Postdoctoral researcher
Current projects (under construction)
Hubbard Brook
I worked in this project during my postdoctoral stay at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Millbrook, NY), under the mentoring of Dr. Peter M. Groffman. The main objective of this project is to understand the climate change effects on C and N cycling in northern hardwood forests.
Chapinería
This is the project I am working at together with colleages of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN - CSIC (Madrid), under the mentoring of Dra. Helena Freitas (Center for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra) and Dr. Fernando Valladares (MNCN). The main objective of this project is to unveil de effects of climate change and fragmentation on Iberian Holm Oak forests, and the relation among these factors and the Holm Oak die-back.
Paraopeba
This is a recent collaboration with our colleages of the University of Viçosa (Minas Gerais, Brasil). We are trying to gather more information about the Brazilian Cerrado, a key but underestudied bioma with global relevance. We are in a preliminary phase of this collaboration, trying to understand the biogeochemical differences among the different physiognomies of the Cerrado. Also, we are carrying out a pilot lab experiment to better understand how these systems could respond to projected changes in precipitation under different climate change scenarios.
Iceland/Antarctica
Under the umbrella of the project (Ecosistemas microbianos líticos de áreas expuestas tras retroceso de glaciares. Sucesión ecológica, filodiversidad y geomicrobiología) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and led by Dr. Asunción de los Ríos Murillo, I am helping to study changes in vegetal and microbial cover and function, and in key soil ecosystem processes that occur after glaciers retreat in Iceland and Antarctica. This process is among the well-known effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems, and promotes the emergence of large amounts of land that become gradually exposed.
iFCT project
This is the project associated with my contract as a FCT researcher. This project is becoming bigger than expected thanks to great collaborations with Fernando Maestre (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Antonio Gallardo (Pablo de Olavide University), and it is trying to improve our knowledge about the biotic and abiotic drivers of greenhouse gases emissions from semi-arid ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula. We are also trying to understand how this emissions will be affected by climate change.