The role of life-history and ecology in the evolution of color patterns in Australian chrysomeline beetles

The variation in animal coloration patterns has evolved in response to different visual strategies for reducing the risk of predation. However, the perception of animal coloration by enemies is affected by a variety of factors, including morphology and habitat. We use the diversity of Australian chrysomeline leaf beetles to explore relationships of visual ecology to beetle morphology and color patterns. There is impressive color pattern variation within the Chrysomelinae, which is likely to reflect anti-predatory strategies. Our phylogenetic comparative analyses reveal strong selection for beetles to be less distinct from their host plants, suggesting that the beetle color patterns have a camouflage effect, rather than the widely assumed aposematic function. Beetles in dark habitats were significantly larger than beetles in bright habitats, potentially to avoid detection by predators because it is harder for large animals to be cryptic in bright habitats. Polyphagous species have greater brightness contrast against their host plants than monophagous species, highlighting the conflict between a generalist foraging strategy and the detection costs of potential predators. Host plant taxa-Eucalyptus and Acacia-interacted differently with beetle shape to predict blue pattern differences between beetle and host plant, possibly an outcome of different predator complexes on these host plants. The variety of anti-predator strategies in chrysomelines may explain their successful radiation into a variety of habitats and, ultimately, their speciation

High-throughput biodiversity analysis: Rapid assessment of species richness and ecological interactions of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in the tropics

Biodiversity assessment has been the focus of intense debate and conceptual and methodological advances in recent years. The cultural, academic and aesthetic impulses to recognise and catalogue the diversity in our surroundings, in this case of living objects, is furthermore propelled by the urgency of understanding that we may be responsible for a dramatic reduction of biodiversity, comparable in magnitude to geological mass extinctions. One of the most important advances in this attempt to characterise biodiversity has been incorporating DNA-based characters and molecular taxonomy tools to achieve faster and more efficient species delimitation and identification, even in hyperdiverse tropical biomes. In this assay we advocate for a broad understanding of Biodiversity as the inventory of species in a given environment, but also the diversity of their interactions, with both aspects being attainable using molecular markers and phylogenetic approaches. We exemplify the suitability and utility of this framework for large-scale biodiversity assessment with the results of our ongoing projects trying to characterise the communities of leaf beetles and their host plants in several tropical setups. Moreover, we propose that approaches similar to ours, establishing the inventories of two ecologically inter-related and species-rich groups of organisms, such as insect herbivores and their angiosperm host-plants, can serve as the foundational stone to anchor a comprehensive assessment of diversity, also in tropical environments, by subsequent addition of trophic levels.The ‘Fundación BBVA’ (Spain) has funded the bulk of this work thanks to their support for our large-scale biodiversity assessment initiative in Nicaraguan tropical dry forests (project BIOCON08-045, IP: JGZ). Our work in Nicaragua has benefited from a postdoctoral ‘Juan de la Cierva’ contract (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, MICINN) to AP, and an AECID predoctoral studentship (Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation) and a SENESCYT scholarship (Secretariat of High Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ecuador) to GDC. The National Geographic Society supported most of our research in New Caledonia (project 8380-07, IP: JGZ) with help from a travel grant awarded by the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund of the Linnean Society of London to JGZ. The Spanish High Research Council (CSIC), in the framework of a cooperation agreement with the Vietnamese Academy of Sciences, supports our work in dry tropical forests of southern Vietnam (IP: JGZ) as well as a predoctoral studentship to DTN. Several EU Synthesys research stays (GB-TAF-1840, SE-TAF-1893, DE-TAF-4348) and a Mayr Travel Grant (Harvard University) as well as project CGL2008-00007/BOS (MICINN, IP: JGZ) have contributed to the discovery of a new tropical species of Calligrapha, and the latter also framed the predoctoral studentship to TM.Peer Reviewe

Cruise Summary Report - MEDWAVES survey. MEDiterranean out flow WAter and Vulnerable EcosystemS (MEDWAVES)

The MEDWAVES (MEDiterranean out flow WAter and Vulnerable EcosystemS) cruise targeted areas under the potential influence of the MOW within the Mediterranean and Atlantic realms. These include seamounts where Cold-water corals (CWCs) have been reported but that are still poorly known, and which may act as essential “stepping stones” connecting fauna of seamounts in the Mediterranean with those of the continental shelf of Portugal, the Azores and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. During MEDWAVES sampling has been conducted in two of the case studies of ATLAS: Case study 7 (Gulf of Cádiz-Strait of Gibraltar-Alboran Sea) and Case study 8 (Azores). The initially targeted areas in the Atlantic were: the Gazul Mud volcano, in the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC) area, included in the case study 7, and the Atlantic seamounts Ormonde (Portuguese shelf) and Formigas (by Azores), both part of the case study 8. In the Mediterranean the targeted areas were The Guadiaro submarine canyon and the Seco de los Olivos (also known as Chella Bank) seamount. Unfortunately it was not possible to sample in Guadiaro due to time constraints originated by adverse meteorological conditions which obligate us to reduce the time at sea focusing only in 4 of the 5 initially planned areas. MEDWAVES was structured in two legs; the first leg took place from the 21st September (departure from Cádiz harbour in Spain) to the 13th October 2016 (arrival in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal took place the 8th of October due to the meteorological conditions that obligated to conclude the first leg earlier as planned). during the Leg 1 sampling was carried out in Gazul, Ormonde and Formigas. The second leg started the 14th October (departure from Ponta Delgada) and finished the 26th October (arrival in Málaga harbour, Spain). MEDWAVES had a total of 30 effective sampling days, being 6 days not operative due to the adverse meteorological conditions experienced during the first leg which forced us to stay in Ponta Delgada from the 08th to the 13th October. During MEDWAVES the daily routine followed a similar scheme, depending of course on the weather and sea conditions. The main activity during the day, starting early in the morning (around 08:00 AM, once the night activities were finished), was the ROV deployment. Generally a single ROV dive of around 8 hours was performed, however in several occasions two dives were carried out in the same day (see General station list, Appendix II). After the ROV (and sometimes between two dives) the Box Corer and/or Van Veen Grab and/or Multicore was deployed. After these activities, during the night CTD-Rosette deployments and MB was conducted. Accordingly to this schema the scientific personnel worked in the day or in the night watch. A total of 215 sampling stations have been covered in MEDWAVES, using the following sampling gears: Multibeam echosounder, CTD-Rosette, LADCP, Box Corer, Van Veen Grab, Multicorer and a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Table 1 sumamrised the number of sampling stations conducted with each gear in each sampling zone. Additionally MB surveys have been conducted during the transits between area

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Revisión y Control del Plan de Vigilancia Ambiental de las obras de dragado del Puerto de Maó

Se integra información hidrográfica, geomorfológica, sedimentológica y biológica, para la caracterización de los ecosistemas marinos en el punto de vertido y área adyacente previa al inicio de las obras de dragado del Puerto de Maó.RESUMEN: En este documento se presentan los trabajos científicos realizados por el Instituto Español de Oceanografía, dentro del Plan de Vigilancia Ambiental del dragado del Puerto de Maó (Menorca, Islas Baleares), para la caracterización de los ecosistema marino en el punto de vertido y área adyacente, previa al inicio de las obras. Se incluyen los resultados y las conclusiones de los estudios realizados por diversos grupos de investigación, principalmente en Enero-Marzo 2014, en relación al fondo marino, la hidrodinámica, las praderas de Posidonia oceanica y el molusco bivalvo Pinna nobilis, el macro-bentos de los fondos circalitorales blandos y los contaminantes en agua, sedimentos y biota, así como en especies de interés comercial para el consumo humano. Este informe se contempla en el contrato entre la Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares y el Instituto Español de Oceanografía, suscrito el 5 Febrero 2014, para los trabajos de asistencia técnica para la revisión y control del Plan de Vigilancia Ambiental del dragado del Puerto de Maó.RESUM: En aquest document es presenten els treballs científics realitzats per l’Instituto Español de Oceanografía, dins del Pla de Vigilància Ambiental del dragat del Port de Maó (Menorca, Illes Balears), per a la caracterització dels ecosistemes marins en el punt de vessament i àrea adjacent, prèvia a l’inici de les obres. S’inclouen els resultats i les conclusions del estudis realitzats per diversos grups de recerca, principalment durant Gener-Març 2014, en relació al fons marí, la hidrodinàmica, les praderies de Posidonia oceanica i el mol•lusc bivalve Pinna nobilis, el macro-bentos dels fons circalitorals tous i els contaminants en aigua, sediments i biota, així com en espècies d’interès comercial pel consum humà. Aquest informe es contempla en el contracte entre l’Autoritat Portuària de Balears i el Instituto Español de Oceanografía, subscrit el 5 Febrer 2014, pels treballs d’assistència tècnica per a la revisió i control del Pla de Vigilància Ambiental del dragat de Port de Maó.ABSTRACT: This document presents the scientific actions developed by the Instituto Español de Oceanografía within the Environmental Monitoring Plan of the works of dredging the Port of Maó (Minorca, Balearic Islands), for the characterization of the marine ecosystems in the point of discharge of dredged material and adjacent area, before the beginning of the dredging. The results and conclusions of the studies developed by several research groups, mainly in January-March 2014, in relation to the bottom, hydrodynamics, Posidonia oceanica meadows, and the bivalve mollusc Pinna nobilis, the macro-benthos of the circalittoral soft bottoms and the contaminants in water, sediments and biota, as well as in commercial species for human consumption, are included. This report is contemplated within the contract between the Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares and the Instituto Español de Oceanografía, signed on 5 February 2014, for the technical assistance activities to review and control the Environmental Monitoring Plan of the works of dredging the Port of Maó.Autoridad Portuaria de Baleare

CIBERER: Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

13 páginas,1 figura, 3 tablas, 1 apéndice. Se extraen los autores pertenecientes a The CIBERER network que trabajan en Centros del CSIC del Appendix ACIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research.This study has been funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Spanish Ministry of Science and InnovationPeer reviewe

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

Morphological and molecular species boundaries in the Hyalella species flock of Lake Titicaca (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

The Hyalella species diversity in the high-altitude water bodies of the Andean Altiplano is addressed using mitochondrial cox1 sequences and implementing different molecular species delimitation criteria. We have recorded the presence of five major genetic lineages in the Altiplano, of which one seems to be exclusive to Lake Titicaca and nearby areas, whereas the rest occur also in other regions of South America. Eleven out of 36 South American entities diagnosed by molecular delimitation criteria in our study are likely endemic to the Titicaca and neighbouring water bodies. We have detected a remarkable disagreement between morphology and genetic data in the Titicacan Hyalella, with occurrence of several cases of the same morpho-species corresponding to several Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs), some even distantly related, and other instances where a particular MOTU is shared by a morphologically heterogeneous array of species, including species with body smooth and others with body heavily armoured. Species diversification and incongruence between morphological and molecular boundaries within this species assemblage may be associated to the sharp changes in hydrological conditions experienced by the water bodies of the Altiplano in the past, which included dramatic fluctuations in water level and salinity of Lake Titicaca. Such environmental shifts could have triggered rapid morphological changes and ecological differentiation within the Hyalella assemblage, followed by phenotypic convergence among the diverse lineages. Factors such as phenotypic plasticity, incomplete lineage sorting or admixture between divergent lineages might lie also at the root of the morphological-genetic incongruence described herein.This work was supported by the Spanish MINECO Grant CGL2016-76164-P, financed by the Agencia Española de Investigación (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)

Ultraestructura coriónica del huevo de cuatro especies de la subfamilia Chrysomelinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)

[eng] The egg-chorion ultrastructure of Cyrtonus arcasi Fairmaire, 1884, Timarcha interstitialis affinis Laboissière, 1937, Chrysolina lucida (Olivier, 1807) and Chrysolina quadrigemina (Suffrian, 1851) are described and illustrated. These findings are discussed and compared with those previously obtained in other species of the same subfamily, congeneric or of different genera, in agreement or not with their genetic similarities

Ultraestructura coriónica del huevo de cuatro especies de la subfamilia Chrysomelinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae).

Se describe e ilustra la ultraestructura coriónica del huevo de Cyrtonus arcasi Fairmaire, 1884, Timarcha interstitialis affinis Laboissière, 1937, Chrysolina lucida (Olivier, 1807) y Chrysolina quadrigemina (Suffrian, 1851). Estos resultados se discuten y comparan con los obtenidos previamente en otras especies de la misma subfamilia Chrysomelinae, congenéricas o de géneros distintos, de acuerdo o no con su taxonomía y parentesco genético