Examinando por Autor "Escribano, Ruben"

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    Assessing the food web structure of the mesozooplankton community in the highly variable coastal upwelling system of the southeast Pacific
    (Elsevier, 2025) Cabrera-Nunez, Susana; Fernandez-Urruzola, Igor; Bode, Antonio; Hernandez-Trujillo, Sergio; Hidalgo, Pamela; Escribano, Ruben
    Zooplankton are a key component in the food web of highly productive coastal upwelling systems linking primary producers to higher trophic levels. However, the complex taxonomy, wide size spectrum, and diverse trophic behaviors of zooplankton make it challenging to characterize their food web structure. This study proposes a Trophic Behavior Index (TBI) to assess the trophic structure of zooplankton and test the hypothesis that key biological attributes such as body size, diel vertical migration (DVM) behavior and trophic interactions, rather than environmental factors, primarily shape the food web dynamics of mesozooplankton communities. To this end, we analyzed depth-stratified daytime and nighttime samples of mesozooplankton collected from the upper 900 m at three oceanographically contrasting stations in the Southeast Pacific upwelling system. Vertical gradients in temperature, chlorophyll-a and dissolved oxygen were examined in relation to zooplankton abundance and composition, their DVM behavior, biomass size spectra and trophic position. The proposed TBI was constructed from zooplankton body size assessed by automated image analysis, DVM amplitude and trophic position of taxonomic groups derived from nitrogen stable isotope composition. This index was then compared across environmental conditions, allowing the classification of mesozooplankton into four major trophic functional groups: low predators (primary consumers), moderate predators, strong predators and top predators (very strong predators). Variability in oceanographic conditions influenced the zooplankton community composition and size spectrum; however, our findings suggest that zooplankton body size, DVM behavior and trophic position are the primary determinants of trophic structure. This is reflected in the relative abundance of functional groups, with strong and very strong predators prevailing in offshore areas, whereas the coastal zone was dominated by primary consumers and moderate predators. Overall, our findings support the TBI as a robust community descriptor of zooplankton trophic structure across highly variable oceanographic settings.
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    Biogeographic Insights Into the Late Miocene Diversification of the Giant Deep-Ocean Amphipod Eurythenes
    (Wiley, 2025) Gonzalez, Carolina E; Weston, Johanna N. J; Rivera, Reinaldo; Oliva, Marcelo; Escribano, Ruben; Ulloa, Osvaldo
    Mechanisms driving the spatial and temporal patterns of species distribution in the Earth's largest habitat, the deep ocean, remainlargely enigmatic. The late Miocene to the Pliocene (~23–2.58 Ma) is a period that was marked by significant geological, climatic,and oceanographic changes. This transitional period spurred widespread species diversification, particularly among widely dis-tributed benthic scavengers, such as amphipods. Here, we take step toward understanding the long-term evolutionary processesof amphipod colonization and diversification in the deep ocean by focusing on the model genus Eurythenes S. I. Smith in Scudder,1882. These large-bodied scavengers play key roles in benthic communities. We constructed a time-calibrated phylogeny usingtwo mitochondrial DNA genes by analyzing publicly available data on 14 species of Eurythenes across a global depth range from839 to 8081 m. The resulting phylogenetic tree reveals a diverse clade, with a common ancestor originating around 11.81 Ma. Agradual increase in the effective population size of Eurythenes was observed, particularly during the Pliocene (~4 Ma). The netdiversification rate remained almost constant, with slight increases between the Miocene and Pliocene (~8–4 Ma), and most newspecies appeared during the latter period. Additionally, reconstruction of the ancestral area suggested that the common ancestorof Eurythenes had a global distribution. A combination of dispersal and sympatric processes, along with environmental factors,such as changes in ocean temperature and sea level, contributed to the present biogeographic distribution of these species. Ourfindings highlight the importance of historical events, such as plate tectonics and changes in deep-water circulation, in drivingthe rapid speciation of Eurythenes and underscore their essential role in shaping deep-ocean biodiversity
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    Environmental Stability Drives and Maintains the Global Patterns of Phylogenetic Endemism in the Marine Realm
    (Wiley, 2025) Rivera, Reinaldo; Gonzalez, Carolina E; Hidalgo, Pamela; Urbina, Mauricio A; Escribano, Ruben
    Aim: Endemism is a critical aspect of biological diversity, yet the mechanisms driving it remain unclear. The leading hypoth-esis posits that prolonged environmental stability fosters speciation and reduces extinction rates, promoting endemism. Whileterrestrial studies exist, marine environments remain underexplored. This study analysed the global distribution and drivers ofphylogenetic endemism in two marine taxa: Calanidae copepods and Blenniidae fish.Location: Global.Time Period: From the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, past 24,000 years) to the current period.Taxa: Calanidae copepods and Blenniidae fish.Methods: We assessed taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, endemism and areas of paleo- and neo-endemism usingCategorical Analysis of Neo- and Paleo-Endemism and Piecewise Structural Equation Modelling to evaluate the influence ofpresent-day and historical environmental variables.Results: Results showed consistent diversity patterns and significant endemism hotspots, with Calanidae in the SouthernHemisphere and Blenniidae in the Northern Hemisphere. Tropical regions, particularly the Indonesian-Australian Archipelago(IAA), exhibited high species richness and endemism for both groups. Paleo- endemism was observed in the Pacific for Calanidaeand the IAA for Blenniidae, suggesting that these areas are either relict diversity centres or diversification hubs.Main Conclusions: The Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas emerged as biodiversity cradles for Calanidae and Blenniidae re-spectively. Phylogenetic endemism is driven by both historical and contemporary factors, with centres of endemism emergingin regions where past environmental fluctuations have been moderate (hypothesis 1) and where cold, productive ocean currentsfoster the development of endemic areas (hypothesis 2). These findings underscore the importance of historical stability in oceantemperatures in shaping phylogenetic endemism, indicating that long-term environmental stability sustains marine endemism
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    Mild Impact of the 2023 El Niño on Oceanographic and Biological Conditions in the Humboldt Current System
    (American Geophysical Union, 2025) Aguilera, Victor M; Barranco, Linda; Dewitte, Boris; Gonzalez, Carolina E; Oerder, Vera; Escribano, Ruben
    El Niño is an oceanographic‐atmospheric perturbation that originates atthe equator and subsequently moves poleward along the coasts of the American continent, alteringenvironmental and biological conditions of marine ecosystems. Upwelling supplies nutrients and concentratesplankton near the surface in some of these ecosystems, although it also promotes the transport of water andplankton to the open ocean. We recorded the ecosystem alterations associated with the El Niño 2023 in theHumboldt Archipelago, a biodiversity hotspot situated in a Chilean upwelling region of the Humboldt CurrentSystem. To this end, the abundance of plankton organisms (both phytoplankton and zooplankton), particulatecarbon and oceanographic conditions were assessed during eight nearly‐monthly campaigns. Planktonabundance in the archipelago depends also on local currents that disperse or concentrate particles. Thesecurrents originate from the interaction of winds and a canyon crossing the archipelago. Upwelling persistedduring the period despite the arrival of a warm Kelvin wave in June–July that elevated the sea level andtemperature. The phytoplankton abundance was the lowest after the warm wave, whereas particulate carbon andzooplankton were stable, but there was a significant surface increase during spring. The zooplankton abundancewas related to local environmental conditions, such as food and currents.
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    The Diversity of Metazoan Parasites of South American Stromateidae (Pisces: Teleostei) Is Related to Marine Biogeography
    (MDPI, 2024-02-01) Oliva, Marcelo E.; Ñacari, Luis A.; Escribano, Ruben; Luque, José L.
    The diversity of parasite communities is mainly driven by evolutionary history, as well as the ecology of the host species. To test whether the diversity of the parasite community of four related Stromateidae (Pisces: Scombriformes) is related to evolutionary history (the host phylogeny) or the host’s geographical distribution, we analyzed the metazoan parasite fauna of four species of fishes of this family, from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of South America. Studied species were Peprilus snyderi (samples from Callao, Perú, and Antofagasta, Chile), Peprilus medius (Chorrillos, Perú), Peprilus paru (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Stromateus stellatus (Talcahuano, Chile). Our multivariate analysis strongly suggests that the diversity of the parasite fauna of the studied fishes is driven mainly by the host’s geographical distribution and not the host phylogeny.