Review
Zoology
Ana Lino, Carlos Fonseca, Danny Rojas, Erich Fischer, Maria Joao Ramos Pereira
Article
Plant Sciences
Jose M. Sanchez, Cora Sanchez, Luis Navarro
Article
Plant Sciences
Roxibell C. Pelayo, Pascual J. Soriano, Nelson J. Marquez, Luis Navarro
PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY
(2019)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Victoria Ferrero, Luis Navarro, Silvia Castro, Joao Loureiro, Jose M. Sanchez, Gaston O. Carvallo, Spencer C. H. Barrett
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jose M. Gomez, Francisco Perfectti, Cristina Armas, Eduardo Narbona, Adela Gonzalez-Megias, Luis Navarro, Lucia DeSoto, Ruben Torices
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Sandra V. Rojas-Nossa, Jose Maria Sanchez, Luis Navarro
Summary: Nectar robbers can effectively perform cross-pollination but reduce the visitation rates of legitimate visitors, contributing to both positive and negative effects on plant reproduction. This interaction results in a net neutral effect for the plant, showcasing the complexity of plant-insect interactions.
Article
Plant Sciences
Luis Navarro, Garbine Ayensa, Jose Maria Sanchez
Summary: Through studying the floral biology and pollination of Narcissus bulbocodium L., it was discovered that the flowers are pollinator-dependent, phenotypically integrated, and exhibit herkogamy. The results suggest the presence of an optimal herkogamy distance to maintain maximum levels of both pollen export and (cross) pollen capture. The broader variability of herkogamy in N. bulbocodium raises discussions on the universal adaptive origin of herkogamy.
Article
Plant Sciences
Sandra V. Rojas-Nossa, Jose Maria Sanchez, Luis Navarro
Summary: This study evaluated the frequency of phloem-feeding herbivores in wild populations of the Etruscan honeysuckle and their impact on floral development and reproduction. It was found that herbivory by aphids reduces flower and pollen size, affects pollination, and decreases fruit set and seed weight. The work provides evidence of the changes induced by herbivores in floral development that affect the ecological processes necessary for plant reproductive success.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Matthew O. Moreira, Carlos Fonseca, Danny Rojas
Summary: Identifying the role of quantitative variables on speciation rates is an important task in trait-dependent diversification methods. In this study, we modified a simulation-based approach called ES-sim to include generalized linear models and multiple independent variables. We evaluated the performance of this modified method in both single and multiple regression models using data from a group of South American lizards. Our results provide new insights on macroevolutionary methods and reveal the relationship between species traits and speciation rates.
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jose M. Gomez, Adela Gonzalez-Megias, Eduardo Narbona, Luis Navarro, Francisco Perfectti, Cristina Armas
Summary: The phenotypic plasticity in many flowers allows for rapid exploration of different regions of the floral morphospace. Moricandia arvensis exhibits a greater floral disparity driven by plasticity than that found between species, genera, and tribes, with its novel phenotype moving outside the region occupied by its ancestors and relatives, converging with distant Brassicaceae lineages, and encountering a different pollination niche. This suggests that phenotypic plasticity favors floral divergence and rapid appearance of convergent flowers, facilitating the evolution of generalist pollination systems.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Danny Rojas, Maria Alejandra Borrero-Ospina, Oscar E. Murillo-Garcia
Summary: Morphological integration of skull modules can explain the outstanding diversity of rostrum morphology in bats. This study examined the evolutionary relationship between brain size and palate morphology in specialized frugivorous bats, finding that the surface area of the palate increased as brain size increased. This tight relationship is consistent at different evolutionary scales.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Maximilian G. R. Vollstadt, Mauro Galetti, Christopher N. Kaiser-Bunbury, Benno Simmons, Fernando Goncalves, Alcides L. Morales-Perez, Luis Navarro, Fabio L. Tarazona-Tubens, Spencer Schubert, Tomas Carlo, Jackeline Salazar, Michel Faife-Cabrera, Allan Strong, Hannah Madden, Adam Mitchell, Bo Dalsgaard
Summary: The study analyzed plant-frugivore interactions in the Caribbean archipelago and found 13 modules in the meta-network, driven by functional or taxonomic and biogeographical mechanisms. It revealed the importance of introduced species in the plant-frugivore communities.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Elisa Barreto, Marisa C. W. Lim, Danny Rojas, Liliana M. Davalos, Rafael O. Wuest, Antonin Machac, Catherine H. Graham
Summary: We investigated the impact of traits on speciation in hummingbirds, a clade with diverse speciation rates, morphology, and niches. Two hypotheses were tested, suggesting that speciation rates are influenced by either trait conservatism or trait divergence. The findings showed that smaller hummingbirds with shorter bills, living at higher elevations and experiencing greater temperature ranges, exhibit faster speciation. Additionally, speciation was found to increase with rates of divergence in niche traits, but not in morphological traits.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Matthew Owen Moreira, Carlos Fonseca, Danny Rojas
Summary: Climate change will have a negative impact on high-mountain species, especially reptiles, as it may result in the loss of suitable climatic niches and even local extinctions. It is important to identify high-risk species and implement conservation measures to protect them.
ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biology
Matthew Owen Moreira, Carlos Fonseca, Danny Rojas
Summary: Parthenogenesis is rare in nature, with scaled reptiles being the only vertebrates that evolved this reproductive strategy. It is ecologically advantageous in the short term but less so in the long term, suggesting it is self-destructive. High extinction rates are mainly responsible for its rarity in nature.