2026-06-07T17:25:30Zhttps://docta.ucm.es/rest/oai/request

oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/1182462025-02-21T00:50:54Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Nores, Carlos author Álvarez Laó, Diego author Navarro, Alberto author Pérez Barbería, Francisco Javier author Castaños, Pedro María author Castaños de la Fuente, Jone author Morales Muñiz, Arturo author Azorit, Concepción author Muñoz Cobo, Joaquín author Fernández Delgado, Carlos author Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María author Elvira Payán, Benigno author López Bao, José Vicente author 2024-11-20 Most European rewilding initiatives are based on the recovery of large herbivores, particularly European bison Bison bonasus, aiming at restoring ecosystem processes and increase trophic complexity. The growing support for the release of bison as a wild species, and change its legal status, in Spain, as an ecological analogue of the extinct steppe bison Bison priscus, makes it an excellent example to reflect the limits of a rewilding biogeographically advisable. We discuss if this initiative could be justified from ecological, biogeographical, ethical, and legal reasons. Besides remarkable taxonomic and functional differences between both bison species, the Mediterranean environment, under the present and future climatic scenarios, does not suit the European bison. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the presumption that the European bison was ever present in the Iberian Peninsula, with legal implications. We expect that our approach will be inspirational for similar assessments on rewilding initiatives globally. Nores, C., Álvarez-Laó, D., Navarro, A., Pérez-Barbería, F. J., Castaños, P. M., Castaños de la Fuente, J., Morales Muñiz, A., Azorit, C., Muñoz-Cobo, J., Fernández Delgado, C., Granado Lorencio, C., Palmqvist, P., Soriguer, R., Delibes, M., Vilà, M., Simón, M., Cabezudo, B., Galán, C., García-Berthou, E., et al. (2024). Rewilding through inappropriate species introduction: The case of European bison in Spain. Conservation Science and Practice, 6(12). https://doi.org/10.1111/CSP2.13221 2578-4854 10.1111/csp2.13221 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118246 https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13221 https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13221 Rewilding through inappropriate species introduction: The case of European bison in Spain