Publications

Authors who were members of PAISAJE lab at the time of the work are shown in bold

Submitted / In preparation

Burgos T, González-Varo JP, Illera JC, Nogales M & Rumeu B (2026) Water use behaviour of individual birds: ring ouzels in an arid high-mountain ecosystem. INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY in press

Bracho-Estévanez CA, González-Moreno P, Onrubia A, Rösner S, Morales JM & González-Varo JP (2026) Migrant frugivorous birds assist plants in tracking climate change: a first spatially explicit approach. Submitted

Acevedo-Limón L, Albrecht J, Rumeu B & González-Varo JP (2026) From fruits to saplings: Plant-animal interactions shape community assembly during fleshy-fruited plant regeneration. Submitted

Bracho-Estévanez CA, Morales JM & González-Varo JP (2026) Smaller seeds stay longer: Intraspecific variation in seed size shapes seed retention times in frugivorous birds. Submitted

2026

Rumeu B, Burgos T, Otero-Ruiz A & González-Varo JP (2026) Tenerife lizards as seed predators. ECOLOGY 107(7):e70464 pdf

Beckman NG, Kuprewicz EK, Borah B, Bullock JM, Gallinat AS, González-Varo JP, Jain A, Lim JY, Motta CI, Nevo O & Rogers HS (2026) Animal-mediated seed dispersal: a review of study methods. APPLICATIONS IN PLANT SCIENCES 14:e70043 link

Acevedo-Limón L, Rumeu B, Linares M & González-Varo JP (2026) Uncovering biodiversity deficits: experimental evidence for dispersal limitation of woody species in Mediterranean forest patches. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY 63:e70207 pdf

2025

Bracho-Estévanez CA, Morales JM, González-Moreno P, Onrubia A, Rösner S & González-Varo JP (2025) How far can frugivorous birds disperse seeds during migration? PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B 292:20251545 pdf

Rumeu B, Illera JC, Nogales M, Bracho-Estévanez CA, Acevedo-Limón L, Tarifa R & González-Varo JP (2025) Movements and habitat use by ring ouzels in El Teide National Park: Conservation implications for a relict plant-frugivore system. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION 62:e03704 link

(photos | top-left: Manolo Suárez; top-right: Juan P. González-Varo; bottom: Beatriz Rumeu)

Nogales M, Mendes S, Rumeu B, Marrero P, Romero J, Guerrero-Campos M, Mallorquín A, Trujillo O, Sánchez C & Vargas P (2025) The potential ecological collapse of the seed dispersal network in an insular high mountain: Teide National Park. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION 62:e03793 link

Campagnoli M, Rumeu B, Peralta G & Christianini A (2025) Functional robustness declines faster than structural robustness in hyperdiverse seed dispersal networks following defaunation. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 308:111265 link

Fricke EC, Bello C, Chaplin-Kramer R, Dent DH, Feeley KJ, Galetti M, González-Varo JP, Heleno R & Reid JL (2025) Drivers and impacts of global seed disperser decline. NATURE REVIEWS BIODIVERSITY 1:386–400 pdf

González-Varo JP (2025) Avian seed dispersal out of the forests: A view through the lens of Pleistocene landscapes. JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 113:510–517 pdf

Heinen JH et al. [30 authors, including Rumeu B] (2025) Species introductions shift seed dispersal potential more than extinctions across 120 island plant–frugivore communities. PNAS 122:e2423438122 link

Mendes SB, Nogales M, Vargas P, Olesen JM, Marrero P, Romero J, Rumeu B, González‐Castro A & Heleno RH (2025) Climb forest, climb: diverse disperser communities are key to assist plants tracking climate change on altitudinal gradients. NEW PHYTOLOGIST 245:1315–1329 pdf

Bishop GA et al. [87 authors, including González-Varo JP] (2025) Critical habitat thresholds for effective pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes. SCIENCE 389:1314–1319 link

Lanuza JB et al. [118 authors, including González-Varo JP] (2025) EuPPollNet: a European database of plant‐pollinator networks. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY 34:e70000 pdf

2024

Bracho-Estévanez CA, Arenas-Castro S, González-Varo JP & González-Moreno P (2024) Spatially explicit metrics improve the evaluation of species distribution models facing sampling biases. ECOLOGICAL INFORMATICS 84:102916 pdf

Bracho-Estévanez CA, Cuadrado M, Sánchez I, Onrubia A & González-Varo JP (2024) Plant traits determine seed retention times in frugivorous birds: implications for long-distance seed dispersal. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY 38:2247–2260 pdf

Acevedo-Limón L, Rumeu B, Bracho-Estévanez CA & González-Varo JP (2024) EstablishMed, a dataset of transition probabilities for woody plant establishment in the Mediterranean Region. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY 33:e13879 pdf

González-Varo JP, Rumeu B, Bracho-Estévanez CA, Acevedo-Limón L, Baltzinger C, Lovas-Kiss Á & Green A (2024) Overlooked seed-dispersal modes and underestimated distances. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY 33:e13835 pdf

Burgos T, Escribano-Ávila G, Fedriani JM, González-Varo JP, Illera JC, Cancio I, Hernández-Hernández J & Virgós E (2024) Apex predators can structure ecosystems through trophic cascades: linking the frugivorous behaviour and seed-dispersal patterns of mesocarnivores. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY doi:10.1111/1365-2435.14559 pdf

García D, Rumeu B, Illera JC, Miñarro M, Palomar G & González-Varo JP (2024) Common birds combine pest control and seed dispersal in apple orchards through a hybrid interaction network. AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT 365(2024):108927 link

(left: Luis Ojembarrena; right: Antonio López Orta)

Riggi LGA, Raderschall CA, Fijen TPM, Scheper J, Smith HG, Kleijn D, Holzschuh A, Aguilera G, Badenhausser I, Bänsch S, Beyer N, Blitzer EJ, Bommarco R, Danforth B, González-Varo JP, Grab H, Le Provost G, Poveda K, Potts SG, Rundlöf M, Steffan-Dewenter I, Tscharntke T, Vilà M, Westphal C, Berggren Å & Lundin O (2024) Early-season mass-flowering crop cover dilutes wild bee abundance and species richness in temperate regions: A quantitative synthesis. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY 61:452-464 link

Tarifa R, González-Varo JP, Camacho FM, Pérez AJ, Salido T & Rey PJ (2024) Woodland loss differently affects seed dispersal by resident and migratory avian frugivores in olive grove-dominated landscapes. AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT 359(2024):108752 link

Nogales M, Mendes SB, Rumeu B, Marrero P, Romero J, Guerrero-Campos M, Mallorquín Á, Trujillo O, Sánchez C & Vargas P (2024) Colapso de las interacciones entre plantas y vertebrados que consumen sus frutos en el Parque Nacional del Teide. In: Afonso-Carrillo, J. (Ed.), Islas. Espléndidos laboratorios naturales, pp. 125-159. XIX Semana Científica Telesforo Bravo. Instituto de Estudios Hispánicos de Canarias. Puerto de la Cruz. 206 pp. ISBN 978-84-09-65375-1.

2023

González-Varo JP, Albrecht J, Arroyo JM, Bueno RS, Burgos T, Escribano-Ávila G, Farwig N, García D, Illera JC, Jordano P, Kurek P, Rösner S, Virgós E & Sutherland WJ (2023) Frugivore-mediated seed dispersal in fragmented landscapes: Compositional and functional turnover from forest to matrix. PNAS 120:e2302440120 pdf

Bracho-Estévanez CA, Acevedo-Limón L, Rumeu B & González-Varo JP (2023) Bioclimatic belts for the Mediterranean Basin as open access GIS layers. ECOSISTEMAS 32(3):2571 link

Rumeu B, González-Varo JP, de Castro C, López-Orta A, Illera JC, Miñarro M & García D (2023) Increasing efficiency and reducing bias in the sampling of seed-dispersal interactions based on mist-netted birds. OIKOS 2023:e09261 pdf

Timóteo S, Albrecht J, Rumeu B, Norte AC, Traveset A, Frost CM, Marchante E, López-Núñez FA, Peralta G, Jane Memmott, Olesen JM, Costa JM, da Silva LP, Carvalheiro LG, Correia M, Staab M, Blüthgen N, Farwig N, Hervías-Parejo S, Mironov S, Rodríguez-Echeverría S & Heleno R (2023) Tripartite networks show that keystone species can multitask. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY 37:274–286 pdf

2022

Pérez-Méndez N, Alcaraz C, Bertolero A, Català-Forner M, Garibaldi LA, González-Varo JP, Rivaes S & Martínez-Eixarch M (2022) Agricultural policies against invasive species generate contrasting outcomes for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B 289:20221081 link

González-Varo JP, Rumeu B, Traveset A & Illera JC (2022) Identifying avian seed dispersers through DNA barcoding after rapid field sampling. ARDEOLA 69:179-190 pdf

González-Varo JP, Onrubia A, Pérez-Méndez N, Tarifa R & Illera JC (2022) Fruit abundance and trait matching determine diet type and body condition across frugivorous bird populations. OIKOS 2022:e08106 pdf

2021

González-Varo JP, Rumeu B, Albrecht J, Arroyo JM, Bueno RS, Burgos T, da Silva LP, Escribano-Ávila G, Farwig N, García D, Heleno RH, Illera JC, Jordano P, Kurek P, Simmons BI, Virgós E, Sutherland WJ, Traveset A (2021) Limited potential for bird migration to disperse plants to cooler latitudes. NATURE 595:75-79 link

Highlighted in NATURE by Barnabas H. Daru: Migratory birds aid the redistribution of plants to new climates

Highlighted in NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE by Tegan Armarego-Marriott: Bird-plant dispersal limits

Song thrush (*Turdus philomelos*) eating holly berries (*Ilex aquifolium*) and blackcap (*Sylvia atricapilla*) eating lentisc fruits (*Pistacia lentiscus*). The long fruiting period of hollies and lentiscs, from autumn to late winter, overlaps with the northward migration, therefore, song thrushes and blackcaps have the potential to disperse holly and lentisc seeds at long distances towards cooler latitudes
(photos | left: David Chapman; right: Agustín Povedano)

Rumeu B & Nogales M (2021) Los bosques de cedros en el Parque Nacional del Teide. In: CIENCIA EN EL PARQUE NACIONAL DEL TEIDE 2009-2019. Durbán M & Martín-Esquivel JL (eds). Ed. Turquesa, pp. 217-230 pdf

Herbertsson L, Ekroos J, Albrecht M, Bartomeus I, Batáry P, Bommarco R, Caplat P, Diekötter T, Eikestam JM, Entling MH, Farbu S, Farwig N, González-Varo JP, Hass AL, Holzschuh A, Hopfenmüller A, Jakobsson A, Jauker B, Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Kleve W, Kunin WE, Lindström SAM, Mullen S, Öckinger E, Petanidou T, Potts SG, Power EF, Rundlöf M, Seibel K, Sõber V, Söderman A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Stout JC, Teder T, Tscharntke T & Smith HG (2021) Bees increase seed set of wild plants while the proportion of arable land has a variable effect on pollination in European agricultural landscapes. PLANT ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 154:341-350 link

Tarifa R, Martínez-Núñez C, Valera F, González-Varo JP, Salido T & Rey P (2021) Agricultural intensification erodes taxonomic and functional diversity in Mediterranean olive groves by filtering out rare species. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY 58:2266-2276 link

Low-intensity ground cover management
(photo: Samuel Galiano)

2020

Rumeu B, Donoso I, J Rodríguez‐Pérez J & García D (2020) Frugivore species maintain their structural role in the trophic and spatial networks of seed dispersal interactions. JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY 89:2168-2180 link

2019

Rose DC, Amano T, González-Varo JP, Mukherjee N, Robertson RJ, Simmons BI, Wauchope HS & Sutherland WJ (2019) Calling for a new agenda for conservation science to create evidence-informed policy. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 238:108222 pdf

González-Varo JP, Díaz-García S, Arroyo JM & Jordano P (2019) Seed dispersal by dispersing juvenile animals: a source of functional connectivity in fragmented landscapes. BIOLOGY LETTERS 15:20190264 pdf

Rumeu B, Álvarez-Villanueva M, Arroyo JM & González-Varo JP (2019) Interspecific competition for frugivores: population-level seed dispersal in contrasting fruiting communities. OECOLOGIA 190:605-617 pdf

González-Varo JP, Arroyo JM & Jordano P (2019) The timing of frugivore-mediated seed dispersal effectiveness. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY 28:219-231 pdf

Sub-Saharan migrants like *Ficedula hypoleuca* only use the lowland woodlands of south Spain as stopover sites during their autumn migration, which confines their seed dispersal services to the early fruiting period of *Pistacia lentiscus* shrubs
(photo: Miguel Montoro).

Trillo A, Montero-Castaño A, González-Varo JP, González-Moreno P, Ortiz-Sánchez FJ & Vilà M (2019) Contrasting occurrence patterns of managed and native bumble bees in natural habitats across a greenhouse landscape gradient. AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT 272:230-236 pdf

2018

Rose DC, Sutherland WJ, Amano T, González-Varo JP, Robertson RJ, Simmons BI, Wauchope HS, Kovacs E, Durán AP, Vadrot ABM, Wu W, Dias MP, Di Fonzo MMI, Ivory S, Norris L, Nunes MH, Nyumba TO, Steiner N, Vickery J & Mukherjee N (2018) The major barriers and their solutions for evidence-informed conservation policy. CONSERVATION LETTERS 11:e12564 pdf( blog post by David Rose )

Simmons BI, Sutherland WJ, Dicks LV, Albrecht J, Farwig N, García D, Jordano P & González-Varo JP (2018) Moving from frugivory to seed dispersal: incorporating the functional outcomes of interactions in plant-frugivore networks. JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY 87:995-1007 pdf

A hawfinch (*Coccothraustes coccothraustes*) feeding on hawthorn seeds (*Crataegus monogyna*)
(photo: Saverio Gatto)

González-Varo JP & Geldmann J (2018) Response — «Bee conservation: Key role of managed bees« and «Bee conservation: Inclusive solutions«. SCIENCE 360:389-390 pdf

Geldmann J & González-Varo JP (2018) Conserving honey bees does not help wildlife. SCIENCE 359:392-393 pdf

Honeybee hives placed within the Teide National Park (Tenerife, Canary Islands)
(photo: Alfredo Valido)

Magrach A, Holzschuh A, Bartomeus I, Riedinger V, Roberts SPM, Rundlöf M, Vujić A, Wickens JB, Wickens VJ, Bommarco R, González-Varo JP, Potts SG, Smith HG, Steffan-Dewenter I & Vilà M (2018) Plant-pollinator networks in semi-natural grasslands are resistant to the loss of pollinators during blooming of mass-flowering crops. ECOGRAPHY 41:62-74 link

2017

Magrach A, González-Varo JP, Boiffier M, Vilà M & Bartomeus I (2017) Honeybee spillover reshuffles pollinator diets and affects plant reproductive success. NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 1:1299-1307 link

González-Varo JP & Vilà M (2017) Spillover of managed honeybees from mass-flowering crops into natural habitats. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 212:376-382 pdf

González-Varo JP, Carvalho CS, Arroyo JM & Jordano P (2017) Unravelling seed dispersal through fragmented landscapes: Frugivore species operate unevenly as mobile links. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY 26:4309-4321 pdf

Illustration: **Jon Heras**.
Artistic representation of seed dispersal events as flight paths of different bird species through a fragmented landscape

González-Varo JP, López-Bao JV & Guitián J (2017) Seed dispersers help plants to escape global warming. OIKOS 126:1600-1606 pdf

2016

Amano T, González-Varo JP & Sutherland W (2016) Languages are still a major barrier to global science. PLOS BIOLOGY 14(12):e2000933 pdf

Pieter Bruegel’s Tower of Babel
**news** **University of Cambridge**
**news** **EL PAÍS**
**radio** **Principio de Incertidumbre**
**blog** post by **Tatsuya Amano**

González-Varo JP, Ortiz-Sánchez FJ & Vilà M (2016) Total bee dependence on one flower species despite available congeners of similar floral shape. PLOS ONE 11(9):e0163122 pdf

**posted** *in The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species*
*See our outreach article in* **Quercus**

González-Varo JP & Traveset A (2016) The labile limits of forbidden interactions. TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 31:700-710 pdf

Holzschuh A, Dainese M, González-Varo JP, Stojnić SM, Riedinger V, Rundlöf M, Scheper J, Wickens JB, Wickens VJ, Bommarco R, Kleijn D, Potts SG, Roberts SPM, Smith HG, Vilà M, Vujić A & Steffan-Dewenter I (2016) Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe. ECOLOGY LETTERS 19:1228-1236 link

2015 and before

For older publications visit the personal websites of PAISAJE lab members.