Results for “Iberian Peninsula”

PubMed2025

Migration strategies, connectivity and corridor features of the partial migrant little bustard (Tetrax tetrax) across the Iberian Peninsula.

The study of migration ecology is crucial for understanding the factors and pressures affecting migratory species. Here, we studied the migratory ecology of the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), a steppe bird that has suffered a sharp decline over recent decades, mainly due to agricultural intensification. Using 105 adult birds tagged across the main Iberian regions where the species is present (Alentejo, Extremadura, Ebro Valley, Northern Plateau, Southern Plateau and Guadalquivir Valley), we analysed the ratio of migratory and resident birds in each population and assessed their connectivity during the three main migratory periods (summer, winter and pre-breeding). Additionally, we describe the features of the migrations recorded in terms of length, duration and day period. Our results corroborate that little bustards can be considered partial migrants across Iberia, although the proportion of residents versus migrants varied between populations: the Alentejo (94.74%) and Northern Plateau (93.75%) had the highest proportion of migrants, followed by Guadalquivir Valley (81.82%), Extremadura (65.38%), Southern Plateau (55.56%) and Ebro Valley (25.93%). Migratory connectivity varied between periods: the pre-breeding and summering migrations showed a trend to move northwards, while birds moved southwards for winter. Regarding the migratory corridors obtained from the 253 migrations identified, we found three main routes: one corridor that connects the Northern Plateau with the western part of the Southern Plateau and Extremadura, another one that connects the Southern Plateau, Extremadura, Alentejo and Guadalquivir Valley, and one corridor that concentrates migrations within the Ebro Valley, and between the Ebro Valley and the Southern Plateau. Finally, analyses showed that little bustards migrate at night through areas dominated by herbaceous cover (avoiding tree-covered land and water bodies) and of low elevation and terrain roughness. Our results highlight the importance of developing an international and inter-regional conservation strategy to protect not only the breeding and wintering quarters, but also this endangered species' migratory corridors, thus supporting the viability of the metapopulation.

Brownian bridge kernel↗

PubMed2026

Eastern origin and three-millennia persistence of a founding grapevine lineage in Iberian viticulture.

Viticulture became central to most Mediterranean civilizations a few millennia after the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) was domesticated in the South Caucasus/Near East. To elucidate the origins of the grapevines that enabled this westward spread over the past 3,000 years, we analyzed 28 grapevine seeds from seven archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula and Sardinia. Ancient DNA recovered from the oldest seeds with domesticated-like morphology (from ∼1,000 BCE), found in southwestern Spain, revealed nuclear and chloroplast genome signatures of Eastern Mediterranean cultivars. Seeds from the same and later Iron Age Iberian sites, however, showed genomic signatures suggesting hybridization between local wild grapevines and eastern-origin cultivars. The genetic makeup of Sardinian and northeastern Spanish seeds supports that local diversification giving rise to the Central European and Iberian wine genetic lineages had already occurred in the early Iron Age. In Iberia, Roman-period seeds were first-degree related to both the earliest eastern-introduced domesticates and a Medieval seed whose genetic makeup matches the extant Iberian variety "Pasa Valenciana." Another Medieval seed was inferred as an offspring of the extant "Heben," indicating that this major founder of Iberian germplasm has been continuously propagated for over 1,100 years. Our results confirm previous evolutionary models indicating that Western Mediterranean viticulture began with introductions of eastern domesticated grapevines, followed by early hybridization with local Iberian wild grapevines that may have facilitated viticulture adaptation to the new environment. The aDNA unveils that these introductions gave rise to extant cultivars through only a few sexual generations and long-term reliance on clonal propagation.

Iberian Peninsula↗