Aim  In aquatic ecosystems, standing (lentic) and running (lotic) waters differ fundamentally in their stability and persistence, shaping the comparative population genetic structure, geographical range size and speciation rates of lentic versus lotic lineages. While the drivers of this pattern remain incompletely understood, the suite of traits making up the ability of a species to establish new populations is instrumental in determining such differences. Here we explore the degree to which the association between habitat type and geographical range size results from differences in dispersal ability or fundamental niche breadth in the members of the Enochrus bicolor complex, an aquatic beetle clade with species across the lentic–lotic divide.Location  Western Mediterranean, with a special focus on North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily.Methods  DNA sequences for four loci were obtained from species of the E. bicolor complex and analysed using phylogenetic inference. Dispersal and establishment abilities were assessed in lentic–lotic species pairs of the complex, using flight wing morphometrics and thermal tolerance ranges as surrogates, respectively.Results  There were clear differences in range size between the lotic and lentic taxa of the complex, which appears to have had a lotic origin with two transitions to standing waters. Only small differences were observed in temperature tolerance and acclimation ability between the two lotic–lentic sister species studied. By contrast, wing morphometrics revealed clear, consistent differences between lotic and lentic Enochrus species pairs, the latter having a higher dispersal capacity.Main conclusions  We hypothesize that there have been two habitat shifts from lotic to lentic waters, which have allowed marked expansions in geographical range size in western Mediterranean species of the E. bicolor complex. Differences in dispersal rather than in establishment ability appear to underlie differences in geographical range extent, as transitions to lentic waters were associated with changes in wing morphology, but not in thermal tolerance range. In this lineage of water beetles, selection for dispersal in geologically short‐lived lentic systems has driven the evolution of larger range sizes in lentic taxa compared with those of their lotic relatives.

The stability of three strawberry cultivars was evaluated for changes in jam color quality during processing and storage at 20°, 30° and 37°C for 200 days. Anthocyanin content was determined by HPLC. The effect of cultivar, processing and storage on jam pigments, instrumental color (L*, a*, b*) and consumer preference were also determined. ‘Oso grande’ jam had the lowest anthocyanin concentration (110 mg/g f.w), higher monomeric pigment degradation during processing and storage, highest pH, least desirable color score from the sensory panel and shortest shelf‐life. Similarities were found between jams prepared with ‘Chandler'and Tudla’ cultivars, as well as initial differences in total anthocyanin concentrations (195 and 130 mg/g f.w.).

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Understanding factors driving successful invasions is one of the cornerstones of invasion biology. Bird invasions have been frequently used as study models, and the foundation of current knowledge largely relies on species purposefully introduced during the 19th and early 20th centuries in countries colonized by Europeans. However, the profile of exotic bird species has changed radically in the last decades, as birds are now mostly introduced into the invasion process through unplanned releases from the worldwide pet and avicultural trade. Here we assessed the role of the three main drivers of invasion success (i.e., event-, species-, and location-level factors) on the establishment and spatial spread of exotic birds using an unprecedented dataset recorded throughout the last 100 y in the Iberian Peninsula. Our multimodel inference phylogenetic approach showed that the barriers that need to be overcome by a species to successfully establish or spread are not the same. Whereas establishment is largely related to event-level factors, apparently stochastic features of the introduction (time since first introduction and propagule pressure) and to the origin of introduced species (wild-caught species show higher invasiveness than captive-bred ones), the spread across the invaded region seems to be determined by the extent to which climatic conditions in the new region resemble those of the species' native range. Overall, these results contrast with what we learned from successful deliberate introductions and highlight that different management interventions should apply at different invasion stages, the most efficient strategies being related to event-level factors.

Pomegranate juices were assessed after pasteurisation and storage in different packaging materials: transparent and green glass, and paperboard carton with polyethylene layers (Minibrik-200). The main objective was to establish the influence of the container on the stability of colour and bioactive compounds (anthocyanins, ellagic acid and other non-coloured phenols). Results showed that noncoloured phenols and ellagic acid were quite stable during the storage period. In contrast, anthocyanins degraded, to an extent directly proportional to colour loss, less for those juices stored in glass bottles than for those stored in Minibrik. These results indicated that these paperboard carton containers are oxygen permeable, and that oxygen has a greater influence on anthocyanin, and consequently on colour degradation, than light on pomegranate juice during storage. Nevertheless, the antioxidant activity was not influenced by the packaging material employed.