Abstract Context Mediterranean wetland ecosystems are in continuous decline due to human pressure. Amphibians are key elements of biotic communities of Mediterranean temporary ponds and streams, and their persistence depends on the availability and inter-connectivity of breeding sites. Objectives We investigated the role of different factors potentially driving functional connectivity patterns in two amphibian species at the landscape and local scales. We focused on two Mediterranean endemic pond-breeding amphibians inhabiting semi-arid landscapes of central Spain, the common parsley frog (Pelodytes punctatus) and the common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans). Methods We genotyped 336 individuals of P. punctatus and 318 of A. obstetricans from 17 and 16 breeding populations at 10 and 17 microsatellite loci, respectively. We used remotely sensed vegetation/moisture indices and land use/cover data to derive optimized resistance surfaces and test their association with estimates of gene flow and migration rates across populations. Results We found evidence for higher population connectivity in common midwife toads than in common parsley frogs, with a strong effect of water availability in patterns of population connectivity of both species. However, the two species differ in the role of landscape features on population connectivity, with the distance and spatial distribution of artificial land-use types positively influencing connectivity in A. obstetricans and meadows/pastureland favouring P. punctatus. This is in line with reported breeding site preferences for the two species, with A. obstetricans successfully breeding in artificial water bodies that P. punctatus generally avoid. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of assessing species–habitat relationships shaping connectivity when developing and implementing conservation and management actions to benefit fragmented amphibian populations in the Mediterranean region. Our results show that amphibian species respond differently, even contrastingly to landscape features and thus require alternative, complementary strategies to improve population connectivity and ensure long-term viability.

Freshwater ecosystems host high levels of biodiversity but are also highly vulnerable to biological invasions. Aquatic Invasive Alien Plant Species (aIAPS) can cause detrimental effects on freshwater ecosystems and their services to society, raising challenges to decision-makers regarding their correct management. Spatially and temporally explicit information on the occurrence of aIAPS in dynamic freshwater systems is essential to implement efficient regional and local action plans. The use of unmanned aerial vehicle imagery synchronized with free Sentinel-2 multispectral data allied with classifier fusion techniques may support more efficient monitoring actions for non-stationary aIAPS. Here, we explore the advantages of such a novel approach for mapping the invasive water-hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in the Cávado River (northern Portugal). Invaded and non-invaded areas were used to explore the evolution of spectral attributes of Eichhornia crassipes through a time series (processed by a super-resolution algorithm) that covers March 2021 to February 2022 and to build an occurrence dataset (presence or absence). Analysis of the spectral behavior throughout the year allowed the detection of spectral regions with greater capacity to distinguish the target plant from the surrounding environment. Classifier fusion techniques were implemented in the biomod2 predictive modelling package and fed with selected spectral regions to firstly extract a spectral signature from the synchronized day and secondly to identify pixels with similar reflectance values over time. Predictions from statistical and machine-learning algorithms were ensembled to map invaded spaces across the whole study area during all seasons with classifications attaining high accuracy values (True Skill Statistic, TSS: 0.932; Area Under the Receiver Operating Curve, ROC: 0.992; Kappa: 0.826). Our results provide evidence of the potential of our approach to mapping plant invaders in dynamic freshwater systems over time, applicable in the assessment of the success of control actions as well as in the implementation of long-term strategic monitoring.

Migratory birds are particularly exposed to habitat changes in their breeding and non-breeding grounds. Remote sensing technologies offer an excellent opportunity to monitor species’ habitats from space at unprecedented spatiotemporal scales. We analyzed if remotely sensed ecosystem functioning attributes (EFAs) adequately predict the spatiotemporal variation of the Woodcock’s (Scolopax rusticola) relative abundance in southwest Europe, during autumn migration and wintering periods. We used data gathered from Woodcock monitoring through citizen science (N = 355,654 hunting trips) between 2009 and 2018. We computed a comprehensive set of EFAs on a weekly basis from three MODIS satellite products: enhanced vegetation index (EVI), tasseled cap transformation (TCT), and land surface temperature (LST). We developed generalized linear mixed models to explore the predictive power of EFAs on Woodcock’s abundance during the non-breeding season. Results showed that Woodcock abundance is correlated with spatiotemporal dynamics in primary productivity (measured through the EVI), water cycle dynamics (wetness component of TCT), and surface energy balance (LST) in both periods. Our findings underline the potential of combining citizen science and remote sensing data to monitor migratory birds throughout their life cycles—an issue of critical importance to ensure adequate habitat management in the non-breeding areas.

AbstractBiodiversity is declining globally at unprecedented rates. Ecological niche models (ENMs) are one of the most widely used toolsets to appraise global change impacts on biodiversity. Here, we identify a variety of advantages of incorporating remotely sensed ecosystem functioning attributes (EFAs) into ENMs. The development of ENMs that explicitly incorporate ecosystem functioning will allow a more holistic and integrative perspective of the habitat dynamics. The synergies between the increasingly available open‐access satellite images and cloud‐based platforms for planetary‐scale geospatial analysis offer an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate ecosystem processes and disturbances (such as fires, insect outbreaks or droughts) that have been so far largely neglected in ecological niche characterization and modelling. The most paradigmatic example of EFAs is the application of time series of spectral vegetation indices related to primary productivity and carbon cycle. EFAs related to surface energy balance and water cycles derived from remote sensing products such as land surface temperature or soil moisture enable a fine‐scale characterization of the species' niche—eventually improving the predictive performance of ENMs. All these advantages confirm that a new generation of ENMs based on such EFAs would offer great perspectives to increase our ability to monitor habitat suitability trends and population dynamics. However, despite the technical advances and increasing effort of remote sensing community to develop integrative EFAs, ENMs have yet to make full profit of the most recent developments by integrating them in ENMs. A coordinated agenda for remote sensing experts and ecological modellers will be essential over the coming years to bridge the gap between remote sensing and ecology disciplines and to take full (and timely) advantage of the fast‐growing body of Earth observation data and remote sensing technologies—with special emphasis on the development and testing of new variables related to key processes driving ecosystem functioning.

AbstractExtreme climate events, together with anthropogenic land‐use changes, have led to the rise of megafires (i.e., fires at the top of the frequency size distribution) in many world regions. Megafires imply that the center of the burnt area is far from the unburnt; therefore, recolonization may be critical for species with low dispersal abilities such as reptiles. We aimed to evaluate the effect of megafires on a reptile community, exploring to what extent reptile responses are spatially shaped by the distance to the unburnt area. We examined the short‐term spatiotemporal response of a Mediterranean reptile community after two megafires (>20,000 ha) that occurred in summer 2012 in eastern Spain. Reptiles were sampled over 4 years after the fire in burnt plots located at different distances from the fire perimeter (edge, middle, and center), and in adjacent unburnt plots. Reptile responses were modeled with fire history, as well as climate and remotely sensed environmental variables. In total, we recorded 522 reptiles from 12 species (11 species in the burnt plots and nine in the unburnt plots). Reptile abundance decreased in burnt compared with unburnt plots. The community composition and species richness did not vary either spatially (unburnt and burnt plots) or temporally (during the 4 years). The persistence of reptiles in the burnt area supported their resilience to megafires. The most common lizard species was Psammodromus algirus; both adults and juveniles were found in all unburnt and burnt plots. This species showed lower abundances in burnt areas compared with the unburnt and a slow short‐term abundance recovery. The lizard Psammodromus edwarsianus was much less abundant and showed a tendency to increase its abundance in burnt plots compared with unburnt plots. Within the megafire area, P. algirus and P. edwarsianus abundances correlated with the thermal–moisture environment and vegetation recovery regardless of the distance from the fire edge. These results indicated the absence of a short‐term reptile recolonization from the unburnt zone, demonstrating that reptiles are resilient (in situ persistence) to megafires when environmental conditions are favorable.