Biweekly researcher forum, which offer an opportunity for researchers in ecology to present and discuss their work
CREAF runs an annual programme of seminars that showcase the global research work in the field of ecological science both within and beyond our centre. Each seminar normally lasts 30-40 minutes with plenty of time afterwards for questions and discussion. Seminars are usually on Wednesday at 3 pm.
Our free seminar programme is open to everyone. For more information, please email CREAF Talks coordinator anna.avila@uab.cat
Substantial research efforts are being devoted in the last decades to understand how biotic attributes such as species richness, composition and diversity affect ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. However, most of this research has been carried out in ecosystems other than drylands, which cover ~45% and host over 40% of the global population. In these ecosystems, biotic attributes such as the cover, type and spatial pattern of vegetation and biocrust (surface soil communities dominated by lichens, mosses and cyanobacteria) patches largely affect ecosystem functioning yet most studies showing their importance has been carried out at local scales. In this lecture I will summarize the results of recent and ongoing studies evaluating how biotic attributes (species richness, evenness and composition, cover and spatial pattern) modulate multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality) across environmental gradients. These studies use multiple experimental approaches (manipulative and natural experiments), biotic communities (vascular plants, microbial communities and biocrusts dominated by mosses, lichens and cyanobacteria), spatial scales (from local to global) and ecosystem processes linked to hydrology, plant productivity and nutrient cycling. Overall, our results indicate that biotic attributes are key drivers of multifunctionality in drylands worldwide, and may partially buffer the negative effects of ongoing climate change on ecosystem functioning in these water-limited ecosystems.
Fernando T. Maestre (Sax, Spain, 1976) received his BsC. and PhD. in Biology from the University of Alicante in 1998 and 2002, respectively. He did a post-doc at Duke University (USA, 2003-2005) and moved in 2005 Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain), where he is a Professor and leads the Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab. His scientific career has been mostly devoted to understanding how dryland ecosystems work, and how they respond to ongoing global change. His research uses a wide variety of tools and organisms, and spans from local to global scales. He has published more than 200 articles in international journals, including Science, Nature and PNAS, and has received both a Starting and a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council and multiple awards, including a Humboldt Research Award and the Prize for Young Researchers in Life Sciences, awarded by the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences.
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