The beauty of being different!

Throughout my academic career, I have been attracted by the ecology of plants, in particular by how variable plants are regardless of being from the same species or even parts of the same unique individual. The intraspecific phenotypic variability!

The phenotype, by using a plant functional trait approach, can be "easily" linked to its function, allowing the detection of the effect of phenotypic plasticity or evolutionary change in reaction to environmental changes in plant and ecosystem functioning. My research has also aimed to target the mechanism responsible for this variation exploring the role of epigenetic variation in plant evolution and ecosystem functioning.

With my research, I would like to transmit my fascination for those little differences (sometimes considered just "noise") and their potential big role in plant coexistence and adaptation.

Global variation in mating sistem -Clonality

Ecological epigenetics - Transgene-rational effect of biotic interactions

Functional Ecology - Inter & Inta-specific differences in root traits

Temporal community stability

Global variation in mating system - Clonality in Plantago lanceolata

The environment and demography both have a strong influence on spatial genomic structure but demographic parameters are not routinely considered in landscape genomics. PLANTPOPNET is the ideal system to untangle the relative influence of these opposing forces because of its broad scope and demographic focus. In this proyect I am using PLANTPOPNET data (cordinated by Yvonne Buckley) to explore the global variation in mating system of Plantago lanceolata; particularly checking whether clonality is influenced by environmental conditions and whether it affects or is affected by other demographic processes.

Ecological epigenetics - Transgenerational effect of biotic interactions

The role of epigenetic transgenerational effects as a possible mechanism for stress “memory” in plants due to its potential adaptive environmental response has received increasing attention since the 80’s. Epigenetic variation can enable plants to store information about their past environmental interactions for several generations, and to modify their phenotype according to expected conditions maximizing the progeny’s fitness, especially during the juvenile stage. Recent research, especially focused on the response to abiotic conditions, has recognized the role of epigenetic transgenerational effects in adaptation. My PhD research focused on the transgenerational effects triggered by plant biotic interactions in an apomictic Taraxacum (T. brevicorniculatum), particularly focusing on plant-plant competition and AMF symbiosis, and their relevance on community assambly and ecosystem functioning. In this proyect I have been working in colaboration with Vitek Latzel and colleagues from the University of Tartu (Mari, Maaja and Inga).

Functional Ecology - Inter & Intaspecific differences in root traits

I started this topic already during my Master thesis with Begoña Peco when I explored the inter and intra-specific phenotypic response of Mediterranean annual plants to water availability in order to understand the community assembly of Mediterranean grasslands and improve the knowledge of plant and root economic spectrum of this group of plants, which are generally understudied but ecologically relevant in Mediterranean environments and especially vulnerable to climate change. SimilarlyI have been working in colaboration with Cortney Murren (USA) in a project that focused on the adaptability and natural variation of root traits among populations of Arabidopsis thaliana in native vs. novel sites, and with Jana Martinkova examining the effect of diverse disturbances on root performance of clonal vs. non-clonal herbs.

Drivers of communities' temporal stability: the role of functional differences between and within species

How biological diversity is maintained in time is a fundamental question in a global change context. Ecologists have delineated many mechanisms that could maintain biodiversity stability and affect ecosystem resilience or resistance towards environmental changes. These mechanisms (compensation by species asynchrony, dominant species and portfolio effects) have been traditionally attributed to species diversity effects, but evidence is accumulating that they operate through differences in functional traits between species. Trait variability within species should further allow for stabilizing effects via abiotic plasticity and trans-generational trait adjustments induced by species interactions. This project is coordinated by Francesco and Lars and I have been helping to collect the data from the field and greenhouse experiments.

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