Person:
Elvira Payán, Benigno

First Name

Benigno

Last Name

Elvira Payán

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Faculty / Institute

Ciencias Biológicas

Department

Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución

Area

Zoología

Identifiers

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Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 14

Territorial and foraging behaviour of juvenile Mediterranean trout under changing conditions of food and competitors
(NRC Research Press, 2016-06) Nicola, Graciela G.; Ayllón, Daniel; Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
Territoriality is probably the most important ecological mechanism regulating densities in stream-living salmonids. Body size is typically regarded as the best predictor of territory size, but food abundance and competitor density may be key driving factors. However, a global analysis of literature data showed no clear patterns on the relative causal role of those factors on determining territory size in juvenile salmonids. Thus, in a factorial experiment, we estimated to what extent simultaneous variations of fish size, competitor density, and food abundance affected the size of foraging and defended areas of Mediterranean brown trout (Salmo trutta). In contrast with former studies, we found that foraging areas were larger than defended territories. Foraging and territorial behaviour changed significantly under varying density and feeding regimes. Foraging areas decreased with increasing competitor density and food availability, and there was a strong interaction between these two factors. Defended territories decreased with increasing density, irrespective of food abundance. Although our findings showed a significant allometric relationship between fish length and territory size, the data contained much unexplained variability. Our findings suggest that defended areas are relatively fixed for a given trout length. However, at extremely high population densities, defended areas decreased. Thus, under extreme competition, such as during critical periods right after emergence, trout may subdivide available habitat and thereby moderate density declines.
Optimal harvest regulations under conflicting tradeoffs between conservation and recreational fishery objectives
(Elsevier, 2019-04-01) Ayllón, Daniel; Nicola, Graciela G.; Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
Length-based harvest regulations alter the fishing-induced demographic and evolutionary trajectories of exploited stocks and thus shape the existing tradeoffs among fishery and conservation objectives. We used a structurally realistic eco-genetic individual-based harvest model that implements dynamic angling mortality and cryptic mortality sources (illegal harvest and hooking mortality). We (1) analyzed the effects of alternative length-based harvest regulations under scenarios involving different combinations of exploitation intensity and hooking mortality on a suite of indicators of fishery performance and conservation status of a freshwater fish stock, and (2) determined the regulations that optimize the tradeoff among selected indicators under different management strategies, and fishery and conservation objectives. Fishing scenarios under a maximum-length limit regulation maximized harvest yield but led always to recruitment overfishing, irrespective of the exploitation and hooking mortality rates simulated. Fishing scenarios under a harvest slot limits regulation (HS) were best at maintaining a high status of old, large, fecund fish and a more natural age-structure with higher biomass and reproductive potential, performing increasingly better than minimum-length limit (MLL) regulations with decreasing hooking mortality. Both regulation types were effective at preventing overexploitation and only under scenarios with low restrictiveness and high exploitation intensity and hooking mortality was the stock at risk of recruitment overfishing. MLLs outperformed HS regulations in terms of fishery performance, consistently presenting greater harvest yield and efficiency, and size of harvested fish. High rates of hooking mortality rendered HS regulations less effective than assumed, so they were always outperformed by MLLs irrespective of the management strategy and objectives. When hooking mortality was low, HSs constituted the optimal regulation type in most cases except when high fishery performance was favoured over conservation objectives or harvest of large fish was regarded as critically important.
Desarrollo de metodologías activas y trabajo no presencial en las asignaturas Biogeografía y Biología Evolutiva
(2021-06) Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María; Gómez Nicola, Graciela; Ayllón Fernández, Daniel; Olmedo Salinas, Cristina; Alonso Sánchez, Jenifer; Jiménez Corbacho, Carlos
Los objetivos del proyecto fueron la discusión, preparación, puesta en práctica y valoración de metodologías activas en la enseñanza de aspectos concretos seleccionados del temario oficial de las asignaturas Biogeografía y Biología Evolutiva del segundo y tercer cursos del Grado en Biología.
Climate change will render size-selective harvest of cold-water fish species unsustainable in Mediterranean freshwaters
(Wiley, 2021-03) Ayllón, Daniel; Nicola, Graciela G.; Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
1.Climate change is impacting the composition and functioning of virtually every ecosystem on Earth, and disrupting the productivity of exploited ones. Species are rapidly adjusting to their changing environments through evolutionary and/or plastic phenotypic changes in behavioural, physiological, phenological and life-history traits. Size-selective harvest produces severe demographic impacts on exploited populations and induces individual phenotypic changes in many of the same fitness-related traits as climate change and thus can impair local adaptation and acclimation. We addressed in the context of inland recreational fisheries two interrelated questions: (1) Will fisheries-induced phenotypic changes operate at different rates and direction than those induced by climate change, and thus hinder local adaptation and acclimation, threatening population persistence?; (2) which harvest regulations most likely lead to overexploitation of populations under the new environmental conditions? 2.We used an eco-genetic individual-based model to simulate the consequences of size-selective fishing for a cold-water fish species brown trout Salmo trutta across a range of regulatory (defined by exploitation rate and size-based limits) and environmental scenarios (warming vs. concurrent warming and streamflow reduction) in a Mediterranean system. We ran 1,620 combinations of fishing and environmental scenarios and analysed results using artificial neural networks. 3.In our simulations, (a) climate change and size-selective fishing both led to a reduced, truncated population, with increased juvenile but decreased adult growth and earlier maturation at smaller size, but fisheries-induced changes were stronger than those produced by climate change; (b) their effects were additive or dampened but rarely synergistic and (c) phenotypic changes in fitness-related traits resulted from both evolutionary and plastic processes. 4.Synthesis and applications. Our model-based analyses highlight that any size-selective fishing regime would lead to the overexploitation of cold-water freshwater fish populations if climate warming is accompanied by streamflow reduction—as projected in Mediterranean fisheries. Even if we assumed no future streamflow regime changes, only a limited range of size-based harvest regulations may provide an acceptable balance between conservation and fishery objectives. Thus, recreational fisheries of cold-water fish in Mediterranean climates might be more sustainably managed under climate change if conservation-oriented strategies based on harvest bans (e.g. catch-and-release fishing) were implemented.
Estudio de la clasificación de los distintos grupos de vertebrados a través de la base de datos virtual del Museo de Anatomía Comparada de Vertebrados (MACV)
(Editorial Complutense, 2007) Vergara, Pablo; Fernández Cruz, Manuel; Elvira Payán, Benigno; Fernández-Valmayor Crespo, Alfredo; Fernández-Pampillón Cesteros, Ana María; Merino Granizo, Jorge
Desde hace más de treinta años, el Museo de Anatomía Comparada de Vertebrados (MACV) de la Facultad de Biología viene reuniendo una considerable cantidad de ejemplares y preparados anatómicos destinados a la formación de su alumnado en este campo de la Zoología.
Puesta en práctica de metodologías activas en la enseñanza de la asignatura Biología Evolutiva
(2020-07-01) Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María; Ayllón Fernández, Daniel; Leal García, María Sheila; Olmedo Salinas, Cristina; Alonso Sánchez, Jenifer; Exposito Martín, Leyre; Rosas Salvador, Cristina; Tenaguillo Arriola, Ignacio
Seasonal patterns of microhabitat selection in the Southern Iberian spined-loach Cobitis paludica
(Springer Nature, 2022-05-12) Elvira Payán, Benigno; Nicola, Graciela G.; Ayllón, Daniel; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
The Southern Iberian spined-loach Cobitis paludica is an Iberian endemism threatened by human activities, including habitat destruction. For this reason, the development of conservation and the recovery plans for the species calls for a precise knowledge of its habitat requirements. Here, microhabitat use and selection patterns were investigated to determine the limiting factors for the species in diferent seasons, corresponding to a gradient in fow conditions. The microhabitat of the loach was analysed in the River Jarama (Tagus River basin, central Spain) in the period of maximum activity between March and September 2013. No signifcant diferences in microhabitat use were found between males and females, and only very weak ontogenetic changes were detected. The microhabitat used by the loach varied signifcantly throughout the study period, generally adapting to the fow-mediated dynamics of available habitat. The most stable pattern throughout the year was the use of very low water velocities. Additionally, the loach made selective use of certain microhabitat features, with slight adjustments to the seasonally changing habitat conditions. The loach signifcantly selected positions with abundant silt substrate and aquatic vegetation, and avoided coarser substrates. The availability of fne substrates and abundant vegetation is therefore a critical habitat requirement for the loach, which needs instream structures that provide foraging substrate, refuge and safe positions for spawning. Selection of refuge elements (deep habitats, aquatic vegetation) was especially apparent under low-fow conditions. Human activities leading to the loss of these critical microhabitats may threaten the survival of already scarce loach populations.
Aplicación de metodología activa y aprendizaje inverso en asignaturas del Grado en Biología en el contexto de un modelo de enseñanza no presencial
(2022-06-30) Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María; Gómez Nicola, Graciela; Ayllón Fernández, Daniel; Olmedo Salinas, Cristina; Bravo Sánchez, David; Novillo Ducajú, Rocío; Pardo Martín-Lunas, Jaime
Desarrollo de metodologías activas y aprendizaje inverso en asignaturas del Grado en Biología, mediante contenidos elaborados por los alumnos de manera independiente y no presencial a partir de materiales docentes propuestos por el profesor.
Current occurrence of the Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus in Northern Spain: a new prospect for Sturgeon conservation in Western Europe
(Plublic Library of Science (PLOS), 2015-12-30) Elvira Payán, Benigno; Leal García, Sheila; Doadrio Villarejo, Ignacio; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
Acipenser oxyrinchus is considered extirpated in Europe, but numerous breeding populations still exist on the Atlantic coast of North America. An adult female A. oxyrinchus, 2500 mm total length and 120 kg wet weight, was accidentally fished on 24 November 2010 near the coast of Gijón, Asturias, Spain. The fish was identified by its morphological pattern as well as by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses. Because the sturgeon was found far away from any known breeding area, it was considered a stray or vagrant specimen. It certainly has a natural origin, but its eventual birthplace could not be determined. Because its current occurrence was unknown in southwestern Europe until now, the species is not cataloged or protected in this area. Therefore, the residual European stocks of A. oxyrinchus ought to be listed as Critically Endangered (CR) according to the IUCN categories. Likewise, it is imperative for southwestern European countries with an historic or recent occurrence of A. oxyrinchus to protect the species through domestic and international legislation. The present sympatric occurrence of A. sturio and A. oxyrinchus raises new challenges about key questions, such as the species selection for restoration program in European countries. Accurate monitoring is mandatory to obtain appropriate information for an assessment of the current occurrence of A. oxyrinchus in southwestern Europe.
Mechanistic simulations predict that thermal and hydrological effects of climate change on Mediterranean trout cannot be offset by adaptive behaviour, evolution, and increased food production
(Elsevier, 2019-10-14) Ayllón, Daniel; Railsback, Steven F.; Harvey, Bret C.; García Quirós, Inmaculada; Nicola, Graciela G.; Elvira Payán, Benigno; Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
Streamflow is a main driver of fish population dynamics and is projected to decrease in much of the northern hemisphere, especially in the Mediterranean region, due to climate change. However, predictions of future climate effects on cold-water freshwater fish populations have typically focused only on the ecological consequences of increasing temperatures, overlooking the concurrent and interacting effects of climate-driven changes in streamflow regimes. Here, we present simulations that contrasted the consequences of changes in thermal regime alone versus the combined effects of changes in thermal regime and streamflow for resident trout populations in distinct river types with different sensitivities to climatic change (low-altitude main river vs. high-altitude headwaters). We additionally assessed the buffering effect of increased food production that may be linked to warming. We used an eco-genetic individual-based model that integrates the behavioural and physiological effects of extrinsic environmental drivers –temperature and flow– with intrinsic dynamics – density-dependence, phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary responses – across the entire trout life cycle, with Mediterranean brown trout Salmo trutta as the model species. Our simulations indicated that: (1) Hydrological change is a critical dimension of climate change for the persistence of trout populations, in that neither river type supported viable populations under strong rates of flow change, even under scenarios of increased food production. (2) Climate-change-related environmental change most affects the largest, oldest trout via increased metabolic costs and decreased energy inputs. In both river types, populations persisted under extreme warming alone but became dominated by younger, smaller fish. (3) Density-dependent, plastic and evolutionary changes in phenology and life-history traits provide trout populations with important resilience to warming, but strong concurrent shifts in streamflow could exceed the buffering conferred by such intrinsic dynamics.