Projects

The increase in the frequency and intensity of drought events registered during the las decades originated by changes in climate, together with the impact of other global change drivers, is inducing a generalised decrease in tree health and vigour, finally causing massive forest mortality events across the globe. This dieback has an important impact on oak species, especially in the Mediterranean region, resulting in the so called “la seca” phenomenon. However, several global change drivers other than climate can simultaneously act over an ecosystem, inducing different impacts than the isolated effect of each of them. In this project, we will analyse the response of an ecologically and economically important ecosystem as the mixed cork oak forest to the combined effect of different global change drivers (changes in climate, invasive pathogens and atmospheric nutrient depositions). By means of a combination of observational and experimental approaches through environmental gradients, we will reach the following objectives: 1) To analyse the interactions between different global change drivers and their impacts on tree species; and 2) To evaluate the interactive impacts of different global change drivers on the ecosystem services that Mediterranean forests provide. The combination of milti-scale (from populations to individuals) and multi-disciplinary (joining advances in dendroecology, dendrochemistry, pathology and biogeochemistry) approaches will allow the generation of highly relevant knowledge from scientific and applied perspectives, as is the identification of especially sensitive areas to global change or the impacts over the ecosystem services that these forests provide. The results of this proposal will be of interest for the conservation of these important ecosystems, and will increase our knowledge about the interactive effect of different global change drivers. 

Retama monosperma is a shrub that in the dunes of Doñana National Park (NP). In the last 30 years, has grown from a few individuals in the vicinity of the mouth of the Guadalquivir to occupy some 60 ha in the area known as Punta de Malandar. The expansion of the species is occurring in new dunes formed on emerged areas as a result of coastal progradation since the mid-20th century. Although Retama is native to the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it is not a species native to the national park. Apparently there is an exponential population growth that must be affecting at least 6 terrestrial habitats of Community interest. Therefore, and according to scientific studies carried out on the Retamares in the Gulf of Cadiz, there is a high degree of threat to protected communities, which are already being displaced and may disappear or be seriously altered in the medium term. The aim of the project is to assess the risk to the conservation of threatened terrestrial habitats of Community interest and to propose measures to control this species. To carry out the project, 8 senior researchers specialising in the ecology and geomorphology of coastal dunes and forest ecology from 4 universities, and with extensive experience in the dunes of the Doñana National Park, will develop a methodology to achieve the following general objectives: 1-To establish the current distribution of Retama monosperma at Punta de Malandar (and possible individuals in the rest of the Doñana mobile dune system) and determine its dispersal capacity. 2-To evaluate the degree of alteration of the habitats where Retama has arrived. 3- To build predictive models of Retama expansion in space and time with a time horizon of 2050 (in the study area). Establish the potential area at risk of Retama expansion in the entire mobile dune system. 4-To propose measures for the protection and conservation of threatened unique habitats through the management and control of the Retama population in the mobile dunes of Doñana NP.

Funded by the Autonomous Organism for National Parks. PI: Juan Bautista Gallego

The changes in climate registered during the last decades have the potential to modify the phenology, growth and biotic interactions for many plant species at global scale. However, the longer exposure of populations closer to the equatorial distribution limit to more extreme conditions might have induced the appearance of some adaptations related to increased environmental tolerance, as e.g. resistance to water stress, increasing the survival probabilities under a global-change scenario. In this project, we will use cork oak (Quercus suber L.), a species with high ecological and economic impact currently suffering a declining process, as a model organism. By means of a combination of observational, experimental and modelling approaches along the complete latitudinal distribution of the focal species, we will reach the following objectives: 1) To quantify and to model secondary growth and water use efficiency in natural populations along the species’ latitudinal distribution; 2) to determine the morphological traits and the physiological mechanisms implied on the response to drought and their tolerance thresholds; and 3) to identify the genetic mechanisms implied on drought resistance using transcriptomic and genomic techniques. The combination of multi-scale (from populations to individuals and genes) and multi-disciplinary (joining the latest advances in dendrochronology, modelling, ecophysiology, functional ecology, transcriptomics and genomics) approaches will allow the generation of a vast amount of information of high relevance from scientific and applied perspectives and the underlying mechanisms to acclimation and adaptation processes.  

Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. PI: Luis Matías

The increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts registered during the last decades due to climate change, together with other drivers of global change, are subjecting many species to strong adaptive pressures with negative impacts on forest dynamics, causing massive events of tree loss of vigor, defoliation and death around the world. This phenomenon of forest decay has an important impact among species of the Quercus genus, and especially in the Mediterranean Region, giving rise to the phenomenon commonly known as “la seca”. In this project, we will analyze the response of an important type of forest from an ecological and economic perspective as the mixed cork oak forest, to different drivers of global change and their implication in the alarming mortality rates registered in these species. Through a combination of observational, experimental and modeling approaches across a wide gradient of environmental conditions, we will try to achieve the following objectives: 1) To identify the early signals of decay in species of the Quercus genus; 2) To analyze the interactions between different drivers of global change; and 3) To model the response of mixed oak forests to expected changes in climate. The combination of multi-scale (from populations to individuals) and multi-disciplinary approaches (combining the latest advances in dendrochronology, ecophysiology and modeling) will allow the generation of a large amount of information of high scientific and applied relevance, such as the identification of especially sensitive areas to climate change and the mechanisms underlying dieback processes. The results obtained with this project will be relevant for the conservation of these important species, at the same time that it will provide knowledge about the factors and mechanisms that induce tree mortality.

 Funded by the Andalusian Government and US. PI: Luis Matías

The sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) is an halophyte succulent species inhabiting coastal areas across southern and western coasts of Britain and Ireland, on mediterranean and western coasts of Europe including the Canary Islands, North Africa and the Black Sea. Sea fennel has nutritional value, being rich in vitamin C, vitamins E and K, iodine, carotenoids and flavonoids. It is also rich in antioxidants and in fatty acids omega-3. The consumption of sea fennel was common among seafarers as a valuable aid for the prevention of scurvy.  In this project, we aim to understand the ecology of the species and to determine the ecological conditions maximising the production of rare fatty acids with high nutritional value.

Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. PI: Jesús Cambrollé (U. Seville, Spain)

Related publications:

Moreira, X., Pérez-Ramos, I.M., Matías, L., Francisco, M., García-González, A., Martins-Noguerol, R., Vázquez-González, C., Abdala-Roberts, L., Cambrollé, J. 2021. Effects of soil abiotic factors and plant chemical defences on seed predation on sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum). Plant and Soil (In press) 

Understanding and forecasting the impacts of on-going global change on community dynamics and functioning is currently one of the most active scientific fields and one of the most pressing issues to implement successful management plans at both national and global levels. The main objective of the present project consists of analyzing experimentally the impact of abiotic and biotic sources of stress on the functioning of Mediterranean savannah-like ecosystems (dehesa systems) via changes in the functional structure and diversity of plant and soil microorganism communities.

Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. PI: Ignacio Pérez-Ramos (IRNAS-CSIC, Spain)

Related publications: 

Caballero, M.C., Pérez-Ramos, I.M., Matías, L., Serrano, M. 2017. Simulation of the potential infectivity of Phytophthora cinnamomi under climate change. Phytopathologia Mediterranea 56: 372-373. PDF

Pérez-Ramos, I. M., Cambrollé, J., Hidalgo-Galvez, M. D., Matías, L., Montero-Ramírez, A., Santolaya, S., Godoy, Ó. 2019. Phenological responses to climate change in communities of plants species with contrasting functional strategies. Environmental and Experimental Botany 170: 103852. PDF  

Matías, L., Hidalgo-Gálvez, M.D., Cambrollé, J., Domínguez, M.T., Pérez-Ramos, I.M. 2021. How will forecasted warming and drought affect soil respiration in savannah ecosystems? The role of tree canopy and grazing legacy. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 304-305 -108425. PDF 

Global change is a complex phenomenon that involves several factors such as climate change, the alteration of the nitrogen cycle, biological invasions or changes in land use. Although each of these factors has been individually studied in detail in the last years, it is still poorly known how they could interact to affect biotic communities and the ecosystem processes that they control. The general objective of this proposal is to advance in the understanding of the interactive effects of climate change and invasive species on biotic communities (woody plants and soil microorganisms) of forest systems at different scales, from tree physiology to biogeochemical cycles. 

Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. PI: Lorena Gómez-Aparicio (IRNAS-CSIC, Spain)

     Related publications:

Jiménez-Chacón, A., Homet, P., Matías, L., Gómez-Aparicio, L., Godoy, O. 2018. Fine scale determinants of soil litter fauna on a Mediterranean mixed forest invaded by the exotic soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi. Forests 9: 218. PDF

Homet, P., González, M., Matías, L., Godoy, O., Pérez-Ramos, I.M., García, L.V., Gómez-Aparicio, L. 2019. Interactive effects of global change drivers on Q. suber performance: pathogen damage depend on soil water content. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 2076-277: 107605 . PDF 

Homet, P., Gómez-Aparicio, L., Matías, L., Godoy, O. 2021. Soil fauna modulates the effect of experimental drought on litter decomposition in forests invaded by an exotic pathogen. Journal of Ecology (In press) 

Recent changes in climate are altering the performance, growth and distribution of species at global scale. However, populations located in the most drought prone areas of a species distribution can harbour genetic adaptations that improve their survival probability under climate change. In this study, I will focus on Cork oak (Quercus suber L.), a species with high economic and ecological importance but one showing population decline during the last decade as a consequence of global change. Based on field investigations I will determine the changes in population dynamics that are currently operating in response to changes in climate across the complete distribution of the species (covering Morocco, Spain and Portugal). In parallel, I will examine specific changes in physiology, morphology and demography of seedlings from the wetter and more drought-prone edges of the species distribution in response to experimentally imposed climate change under controlled conditions. The information gained in this project will be key for the conservation of this imperilled and important tree species and provide vital information on how species adapt to extreme environments.

Funded by the British Ecological Society (BES). PI: Luis Matías

Related publications: 

Matías, L., Abdelaziz, M., Godoy, O., Gómez-Aparicio, L.  2019. Disentangling the climatic and biotic factors driving changes in the dynamics of Quercus suber populations across the species’ latitudinal range . Diversity and Distributions 25: 524-535 . PDF

Matías, L., Pérez-Ramos, I.M., Gómez-Aparicio, L. Are northern-edge populations of cork oak more sensitive to drought than those of the surthern-edge? Environmental and Experimental Botany 163: 78-85. PDF 

Forest vulnerability to climate change depends on the different components: exposition (magnitude, variability and rate ofchange of the stressor), sensitivity (intrinsic susceptibility to the stressor) and adaptive capacity (mechanisms ofadjustment which are able to avoid, minimize or remediate the impact). The aim of this project is to investigate modulators of the adaptive capacity to climate change (MACC) by using mountain relict conifer forests as a model case.

 Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. PI: J. Carreira (University of Jaén, Spain)

Related publications: 

Camarero, J.J., Sánchez-Salguero, R., Sangüesa-Barreda, G., Matías, L. 2018. Tree species from contrasting hydrological niches show divergent growth and water-use efficiency. Dendrochronologia 52: 87-95. PDF 

The genus Pinus contains 111 species, six of which have native populations in the Iberian Peninsula: Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster, P. pinea, P. nigra, P. sylvestris and P. uncinata. These species form large forests that provide important ecosystem services and have a high socioeconomic and cultural value. Native populations of Iberian pines show an important spatial segregation that correlates with rainfall, low winter temperature and soil properties. Forestry and ecological research has made a considerable effort to identify functional differences among provenances in Iberian Pinus species. However, in contrast, we have not yet developed a solid ecophysiological basis, experimentally-sustained, for explaining the distribution pattern of Iberian pines. The aim of the project is to study the ecophysiological strategies of Iberian pines at juvenile stages to drought, low temperature and soil nutrient availability.

Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness. PI: Pedro Villar (University of Alcalá, Spain)

Related publications: 

Matías, L., Castro, J., Villar-Salvador, P., Quero, J.L., Jump, A.S. 2017. Differential impact of hotter drought on seedling performance of five ecologically distinct pine species. Plant Ecology 218: 201-212. PDF

Salazar-Tortosa, D., Castro, J., Villar-Salvador, P., Viñegla, B., Matías, L., Michelsen, A., de Casas, R-R., Querejeta, J.I. 2018. The “isohydric trap”: a detrimental feedback between water shortage and nutrient acquisition drives differential response of European pines under climatic dryness. Global Change Biology 24: 4069-1083. PDF  

The distributional limits of species are frequently strongly determined by climate. Rapid changes in climate are disrupting environmental conditions throughout species ranges, with the most dramatic effects predicted to occur at the range edge. Changes in individual growth, survival and reproduction lead to population expansion or decline and induce range shifts, both at altitudinal and latitudinal limits of the distribution of a species. In this study, we are assessing the capacity for population expansion in altitude and latitude as a consequence of climatic change and evaluating the likely range contraction at species lowermost/southernmost distribution limits. We also aim to analyse discrepancies and similarities between altitudinal and latitudinal range shifts, given that range shifts are often reported in mountain areas but less frequently in the lowlands.

This research combines controlled environment experimental manipulation of growing conditions in of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) populations from the geographic limits of the species with field-based assessment of the performance of Scots pine and common juniper (Juniperus communis) across their altitudinal and geographical ranges. Controlled environment study is assessing ecological and physiological characters to look at emergence, morphology, growth and drought susceptibility.

Filed-based research is looking at growth rate and its interannual variability, together with fruit production, establishment and the age structure of individuals within natural populations. We are also looking at biotic interactions through assessment of herbivory damage across the range of these species. Overall, this work will allow us to understand the impacts of current changes in climate on population performance in these species and the implications for their future distribution. The work is funded by the European Union through a FP-7 Marie Curie IEF Fellowship. Co-PIs: Luis Matías and Alistair Jump.

Related publications 

Matías, L., Linares, J.C., Sánchez-Miranda, A., Jump, A.S. 2017. Contrasting growth forecasts across the geographical range of Scots pine due altitudinal and latitudinal differences in climatic sensitivity. Global Change Biology DOI:10.1111/gcb.13627. PDF

Matías, L., González-Díaz, P., Quero, J.L., Camarero, J.J., Lloret, F., Jump, A.S. 2016. Role of geographical provenance on the response of silver fir seedlings to experimental warming and drought. Tree Physiology 36: 1236-1246.PDF 

Matías, L., Jump, A.S. 2015. Asymmetric changes of growth and reproductive investment herald altitudinal and latitudinal range shifts of two woody species. Global Change Biology 21:882- 896. PDF

Matías, L., González-Díaz, P., Jump, A.S. 2014. Larger investment in roots in southern range-edge populations of Scots pine is associated with increased growth and seedling resistance to extreme drought in response to simulated climate change. Environmental & Experimental Botany 105: 32-38 PDF

Matías, L., Jump, A.S. 2014. Impacts of predicted climate change on recruitment at the geographical limits of Scots pine. Journal of Experimental Botany 65: 299-310 PDF

Matías, L., Jump, A.S. 2012. Interactions between growth, demography and biotic interactions in determining species range limits in a warming world: the case of Pinus sylvestris. Forest Ecology and Management 282: 10-22.PDF

Matías, L. 2012. Cambios en los límites de distribución de especies arbóreas como consecuencia de las variaciones climáticas. Ecosistemas 21 (3): 91-96. (In Spanish) PDF

The general objective of the project was to understand the dynamics of the Mediterranean forest under a global change scenario, using a multidisciplinary approach.

The particular objectives were:

• To understand the ecophysiological mechanisms determining plant responses to variations in the environment.

• To understand the dynamics of the soil processes and their relationships with forest regeneration.

• To characterize the regeneration niche of the main forest species.

• To characterize the variation with age (ontogenetic change) of niche, comparing saplings and juveniles.

• To model and predict forest dynamics, for the expected climate change scenarios.

This project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and carried out by the IRNASE-CSIC, University of Granada and University of Cordoba. Read more

 Related publications 

Aponte, C., Matías, L., González-Rodríguez, V., Castro, J., García, L.V., Villar, R., Marañón, T. 2014. Soil nutrients and soil microbial biomass in three contrasting Mediterranean forests. Plant and Soil 380: 57-72. PDF

Matías, L., Quero, J.L., Zamora, R., Castro, J. 2012. Evidence for plant traits driving specific drought resistance. A community field experiment. Environmental & Experimental Botany 81: 55-61. PDF

Matías, L., Zamora, R., Castro, J. 2012. Rare rainy events are more critical than drought intensification for woody recruitment in Mediterranean mountains: a field experiment simulating climate change. Oecologia 169: 833-844. PDF

Matías, L., Castro, J., Zamora, R. 2012. Effect of simulated climate-change on soil respiration in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem: rainfall and habitat-type are more important than temperature or the soil carbon pool. Ecosystems 15: 299-310. PDF

Matías, L., Gómez-Aparicio, L., Zamora, R., Castro, J. 2011. Effects of resource availability on plant recruitment at community level: an integrated analysis using structural equation modelling. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution & Systematics 13: 277-285. PDF

Matías, L., Zamora, R., Castro, J. 2011. Repercussions of simulated climate change on the diversity of woody-recruit bank in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem. Ecosystems 14: 672- 682. PDF

Matías, L., Castro, J., Zamora, R. 2011. Soil nutrient availability under a global change scenario in a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem. Global Change Biology 17: 1646-1657. PDF