Staff directory

My overall field of research covers the spatial ecology of highly mobile vertebrates. This research focusses on ecology, behaviour and conservation of marine top predators, with an especial interest in the ecological role of seabirds in marine ecosystems.

Conservation of Bonelli Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus through applied research, implementation of conservation measures and disclosure.

My main research interest is to characterize the major events and processes creating and shaping the diversity and distribution of living organisms. With this objective, we are using as model organisms freshwater and terrestrial planarians in two hotspots of biodiversity: The Mediterranean basin and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Through collaborations with other research teams, other study organisms have also been incorporated into our focus, such as birds or whales, expanding the range of possibilities for the evolutionary study of different taxa.

Analysis of the impact of natural selection and other evolutionary forces, such as migration and genetic drift, in natural populations. Population genetics and genomics; phylogeography. Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution of multigene families and gene networks in complete genomes. Bioinformatics.

Marine phycology (macroalgae). Florisitic and phytosociological studies of population or phytobenthic communities of the Mediterranean. Biosystematic studies of different taxonomic groups focused on the implementation of the 'Flora Iberica Phycologica. Crops in germination chambers of early stage development of germ cells to give birth. Cytogenetic studies on the quantification of nuclear DNA from marine macroalgae.

Agroecology, plant biodiversity, organic farming plant invasions. Agricultural intensification negatively affects the conservation of natural resources and maintain functions ecosistèmiques (eg soil fertility, pollination and crop protection) of agricultural systems. For this reason, it is essential to develop sustainable management methods that reduce environmental stress associated with agricultural activities and promote the proper functioning of agricultural systems. The team working on the analysis of the functioning of agricultural systems and the design of sustainable management models in order to provide scientific and technical knowledge that allows farmers to better manage and evaluate these improvements by using of sustainability indicators easy to understand and use.

I work in eco-epidemiological research that allow knowing which are the reservoirs, the vector species and the key factors driving the spread of viruses. These factors are very important in order to find preventive measures that reduce the risk of transmission to the human population, livestock and pets. The emergence of a viral epidemic depends on the dynamics of the virus, which in turn will be influenced by reservoir dynamic and external environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, degree of habitat conservation, the situation of stress affecting the reservoir species.

Microbial ecophysiology of carpets, floor ecosystems, microbial diversity and lipid biomarkers. Accumulation and degradation of poly-B-hidroxialcanoates, microorganisms-insect symbiosis, spirochetes in natural environments, magnetotactic bacteria.

Biosystematics and evolution of plants (molecular palynology, cytogenetics and phylogeny, phylogeography, population genetics). Ethnobotany of the Països Catalans (etnoflora, quantitative ethnobotany, study of agroecosystems). History of catalan botany XIXth and XXth centuries. Botanical terminology.