Postfire biodiversity database for eastern Iberia.

In the summer of 2012, two fires affected Mediterranean ecosystems in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The size of these fires was at the extreme of the historical variability (megafires). Animals are traditionally assumed to recolonize from source populations outside of the burned area (exogenous regeneration) while plants recover from endogenous regeneration (resprouting and seeding). However, there is increasing evidence of in situ fire survival in animals. To evaluate the effect of large-scale fires on biodiversity and the mechanism of recovery, in 2013, we set up 12 plots per fire, covering burned vegetation at different distances from the fire perimeter and unburned vegetation. In each plot, we followed the postfire recovery of arthropods, reptiles (including some of their parasites), and plants for 2 to 5 years. Here we present the resulting database (POSTDIV) of taxon abundance. POSTDIV totals 19,906 records for 457 arthropod taxa (113,681 individuals), 12 reptile taxa (503 individuals), 4 reptile parasites (234 individuals), and 518 plant taxa (cover-abundance). We provide examples in the R language to query the database.

Fire benefits flower beetles in a Mediterranean ecosystem.

Despite the abundance of plants that benefit from fire in Mediterranean ecosystems, little is known about the possible presence of fire-favoured insects (other than bark beetles). For two years we sampled invertebrates after two large wildfires in eastern Spain and demonstrate that two flower beetle species, Protaetia morio and P. oblonga (Cetoniidae), show a pyrophilous behaviour. These beetles were much more numerous after the fires than in unburnt plots around the fire perimeter; in addition, these species tended to increase in number with the distance from the fire perimeter and with fire recurrence, especially P. morio. These results were maintained for the two postfire years sampled. The results for the beetles do not support the hypothesis of postfire colonization, but that local populations survived the fire as eggs or larvae protected in the soil (endogenous persistence). We propose that the increase in population size (compared with unburnt zones) could be driven by the reduction of their predator populations, as vertebrates that feed on these beetles were disfavoured by fire. That is, the results suggest that these flower beetle species benefit from fire because fire disrupts antagonistic interactions with their predators (predation release hypothesis). Given the omnipresence of small mammals, soil insects, and fires, the processes described here are likely to be general but unexplored.

DNA barcode reference library for Iberian butterflies enables a continental-scale preview of potential cryptic diversity.

How common are cryptic species--those overlooked because of their morphological similarity? Despite its wide-ranging implications for biology and conservation, the answer remains open to debate. Butterflies constitute the best-studied invertebrates, playing a similar role as birds do in providing models for vertebrate biology. An accurate assessment of cryptic diversity in this emblematic group requires meticulous case-by-case assessments, but a preview to highlight cases of particular interest will help to direct future studies. We present a survey of mitochondrial genetic diversity for the butterfly fauna of the Iberian Peninsula with unprecedented resolution (3502 DNA barcodes for all 228 species), creating a reliable system for DNA-based identification and for the detection of overlooked diversity. After compiling available data for European butterflies (5782 sequences, 299 species), we applied the Generalized Mixed Yule-Coalescent model to explore potential cryptic diversity at a continental scale. The results indicate that 27.7% of these species include from two to four evolutionary significant units (ESUs), suggesting that cryptic biodiversity may be higher than expected for one of the best-studied invertebrate groups and regions. The ESUs represent important units for conservation, models for studies of evolutionary and speciation processes, and sentinels for future research to unveil hidden diversity.

Revision of the genus Coletinia (Zygentoma: Nicoletiidae) in the Iberian Peninsula, with descriptions of nine new species.

The discovery of several members of the genus Coletinia Wygodzinsky, 1980, from subterranean habitats (endogean and troglobiont), prompted the review of this genus in the Iberian Peninsula. Most of the samples came from caves of the Mediterranean basin of Spain, from Cádiz to the Tarragona province. As a result of this revision, nine new species have been established: C. herculea n. sp., an endogean from Cádiz; C. vergitana n. sp. from the Gádor calcareous mountains in Almería; C. calaforrai n. sp. from the gypsum karst in Almería; C. intermedia n. sp. from caves in Murcia and Alicante; C. diania n. sp., found in the north of the province of Alicante; C. longitibia n. sp. and C. tessella n. sp., both troglobites from Valencia; C. redetecta n. sp. from Castellón caves and finally C. hernandoi n. sp., an endogean from Tarragona. Moreover, Coletinia maggii (Grassi, 1887) is reported for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula, and new data are presented regarding C. mendesi, C. tinautiand C. capolongoi that widen their geographic distribution and enhance the information about their anatomic characteristics and biology. These results increase the number of known species of this genus to 14 in the region and to 21 in the world. The new species are described and compared with the most closely related previously known species of the genus. Characters with the most taxonomic relevance are discussed using optical and scanning microscope studies. A key for the identification of the Iberian Coletinia species and a distribution map including all of them are also provided.