top of page

Current Research lines

Forest die-off

Mediterranean forests have been suffering drought-induced tree defoliation and mortality (forest die-off) over the past two decades and the problem is likely to be exacerbated in coming decades, as extreme droughts are projected to become more frequent and intense. I started to work on this issue in 2013 at the MNCN-CSIC (Madrid, Spain), and have become one of my main research lines since then. I aim to understand how forest die-off affects plant-soil-microbe relationships and ecosystem functioning.

Cerrado functionality

The Brazilian Cerrado is a key but understudied biome with global relevance in terms of biodiversity and C cycle. In collaboration with colleagues from the Laboratoy of Ecology and Evolution of Plants (LEEP) at the University of Viçosa (Brasil) and CFE, we carried out a multidisciplinary study to understand the functioning, controls, and response to realistic climate change scenarios (through a rainfall exclusion) of ecosystem processes related to C and N cycling in this Brazilian savanna. This study was supported by the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) through the project CONCERN.  

Soil-atmosphere GHG 
Ecosystems influence global warming by sequestering or emitting greenhouse (GHG). The relevance of GHG on Earth's climate is well known, but these feedbacks still constitute one of the major uncertainties to project future climate scenarios. Dr. Jorge Durán (RyC at the MBG-CSIC) and I seek to assess the soil-atmosphere GHG exchange in different ecosystems, unveil its controls, and understand how it will be affected by different global change drivers both regionally and globally.
bottom of page