Quantitative estimates of the range loss of mountain plants under climate change have so far mostly relied on static geographical projections of species’ habitat shifts. Here, we use a hybrid model that combines such projections with simulations of demography and seed dispersal to forecast the climate driven spatiotemporal dynamics of 150 highmountain plant species across the European Alps. This model predicts average range size reductions of 44–50% by the end of the twentyfirst century, which is similar to projections from the most ‘optimistic’ static model (49%). However, the hybrid model also indicates that population dynamics will lag behind climatic trends and that an average of 40% of the range still occupied at the end of the twentyfirst century will have become climatically unsuitable for the respective species, creating an extinction debt. Alarmingly, species endemic to the Alps seem to face the highest range losses. These results caution against optimistic conclusions from moderate range size reductions observed during the twentyfirst century as they are likely to belie more severe longerterm effects of climate warming on mountain plants.
COBISS.SI-ID: 34145069
The discovery and description of the largest orbweaving spider and a phylogenetic analysis of the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in nephilid spiders. The authors reported a surprising discovery of a new species of giant orb weaving spiders, genus Nephila, whose last validly described new species goes back to 1879. Their discovery of currently the largest known orbweaver allowed new insights into the evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism. In this paper, the authors reconstructed the evolution of nephilid sexual size dimorphism and demonstrated that the female size monotonically increased to gigantic proportions, but its evolution did not correlate with the evolution of male size. This suggests differing pressures from natural versus sexual selection. The paper received considerable scientific and popular attention, e.g. 50 thousand downloads from PLoS ONE website, coverage in popular media from BBC to National Geographic and the Guinness Book of Records, as well as the new species' own Wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila_komaci).
COBISS.SI-ID: 30538029
The authors reported on the discovery of a spider silk of a newly discovered species Caerostris darwini, which suprasses other known spider silks in its toughness, which makes it currently the toughst known natural material. In a concurrent paper, Kuntner and Agnarsson described Caerostris darwini from Madagascar, a new species noteworthy for its extraordinary ability to spin the largest ever recorded webs used to bridge rivers alnd lakes spanning up to 25 meters. The two studies received great scientific and popular coverage, even in journal Science. The discoveries establish a coevolutionary history of ecological (largest web architecture) and physical properties (extraordinary biomaterial).
COBISS.SI-ID: 31701037
In this study we showed that the previously unstudied 'eunuch phenomenon' in spiders is adaptive. Males of the sexually dimorphic species Nephilengys malabarensis break their copulatory organ during copulation and thus become sterile and this behavior correlates with eunuch's enhanced aggression. Eunuchs thus monopolize a female, which hints at adaptation in response to sperm competition.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32493101
We studied postfire longterm regeneration of the Pinus brutia forest using the synchronical approach. We analysed species richness pattern and vegetation diversity. The results of our floristic survey show that the majority of species are present from the beginning of the succession and suggest that those forests recover through autosuccession. The study brings together similar studies in the eastern Mediterranean and makes a comparison with the western Mediterranean basin. The study of one of the most important ecological problem in the Mediterranean basin has also a high applied value.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31290669