimental Station] (CSIC), Almeria, and was awarded a PhD in Biology from which had co-evolved with a sive, pressure on the ungu- the University of Granada in 1994. For two years he held a contract as a wide variety of herbivorous lates, particularly the bison Research Associate at the Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, Department animals. and aurochs. In the case of of Zoology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. He has also held postdoctoral contracts at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales [National the bison, once abundant on Museum of Natural Science] (CSIC), in Madrid (1995-2003). In 2003 he obtained These included various types more northerly prairies and a Ramón y Cajal contract and joined the IREC, where he set up a research of deer, particularly browsers woodlands, hunting for its group that is currently focused on studying the behavioural ecology and (such as Cervus spp. or Dama meat and skin led to a pro- conservation biology of ungulates. His lines of research include the study of parental care, reproduction, ecology and conservation of large herbivores, spp.), i.e. animals which feed gressive disappearance of the invasive exotic species, and their effects on the ecosystem, and the harmful on all types of woody sub- Species from the Mediterra- effects of consanguinity. He has written some 70 publications, including strate, and large bovids such nean basin. Thus, the last scientific papers, science popularisation articles, and book chapters. He has as the aurochs (Bos primigen- recorded bison on the Iberian supervised three doctoral theses, and has been responsible to date for 15 ius) and European bison Peninsula lived in Navarre in research grants, including projects, contracts and special actions, managing th resources of over €600,000. (Bison bonasus), which are the 12 century. In the case of essentially grazing animals, the aurochs, it is believed that

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the factors leading to their pan, its progressive disap- According to the tant role in displacing ungulate extinction were hunting and pearance in the Neolithic populations, particularly those degradation of their environ- seems to be mainly the result IUCN Red List there living in valleys and mountain- ment by man, together with of its being displaced by the were 19,570 ous areas. What is more, the the likely competition for growing population of domes- gregarious behaviour of the resources with domesticated ticated horses in the region. In threatened species large grazing herbivores may cattle populations. The most short, the gradual process of in 2011 have worked against them. recent genetic studies seem domestication of wild species Bison, aurochs and tarpans to indicate that domestication by man in the Neolithic is con- showed a high trophic of the aurochs only took place sidered to be one of the most dependence on rich grazing among populations in the important factors in explaining land, which varied with the Middle East, but that this the extinction of grazing herbi seasons. This fact probably domesticated version spread vores such as the aurochs caused migratory movements rapidly throughout the Medi- and the tarpan. of large herds of these ani- terranean. The aurochs seems mals as they looked for the to have become extinct in the By the same token, the best pasture, as other species Mediterranean basin in the changes in the habitat in the of ungulates do today. This later years of the Roman wake of the spread of farming characteristic would undoubt- Empire. In the case of the tar- must have also had an impor- edly have made them easier for Neolithic man to track, hunt and capture.

The fact is that during this crucial period in the Mediterra- nean basin, from around 10,000 years ago to approximately 3,000 years ago, man altered the landscape, hunted species to extinction, domesticated plants and animals, and created a new order, which, paradoxically, was characterised by a wealth of flowers, and in which woods, scrubland and pasture alter- nated. To some extent, the niche occupied by the extinct grazing ungulates came to be occupied by cattle, horses, sheep and goats, which together placed a high degree of grazing pressure on the A significant increase in the native population of ungulates is taking place across the European continent. /Photo courtesy land, perhaps similar to that of of the author the preceding wild ungulates.

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Current changes: environmental consequences of the rural exodus What is happening today? The socio-economic reality of our society is causing a progressive and at times rapid abandonment of the rural environment. The shortage of economic resources, the better opportunities the cities offer, and in short, the rural population’s perception of a complete lack of a stable future is encouraging people to give up both arable farming and stock rearing across large swathes of the Mediter- ranean basin. This fact is leading to a marked advance by scrub and even woodland in areas where a mosaic pat- Various factors are encouraging a shift away from both arable and extensive livestock farming right across the Mediterranean. / tern once predominated, Photo courtesy of the author. alternating with pasture and meadows. The conse - quences are as yet hard to predict. The Mediterranean • Increased risk of forest fire position and other bio- due to the increase in scrub geographical factors. The main negative impacts basin is considered and biomass fuel. this situation is having include: a hot-spot in terms Wild ungulates It is clear that the role played A significant increase in the • Homogenisation of the of conservation by extensive stock farming, native population of ungu- plant ecosystem. Loss of bio- occupying an ecological lates is currently taking place diversity. niche that had once been across the European contin the domain of large grazing ent, and in the Mediterra • In arid and semiarid cli- herbivores, has allowed the nean basin in particular. The mates, increased erosion due mosaic landscape typical to reasons are varied, but their to the loss of plant cover. the Mediterranean basin to interest to hunters, the lack of be maintained. This is a natural predators, and the • The loss of the heterogene- landscape in which there is abandonment of the rural ity of habitats will affect animal an alternation of pasture, environment by man are species adapted to the eco- scrub and a wide variety of among the principal causes. tone and variable structure types of woodland, depend- This increase in herbivore habitats. ing on the altitude, soil com- numbers is occurring with a

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significant bias, such that The domestication species in question are the value as a hunting trophy browsing species basically mouflon (Ovis orientalis have led to there being sig- predominate. The main spe- of wild species by musimon) and the Barbary nificant numbers of the ani- cies in the Spanish Mediterra- man in the sheep or arui (Ammotragus mal in the wild in a number nean scrublands are the red lervia). of countries in central and deer (Cervus elaphus), roe Neolithic was a eastern Europe, and also in deer (Capreolus capreolus) decisive factor in The evidence suggests that Spain. It was introduced in and fallow deer (Dama the mouflon was a wild Spain in 1953, with the dama), and in the higher the extinction of the sheep, originally from Asia, release of a few specimens mountains, the Iberian ibex that underwent the first from France and Luxem- (Capra pyrenaica); the case grazing herbivores stages of domestication in bourg in the Sierra de of the chamois (Rupicapra Europe in the early Neolithic, Cazorla, Jaén. Since then pyrenaica), a generalist with returning to the wild on vari- they have proliferated in the browsing and grazing habi- ous Mediterranean islands. wild and in private hunting tats, is different, as it is highly The domestication of wild reserves. The Spanish popu- localised to mountainous sheep probably began lation is considered one of areas of Cantabria and the around 8,000 years ago in the most valuable for hunting Pyrenees. There is, therefore, Eastern Europe, on the Ana- purposes; however, there is a clear shortage of grazing tolian peninsula, and the no data on the degree of herbivore ungulates in the mouflon was an early example inbreeding and the genetic autoctonous fauna of the of this process. Its close variability and viability of Mediterranean, as the genetic relationship with Spain’s populations needs to aurochs, bison and tarpans today’s domestic sheep sug- be studied. Recent compara became extinct centuries gests it is one of their ances- tive studies on food selection ago, as we have seen. More- tors. While on mainland show that it is basically a over, we have also seen the Europe and in the Middle grazing species, apparently ecological niche left by these East populations of domestic overlapping little with the extinct species gradually filled sheep proliferated, on the other autochthonous ungu- by cattle, sheep and horses. Mediterranean islands of late herbivores with which it Until now, that is. Corsica, Sardinia and coexists, such as the red Cyprus, mouflon populations deer. The mouflon is per- In this situation, is the remained intact. This singu- fectly suited to Mediterra- mosaic plant ecosystem that lar animal has a dark brown nean woodlands and scrub, has characterised the Medi- coat, and the males have preferring ecotone areas, or terranean since the start of conspicuous white saddle areas of dense scrub wood- the present postglacial markings. Later, in the 18th land in which there are clear- period in danger? Perhaps century, it started to be intro- ings with pasture. It can also not. It is not entirely true to duced onto the mainland be found in rocky craggy say that we lack wild ungu- from the islands as a game areas, generally at altitudes lates that feed primarily on animal. There is also evi- of 1,000 to 1,500 metres. It herbaceous plants. The thing dence that it was introduced is a species which adapts is that these ungulates are in Medieval times as an readily to a variety of envi- not autochthonous, or at ornamental species in parks ronments, although it prefers least one of them is not. The and gardens. Its increasing scrub and rocky areas. It has

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also adapted to high moun- result of indiscriminate hunt- Pastoralism has in rocky areas where mountain environments in the Pyr- ing and changes to its habi- tain pasture and mixed enees and the Alps. tat. As a species, however, maintained the scrub predominate. How- the arui is not threatened, as mosaic landscape ever, it does not adapt to all The Barbary sheep or arui is there are introduced popula- environments, preferring arid a primitive North African tions in the United States, typical of the or semi-arid areas, where goat species that some northern Mexico and south- Mediterranean the precipitation is relatively authors consider to be the east Spain which are repro- slight. The arui has not man- origin of the evolutionary ducing extremely success- basin unchanged aged to adapt to any other chain leading to today’s wild fully. Like the mouflon –or European country where goats and sheep. There is even more so– the arui is attempts have been made to little information about its basically a grazing species introduce it (e.g. Germany or status and distribution in its so might be suited to an Italy). Studies in captivity countries of origin, but is empty niche in the Mediter- show a surprising ability to generally in decline as a ranean environment. It lives withstand high levels of inbreeding. Lastly, the species is a good coloniser, generating a wide distribution with a high reproductive rate.

How can we avoid the Mediterranean’s varied landscape being lost? Preserving the plant biodiversity of the Mediterranean basin has to be a conservation policy priority. What solutions can we propose?

To date, extensive stock farming has helped maintain the landscape’s ecological heterogeneity, but today’s socio-economic reality is making it difficult to envisage subsidy or support policies that enable this type of pastoralism to remain viable on a significant scale. The gradual abandonment of the rural environment looks irreversi- Spain’s mouflon population is considered one of the most valuable as a hunting resource /Photo courtesy of the author. ble, and we are facing a new scenario which will have

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important environmental basin, in a broad sense, and We need to bring species (e.g. the aurochs, impacts in the near term. We perhaps a grazing species tarpan). The European bison need to be ready to respond of interest to preserve wild grazing is nevertheless a true survi- to this challenge. mountain meadows and species back into vor. The recovered popula- pastures. tion in Poland is a magnifi- We need to bring naturally our countryside cent example of successful wild grazing species back The Barbary sheep is a bigger conservation, as it was on into the Spanish landscape, problem given its geographi- the verge of extinction in the in the form of animals that cal and taxonomic origins. early 20th century and has are able to look after them- Detailed studies of its effects been saved by a successful selves and reproduce in the on the Mediterranean ecosys- captive breeding pro - natural environment. We now tem would be needed to gramme, although at the have a significant presence determine its environmental expense of a dramatic loss of two exotic ungulates in impact. Although its trophic of genetic variability. There is the countryside, and we ecology, feeding habits, and a European programme to have to face the ecological, population dynamics are fairly reintroduce the bison in sev- and moral, question of well understood, if we man- eral European countries, whether, paradoxically, these age its populations properly it including Spain. I am not species might be a useful might become an ally in pre- familiar with the details of means of managing our nat- serving pastures and scrub- the scientific basis or the ural environment. We are still land in Spain’s semi-arid ecological assumptions, but short of scientific data with mountain regions. I do not rule out the possibil- which to understand the ity of progress along this ecological impacts of these In short, as an ecologist I path which could yield solu- bovids on their new habitat, must give priority to scientifi- tions helping maintain the but it is possible to put for- cally based study, but I can- landscape, particularly in ward some working hypoth- not rule out alternative more northerly areas. We eses. hypotheses to the fundamen- need to be alert to events talist position regarding the and advocate rigorous sci- As mentioned, the mouflon “exotic” origins of the spe- entific monitoring. is probably the ancestor of cies. The quotes are mine. all the species of domestic In short, there may be solu- European sheep, which are To round off, please allow tions, but it is clear that we widely kept by shepherds me one final liberty. What if are witnessing a change in right across the Mediterra- w e r e i n t r o d u c e d t h e land use, and giving up the nean basin. They are less aurochs, the bison or the spontaneous sustainability gregarious than flocks of tarpan? Here we come up created by Neolithic man. We domesticated sheep, and against a number of prob- need to carefully study the their likely damage to flora is lems, ranging from the exoti options and make big efforts not likely to be greater than cism of species that have to safeguard our rich natural that of their modern cous- been absent from our eco- heritage. Future generations ins. We could therefore con- systems for centuries will judge us; and I hope they sider the mouflon to be a (debatable) to the viability of will have reasons to do so native to the Mediterranean genetically “reconstructed” benevolently.

Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC | Nº 9 | LYCHNOS | 55 Science and the Humanities The central goal of the BBVA Foundation’s activity is to support world-class scientific research, music, artistic and literary creation, and the humanities. Science, technology, music and art, and their academic study in the framework of the humanities, form a continuum that acts to shape the culture and sensibility of our time. The BBVA Foundation promotes knowledge through managed programs that take in research projects, advanced training, and the relaying to society of the products of these research and creative endeavors. Its focus areas are the environment (biodiversity, climate change), biomedicine, basic sciences and technology, economy and society, classical and contemporary music, literature, plastic arts and the humanities. The BBVA Foundation also recognizes the achievements of researchers and artists through a series of award schemes. The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, run in collaboration with the CSIC and currently into their third year, honor outstanding contributions at international level that have significantly enlarged the sphere of knowledge in the following eight fields. Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), Biomedicine, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Information and Communication Technologies, Economics, Finance and Management, Contemporary Music, Climate Change, and Development Cooperation. Through these varied activities, the BBVA Foundation puts into practice one of the BBVA Group’s core principles: to work for a better future for people through the ongoing promotion of knowledge and innovation. www.fbbva.es |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ON BIODIVERSITY ... 03.2

Conservation biology viewed from the perspective of evolutionary biology

The author suggests that it is essential to determine what evolutionary patterns have led to today’s biological diversity in order to understand the key factors producing biodiversity, and so have a historical framework allowing today’s rich biodiversity to be put in context.

Xavier Bellés

Director of the Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF)

ne of the big challeng- to no less than a direct under- It is currently estimated that total), fungi (almost 100,000 es facing scientific re- standing of the keys to how there are between 1.5 (Robert species, approximately 5% of O search in the wake of life, and its essential mecha- May, 2000) and 1.9 (Arthur the total), molluscs (around the sequencing of the human nisms, work. Chapman, 2009) million 85,000 species, approxi- genome –and that of many described species. This wide mately 4.5% of the total) and other species– is to describe It is in this context that the variation is basically a result of vertebrates (over 63,500 spe- and understand biological di- Instituto de Biología Evolutiva problems of synonymy in the cies, approximately 3.4% of versity, whether within each [Institute of Evolutionary Biol- taxonomic catalogues. It is the total). We therefore have species (the study of poly ogy] (IBE), set up in 2008 as noteworthy that over 60% of to admit that we do not know morphism or variation) or be- a joint centre by the Spanish described species are arthro- exactly how many valid spe- tween species (analysis of National Research Council pods, with 1.15 million species have been described. divergence). Evolutionary biol (CSIC) and the Pompeu cies, and the immense major- And our uncertainty increases ogy provides the fundamen- Fabra University, operates. ity of them (1 million) are further when we try to evalu- tal tools and concepts with Here we will discuss some insects. All other known spe- ate how many species there which to describe and under- examples of research lines cies are divided among the are in total on our planet. The stand biological diversity. relating to biodiversity and its plants (over 300,000 species, most conservative estimates And this knowledge leads us conservation. or approximately 16% of the envisage a range of values of

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between 3.5 and 111.5 million Xavier Bellés species. The most recent Xavier Bellés is a CSIC research professor and director of the Instituto de evaluation was published in Biología Evolutiva [Institute of Evolutionary Biology] (IBE), CSIC-UPF. He was the 2011 by Camilo Mora and col- coordinator of the CSIC’s Natural Resources Area from 2004 to 2008. His leagues, and predicts that research interest is in insects, particularly metamorphosis. He has published around twenty books and over a hundred papers in Science Citation Index (SCI) there are 8.7 million eukary journals, and is on the editorial board of five SCI journals. He also devotes some otic species on the earth, 2.2 of his free time to science popularisation. He is a member of the Royal Academy million of which are marine of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences in Madrid, the Royal Academy of creatures. This work also esti- Sciences and Arts in Barcelona, the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and the Institut Menorquí d’Estudis. He has been awarded the Prix Maurice et Therése Pic by mates that 86% of land spe- the Société Entomologique de France (Paris), the Premio de Literatura Científica cies and 91% of marine spe- by the Fundació Catalana pera la Recerca (Barcelona) and the Prisma de cies have yet to be described. Bronce from the Casa de las Ciencias (A Coruña). Xavier Bellés. In any event, the number of species currently inhabiting the earth is very large, indeed biological diversity in order to back than the last hundred ages Through Time, LTT), probably larger than it ever understand the key factors million years before the Cam- which offer a simple way of has been in the past. This is a driving biodiversity, and so brian. What is more, there is a exploring the pattern of diver- result of life’s evolution over have a historical framework marked tendency towards the sification within the phylogen more than 3.5 billion years, i.e. allowing us to put today’s rich formation of fossils in particu- etic tree (Figure 1A). From more than three quarters of biodiversity in context. lar environments, as shown by there it is possible to use vari- the time during which life on the fact that 95% of described ous types of models describ- our planet will be possible. It is clear that in order to fossils are marine creatures, ing diversification processes. From a common ancestor, life investigate the patterns of while 85% of today’s known The simplest is the model of has diversified into millions of diversification over time, the biodiversity is terrestrial. pure speciation (pure birth), in different lineages through a first source of information to which lineages emerge at a contingent succession of consider is the fossil record. Fortunately, biological diversity constant rate, producing a processes of speciation and From a catalogue of the differ- can also be studied using the straight line on the semi-loga- extinction. Thus, a number of ent forms of life in the past we information in molecular phyl- rithmic LTT graphs (Figure authors, such as Jack Sepko- can deduce the rate at which ogenies, as shown by the glo- 1B). The pure birth model is a ski, Robert May and Michael groups of organisms have bal analyses of diversification specific case within the speci- Benton, estimate that the appeared and disappeared at in mammals based on molecu ation and extinction (birth- species alive today are just different times in the earth’s lar phylogenies, carried out death) models, in which 2-4% of all the species that geological history, and ultim at the IBE as part of Víctor extinctions are not allowed. have ever existed. Neverthe- ately, we can identify gen Soria-Carrasco’s doctoral the- The next simplest is a birth- less, a large number of combi- eral patterns of biological sis work, under the supervi- death model, in which the nations of rates of speciation diversification. However, the sion of José Castresana. rates of speciation and extinc- and extinction are possible, fossil record is far from being From phylogenetic trees it is tion are constant (Figure 1C). and this can lead to an end an ideal source of information, possible to analyse diversifica- These models can be made state in which there is wide as we know it is incomplete tion by studying the distances considerably more compli- diversity, such as that we see and biased. Soft-bodied between cladogenetic events. cated if we allow ad hoc today. It is also essential to organisms rarely fossilise, This information can be changes in the diversification determine what evolutionary making it impossible to quan- shown on graphs of lineage rate. This leads to more com- patterns have led to today’s tify the biodiversity further accumulation over time (Line- plex patterns that allow for

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variations in the speciation /// Figure 1. Study of diversification processes using phylogenetic tree models. rate in a pure birth model or ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// changes in the extinction rate, or in both the speciation and A B extinctions rates, in a birth- death model.

Other possible models depend on density, so that the diversification rate varies gradually according to the 100 number of lineages. Density- 10 rt = l 8 50 dependent models are very 6 interesting, as by linking the 20 rate of diversification to the 4 10 Lineages Lineages number of lineages present at 5 a given time, they allow a relationship between diversifica- 2 2 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 3 2 1 0 tion and the ecology to be Time Time assumed. Thus, models of a gradual decrease in the diver- C D sification rate would reflect the idea that there is a limit on the number of available niches, and therefore, the rate at which new lineages appear should decrease as the ecological niches are filled (Figure 100 100 r = l – m 1D). Moreover, gradual growth t rt = l0 (1 – Nt/k) 50 50 k = N models make it possible to explore the idea that the 20 20 increase in the number of line- 10 10 ages favours an acceleration Lineages Lineages 5 5 in speciation processes. This 2 2 is the interesting idea, which 25 20 15 10 5 0 8 6 4 2 as yet lacks widespread sup- Time v port among specialists, that biodiversity catalyses further Ten taxon tree simulated with the pure birth model and its corresponding graph of lineages through time (LTT) (the biodiversity. Evolutionary biol- number of lineages is represented on a logarithmic scale). B-C: Trees and LTT graphs of phylogenies simulated using a ogy therefore gives us valu pure (B) model and a birth-death (C) model (the x-axis is shown with a logarithmic scale; t is the diversification rate,l the able tools with which to esti- speciation rate, and m is the extinction rate). D: Tree and LTT graph of a simulated phyologeny under a model in which the diversification rate gradually decreases towards a limit. mate biological speciation and extinction rates over time. And Figure courtesy of Víctor Soda-Carrasco and José Castresana, Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (IBE). understanding how these

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rates have looked in the past /// Figure 2. The only representatives of the class Filasterea: Capsaspora owczarzaki (A) will give us a fuller apprecia- and Ministeria vibrans (B) /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// tion of how dramatic today’s rate of biodiversity loss is. As is well known, this process is largely anthropogenic, and understanding it will help focus species conservation criteria in a more global and holistic way.

Evolutionary biology also gives us the tools with which to establish the genealogy of species, the famous tree of Photos courtesy of Arnau Sebé-Pedrós and Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo, Instituto de Biología Evolutiva (IBE). life mentioned by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species. The tree of life is Ministeria lives free and feeds reasons to fear for these spe- ure 3), described and studied also useful when defining the on bacteria. Neither them cies’ survival, but if they were extensively by Salvador Car- criteria for species conserva- appears to face any particular endangered, they would ranza, at the IBE. Calotriton tion. From the strictly evolu- threat or to be at risk of need to be put at the top of arnoldi is a species of newt tionary point of view, it would extinction, but if they were, the conservation agenda on discovered in 2005 on the be of the utmost importance protecting them would be a account of the biological and rocky outcrop of Montseny, to protect those species that priority as they contain the evolutionary information they approximately 50 km from represent particular branches information for an entire class contain. Barcelona. The Montseny of the tree, i.e. species that of organisms. C o r a l l o - newt presents a series of mor- are the sole representatives chytrium Iimacisporum is a In conservation biology this phological, osteological and large evolutionary groups, as similar case, as it is the only criterion, which we could call genetic characteristics that we would lose a whole exclu- species representing the Cor- “evolutionary representative- make it a unique species, sive organism type if they allochytrea class of protists. ness,” can also take us to the entirely distinguishable from were to disappear. For exam- We could even find examples opposite extreme, i.e. to those its sister species, the ple, the Filasterea class of of species that represent a species that are endangered, Pyrenean newt (Calotriton protists comprises just two whole phylum, such as Tri- but nevertheless have related asper). The genetic data allow species: Capsaspora owc- choplaxadherens, which is species that are not. These us to estimate that the two zarzaki (Figure 2A) and Minis- the only representative of the species, which form short species parted ways about a teria vibrans (Figure 2B), phylum of placozoa, or Sym- branches on the phylogenetic million and a half years ago. It which are being studied by bion pandora and Symbion tree, would have much lower is the only vertebrate endemic Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo’s group at the americanus, the only two priority for conservation, if we to Catalonia, the only sala- IBE, who are researching the species in the Cycliophora follow evolutionary criteria mander endemic to Spain, origins of multicellularity. phylum, or XenoturbeIla bocki alone. There are numerous and one of the amphibians Capsaspora lives in symbio- and Xenoturbella westbladi, examples of this situation, but with the most limited distribu- sis in the hemolymph of the the only known representa- to illustrate it we could take tions in Europe. Exhaustive tropical fresh-water mollusc tives of the phylum Xenotur- the case of the Montseny exploration since its discovery Biomphalaria glabrata, while bellida. Again, there are no newt, Calotriton arnoldi (Fig- show that the Montseny newt

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lives in just seven streams, and forget about the and regulator of abundant serving the Montseny newt with a total distribution of Montseny newt, if the latter’s prey such as rabbits, or the would have a similar signifi- approximately 40 km2. evolutionary information mesopredators, such as the cance to preserving the appears to be redundant. For fox or mongoose, or the uni- Romanesque churches of Its sister species, the various reasons. Even from versally popular case of lova- Taüll, although there are many Pyrenean newt, is found on the evolutionary perspective, ble African elephants, whose other examples of Roman- both sides of the Pyrenees, at the loss of the Montseny newt disappearance could have esque churches, or the Roda altitudes of 500 to 2,500m. It would represent a loss of dramatic ecological impacts Bible, even though there are particularly favours clean, direct information about the on the African jungle and many other medieval bibles, or slow moving, relatively shallow different evolutionary proc- savannah. one of Joan Miró’s “Constella- water, but is also able to adapt esses the species has under- tions”, although there are 22 to ponds, streams, rivers gone, giving it its particular Lastly, we should not forget more of them. In the early and even cattle troughs. In morphological, ecological and the arguments in terms of their 1970s, when there were just a 2008 the IUCN gave the behavioural characteristics. In heritage value (or sentimental few hundred specimens of Pyrenean newt “near threat- this creature’s case we do not value, if you prefer). The blue whale (Balaenoptera mus- ened” status as it occupies have such strong ecological Montseny newt, the Iberian culus), a well-known econo- just over 20,000 km2 and its arguments for its conservation lynx, or the African elephant, mist, Colin W. Clark, asked habitat is in decline. Why not as for an emblematic species although on different scales of whether it would be better concentrate conservation such as the Iberian lynx, with locality or universality, are part business to stop hunting blue efforts on the Pyrenean newt its role as an umbrella species of the world’s heritage. Con- whales and develop a programme for their sustainable exploitation, or catch all the remaining specimens and invest the profits in growth stocks. His answer was that it would be better business to kill them and invest the money. As Edward Wilson replied at the time, aggres- sively ‘economistic’ arguments contain the fundamental error of ignoring the real value offered by biodiversity to the health of our planet’s ecological systems, and ultimately, to ours. Although less tangible, Clark’s reasoning also produced a visceral rejection among nature lovers, who wish to conserve nature for sentimental reasons or for its heritage value, as dis- Figure 3. Image of the Montseny newt, Calotriton arnoldi, in the typical copulating position, in which the male (underneath and facing forward in the photo) holds the female (on top and facing away) with its tail. / Photo courtesy of Salvador Carranza, Instituto cussed above. And this value de Biología Evolutiva (IBE). is not insignificant.

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Secrets of some of the Pyrenees’ threatened plants

Here the author takes us on a tour of the results obtained over the last two decades of field studies on four Pyrenean species listed in Aragon’s Catalogue of Threatened Species (CEAA): Pinguicula longifolia subsp. longifolia, Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa, Cypripedium calceolus and Borderea chouardii.

María Begoña García

Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC)

s everyone knows, based on ecological niche cies. We therefore need to Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa, plants are primary pro- models and future scenarios of understand the role of these Cypripedium calceolus and A ducers and underlie ec- climate change. This pessim rare plants in the ecosystem Borderea chouardii (Figure 1). osystems’ biodiversity. We istic vision is based on a sin- and determine their real vulner- They are just a few examples, depend on them for the oxy- gle non-experimental meth- ability to the global changes but they illustrate the living his- gen we breathe, our food and odology, which has not always taking place. tory of plants with extremely many other goods and serv- been confirmed by the, al limited distributions. ices we humans, and all other beit scant, recent studies This article sets out the results living creatures in the food monitoring plants over the last obtained over the last two dec- These random examples chain, enjoy. Over the last dec- few decades. If the predictions ades of field studies on four allow us to look from a differ- ade, however, we have been for the most common plants Pyrenean species listed in ent and more objective angle bombarded with gloomy pre- are not promising, it is logical Aragon’s Catalogue of Threat- at their ecology and popula- dictions of a drastic and rapid to suppose that they will be ened Species (CEAA): Pinguic- tion dynamics, so as to better loss of global biodiversity, worse still for threatened spe- ula longifolia subsp. longifolia, understand the keys to their

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María Begoña García around underneath the pend- María Begoña García is a CSIC staff scientist at the Instituto Pirenaico de uncular glands as if they were Ecología [Pyreneen Institute of Ecology] (CSIC). She obtained her doctorate in on a stroll through a beech sciences (Biology), in 1993 from the Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), on wood. This tiny mite (a sub- the reproduction and demographics of endemic plants in the Pyrenees, with species new to science which grant funding from the Government of Aragón. After taking her PhD, she spent two years in Sweden and New Zealand, four years at the Doñana Biological has not yet been described Station (reincorporation contract) and two years at the University of Seville and does not seem to be (Ramón y Cajal). She has taught at the universities of Navarre, Zaragoza, Seville, found anywhere else) feeds and Pablo de Olavide (Seville). Her current research line is on the dynamics and on the remains of the butter- conservation of biodiversity at the community level (spatial patterns on altitude wort’s prey once they have gradients, assembly rules, and changes in recent decades) and species populations (trends and analysis of population viability in rare, threatened and been digested by its leaves indicator plants, and plants at the limits of their distribution). (Figure 2) and it lives in the María Begoña García. nooks and crannies formed by the revolute leaves, where they shed their skins, excrete, and we have also observed existence today and propose these insects by catching This humble, rare, pregnant females. It is quite more effective measures to them in their leaves and kill- possible that this interaction avoid their future loss. ing them. Most of the arthro- long-leafed is beneficial for the plant as pods between 1 - 4 cm that Pyrenean the mite feeds on hyphae and We will start with Pinguicula approach the plant are fungi that may represent a longifolia subsp. longifolia trapped when they come into butterwort is the threat to it. (Lentibulariaceae), a plant contact with the specialised endemic to the central Pyr- glands on their leaves. The basis of a rich Thus, this humble and rare enees catalogued as being insects are digested for their network of biotic long-leafed Pyrenean butter- of “special interest.” It is a nutrients by enzymes wort, which, like many other rupicolous butterwort (a type secreted by tiny sessile interactions carnivorous plants, inhabits of carnivorous plant) with glands. The young leaves are nutrient-poor sites, is the leaves up to 30cm long that in contact with the limestone basis of a rich network of hang over the damp lime- rock face when they start to biotic interactions: not only stone rocks it lives on, creat- develop, and their prey are symbiosis such as pollination ing sticky passive traps for accessible to other creatures and the possible benefit of a passing insects. As with that collect them as if they unique mite that only lives on many other plants, its flowers were shopping for food: the its leaves, but other inter are visited by pollenisers ants that swarm around on actions in which there are losers: (mainly long-proboscis the damp rock. However, this its carnivorous feeding habits hymenoptera and dipterous butterwort’s traps are not and the ants’ cleptobiosis of insects), thanks to which it able to catch large flying its prey. The decline or loss of bears fruit and numerous tiny insects such as crane flies this catalogued plant would seeds able to reach new and butterflies, nor the small- entail the loss of another “ecological islands” where est arthropods which are also important type of diversity in a they can germinate. Unlike common in their environ- delicate and unrepeatable many other plants, however, ment: mites in the group Ori- microcosmos: that of a dense they also take advantage of batula tibialis which stroll and exclusive network of

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interactions that has evolved The fact that there P pseudoviscosa is distrib- them (survival, growth, fertil- over millions of years. uted in five populations of ity, etc.), factor them in to are organisms so very different sizes: from just stochastic matrix models and The next story relates to a well adapted to a hundred or so to several evaluate the extinction rate plant catalogued by the CEEA thousand. This situation over a 100 year horizon using as “vulnerable” as it lives living in the poorest allows us to test the wide- classical population viability in just one valley in the places on earth will spread idea that small popu- analysis (Figure 3). Aragonese Pyrenees: Petro- lations are more prone to coptis pseudoviscosa (Caryo- never cease to extinction than large ones. To The population that turned phyllaceae). do so hundreds of plants in out to be the most stable, amaze us three populations were moni- and therefore at least risk of Like the previous plant, this tored individually. This made extinction, was neither the is also a rupicolous plant liv- it possible to estimate char- largest nor the smallest. We ing in inaccessible locations. acteristic vital rates of each of would not have reached this conclusion if we had worked on the data in isolation from the population structure (that which had the lowest ratio relative to reproducers, which could lead us to consider it senescent), seed germination (the lowest), and fruit predation (the highest). Only by a combination, integrating all the vital cycle rates, are we able to characterise current functioning and make predictions about the future based on real empirical data. The key to understanding the difference in population behaviour in this case lies in the average age of the larger adults, which is in the range of 18 to 50 years. Further studies also showed that the species is not just self- compatible (i.e. it can form seeds fertilised with its own pollen), but that the seeds produced in this way Figure 1. Aspect of the four plants discussed (left to right, top to bottom): Pinguicula longifolla subsp. longifolla, Petrocoptis germinate as well as those pseudoviscosa, Cypnpedium calceolus and Borderea chouardii. / Photos courtesy of the author. obtained by cross-fertilisa-

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known as “lady’s slipper,” expectations. It is therefore present in numerous Euro- worth asking what is behind pean countries, are found. It this unexpectedly benign situ- is catalogued as “endan- ation today, given that the Pyr- gered” in the CEAA as its enees are slowly becoming distribution is limited to the warmer. The oldest retrospec- SW Pyrenees. tive images available for popu lations fifty years ago can Reports at European level help us understand why this consider it to be in serious rare plant is not currently far- decline, having disappeared ing any worse than it used to. from at least one EU country. In the wake of the gradual Studying it in the Pyrenees abandonment of traditional allowed us to test the para- uses of mountain areas, the digm that peripheral popula- places where the lady’s-slip- tions are in a worse state per orchid grow have grad than central ones. This could ually become covered in trees also give us an idea of how and bushes, which has almost more than a hundred vascu- certainly changed popula- lar woodland plants with tions’ microclimates. Whereas Eurosiberian affinities in the the average temperature in absolute southernmost limit the Pyrenees has risen, orchid of their distribution are func- populations have probably tioning. With this goal, doz- been kept cooler by the ens of groups and hundreds increased shade. This is an of individual plants were example of how local changes monitored over ten years. can be much more important than global ones. There are no Interestingly, none of the “good” or “bad” processes in parameters analysed was nature. There is simply a Figure 2. Prey captured by the leaves of Pinguicula longifolia subsp. longifolia. worse in the Pyrenean popu- reorganisation of energy and The arrow shows the position of two mites (Oribatula tibialis) feeding on the lations than the central ones: diversity. And there are always prey after its nutrients have been digested by the plant’s leaves. / Photo courtesy population sizes were similar, winners and losers. The of the author. average fruiting was much recovery of the woodlands higher, and the population means the loss of the diversity growth rate matched or that has built up in the exceeded that shown in data meadows. But it also stabi- tion. This possibility undoubt- Let’s leave rocky habitats for from other European coun- lises the soil, stores water and edly gives plants living in a moment to look at rich tries. And again, the stochas- biomass resources, and “ecological islands” consider- pastureland and the wood- tic matrix models tell us that improves the conditions for its able autonomy, as they need land margins of the central the risk of extinction over the associated species. to develop mechanisms to Pyrenees, where four popu- next century is nil. The periph- ensure individual’s survival lations of Cypripedium cal- eral Pyrenean populations do Let’s go back to the harsh after colonising new enclaves. ceolus, a beautiful orchid not respond to theoretical rocky habitat to explore one

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of the most fascinating of plant stories, that of Borde- rea chouardii (Diosco - reaceae). This tiny dioecious geophyte, a living fossil from the tertiary period, was discovered in the 1950s and lives exclusively in the cracks of a limestone crag in the Aragonese Pyrenees. It is catalogued by the CEAA as “endangered” and is a priority plant in the European Union Habitats Directive (1992), having been the object of the first recovery plan officially promoted in Spain (1994). Since then, having overcome the difficulty accessing it by setting up a scaffolding and working in uncomfortable locations, hundreds of plants have been monitored individually, and this has enabled us to Figure 3. Schematic representation of a plant’s generic life cycle, showing the transition between size classes and the various discover the unusual repro- factors that can intervene. This type of information is used at the basis of population viability analysis. ductive secrets and dynamics of this unique species. As in the case of R pseudoviscosa and C. calceolus most There are no “good” and telescopes, and more annual stem leaves a small of the studies conducted accurate surveys of its scar on the outside of the began thanks to a LIFE or “bad” processes inaccessible terrain. During this tuber. Using the dead tubers project obtained in 1996 by in nature, just period it was also possible to trapped in the cracks it was the Aragonese regional gov- bolster the population by possible to determine the age ernment, which has con reorganisations of sowing seeds in cracks and of a handful of plants, with tinued its support for this line founding new populations, the surprising result that they of work to the present. energy and which are now producing their were over 300 years old. diversity first reproductive individuals. Given the small size of the The first visual estimate of tubers, and the fact that they the population suggested a The first surprise the plant do not reproduce by vegeta- figure of between 300 and gave us was that it is possible tive propagation, it is possible 500 plants. This was later to determine its age, as like that we have come across increased to 9,000 by means its congener B. pyrenaica it the slowest growing plant in of searches with binoculars has the peculiarity that the the world (Figure 4).

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The next surprise came with the recently fertilised flower We have learned pen, revealed that it is ants the study of their population turns to insert the ovary in a that pollinate its flowers and dynamics: we knew that nearby crack, where the from these plants disperse its seeds. Two differ- there were few small plants in seeds develop and are that rarity is not ent genera of ants are the population, so we feared released when the fruit dries. involved in the essential proc- that this was an extremely old How did the seeds reach the same than as ess of sexual reproduction in population in decline. How- these inaccessible locations? being endangered, order to maintain the popula- ever, the matrix models of A painstaking study of its tion, despite the fact that population dynamics show habitat over several years, just one of the ways ants have generally been year after year that the popu- watching somewhere were considered nectar thieves lation cannot be considered nothing ever seems to hap- of living rather than effective pollin to be shrinking but is stable. ators, and here are barely a The projection for the popula- handful of cases in the world tion 500 years in the future is where their dual role as pollin very similar to today’s. For a ators and dispersers have plant that originated millions been shown. When founding of years ago, and has sur- new populations, therefore, vived various glaciations, our the existence of ants able to 17 years of monitoring have move pollen and seeds has been but the blinking of an to be considered to ensure eye in its long evolutionary the future success of the history. We have to humbly species. admit that despite the fact that although the detailed The secrets we have extracted time series data that we have from these four “threatened” collected on this plant rate plants are just a sample of the among the longest in the many that remain to be dis- world, in fact it may still be covered among rare mountain insufficient to fully understand plants. The fact that there are the plant. organisms so well adapted to living in the poorest places on The third surprise this unique earth, such as cracks in the plant gave us was its repro- rock face, where they never- ductive system. From the theless manage to maintain a start of ecological monitoring stable population, will never we frequently observed that cease to amaze us. We have the few new seedlings on the learned from these plants that rock face in each annual cen- rarity is not the same than as sus were isolated and remote being endangered, just a way from the nearest potential of living. While we discuss mother plant, even though their situation of danger, they, this species uses the typical tougher than the rocks they mechanism many rupicolous Figure 4. Borderea chouardii tuber over 200 years old. The red spots mark some of live on, look down in amaze- plants use for seed dispersal: the scars left by its annual stems. / Photo courtesy of the author. ment...

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Banco Santander. Committed to the Environment

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Banco Santander, close to nature

Banco Santander’s history is tied to the communities it serves. It aims to contribute to social and economic progress through activities to protect, conserve and restore the environment.

Santander Universities Global Division

Biodiversity in Santander’s The bank has also contributed protect the environment, such which 170 hectares are green world to the United Nations Confer- as renewable energy sources space, and it was designed to Banco Santander applies a ence on Sustainable Develop- and energy efficiency. combine functionality with social and environmental pol- ment (Rio+20), held in June respect for the environment. icy to its business inspired by 2012 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Moreover, the importance of Its environmental impact has best practice, as set out in biodiversity, etched into the been minimised through its conventions, protocols, codes In its financial business, the bank’s conscience, involves low building density, low-rise of conduct and internationally bank adds other specific lines exhaustive control over the buildings, and siting of car applicable guidelines on the of action to these globally rec- consumption and emissions parks underground. And to subject, promoted by institu- ognised guidelines, primarily of the financial groups’ facili- raise its energy efficiency, the tions such as the United in relation to defence, energy, ties around the world. The buildings have been aligned to Nations, OECD, and others. water and forestry sectors. Ciudad Grupo Santander, the maximise the use of natural Banking is no stranger to pro- bank’s headquarters, set in resources: the sun’s light and Indeed, the bank has taken on tecting the environment. the countryside in Boadilla del heat. Efficient management of many international environ- Monte, deserves a separate water resources also ensures mental commitments, such as Analysing the social and mention. This site was significant savings in water the Equator Principles, the environmental risks entailed designed to take the need to consumption. United Nations Environment by credit operations and preserve and improve the nat- Programme Financial Initiative, decision-making on lending ural environment very much One of the key features of the the Carbon Disclosure operations come under this into account. Ciudad Grupo Santander is its Project, the Banking Environ- heading, for example. Banco gardens, with 21,000 trees of ment Initiative, and the Round Santander also promotes Ciudad Grupo Santander various types – olives, which Table on Responsible Soy. financial solutions aiming to occupies a 250 hectare site, of are the symbol of the town,

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cork oaks, American oaks, shrub areas. In the open Ciudad Grupo of its facilities, it has also led poplars, ashes and fruit trees– areas, other birds such as its banking business to be and a million bushes, ground wagtails, hoopoes, white Santander was directly involved in environ- cover plants and herbs. storks, starlings, house mar- designed to mental and social welfare tins and swallows can be projects in the countries in It combines open spaces, seen. And in the more combine which it operates. wooded areas, shrubberies densely wooded areas, spar- functionality and and lakes, creating a perfect rows, blackbirds, finches, These include initiatives like environment for various dif- nightingales, robins, serins, respect for the the Mexican reforestation ferent species to coexist. So kestrels, little owls, and black programme, Reforestamos far over 60 species have kites predominate. The lakes environment México, which planted 3.5 been identified, which often and streams have permanent hectares of trees in three live in interconnected natural bird colonies: coots, moor- years of “Jornadas de Refor- habitats. hens, tufted ducks, little estación con Santander” grebes, and ruddy shel- tree-planting days. The most The creatures most sensitive ducks. important environmental to human presence, such as effort ever in Puerto Rico, the Granada hares, red-legged Just as the bank’s concern for International Coastal Cleanup partridges, pipits and the environment has shaped Day, was sponsored by chiffchaffs take refuge in the the design and management Banco Santander, which also organised its own team of volunteers to collect various types of harmful waste from the coast.

In Brazil, projects such as Fondo Floresta Real stand out. This institution began in 2008 and aims to offset the bank’s carbon emissions in the country. As well as promoting tree planting –in 2011 a total of 63 thousand were planted– the bank monitors its work to observe the benefits for the community over time. Another idea, Projeto Corre- dor Ecológico, includes Banco Santander Brasil as a founding member and aims to restore 150 thousand hectares of tropical forest in the River Paraíba basin, south of Ciudad del Grupo Santander. / Photo courtesy of Santander Universities Global Division. São Paulo.

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Hand in hand with academia Mateo, has managed to ban and researchers. Santander the use of lead shot in wet- Universities Global Division’s lands, thus protecting the bird activities, which provides the species that live in them. b a c k b o n e t o B a n c o Santander’s social activities The low selectivity of the trap and allows it to maintain a cages used to control preda- stable partnership with tors is also being studied and almost 1,020 academic insti- alternatives sought, as well as tutions in 17 countries, a study of the factors that includes support to research determine the coexistence of in all areas that scientists carnivore communities in consider of interest, including national parks in the Mediter- the environment. ranean area. These studies, carried out by Pablo Ferre- In this context, the bank is ras’s team, were conducted in backing the Fundación Gen- the hope of the future intro- eral CSIC’s Projectos Cero on duction of the Iberian lynx. threatened species, and is Unesco Professorship activity. Positioning a fish cage from a boat in Cadiz. /Photo These are projects with signifi supporting five studies whose courtesy of Santander Universities Global Division. cant impacts on the conser- primary aim is to preserve bio- vation of threatened species, diversity. The bank did not including the wildcat and the hesitate a moment when it field. These include the in a way that ensures bio otter, as well as the lynx. came to backing the initiatives UNESCO professorship of diversity.” selected by the panel of Sustainable Coastal Devel- Another IREC scholar, Rafael judges. The selected projects opment at the University of A large part of the work done Villafuerte, has spent years are led by researchers Lluís Cádiz, the Instituto de Inves- at IREC deals with aspects of studying the dynamics of the Brotons, from the Centre Tec- tigación de Recursos biodiversity conservation and European rabbit, one of the nológic Forestal de Catalunya Cinegéticos (IREC), under identifies a variety of threats. cornerstones of the Mediter- (CTFC), Pablo Vargas, from the Spanish National Cassinello heads a group of ranean ecosystem, to define the Real Jardín Botánico de Research Council (CSIC), researchers who aim to measures to protect the spe- Madrid (CSIC), Annie Mar- and the University of Castile- determine the degree of over- cies. The line of research led chordom, from the Museo de La Mancha and the Castile- lap in the behaviour of co- by Pedro Cordero to deter- Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), La Mancha Regional Gov- existing native and exotic ungu- mine the diversity of orthop- José Antonio Godoy, from the ernment. lates, and the effect of the tera in the Mediterranean Estación Biológica de Doñana latter on native vegetation, region, in particular in hyper- (CSIC), and Jaime Bosch Jorge Cassinello, who heads with a view to establishing saline lakes, which has ena- Pérez, from the Museo the IREC, the only Spanish better guidelines for the man- bled new species to be dis- Nacional de Ciencias Natu- research institution with the agement of big game spe- covered. rales (CSIC). remit to balance ecology, ani- cies. mal health and animal pro- In order to preserve bio Banco Santander also spon- duction, says: “we aim to Another important study, ana- diversity, the IREC teams led sors other centres to take offer solutions allowing sus- lysing lead poisoning in pro- by Beatriz Arroyo and Javier forward their ideas in this tainable farming and hunting, tected wetlands, led by Rafael Viñuela are analysing the pro-

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tection of threatened species The bank is Spain, and hybrid individuals Fundación Banco Santander in humanised landscapes, may represent a problem for is supporting the restoration and farming and hunting envir supporting the pure bred birds in nature, of degraded areas. The initia onments. Cassinello explains Proyectos Cero which may be relegated to tive described above to pre that “the majority of human suboptimal habitats, endan serve biodiversity are comple activities bring changes to initiative on gering the long-term survival mented by others by the bank ecosystem balance and are threatened species of the native partridge. through its Fundación Banco most often a threat, with the Santander for the restoration loss of biodiversity this being run by the The UNESCO chair in sustain of degraded areas. These causes. However, some activ able coastal development was actions include maintenance ities can be less harmful if Fundación General created at the University of work spread over several their essence is maintained. CSIC Cadiz seven years ago. The years, so as to ensure the This is the case of hunting. If it chair, directed by Ángel del success of the project. is based on a rational hunting Valls, has been supported by of species that is respectful of the bank since the outset, and One of the star programmes the environment, standing in it researches numerous in this area is that launched in for the predator in its regula threats to biodiversity, in par 2011 to reintroduce the tory role, it can be highly sus ticular the effects of dis osprey in the marshes of Odiel tainable and even beneficial charges and anthropogenic (Huelva). This is a joint project for the environment.” activities on the coast, estuar in which Fundación Banco ies, and aquatic systems. Santander has teamed up The IREC also carries out with Fundación Migres. The other types of study, such as According to Del Valls, the status of the species in the the genetic analysis of the species in these ecosystems Mediterranean is critical, its red -legged partridge (Alectoris have developed a different population is small and highly rufa). One of its researchers, sensitivity and capacity for fragmented, and it has not José Antonio Dávila, has adaptation, which can help bred on the Iberian peninsula worked on an ambitious them survive, or otherwise, since the eighties. project to determine the they could be driven out by genetic markers permitting this type of contamination. The project involved bringing hybrids between the red-leg nine osprey chicks from Ger ged partridge and the chukar Del Valls said that “our feeling many. Hacking towers have partridge (A. chukar) to be is that the loss of any species been set up, with four artificial produced. This method is par is a disaster.” The chair, which nests in the Marismas del ticularly useful in controlling works on aquatic ecosystems Odiel Nature Reserve (Huelva); releases of farm-raised par in Europe, Russia, Brazil and the shrub vegetation in the tridges or translocations with other areas around the world, area has been adapted and a view to detecting possible provides training and tech artificial bait and perches hybridisation. The study is jus nical consulting, conducts have been set up so other tified by the fact that intro applied research, and designs specimens of the species gression of chukar partridge new methods of assessment can be located and fed. The populations, which are easier allowing risks to ecosystem project includes setting up a to manage and breed, are as a whole, including their hide in the Odiel marshes from increasingly common in species, to be identified. which to watch the birds close

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still in progress. These jara), which was home to an include the restoration of the outstanding yew wood until it Roñanzas peat bog in Llanes was destroyed by fire, Fun- (Asturias), begun in 2004 by dación Banco Santander and t h e F u n d a c i ó n B a n c o WWF España joined forces in Santander and the Fondo 2006 on a project whose para la Protección de los Ani- success was confirmed in males Salvajes (FAPAS). This 2011 with the recovery of the area in Asturias, degraded by other species which lived years of peat digging, is with the yews (Portuguese defined as a rare ecosystem oaks, maples, etc.). This in Spain which conserves cause for celebration was vegetation from over 15,000 joined this year by the plant- years ago, making it one of ing of new stands of tetra- the few vestiges of the flora clinis and junipers, and the existing before the last great installation of new bird feed- Activity of the Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC). Taking a glaciation. ers, on which seeds of spe- saliva sample for microbiological analysis. / Photo: courtesy of Santander Universities Global Division. cies native to the yew wood Also, in 2005, through a joint have been placed so that the initiative between the Fun- birds can disperse them up, without affecting their publicly held forest lands in dación Banco Santander more effectively. behaviour. A general environ- the municipal districts of ViIla- and SEO/BirdLife, a project mental education and aware- blino, Páramo del Sil and Pal- was launched in Belchite In Andratx, Mallorca, Fun- ness plan has been prepared acios del Sil. The copses will (Zaragoza) to restore the El dación Banco Santander has for visitors to the nature cover a total area of 28.8 hec- Planerón bird reserve. This is continued its support for the reserve, and another specific tares. The aim is to help a steppe zone which stands upkeep of the La Trapa Bio- plan for schools in the towns develop conservation meas- out for its botanical value and logical Reserve, designated a near the reintroduction. ures and restore habits, set birdlife, included in the Nat- special protection area for out in both the strategy for the ura 2000 network, and birds and site of community Another Fundación Banco conservation of the brown severely affected by erosion interest (SCI), and located in Santander project, in this case bear in Spain, and the plan for problems in the past. an outstanding area for its in collaboration with Fun- the recovery of the brown natural and ethnological value dación Oso Pardo, has been bear in Castile-León, which Also in collaboration with in the Tramontana mountains, working since 2011 to embrace the need to foster SEO/BirdLife, since 2008 comprehensive restoration of improve bear habitats in the planting of land with vari- Fundación Banco Santander which was begun by Fun- degraded mining environ- ous types of fruiting species has been supporting the res- dación Banco Santander and ments in Alto Sil (León). The attractive to bears. toration of the upper basin of the Grupo de Ornitología Bal- main goal is to restore the the River Salobre, designated ear (GOB) in 2008. brown bear’s habitat in areas In passing, it is also worth a special protection area for in the core breeding ground in mentioning other Fundación birds, which is highly eroded In 2009 Fundación Banco Alto Sil (León), by creating a Banco Santander projects to by continual flooding. Santander and Fundación network of copses comprising remediate degraded natural Global Nature embarked on a mainly native cherries, strate- areas, dating back further To reforest the Hocino gorge project to restore and improve gically distributed on various than those mentioned, but in Riba de Saelices (Guadala- the environment in the sur-

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roundings of the Talaván res- institutions presented envir Vinos and restore the laurel agement, and reach other ervoir, a special protection onmental restoration actions woods in the Teno rural park, areas: supporting the conser- area for birds seriously in 2011 to recover natural destroyed by fire in the vation of endangered spe- affected by deforestation and areas on the island included north-eastern district of the cies, such as the bear and intensive land use in the in the Natura 2000 network, island. capercaillie; produce bio region of Cuatro Lugares, in begun in 2010 and involving diversity through farming; Cáceres. In 2011 work cen- the replanting of more than Lastly, a Fundación Banco increase the productivity of tred on maintaining reforest ten hectares of thermophilic, Santander project on apicul- m o u n t a i n e c o s y s t e m s ation, with the planting of over laurel and pine woods. This ture as an aid to restoring (woods, scrub and pasture); 6,000 shrubs and trees. project re-establishes the mountain ecosystems is cur- stimulate the local economy continuity of the forest crown rently in its initial stages. It in sensitive mountain areas; Fundación Global Nature in the Arico and Fasnia high- starts from the premsie that and set up a new line of worked on this occasion with lands, which has been dam- the disappearance of bees vocational training, aimed at Fundación Banco Santander aged by farming and logging represents a serious problem environmental beekeeping. in alliance with the Sociedad in the past. It also aims to for maintaining ecosystems, The initiative will be run in the Ornitológica de Canarias restore the thermophilic and and so aims to create a work- municipalities of Camaleño, (SOC) and the Tenerife local laurel woods in the mid- ing model for environmental Vega de Liébana and Pesa- government. Together, these range areas of Icod de Los restoration through bee man- guero (Cantabria) between January 2012 and December 2013.

All the activities briefly summarised here are indications of Banco Santander’s commitment to the environment, which earned it several awards in 2011. Considered The Greenest Bank in the World, by the magazine Bloomberg Markets, it is the first bank in the Interbrand Best Global Green Brands ranking. Moreover, Banco Santander Brasil has been recognised as the 17th business in the world and 5th bank in the world with the best environmental management by Newsweek’s 2011 Green Rankings. Finally, the bank has raised its score on the environmental axis in the Programme for the reintroduction of the osprey in the Odiel marshes (Huelva). / Photo courtesy of Santander Universities Global Dow Jones Sustainability Division. Index.

Notebooks of the Fundación General CSIC | Nº 9 | LYCHNOS | 75 Your talent deserves an opportunity

At Santander Universities we are committed to higher education, which is why in 2011 we have offered over 21,000 scholarships to support training and job market access. Find out more at www.becas-santander.com

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| INTERVIEW | José Antonio Villasante General Manager of Banco Santander and Director of the Santander Universities Global Division “We need an advanced, competitive national science and technology system linked to the productive fabric”

Banco Santander is a CSIC for the last twelve years. In this interview from time to time without member of the Fundación In the first phase we backed placing conditions on the General CSIC’s board of its training and advisory pro- José Antonio topics or teams taking part in trustees and has actively grammes for Ibero-American Villasante explains the projects. supported the Foundation researchers and PhD students since its inception. What with travelling professorships the importance of The FGCSIC’s 2010 call for aspects of this cooperation in various fields of knowledge. science and Proyectos Cero proposals would you highlight? Subsequently, our collabor on threatened species was First of all, I would like to pay ation has focused on direct research in finding backed by a million euros tribute to the outstanding support for teams of research- from Banco Santander. work of the Spanish National ers working on projects answers to various What makes the FGCSIC’s Research Council’s (CSIC) addressing ecosystems and challenges facing Proyectos Cero p ro - researchers and our admir endangered species. gramme attractive to an ation for the institution’s plans the modern world institution like Banco and the work of its scientific In any event, I would highlight Santander? teams. our general willingness to At Santander we are con- contribute to the plans and vinced that a society without Banco Santander has been priorities put forward by quality science and research an institutional partner of the CSIC’s management team (both basic and applied) will

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not be in a position to offer José Antonio Villasante Cerro satisfactory answers to the José Antonio Villasante qualified as a various challenges humanity chartered accountant at the Escuela de as a whole, and Spanish soci- Comercio de Santander, and has an ety in particular, faces in the honours degree in Economics from the University of Barcelona and a Master in modern world. We need an Higher Business Studies from ESADE. advanced, competitive He joined Banco Santander in 1964, national science and technol- where he has occupied posts in various ogy system linked to the pro- units with a wide range of different roles. ductive fabric and our institu- He was Provincial Director of Banco tional and social network. Santander in Guipúzcoa, Cordoba, Seville and La Rioja. In 1994 he was appointed as Banco Santander’s Helping safeguard our plan- Territorial Manager in Madrid. et’s biodiversity and physical He is the Internation Director of environment is an inescapa- Universia and Director of OCU. He is ble demand for developed a trustee of several foundations: societies, despite the difficul- Parque Científico de Madrid, Gregorio Peces-Barba, Complutense, La ties posed by economic cri- Mancha, Cantabria, Carlos III, CSIC, ses. The bank feels itself Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes repaid by the satisfaction of and the Centro Internacional de the teams of scientists who Formación Financiera. are promoting the five He is currently General Manager of Proyectos Cero and the Banco Santander and Director of the José Antonio Villasante. General Manager of Banco Santander and Director of the Santander Universities Global Division. CSIC’s management team, in Santander Universities Global Division the knowledge that our sponsorship can help provide these research lines with more resources. social and economic players expressed through the institu- ment team informed us of its and as fundamental agents in tion’s public programmes and interest in bolstering these To what extent do you con- the creation of jobs and policies. programmes, which might sider public-private partner- wealth. Companies are actors perhaps find it more difficult to ship to be important for sci- mobilising collective values In short, I think that public- access private resources, entific research? and energy, committed to private partnership is abso- given that the objective of Obviously, the demand for business objectives and lutely essential. their research is somewhat financial resources necessary projects that go beyond the more remote from possible to ensure internationally com- short-sighted aspiration to The Proyectos Cero 2010 market interest, but which are petitive scientific research maximise short-term benefits. call for proposals focused of paramount importance in exceeds many countries’ fis- It is in their own interest to on conserving endangered safeguarding the biological cal capacities (particularly in incarnate and promote sus- species. Why fund projects wealth of our physical environ- the case of basic research). tainable projects that stand of this kind? ment. This is how we under- the test of time. Among other I have already said. Our guid- stood it and so decided to Moreover, companies have things, this means a bigger ing principle has always been give our support to these five established their position over commitment to the challenges to support the CSIC’s priori- scientific teams. We feel very the last few decades as key society faces and this is ties and projects. Its manage- satisfied with the broad

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response the call received and Helping safeguard you tell us which of these work experience at SMEs, the projects in progress. initiatives strike you as are among the most signifi- our planet’s most important? cant. The projects selected in biodiversity and its At Santander we are con- the Proyectos Cero call vinced that the true wealth of One of Banco Santander’s for proposals involve physical nations lies in the quality of objectives is to contribute sequencing the genome of environment is an their citizens’ minds, in the to access to knowledge the Iberian lynx; mitigating level and quality of their edu- and quality higher educa- disease in declining inescapable cation, their ability to assimi- tion, as tools of progress amphibian populations; late scientific and technological towards prosperous and researching living fossil demand for advances, and the creativity open societies. What are plants; ensuring the viabil- developed societies and flexibility with which they the main mechanisms you ity of an endangered lim- are able to incorporate them use to achieve this? pet and steppe birds. As into productive of institutional As I mentioned earlier, our col- you see it, what contribu- activity. This is the reason for laboration with academia is tions can these lines of our commitment to higher articulated through institu- research make to society? education and science in the tional partnership agreements To be quite honest, my scien- countries where we are through which we aim to sup- tific knowledge is limited, so I present, and this is one of our port projects proposed by the can only say that I have full corporate hallmarks and a university or scientific organ confidence in the teams con- part of our business philoso- isation itself with our sponsor- cerned. From the data phy and strategy. ship and institutional and reported back from the Foun- technical support. Our modus dation’s management team, I In 2011 we devoted this insti- operandi is characterised by have no doubt as to each tutional commitment to global respect for each institution’s project’s meeting its mile- sponsorship of 120 million independence. stones, and that they will all euros, which was dedicated make the most of the oppor- to financing thousands of In this diverse network of tunity these Proyectos Cero projects in teaching, science, relationships, cross-cutting offer to make significant management, interuniversity projects have arisen in which headway in their different cooperation, entrepreneur- several universities cooper- lines of research. The project ship, etc. through bilateral ate (this is the case of numer- has been managed transpar- partnership agreements with ous exchange programmes ently throughout, and at the close to 1,020 universities in with Chinese or American end we will be able to fully 17 countries. universities, or specialist uni- take stock of what has been versity management software achieved. Universia; the Miguel de Cer- development projects, and vantes virtual library; the the Office of University Coop- Banco Santander is com- RedEmprendia Ibero-Ameri- eration (OCU)). Sometimes, mitted to R&D and higher can university network for this means a cooperation education through a range business incubation; interna- between tens or even hun- of initiatives channelled tional mobility grant pro- dreds of universities, as is the through Santander Univer- grammes (over 20 thousand case in RedEmprendia and sities Global Division. Can grants last year) and, recently, Universia.

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Forum

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Species conservation from the public sphere

SONIA CASTAÑEDA Director of Fundación Biodiversidad

he destruction and fragmentation of becoming extinct and deciding which to habitats is one of the main threats conserve falls. Avoiding the disappear- T to the survival of many species on ance of species is a priority goal at our planet. Like the introduction of exot- regional, national and European level. It is ic invasive species, the trade in endan- also one of the objectives of the United gered species and climate change, or the Nations Convention on Biological Diver- slaughter of animals, they are the direct sity, approved twenty years ago at the result of human action. Río Summit (1992).

Although new species are being discov- In Spain, the Natural Heritage and Bio ered every year, this is outpaced by the diversity Act establishes guarantees of rate of biodiversity loss and destruction, conservation of native wild species and which has accelerated considerably over sets out the measure the Autonomous the last few decades, sounding alarms at Communities are to take, with the priority numerous points around the planet. The on preserving habitats and putting in International Union for Conservation of place specific protection systems for Nature (IUCN), which draws up an inven- those species requiring them, through tory of the state of species conservation Sonia Castañeda. action plans across their range. around the globe –its famous Red List– estimates that around 10 to 50 thousand endemic species. This biological wealth The Act also establishes that for endan- of the world’s species become extinct makes the country vulnerable; hence it is gered species to be the object of active each year. one of the planet’s hotspots in terms of conservation measures they need to be biodiversity loss. included on the List of Wild Species On account of its geographic position under Special Protection and the Span- and climatic characteristics, Spain is This calls for responsibility regarding con- ish Catalogue of Endangered Species, home to almost 85 thousand species of servation, a responsibility which mainly which defines two categories of taxa or flora and fauna– more than half Europe’s falls to the public authorities, on whom populations whose biodiversity is threat- total– and 30% of the continent’s the onus of avoiding endangered species ened: “endangered” and “vulnerable.”

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According to the report “Biodiversity in for aid or the LIFE+ Program, a European and distribution of populations, correctly Spain. Basis of sustainability in the face Union financial instrument cofinancing assess the threats, and work actively to of global change” (2011) by the Observ- projects of this kind. reduce negative impacts on them. atorio de la Sostenibilidad en España (OSE), on which Fundación Biodiversi- Additionally, captive breeding programs It is therefore essential to establish an dad collaborated, half of the plans are run as a last resort to ensure the sur- ecosystem-wide approach when running approved and half the species for which vival of a species. Fundación Biodiversi- projects, promoting conservation and they have been adopted are birds; dad supports captive breeding of sustainable use of living resources in an almost a quarter are animals; and just emblematic species such as the Iberian equitable way, because not only is there six species of invertebrate, six species lynx and the Cantabrian capercaillie in a need to conserve the target species of fish, four amphibians and three rep- order to achieve good population status itself, but also to conserve its habitat, in tiles have action plans. for these species. order to maintain interactions between species and the environment, ensuring The guidance framework of the Recovery The scientific paper “La conservación de the functionality of the ecosystem. and Conservation Plans that the Autono- biodiversidad en España: atención cientí- mous Communities are to approve for fica, construcción social e interés Also, territorial stewardship is also a power species catalogued in these two categor político” (Martín-López, B., Martín-Forés, ful tool, with a long track record, con- ies are the Conservation Strategies for I., González, J A , Montes, C. (2011). tributing to the conservation of threat- endangered species, giving priority to Ecosistemas 20(1):103-113.), highlights ened species. Supporting stewardship taxa facing the highest level of threat. The that the factors underlying the prioritisa- bodies and networks operating through- Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Act also tion of species in conservation policies out the country is another of Fundación establishes that these strategies are to are research, public opinion, the red lists, Biodiversidad’s commitments. Over the be approved by the Conferencia Secto- and binding legislation on threatened next three years it plans to apply this rial de Medio Ambiente (Environmental species. approach to conservation of the Cantab- Sector Conference), a body for collabor rian capercaillie in the Biosphere ation between national government and The paper also highlights that there is a Reserves of the Cantabrian Mountains. the Autonomous Communities. strong correlation in this decision-making process between priority conservation Finally, the big challenge we face in all At present strategies are in place for the species, those that are the object of sci- sectors, both government and civil Spanish imperial eagle, the freshwater entific interest and those preferred society, is to halt global change and clam, the crested coot, the ribbed Medi- socially, such that when a species mitigate its effects. Climate change is terranean limpet (Patella ferruginea), the becomes a priority conservation target it today the biggest threat to many Iberian lynx, the white-headed duck, the automatically becomes a priority object endangered species. The data speak Cantabrian brown bear, the Pyrenean of research, thus generating more infor- for themselves. It is estimated that 13% brown bear, the Balearic shearwater, the mation and forming a virtuous circle that of the area occupied by 96 threatened bearded vulture, the Cantabrian caper- becomes a “trap” in species prioritisation species of land vertebrates will lose caillie, the Pyrenean capercaillie, and the and the dedicating of resources to their their favourable climate conditions, European mink. Fundación Biodivesidad conservation. which will probably lead to local extinc- supports numerous endangered-species tions. Establishing climate-change conservation projects, many of which There is no doubt that we need to adaptation measures and programmes have strategies, such as the Cantabrian deepen our scientific understanding of is an essential part of species conser- brown bear, the Iberian lynx, the Cantab- species in order to make the right deci- vation policies, as for many of them cli- rian capercaillie or the bearded vulture. sions. We need to make progress on tax- mate change would otherwise mean These initiatives are funded through calls onomy, knowledge of the abundance their extinction.

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New FGCSIC website: a window of windows The Fundación General CSIC’s offer a more user-friendly envi- new website aims to be a win- ronment that is closer to our dow opening onto both the users and facilitates more fluid research and R&D world, and communications. the Foundation’s activities. Our new website gives up-to- Our site has been redesigned date information about our to create a portal bringing activities, accessible via a together the various Fun- highly intuitive, visual and easy dación General CSIC micro- to use grid structure. We hope sites and resources so as to you like it.

www.fgcsic.es

Lecture by María-Angeles Durán “We will spend more years of our lives old than young”

As part of the 2nd FGCSIC main points she made was workshop on Ageing, held the need to start doing She also pointed out how age- on 25 April at the Residencia research into the new forms ing and illness need to be de Estudiantes in Madrid, of social organisation that looked at in a different way from María-Angeles Durán, a the new reality will impose on how they have been so far. “Our CSIC research professor, us: “You can’t tell parents to identity [as elderly people] is that discussed the meaning and have more children to pay of an old person. I can’t have implications of living an “a the bill for treatment for the identity of a young person society of old people” which Alzheimer’s and it is impossi- imposed on me. And we live in a has not planned for an ever ble to get involved in politics, culture that wants to impose a longer old age. The title of research or other activities young identity on us when our her lecture announced the when we have to look after old people as a burden and identity is old or soon-to-be old.” conundrum: “We will spend several old people. Accord- a problem, a problem that more years of our lives old ing to María-Angeles Durán, the conventional economy Listen to the lecture on the than young.” One of the the capitalist system views cannot solve. FGCSIC channel

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Annual Report 2011 Meeting of the Report on Automotive The Fundación General CSIC Trustees of has recently published its Energy R&D Fundación General CSIC2011 annual report, describ- 2011 the Fundación ing the Foundation’s activi- memoria The Fundación General CSIC ties and projects making up General CSIC is in the process of publishing its lines of action and pro- its report on Automotive grams during the year. One The Trustees of the Fun- Energy R&D, prepared by its of the Foundation’s main dación General CSIC met Analysis Unit.

achievements during the 2011 MEMORIA DESCRIPTIVA to approve the annual year has been the consoli- accounts for 2011 at the dation of its structure and headquarters of the Spanish the tools necessary for it to National Research Council fulfil its remit to promote FUNDACIÓN GENERAL CSIC (Consejo Superior de Inves- public-private partnerships tigaciones Científicas) on 26 92 Fundación 1 in research. General CSIC June 2012.

Lecture by Ana Martínez Gil “The CSIC and the challenge of Alzheimer’s: tideglusib, a drug at the advanced clinical development stage”

During the 2nd FGCSIC work- Against this backdrop, the shop on Ageing, held on 25 scientific community is looking April at the Residencia de for a drug that is able to slow the trend observed in phase Estudiantes in Madrid, Ana or stop neurone death, as one of trials is a cognitive Martínez Gil, a research pro- current treatments only offer improvement among patients fessor at the CSIC’s Instituto temporary relief. Another key treated. de Química Médica [Institute of point raised by the speaker Medical Chemistry] gave a lec- was that whereas drugs first The speaker ended by saying ture on the CSIC’s response to make their appearance in that tideglusib is one of the the challenge of Alzheimer’s academia, they are developed most promising drugs today disease: tideglusib, a drug at and there will be over 80 mil- in industry. And this public-pri- for the treatment of Alzheim- the advance clinical develop- lion Alzheimer’s sufferers. vate partnership between the er’s. The result of phase two ment stage. According to Ana Martínez, CSIC and Noscira is what has of the trials will be available in we are about to face the epi- enabled tideglusib, a drug that late 2012. It is estimated that the popu- demic of the 21st century has cured Alzheimer’s in mice, lation’s average life expect- unless we find an effective to be developed. The drug is Listen to the lecture on the ancy in 2050 will be 110 years treatment. tolerated well by humans and FGCSIC channel

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