Scientific activities, by Pedro Jordano

An outline of scientific activities, extracted from my CV. You can also have a complete list of all my publications , and abstracts of main papers. A weblog with updated news about our research in the Integrative Ecology Group is maintained here.

Pedro Jordano

Estación Biológica de Doñana , CSIC

Pab. Perú, Avda. M. Luisa S/N

E-41013 Sevilla, Spain

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Brief account of scientific objectives

My research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary consequences of mutualistic interactions between animals and plants. My emphasis is on interactions between plants producing fleshy fruits and the frugivorous vertebrates that disperse the seeds. The main research lines go in six distinct directions, each one addressing different aspects of this main scientific project:

• Ecological and demographic consequences of seed dispersal by frugivorous animals.
• Patterns of genetic variation and paternity relationships derived from animal-mediated dispersal of seeds.
• Interaction networks in plant-animal mutualisms: diversity, patterns of mutual dependence, coevolution in high-diversity communities, and the complex structure of interaction networks.
• Comparative methods for assessing evolutionary relationships among animals and plants interacting in mutualistic systems.
• Patterns of phenotypic selection on quantitative traits of fleshy fruits derived from the interaction with frugivores.
• Design and setup of restoration and management plans for endangered Mediterranean woody species.

The funny thing with this approach is that it combines several ways to analyze complex biological questions about the evolution of ecological systems. The study of plant-animal interactions is fascinating per se because of the broad perspective it offers to people like me who are basically naturalists: you need to consider with similar emphasis both the plant's and animal's perspective and this is most stimulating intelectually.

• Coevolution of mutualistic interactions between frugivorous animals and plants in Mediterranean-type vegetation
  • Keywords: mutualism, coevolution, birds, Angiosperms, seed dispersal
  • Dates: 1980-
• Plant demography: effects of interactions with animals
  • Keywords: demography, pollination, seed dispersal, herbivory, landscape, seed shadow
  • Dates: 1991-
• Comparative analysis of plant-animal interactions
  • Keywords: phylogeny, comparative methods, independent contrasts, mutualism
  • Dates: 1989-
• Evolutionary and genetic aspects of plant-animal interactions
  • Keywords: quantitative genetics, phenotypic selection, seed dispersal, frugivorous birds
  • Dates: 1991-
• Molecular ecology of seed dissemination by animals
  • Keywords: seed dispersal, frugivory, demography, genetic variation, DNA microsatellites, RAPDs, gene flow, landscape
  • Dates: 1997-
• Complex interaction networks in plant-animal mutualisms
  • Keywords: mutualism, pollination, seed dispersal, food webs, networks, small-worlds, diversity, connectance
  • Dates: 1985-1987; 1999-

• TITLE: INTERACCIONES DE MUTUALISMO PLANTA-ANIMAL: EFECTOS DE POLINIZADORES Y FRUGÍVOROS SOBRE LA ESTRUCTURACIÓN GENÉTICA A DIFERENTES ESCALAS ESPACIALES.
  
  AGENCY: MCyT, Plan Nacional I+D. REN2003-00274. December 2003-December 2006.
  
  KEY WORDS: birds, coevolution, demography, DNA microsatellites, frugivory, genetic variation, mediterranean shrubland, mutualism, seed dispersal, seedlings, spatially-explicit models.
  
  PROJECT LEADER: PEDRO D. JORDANO
  
  INSTITUTION: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
  
  PHONE: +34 95 4232340 Ext. 213
  
  ADDRESS: Pabellón del Perú, Avda. Mª Luisa, S/N, 41013 Sevilla
  
  SUMMARY: PLANT-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS: POLLINATOR AND FRUGIVORE EFFECTS ON GENETIC STRUCTURING AT DIFFERENT SPATIAL SCALES. Recently, ecologists, conservation biologists and ecosystem managers have been interested in assessing on-going gene flow in populations, especially due to the growing concern about influences of human activity on the viability of plant and animal populations. In plant species with animals as pollinators and seed dispersers, genetic variability is markedly structured at different spatial scales. In a previous project focusing on Prunus mahaleb (Rosaceae) we examined the role of frugivore activity in causing within-population genetic structuring. We found a marked within-population spatial pattern of relatedness among adult trees consistent with restricted frugivore movement patterns and non-random habitat preferences. We have evidence for heterozygote deficit and assortative mating patterns due to pollination effects derived from insect activity. Our aim in this project is to analyze the contributions of pollen- and seed-mediated gene flow to total gene flow in the population by using seeds sampled from the tree canopies before dispersal and also from dispersed seed samples. We will also determine long-distance dispersal events among populations due to frugivore activity. We will use maximum-likelihood assignement techniques to assess the populations of origin for dispersed seeds not assignable to adult maternal trees in the study populations. This will enable us to evaluate recent theoretical models of sed dispersal by wind and animals where the robustness of the dispersal estimates seriously decays for the tail of the distributions, this being one of the most problematic issues in seed dispersal ecology.
  
  

• TITLE: PLANT-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS AS THE FRAMEWORK FOR BIODIVERSITY: THEIR ROLE IN ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS AND CONSERVATION
  
  AGENCY: CYTED. 2003-2006
  
  PROJECT LEADER: Regino Zamora
  
  KEY WORDS: biodiversity, coevolution, conservation, exotic species, extinction, habitat restoration, herbivory, human impacts, fragmentation, mutualism, pollination, seed dispersal
  
  SUMMARY: Plant-animal interactions are the core of community functioning in high-diversity ecosystems. In tropical, subtropical, and mediterrranean habitats, a high proportion of plant species are consumed (herbivory), pollinated, or have their seeds dispersed by animals. These interactions are, therefore, central for energy flow and ecosystem stability. However, we still know very little about how highly complex networks of interactions are build up and organized. Our central objective is to explicitly include the analysis of plant-animal interaction patterns when assessing biodiversity and its conservation. We plan to develop databases of plant-animal interactions patterns, accessible online for academic institutions, NGO’s, environmental agencies and transnational institutions. This central objective will be complemented with comparative analyses of interaction outcomes in a variety of species systems, addressing the potential consequences for community structure. A final activity will be the organization of field courses for students interested in research on plant-animal interactions, specially supporting emergent groups in Ibero-American countries.
  
  NOTE: This is an international coordinated project with participants of 7 latin-american countries.
  

• TITLE: THE SPATIAL DIMENSION OF PLANT/FRUGIVORE INTERACTIONS: DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS AND GENETIC STRUCTURING

  AGENCY: CICYT, Plan Nacional Promoción General del Conocimiento. December 2000-December 2003.

  KEY WORDS: birds, coevolution, demography, DNA microsatellites, frugivory, genetic variation, mediterranean shrubland, mutualism, seed dispersal, seedlings, spatially-explicit models.

  PROJECT LEADER: PEDRO D. JORDANO

  INSTITUTION: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

  PHONE: +34 95 4232340 Ext. 136

  ADDRESS: Pabellón del Perú, Avda. Mª Luisa, S/N, 41013 Sevilla

  NOTE: this is a coordinated project with Jordi Bascompte.

  SUMMARY: Our goal is to develop a theoretical framework to assess metapopulation dynamics in space and time and processes associated to heterogeneous and fragmented landscapes. One of the two subprojects focuses on plant-animal interactions, supplementing this theoretical approach with an empirical study of landscape patterns of gene flow and the demographic effects of frugivore activity on plant populations. We consider the consequences at different spatial scales, from local microhabitat patches to populations that differ in geographic isolation. We combine this empirical study with simulations of the spatio-temporal dynamics of these effects in heterogeneous landscapes, including. i) the spatial genetic structure of reproductive adults; ii) patterns of habitat use by frugivores; iii) resulting patterns of seed dissemination; and iv) the spatial patterns of seed genotypes and their distance and spatial relation to maternal trees and major landscape features. Within a more general framework, we assess in a second subproject the effects of habitat destruction on the persistence of metapopulations and metacommunities. We consider analytical models (both deterministic and stochastic) of metapopulation dynamics in fragmented landscapes and develop spatially-explicit simulations. An additional objective is to assess the potential effects of habitat loss and increased habitat heterogeneity on the topology of trophic webs and coevolutionary webs, and determine extinction thresholds and minimum number of local populations (reserves) for metapopulation persistence.

• TITLE: DESIGN, SETUP, AND EVALUATION OF RESTORATION METHODS FOR ENDANGERED FOREST PLANT SPECIES

• AGENCY: CICYT, Plan Nacional I+D; Proyectos FEDER. June 1999-December 2001.

  KEY WORDS: conservation biology, herbivory, Mediterranean shrublands, plant demography, seed dispersal, seedlings, succession.

  PROJECT LEADER: PEDRO D. JORDANO

  INSTITUTION: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

  PHONE: +34 95 4232340 Ext. 136

  ADDRESS: Pabellón del Perú, Avda. Mª Luisa, S/N, 41013 Sevilla

  SUMMARY: Our central goal will be the design and setup of techniques and protocols for in situ population restoration of endangered plant species. We will identify those recruitment stages with greater effect on final seedling and sapling successful establishment. Species in the Andalusian Endangered Species Record will be used to develop practical restoration guidelines based on a solid understanding of the demographic factors limiting recruitment. Use of different taxa in the natural field settings of the four natural parks included as study sites in this coordinated project will ensure and test the general applicability of the restoration technologies potentially emerging from the project results.

• TITLE: ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY EFFECTS IN THE INTERACTIONS OF FRUGIVOROUS ANIMALS AND PLANTS: INTEGRATING INDIVIDUAL, POPULATION, AND PHYLOGENETIC LEVELS

  AGENCY: CICYT, Subprogr. Promoción General del Conocimiento. December 1997-December 2000.

  KEYWORDS: birds, coevolution, comparative analysis, demography, frugivory, genetic variation, germination, heritability, mediterranean shrubland, mutualism, phenotypic selection, seed dispersal, seedlings

  PROJECT LEADER: PEDRO D. JORDANO

  INSTITUTION: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

  PHONE: +34 95 4232340 Ext. 136

  ADDRESS: Pabellón del Perú, Avda. Mª Luisa, S/N, 41013 Sevilla

  SUMMARY: This project addresses the potential for response to selection by frugivorous animals on fleshy fruit traits. This response depends on the fraction of phenotypic variance that is genetically addi-tive, and the intensity of selection. We consider three groups of evidence to assess evolutionary response to selection by frugivores: effects on fitness variation in wild populations, genetic and demographic effects derived from animal-mediated seed dispersal, and evolutionary (phylogenetic) correlations between plant and frugivore traits. Our aim is to incorporate field studies of phenotypic selection on fruit traits, experimental manipulations of seed rain density, genetic methods based on molecular polymorphisms, and comparative analysis into a single research protocol to study plant-frugivore interac-tions from an explicitly evolutionary perspective.

• TITLE: THE FRUBASE DATABASE
  
  Click to load The FRUBASE page.
  

  AGENCY: Several agencies, mostly CICYT, Subprogr. Promoción General del Conocimiento. December 1987-December 2003.

  KEYWORDS: angiosperms, birds, coevolution, comparative analysis, frugivory, mutualism, nutrient, phylogeny, seed dispersal

  PROJECT LEADER: PEDRO D. JORDANO

  INSTITUTION: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

  PHONE: +34 95 4232340 Ext. 136

  ADDRESS: Pabellón del Perú, Avda. M. Luisa, S/N, 41013 Sevilla

  SUMMARY: This is a long term project to compile a huge database of characteristics of fleshy fruits, mostly from angiosperm species. We have compiled data for nearly 1000 species from all around the world. The purpose of the database is to serve for comparative analyses where one needs to address hypotheses based on comparisons across species and/or higher taxa. The data include information on fruit form and 'design' variables and nutrient content of the pulp.

Ph D theses

• Manuel Nogales Hidalgo. 1990. Biología de Corvus corax (Isla de Hierro) e importancia en la diseminación de plantas vasculares en el Archipiélago Canario. Universidad de La Laguna.
• Margarita Cobo García. 1990. Influencia de los vertebrados herbívoros sobre la demografía del matorral de montaña de la Sierra de Cazorla. Universidad de Sevilla.
• Luis Domínguez García. 1999. Ecología de la grajilla (Corvus monedula) en la provincia de Madrid. Universidad Complutense.
• Alfredo Valido Amador. 1999. Ecología de la dispersión de semillas por los lagartos endémicos canarios, Gallotia spp. Universidad de La Laguna.
• Juan Luis García Castaño. 2001. Consecuencias demográficas de la dispersión de semillas por aves y mamíferos frugívoros en la vegetación Mediterránea de montaña. Universidad de Sevilla.
• Arndt Hampe. 2004. Reproduction and recruitment in Iberian glacial relict populations of Frangula alnus (Rhamnaceae) and the differentiation of reproductive characteristics during its Quaternary distribution shifts. Universidad de Sevilla.
• Cristina García. In progress. Estructura genética de plantas dispersadas por animales frugívoros: estimaciones de flujo génico en paisajes heterogéneos. Universidad de Sevilla. Starting July 2001.
• Committee member for: Marina Fleury. 2003. Efeitos da fragmentação florestal na predação de sementes de palmeiras em florestas semidecíduas. Master Thesis, Dept. Ecologia, UNESP, Rio Claro, Brazil.
• Jofre Carnicer. In progress. Macroecología y patrones de diversidad en interacciones planta-animal. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Starting May 2003.
• Paulo R. Guimarães Jr. 2006. Redes complejas de interacciones planta-animal: polinización, dispersión de semillas y herbivoría. Universidad de Campinas, Brazil. October 2006.
• Francisco Rodríguez. In progress. estructura poblacional, dispersión de semillas y reclutamiento en poblaciones relictas de Laurus nobilis del SW de España. Universidad de Sevilla. Starting July 2003.
• Committee member for: Kimberly Holbrook. In progress. Seed dispersal by toucans in Amazonia Ecuador: Toucan-generated seed shadows and genetic-based models of Virola flexuosa, a Neotropical nutmeg. Ph.D., Dept. Biology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA.

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Ongoing work - Manuscripts

- Now working on...

• Frugivore activity and seed limitation of recruitment in animal-dispersed species.
• Assessing parternity relationships among bird-dispersed seeds and established seedlings of Prunus mahaleb using microsatellite DNA markers.
• Patterns of interactions in plant-animal mutualistic systems: connectance, dependence asymmetries, and the complex structure of interaction networks.
• Complex webs of interaction in ecological networks: food webs, spatial networks, species interactions networks.
• Gene flow patterns via pollen and seeds in animal-dispersed plant species.
• Phenotypic integration in fleshy drupes: adaptation to frugivores and the limits of immaterial forces of form.
• The quality component of seed disperser effectiveness in Prunus mahaleb.
• Comparative analysis of adaptive radiation in fleshy fruits: a study with Brazilian Myrtaceae and Palmae.
• The ecology and evolution of fruit colour.
• Anachronic seed dispersal systems: a review.
• Design and setup of restoration programs for SE Spanish endangered woody species.
  
  You can find an updated list of publications and work in peparation or submitted, or in press here.

Collaborations

Together with Jordi Bascompte and José A. Godoy, I am involved in the new Integrative Ecology Group at the Estación Biológica de Doñana , CSIC . The group was launched in May 2002 to combine our favorite approaches to study ecological systems: ecological, evolutionary, and theoretical studies.

• Eugene W. Schupp, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA.
• Jens Mogens Olesen, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
• Mauro Galetti, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Marco A. Pizo, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Thomas Lewinsohn, Paulo R. Guimarães Jr., Wesley Silva, Sérgio Furtado, Marcus de Aguiar, UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil.
• Martin Schaeffer, Freiburg University, Germany.
• José María Gómez Reyes, Universidad de Granada, Granada, España.
• Rémy Petit, INRA, Bordeaux, France.
• Juan Arroyo, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, España.
• Regino Zamora, Universidad de Granada, Granada, España.
• Teodoro Marañón, IRNA, CSIC, Sevilla, España.
• Johannes Kollmann, Copenhaguen University, Denmark.
• Manuel Nogales and Alfredo Valido, Universidad de La La Laguna, Islas Canarias.
• Javier Figueroa, Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Study organisms

• Prunus mahaleb (Rosaceae).
• Taxus baccata (Taxacaeae).
• Juniperus communis, Juniperus phoenicea, Juniperus sabina (Cupressaceae).
• Acer granatensis (Aceraceae).
• Quercus spp. (Fagaceae).

• Sylvia warbler species.
• Turdus thrush species.
• Apodemus sylvaticus.