Research

This is an individual project approved by South African National Parks that allows us to conduct research in Kruger National Park (KNP). I serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) for this project, which will specifically target the Experimental Burn Trial (EBP) conducted since the 1950s across extensive areas of KNP. This unique laboratory provides opportunities for analyzing the long-term effects of controlled burning (in addition to herbivory) in different savanna types. Our research will involve a comprehensive analysis of the influence of fire regimes on plant diversity and carbon. Additionally, we aim to advance our understanding of carbon recalcitrance, a crucial factor for comprehending the role of fire in generating long-term carbon sequestration forms.

Coordinated by Prof. Kull and by me, this my first large project with a PI role. The project was conceived in the framework of my posdoc at Lausanne and aims to investigate fire regimes in the biodiversity hotspots of Madagascar, and Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany (Mozambique and South Africa), by engaging researchers from diverse academic institutions (Université de Lausanne, Universidad de León, Swansea University, Université d'Antananarivo, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) and non-academic organizations (FAO, South African National Parks, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens and local organizations). Our main goal is to identify management strategies and policy solutions positive for C storage, biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods. We will address these goals from a multi-disciplinary approach by using state-of-art remote sensing methods, currently available geographical and social data, and newly collected data from fieldwork and interviews. 

This is an individual project and my first small project as PI. Central Madagascar is focus of an active ongoing debate, as there is evidence supporting grasslands as an ancient fire-prone biome, with recent increased burning that replaces the role of extinct grazers. Other evidences support that this region was covered by forest, and there is also a current of thought assuming an ancient heterogeneous landscape associated with diverse fire regimes. The three streams support different grassland management strategies, coherent to different natural history of the Madagascar grasslands. However, in the current context where most ecosystems coexist with, and support human activity, it seems appropriate to consider additional criteria for the design of management strategies. In this context, this project aims to investigate the influence of fire regimes on plant communities in the grasslands of central Madagascar, hypothesizing a positive pyrodiversity-biodiversity relationship underlying on a differential response of plant species depending on their functional traits, and on the environmental filtering caused by fire-related variations in soils.

This research contract signed by my research group at the University of León (GEAT) aims to investigate the efectiveness of a new promising product on the restoration of soil structure after burining. This is essential to prevent soil erosion and the leaching of soil nutrients out of the ecosystem during the first years after fire. We are carrying out our experiments in the wildfire of Sierra de la Paramera, in Ávila (Central Iberian Peninsula), a proper field laboratory in view of the variety of burn severity situations, ecosystems and orography. My main contributions have been the experimental design and collaboration in the fieldwork carried out in 2021.

This is a 4-member's PoC aimed at developing a web platform to identify fire perimeters, burn severity and post-fire recovery. The burn severity algorithms are based on the results achieved in my PhD Thesis, and the regeneration  algorithms are based on the results in the Theses of Dr. Fernández-Guisuraga. The web platform is currently available  at https://firemap.vexiza.com/.

I had a post-doctoral contract in the framework of this project leaded by Dr. Calvo, and entitled "Vulnerability of the wildland-urban interface and effectiveness of post-fire restoration measures in fire-prone areas of Castilla y León. Applications to pre- and post-fire management" . The project has several objectives, among them to identify the typologies of widland-urban interfaces prone to severe fires and to analyze the effectiveness of post-fire restoration actions such as mulching, seeding or plantation. My main contributions have been to cooperate in the writting of the proposal, experimental designs, and to carry out some part of the project by myself and by the supervision of our PhD student S. Huerta.

The European Sudoe project "ForManRisk - Forest management and natural risks" aims to anticipate climate change effects by developing proper pro-active management and strenghthening the prevention, defense and planning in relation to forest fires in Europe. My main contribution has been to write upon contract a reference document about the state-of-art of forest science, legal framework, and forestry activities related to forest fires in Castilla y León.

The University of León through my research group (GEAT)  was part of the consortium of the project OVINNOVA "An innovative business model for transhumance, an ancestral and necessary practice". In this context, I've investigated upon hiring the influence of trashumant sheep grazing on landscape structure and dynamics, habitat and plant diversity, and soil quality in mountain grazing areas. My participation included project co-management,  the experiment design, fieldwork, data analysis and writting of project reports.

The project FIRESEVES "Burn severity of large fires in fire-prone forest systems: conditioning factors, effects on service provision and pre- and post-fire management solutions" was leaded by Dr. Calvo and I was member of the research team. It aimed at acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of multiple facets related to burn severity in the contect of forest ecosystems in the Iberian Peninsula. My multiple  contributions to this project have resulted in the publication of 17 research articles in indexed international journals.

The project SEFIRECYL "Identification of forest structures related to the severity of large fires and their effects on the provision of ecosystem services with socio-economic importance in Castilla y León" was leaded by Dr. Calvo and I was major contributor with participation in >50% of project publications. In this project we have analized the effectivity of medium (Landsat/Sentinel), high (Deimos II) and very high (drones) spatial resolution multispectral images in combination with field data to identify the potential of tese tools in fire damage assessments and for the design of post-fire management. This information was complemeted wiht spatial modelling, laboratory analysis and metagenomics techniques to identify ecosystem changes to burn severity and their influence on ecosystem services. 

The project "Manipulating Soil Heating Patterns to Optimize Barrens Restoration" (JFSP Project ID: 15-1-05-13) leaded by B.R. Sturtevant and J. Miesel at MSU, aims at understanding better how soil heating affects below-ground processes such as soil nutrients, seed germination, and hardwood regeneration in order to inform effective restoration strategies. During my stain at MSU, I have collaborated in discussing project logistics and data analysis, as well as to one week of field sampling in pine woodlands and barrens at the experimental burn trials in Chippewa National Forest (Minnesota).