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| María Begoña García González |
| Científica Titular CSIC |
| Doctora en Biología |
| Office
Telephone: +34 976 716028 |
| Fax
Number: +34 976 716019 |
| E-mail:
mariab[arroba]ipe.csic.es |
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- Research
Interest |
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- Plant demography and life history evolution |
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- Plant-animal interactions |
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- Conservation Biology |
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- Species
Studied |
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- Selected
Publications |
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- Links |
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Research Interest |
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My
reseach interests are very diverse: plant population dynamics (including PVA of endagered species), life history evolution, plant-animal interactions, and spatial and biological patterns of biodiversity in mountains.
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I often use a demographic approach (matrix models) because of its integrative perspective. They put together, and weight, the importance of different fitness components (germination, survival, fecundity..) usually studied in an isolated way. Such overall view of the processes is very suitable for reliable comparisons and assessments of different factors on plant performance. In my attempt to get closer to reality and understand ecologial processes, I often explore the variability at large spatial and temporal scales.
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(Species
studied, and selected papers related to the following topics are in brackets according to the codes of the last two sections)
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Plant demography and life history evolution |
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In dioecious plants, males and females have evolved under different selective pressures. Trade-offs generated by different reproductive efforts and adaptations to increase reproductive success, translates into divergent life histories, which in turn affects population structure and dynamics (Asp, Bp; 5, 6, 7)
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Among-population variability of vital rates is common not only in widespread plants (Hf, Pv; 16) but also for local endemisms (Pp; 22). This fact has a transcendental importance in the population dynamics of species. We are currently exploring the association between abiotic factors as selective forces that shape within-species inter-population differentiation in traits such as longevity, age at first reproduction, fecundity, and resource allocation, over a broad ecological mosaic and along a continental transect (Pc).
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At the species level, we found in a recent review of demographic studies including temporal variability, a clear positive relationship between the age of herbaceous plants and the population dynamics stability, in terms of deviance of population growth rate from equilibrium, and temporal fluctuations (23).
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Plant-animal interactions |
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Plants do not live isolated or just competing with other plants for resources. In the real world there are very many kinds of plant-plant, and plant-animal interactions (Bch, Bp, Hf, Phc, Pl, Sl; 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14).
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The presence and abundance of the pollinators, dispersers, and herbivores, is key to explore plant trait selection and understand the persistence of plant populations (Bch, Hf, Pv; 9, 10, 11, 13). The quantification of the effect of each interacting species on the whole plant life cycle allows to examine their real role in population dynamics and overall fitness, and therefore in evolutionary processes.
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Plant-animal interactions are not only partly responsible for the persistence of the pair of species involved. They are the “glue” of more complex networks, and therefore responsible somehow of the persistence of other species not directly connected to them. Some ecological and biological traits, however, make some plant species more resistant to threats and extinctions processes than others, and we are now exploring those traits.
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Conservation biology |
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Biodiversity is suffering the highest risk ever known, and dramatic changes of irreversible consequences are happening everywhere. I work at different scales to provide basic information helping to avoid the lost of populations or even species extinction.
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Determining the performance of singular plants (endangered or relicts) is the most objective and sound tool for the preservation of species at high risk. Through detailed long-term monitoring and population viability analysis based on stochastic models, I have assessed the vulnerability and threats of a few plants, mostly in the NE of Spain (Bch, Bp, Cc, Ch, Ln, Pp, Rp, Sl, Tl; 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24)
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Other formerly common species are becoming rare as a result of changes in the traditional use of land, or are expected to shift their distribution range as a consequence of climatic change. For a better understanding of the process of population decline, we tried to disentangle the response of different vital rates within functional groups in order to apply a successful management (Pv; 15, 16), or test the supposed higher vulnerability of peripheral populations (Pc, Cc, Tl; 18, 24)
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When detailed studies are impractical because of the amount of species involved, a broader perspective is necessary in order to anticipate the extinction in places of high biodiversity. Mountain areas shelter a large amount of plant species occurring in a mosaic of habitats over a variety of climatic, topographic and geologic factors, plus the human influence. We have now started to analyze the phylogenetic and functional biodiversity of the flora in Central Pyrenees, where more than 2400 sps occur, about 10% of them endemics (1, 21). |
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Links to working groups I belong to: |
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Species studied: |
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| Asp (Acipylla sp, Apiaceae) |
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| Bch (Borderea chouardii, Dioscoreaceae); |
| Bp (Borderea pyrenaica, Dioscoreaceae); |
| Cc (Cypripedium calceolus, Orchidaceae) |
| Ch (Centaurea horrida, Asteraceae); |
| Hf (Helleborous foetidus, Ranunculaceae) |
| Ln (Laurus nobilis, Lauraceae); |
| Pc (Plantago coronopus, Plantaginaceae); |
| Phc (Phoradendon californicum, Viscaceae) |
| Pl (Pinguicula longifolia, Lentibulariaceae); |
| Pp (Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa, Caryophyllaceae) |
| Pv (Primula veris, Primulaceae) |
| Rp (Rhododendron ponticum, Ericaceae) |
| Sl (Saxifraga longifolia; Saxifragaceae); |
Tl (Thymus loscosii, Labiatae) |
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Selected publications |
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24. García, M.B., D. Goñi & D. Guzmán (in review). The performance of an endangered orchid at the limit of its distribution. Population size, dynamics, and the effect of herbivory over the last decade. Biological Conservation
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23. García, M.B., F.X. Picó & J. Ehrlén (2008). Life span correlates with population dynamics in perennial herbaceous plants. American Journal of Botany 95 (2):258-262 
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22. García, M.B. (2008). Life history and population size variability in a relict plant. Different routes towards long-term persistence. Diversity and Distributions 14:106-113
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21. García, M.B., Gómez, D. (in press). Flora del Pirineo aragonés. Patrones espaciales de biodiversidad y su relevancia para la conservación. Pirineos, 162:71-88
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20. Buston, P & M.B. García. 2007. Extraordinary life expectancies of the clown anemonefish (Amphiprion percula). Journal of Fish Biology 70:1710-1719
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19. García M.B.; Goñi, D.; Guzmán, D.; Iriondo, J.M.; Cosculluela, J.; Puente, J.; Alcántara, M. & J. Guiral. 2007. ¿Cómo gestionar una planta prácticamente inaccesible y en peligro de extinción? Ecosistemas 2007/3
URL: http://www.revistaecosistemas.net/
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18. García M.B. 2007. Demografía y viabilidad poblacional de poblaciones periféricas del tomillo sanjuanero (Thymus loscosii Willk.),endemismo del Valle del Ebro. Ecosistemas 2007/1.
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17. Goñi, D.; García M.B. & D. Guzmán. 2006. Métodos para el censo y seguimiento de plantas rupícolas amenazadas. Pirineos 161: 33-58
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16. Lehtilä, K., K. Syrjänen, R. Leimu, M.B. García & J. Ehrlén. 2006. Habitat change and demography of Primula veris: identification of management targets. Conservation Biology 20:833-843
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15. Ehrlén, J., K. Syrjänen, R. Leimu, M.B. García & K. Lehtilä. 2005. Land use and population dynamics of Primula veris: an experimental demographic approach. Journal of Applied Ecology 42:317-326
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14. Manzaneda, A., U. Sperens & M.B. García. 2005. Effects of microsite disturbances and herbivory on seedling performance in the perennial herb Helleborus foetidus (Ranunculaceae). Plant Ecology, 179:72-83
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13. García, M.B. 2003. Demographic viability of a relict population of the critically endangered plant Borderea chouardii. Conservation Biology 17:1672-1680
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12. García, M.B. 2003. Sex allocation in a long-lived monocarpic plant. Plant Biology 5: 203-209
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11. Herrera, C.M., M. Medrano, P.J. Rey, A.M. Sánchez-Lafuente, M.B. García, J. Guitián & A. Manzaneda. 2002. Non-additive fitness effects of pollinators and herbivores suggest a mechanism for adaptive correlated evolution of mutualism- and antagonism-related plant traits. Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences (USA) 99: 16823-16828
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10. García M.B. & J. Ehrlén. 2002. Reproductive effort and herbivory timing in a perennial herb: fitness components at the individual and population levels. American Journal of Botany 89: 1295-1302
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9. Herrera C.M., X. Cerdá, M.B. García, J. Guitián, M. Medrano, P. Rey & A.M. Sánchez-Lafuente. 2002. Floral integration, phenotypic covariance structure, and pollinator variation in bumblebee-pollinated Helleborus foetidus. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15 : 108-121
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8. García, M.B., D. Guzmán & D. Goñi. 2002. An evaluation of the status of five threatened plant species in the Pyrenees. Biological Conservation 103: 151-161
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7. Hogan K., M.B. García, J.M. Cheeseman & M.D. Loveless. 1998. Inflorescence photosynthesis and investment in reproduction in the dioecious species Aciphylla glaucescens (Apiaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 36: 653- 660
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6. García, M.B. & R.J. Antor. 1995. Age and size structure in populations of a long-lived dioecious geophyte: Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 156: 236-243
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5. García, M.B. & R.J. Antor. 1995. Sex ratio and sexual dimorphism in the dioecious Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae). Oecologia 101: 59- 67
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4. García, M.B., R.J. Antor & X. Espadaler. 1995. Ant pollination of the palaeoendemic dioecious Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 198: 17-27
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3. Antor R.J. & M.B. García. 1995. A new mite-plant association: mites living amidst the adhesive traps of a carnivorous plant. Oecologia 101: 51- 54
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2. Antor R.J. & M.B. García. 1994. Prey capture by a carnivorous plant with hanging adhesive traps: Pinguicula longifolia. American Midland Naturalist 131: 128-135
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1. Villar L. & M.B. García. 1989. Vers une banque de donnes des plantas vasculaires endèmiques des Pyrenées. Acta Biologica Montana 9 : 261-274 |
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INICIO
ATRÁS
