Claudio Bracho is a postdoctoral researcher in ecology, interested in how climate and land-use changes are reshaping the distribution of species across our planet. He has worked especially on the role of migratory birds as long-distance dispersal vectors for plants, a fundamental process for understanding the dynamics of ecological communities in the coming decades. Since childhood, he has been passionate about ornithology, combining fieldwork with statistical and geospatial analysis to better understand how birds connect ecosystems on a global scale.
During his lecture, he will talk about the dispersal of living organisms, a key ecological process for understanding how ecosystems respond to global change. Current global warming is forcing many species to move towards colder regions to avoid extinction, often at rates exceeding ten kilometres per decade. In this context, migratory birds could act as long-distance dispersal vectors for plants, connecting isolated plant populations and promoting the colonisation of new habitats.
This talk will present recent scientific advances on the crucial role of migratory birds in the redistribution of plant species in response to climate change. It will also show how plant traits that are often overlooked, such as seed size, decisively influence the time seeds remain inside birds and, consequently, their dispersal distance.
Estimates indicate that birds the size of the common thrush can transport seeds across dozens or even hundreds of kilometres during migration, depending on the plant species. In this way, migratory birds may facilitate the movement of plants towards climatically suitable areas, with a potential shaped both by environmental factors and by the traits of the plants and the birds themselves.
Understanding this dispersal process facilitated by migratory birds is essential to anticipate how ecological communities around the planet may change in the coming decades.
Photograph courtesy of Luis Ojembarrena.
