Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2020

End date:

2021

Total budget:

125.083,03 €

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

60.000,00€

According to the University of León, isolation is likely to be more important than local factors in the functioning of Mediterranean wetlands. If this is the case, he says, wetland management should aim to protect networks of connected habitats and not singular spaces as is usual.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods to assess connectivity between sites to determine the importance of metapopulation and metacommunity dynamics and to establish wetland networks.

In this way it will be possible to decide when to prioritize connectivity or when to reduce local impacts in spatial management measures. Molecular methods can also provide information on the presence and abundance of species of interest and could be routine management methods. Amphibians are the ideal group to evaluate these aspects due to their different dispersive capacity and their vulnerability to climate change and globalization.

The general objective of this project is to develop molecular tools to evaluate the connectivity between wetlands, to demonstrate the existence of metapopulation and metacommunity dynamics and the presence and abundance of species of interest. It also studies the importance of protected wetlands as sources or sinks of propagules.

It has these specific objectives:

• Study of amphibian communities in Mediterranean wetlands. State of amphibian communities and study of the influence of local and landscape factors in selected lagoon groups of Castilla y León.
• To analyze the connectivity between wetlands and the importance of protected wetlands as sources or sinks for two amphibian species with different dispersive capacity (common frog, perezi and gallipato P. waltl, and to demonstrate the importance of connectivity and network structure in Mediterranean wetlands.
• To evaluate the metacommunity structure of amphibians in wetlands, to analyze landscape and local factors on amphibian connectivity and communities, and to compare conventional statistical and molecular methods on such structure.
• Propose management strategies to the environmental and agricultural administration that favor connectivity and biodiversity conservation in Mediterranean wetlands.

• Bibliographic review.
• Analysis of molecular markers used, previous work on connectivity and metacommunities of amphibians in wetlands.
• Analysis and selection of wetlands.
• Amphibian sampling in selected wetlands.
• Analysis of local and landscape variables.
• Use of molecular markers (microsatellites and SNPs) to estimate connectivity between habitats.
• Analysis of population variables and genetic parameters of the species studied.
• Study of the metacommunity structure of amphibians.
• Discriminant analysis of the importance of spatial vs. local factors.
• Preparation of reports to enable the administrations involved to adopt management measures based on the results of the project.
• Dissemination and communication of the project.

• The project has allowed the application of molecular techniques (RAD sequencing and microsatellites) for the study of amphibian connectivity between lagoons located in agricultural landscapes of León and Segovia.
• These methods allow to know the real connectivity and to study networks of interconnected systems to establish wetland networks and to evaluate the role of agricultural management and planning on the conservation of amphibians and their wetlands.
• The existence of amphibians has been verified in 94 lagoons (73 in León and 21 in Segovia). Of the 94 ponds, 52 in León and 21 in Segovia were sampled, identifying 10 different species of amphibians and taking biological samples and measurements of biological and physiological parameters of 4 different species (San Antonio frogs, spadefoot toads, common frogs and gallipatos).
• Sampling of environmental variables such as pH, nutrients, chlorophyll content (up to 12 variables) has been carried out in 22 lagoons, as well as the collection of data related to diatom communities, with a total of 97 different species identified.
• The project has shown that amphibians, especially gallipata, are highly mobile between the wetlands studied (separated by about 15 km).
• The study shows that the conversion of rainfed crops to irrigated crops leads to a loss of amphibian diversity, but does not have an effect on connectivity between wetlands.
• The project demonstrates the need to apply molecular methods to demonstrate the connectivity and existence of wetland networks, as well as its validity as a routine analysis for the management of these areas.