Seminarios 2022
En esta página encontrarás los seminarios de investigación organizados por el MNCN en colaboración con la Sociedad de Amigos del Museo (SAM) durante el año 2022.
IMPACTOS DE LA CONTAMINACIÓN LUMÍNICA EN AVES
Ponente: Airam Rodríguez, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Fecha y hora: viernes 16 de diciembre de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: la mayoría de los seres vivos ha evolucionado bajo un régimen predecible de luz y oscuridad (ciclos de día y noche). Así, no es de extrañar que muchos procesos biológicos se desencadenen por variaciones en la luz ambiental. Sin embargo, el uso de la iluminación por parte del hombre está llevando a la transformación del paisaje nocturno por el incremento de niveles de luz artificial en los hábitats de la Tierra (contaminación lumínica). Esta contaminación lumínica puede enmascarar las señales usadas por los seres vivos para regular sus ciclos biológicos. En este seminario hablaré sobre los impactos de la contaminación lumínica en aves. Algunas de las consecuencias ecológicas de la contaminación lumínica parecen positivas desde el punto de vista de las aves mientras otras son tan negativas que causan eventos de mortalidad masiva. Para ilustrar la presentación, me centraré en algunos estudios realizados en Australia, Argentina y Canarias sobre pingüinos, búhos y aves marinas.
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON MARINE MACROPHYTES
Ponente: Rosa M. Chefaoui, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos,
Fecha y hora: viernes 25 de noviembre de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: Extreme events intensification and/or gradual warming are shifting species range limits worldwide. In the marine realm, record mean sea surface temperatures during the past decades and marine heat waves have been identified as responsible for severe impacts on ecosystems. A scenario of changes and redistributions in coastal communities is also provided by models used to estimate the future distribution of macrophytes. In this seminar, I will provide an overview of forecasts developed for the seagrasses and macroalgae of several coastal systems. I will also demonstrate our efforts to separate the impact of the various temperature factors on the persistence and extinction of macroalgae in the northern Iberian Peninsula.
IN SEARCH OF THE RULES OF EXTINCTION
Ponente: Daniel Pincheira-Donoso, Queen’s University Belfast
Fecha y hora: viernes 11 de noviembre de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: The extinction of species is one of the most alarming syndromes of human industrialisation. Why do species go extinct? Over the past few decades, a growing collective research effort has identified a wide diversity of factors that trigger and accelerate extinctions of biodiversity. Do these multiple factors fall within a few discernible ‘rules’ of extinction? This talk presents a range of case studies addressing this question across the world’s amphibians and reptiles.
QUANTIFYING VERTEBRATE DEFAUNATION AND TROPHIC CASCADING EFFECTS AT THE PANTROPICAL SCALE
Ponente: Ana Benítez-López, Universidad de Granada
Fecha y hora: viernes 4 de noviembre de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: Tropical forests are increasingly degraded by human pressures, with only 20% of the remaining area considered intact. However, this figure does not include other, more cryptic but pervasive forms of degradation, such as overhunting. In this seminar I will discuss how to quantify the impacts of hunting on mammal and bird populations, and how we can use predictive models and empirical data on abundance declines from local hunting studies to map the spatial patterns of mammal defaunation in the tropics. I will also show how, according to our projections, half of (seemingly) intact tropical forests are partially devoid of large mammals, and how forest coverage alone is not necessarily indicative of ecosystem intactness. Further, I will show how the combination of satellite-based land-cover change maps, habitat suitability models and hunting pressure models can be applied to quantify the individual and combined effects of habitat loss and hunting pressure on mammal communities. I will finish the seminar discussing how the declines in the abundance of frugivorous vertebrates may disrupt key ecological processes such as fruit removal, seed dispersal and predation, and seedling recruitment of animal-dispersed plant species, thus altering the structure and composition of tropical forests and, eventually, their carbon storage capacity.
EVIDENCE FOR LARGE MICROBIAL-MEDIATED LOSSES OF SOIL CARBON UNDER ANTHROPOGENIC WARMING
Ponente: Pablo García Palacios, Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias
Fecha y hora: viernes 28 de octubre de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: Anthropogenic warming is expected to accelerate global soil organic carbon (SOC) losses via microbial decomposition, yet, there is still no consensus on the loss magnitude. In this Perspective, we argue that, despite the mechanistic uncertainty underlying these losses, there is confidence that a strong, positive land carbon–climate feedback can be expected. Two major lines of evidence support net global SOC losses with warming via increases in soil microbial metabolic activity: the increase in soil respiration with temperature and the accumulation of SOC in low mean annual temperature regions. Warming-induced SOC losses are
likely to be of a magnitude relevant for emission negotiations and necessitate more aggressive emission reduction targets to limit climate change to 1.5 °C by 2100. We suggest that microbial community–temperature interactions, and how they are influenced by substrate availability, are promising research areas to improve the accuracy and precision of the magnitude estimates of projected SOC losses.
THE EVOLUTION OF BILATERIAN LIFE CYCLES
Ponente: Chema Martín, Senior Lecturer in Organismal Biology, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London (@Chema_MD)
Fecha y hora: viernes 14 de octubre de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: Indirect development with an intermediate larva exists in all major animal lineages, making larvae central to most scenarios of animal evolution. Yet how larvae evolved remains disputed. Here we show that temporal shifts (i.e., heterochronies) in trunk formation underpin the diversification of larvae and bilaterian life cycles. Combining chromosome-scale genome sequencing in the slow-evolving annelid Owenia fusiformis with transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling during the life cycles of this and two other annelids, we found that trunk development is deferred to pre-metamorphic stages in the feeding larva of O. fusiformis but starts after gastrulation in the non-feeding larva with gradual metamorphosis of Capitella teleta and the direct developing embryo of Dimorphilus gyrociliatus. Accordingly, the embryos of O. fusiformis develop first into an enlarged anterior domain that forms larval tissues and the adult head. Notably, this also occurs in the so-called “head larvae” of other bilaterians, with whom O. fusiformis larva shows extensive transcriptomic similarities. Together, our findings suggest that the temporal decoupling of head and trunk formation, as maximally observed in “head larvae”, allowed larval evolution in Bilateria, thus diverging from prevailing scenarios that propose either co-option or innovation of gene regulatory programmes to explain larva and adult origins.
UNDERSTANDING LIMITS TO ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
Ponente: Jon Bridle (Director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research (CBER) and Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London)
Fecha y hora: viernes 8 de julio de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: Understanding processes that determine the distribution of populations, species and communities in space and time has become increasingly important in predicting ecological tipping points at a time of unprecedented environmental change. However, we still have a poor empirical understanding of evolution at range limits and how and when it changes the ecological “rules of engagement” that determine where populations and species interact. In this talk I will highlight some of the key parameters that determine limits to evolution in natural populations, and our group's research into the population genetics of ecological margins in Sicilian daisies and European Lepidoptera.
LOS DESAFÍOS DE GESTIONAR EL TURISMO ANTÁRTICO TOMANDO COMO BASE EL CONOCIMIENTO CIENTÍFICO
Ponente: Javier Benayas, Ecología en Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)
Fecha y hora: viernes 23 de junio de 13:00 a 14:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: El crecimiento y la diversificación, en la última década, de las actividades turísticas que se están desarrollando en la Antártida están generando un amplio debate sobre la forma de gestionarlo de una forma eficiente de cara al futuro. Para poder adoptar decisiones es clave conocer con cierto detalle y profundidad los impactos ambientales que aparecen asociados con estas actividades y que hasta la fecha han recibido poca atención desde la comunidad científica, a pesar de ser un tema recurrente en los debates de las Partes Consultivas del Tratado Antártico. En la conferencia se presentarán los resultados de diversas investigaciones llevadas a cabo por el equipo del Departamento de Ecología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid para identificar el grado de conocimiento que existe sobre estos impactos, así como del modelo de Gestión Adaptativa propuesto para un mejor control y seguimiento de los mismo.
THE ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN EFFECTIVE AND EQUITABLE CONSERVATION
Ponente: Karen Mustin (Universidad Federal do Amapá, Brasil)
Fecha y hora: viernes 16 de junio de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: Evidence shows where Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) apply their own knowledge to conserve habitats and species, their stewardship produces better environmental and social outcomes than initiatives controlled by external organisations that exclude local people. To be effective in their actions, conservation organisations need clear standards for how to treat and involve IPLCs, so that conservation can be both successful and fair. Conservation benefits from true participation of a diversity of voices, and this is just as relevant in large, European cities as it is in biodiversity-rich natural habitats in the Tropics.
NUEVOS RETOS EN LA VIGILANCIA DE ISLA DECEPCIÓN (ANTÁRTIDA)
Ponente: Rafael Abella Meléndez, Sismología Volcánica del Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN)
Fecha y hora: viernes 27 de mayo de 13:00 a 14:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: La isla Decepción es uno de los volcanes más activos de la Antártida, el cual ha tenido varias erupciones históricas, las ultimas ocurridas entre 1968-70 y que acabaron con las bases chilena e inglesa. Desde finales de los años 80 se ha estado haciendo vigilancia volcánica por parte de centros investigación españoles y argentinos, como el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, la Universidad de Granada y la Universidad de Cádiz. En septiembre del 2020 se firma un convenio por el cual la responsabilidad de la vigilancia volcánica pasa a manos del Instituto Geográfico Nacional. Con este nuevo impulso se dota de medios para la instalación de estaciones de vigilancia continuas permanentes con transmisión de datos en tiempo real hasta España lo cual redundará en una vigilancia más exhaustiva.
FOOD-WEB STRUCTURE ACROSS ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOGEOGRAPHIC GRADIENTS
Ponente: Miguel Matías (MNCN-CSIC)
Fecha y hora: viernes 25 de marzo de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
GENOMICS FOR UNDERSTANDING ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS IN MARINE INVERTEBRATES
Ponente: Ana Riesgo Gil (MNCN-CSIC)
Fecha y hora: viernes 18 de marzo de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: In my seminar, I will introduce you to three of our latest projects. The first one deals with the origin and evolution of sexual reproduction in the animal kingdom, and we applied genomics and transcriptomics to investigate the molecular toolkits for gametogenesis and vitellogenesis, finding that the molecular bases of these processes are conserved from sponges to humans. We also benefited from the advance in microbiome analysis to assess the role of the symbiotic communities in sponges, which has its roots in the nutritional requirements of the sponge hosts during the demanding reproductive times. The second one aims to estimate gene flow, genetic diversity and demographic changes in deep-sea sponge populations using RADseq approaches. Our pioneer results show remarkable long dispersal abilities of deep-sea sponges, with high levels of gene flow across the same isobaths fueled by the strong currents and the lack of structural barriers. Interestingly, populations of deep-sea sponges of the genus Geodia show the major genetic break at 1300 m, isolating the populations across this depth in the entire distribution range, and points to specific areas in need of special measures for the protection of sponge grounds. Finally, our third project deals with the development of sponges as natural samplers of eDNA to monitor biodiversity in aquatic systems taking advantage of their incredible filtering abilities. We have proved the capabilities of sponges in filtering and retaining eDNA longer than in the seawater column, making them ideal systems for aiding conservation strategies of biomonitoring in aquatic ecosystems. Our aim is to establish sponge eDNA as a standard methodology that will allow virtually all laboratories to employ low cost, replicable, and efficient filtration systems to compare between ecosystems.
TOWARDS A FUTURE WITHOUT DISEASE
Ponente: María A. Blasco (Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Head of Telomeres and Telomerase Group)
Fecha y hora: viernes 11 de marzo de 12:00 a 13:00
Lugar: salón de actos del MNCN
Abstract: The perception right now is that aging of our cells is what causes disease. When our organism and cells are young and fit, there is almost no disease. As our cells divide and we age, there are molecular events that cause aging. The rate at which each individual ages is the combination of genetic determinants and life habits. Molecular and cellular aging cause all kinds of disease, therefore if we want to decrease the burden of disease or increase what is known as the “Health Span” (or time of life free of disease), we have to fight aging. The expectation is that if we delay or eliminate the causes of aging, we will be able to delay or decrease disease. In the last 20 years scientists have discovered many of the molecular processes that lead to aging. One of the better studied molecular pathways of aging is related to the shortening of telomeres, which are the protective structures at the end of our chromosomes, which are lost as we live. The rate at which our telomeres erode depends on genetic and environmental factors. My Group has been a pioneer in showing that by delaying this molecular process we delay aging and disease.