Research
Plant-soil interactions underpin forest ecosystem functioning and capacity to provide essential services and values. Changes in fire regimes, climate patterns and ecosystem management alter those interactions and, in turn, the forest dynamics. My research aims to unveil and understand the impact of such distutbances on the aboveground-belowground relationships and its consequences for ecosystem functioning.
The edaphic organisms, just as plant species, that have co-evolved with specific disturbances have developed adaptive traits that favor their resistance and resilience to certain disturbance regimes. However, this adaptation may not be sufficient in the face of the emerging regimes such as the more frequent and severe fires and more extreme climatic conditions.
Here we will study the impact that forest fires, their severity and frequency, and its interaction with cilmate change have on the abundance and composition of edaphic communities, seeking to determine the durability of these changes and the consequences for and plant regeneration and ecosystem functioning. Within edaphic communities, special attention will be paid to mycorrhizal fungi and mycelial networks for their key role in vegetation regeneration and nutrient cycling
PROJECTS
FIRE FUNGI
TIEMPO DE SETAS
MINOTAUR
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managing ecosystems to mitigate soil impacts
PROJECTS
FIRESTORM
MYCOPERCH
IMPACTS ON FOREST CARBON SEqUESTRATION
One of the main and most visible impacts of perturbances such as forest fires and climate change is the vegetation mortality and consumption of plant biomass and soil organic matter, which translates into large CO2 emissions and a loss of forest carbon stocks.
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We investigate changes in storage and forest carbon sequestration capacity in relation to forest fires, climate and management practices in different types of forest and environmental conditions using forest inventory data and remote sensing
PROJECTS
spatio-temporal patterns of forest disturbances
The impacts of forest perturbances depend on their extent, frequency and severity, which are the basis for characterizing perturbance regimes. Identifying changes in the spatio-temporal patterns of these attributes allows this key to verify the emergence of new fire regimes and climatic associated perturbances and thus be able to undertake management activities that increase the resistance and resilience of forest systems.
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In this line of work I collaborate with experts in remote sensing in the development and application of new methods to extract ecosystem variables and describe the spatiotemporal patterns of perturbances and impacts in relation to environmental and anthropogenic variables.
PROJECTS
Impacts on forest soil: biodiversity and functionality
Ecosystem management can contribute to lessen the impacts of fire and climate change on soil phisical and chemical attributes but less is known about their effect on soil biological properties.
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Here we will investigate the capacity of pre- and post-fire management practices to conserve and restore soil biodiversity and functionality, paying special attention to the role of mycorrhizal fungi.
Our ultimate goal is to provide meaningful and actionable insights to help manage soils and ecosystems