The global decline of mutualists such as pollinators and seed dispersers may cause negative direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity. Mutualistic network models used to understand the stability of mutualistic systems indicate that species with low partner diversity are most vulnerable to coextinction following mutualism disruption. However, existing models have not considered how species var...

Aim Genetic connectivity and diversity are key components of species' resilience to environmental change. However, the specific factors shaping poorly understood. We here aim strengthen our understanding in two butterfly species, by identifying regions high genetic barriers dispersal. Location European Alps. Taxon Copper butterflies (Lycaena spp.). Methods sampled 21 Lycaena hippothoe 14 L. vir...

Biogeographic barriers can restrict gene flow, but variation in ecological drivers of dispersal influences the effectiveness these among different species. Detailed information about genetic connectivity and movement waterfowl across biogeographic northern Australia Papua New Guinea is limited. We compared for four species Australasian that vary their capacity predisposition dispersal: Radjah S...

Growing interest in spatial ecology is promoting new approaches to the study of seed dispersal, one of the key processes determining the spatial structure of plant populations. Seed-dispersion patterns vary among plant species, populations and individuals, at different distances from parents, different microsites and different times. Recent field studies have made progress in elucidating the me...

Habitat fragmentation threatens biodiversity by disrupting dispersal. The mechanisms and consequences of this disruption are controversial, primarily because most organisms are difficult to track. We examined the effect of habitat corridors on long-distance dispersal of seeds by birds, and tested whether small-scale (<20 meters) movements of birds could be scaled up to predict dispersal of seed...

The fire-bellied toads Bombina bombina and B. variegata differ extensively in biochemistry, morphology, and behavior. We use a survey of five diagnostic enzyme loci across the hybrid zone near Cracow in Southern Poland to estimate the dispersal rate, selection pressures, and numbers of loci which maintain this zone. The enzyme clines coincide closely with each other and with morphological and m...

Biogeography investigates spatial patterns of species distribution. Discontinuities in species distribution are identified as boundaries between biogeographic areas. Do these boundaries affect genetic connectivity? To address this question, a multifactorial hierarchical sampling design, across three of the major marine biogeographic boundaries in the central Mediterranean Sea (Ligurian-Tyrrheni...