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Last modification:
01/10/2011
Dra. Lorena Gómez Aparicio
Researcher
Department of Geoecology, Biochemistry and Environmental Microbiology (IRNAS - CSIC)
Avenida Reina Mercedes 10
P.O. Box 1052
41080 - Sevilla (Spain)
Phone: +34 95 462 47 11 ext 140
Fax: +34 95 462 40 02
E-mail: lorenag@irnase.csic.es
General information
General
1995-1999 B.S. Environmental Sciences, University of Granada (Spain)
2000-2004 Ph.D. Ecology, University of Granada (Spain)
2005-2007 Fulbright post-doctoral fellow, Institute of Ecosystem Studies (NY, USA)
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2007-2009 Juan de la Cierva Research Fellow, IRNAS-CSIC (Spain)
Research
Research interests
I am a plant ecologist with a wide range of interests, but specially I focus on understanding the
structure and dynamics of forest ecosystems.
Regeneration dynamics in forest ecosystems
Regeneration is a key process shaping forest structure and composition. Plants are especially vulnerable to environmental constraints early in life. Therefore, how seeds, seedlings, and saplings respond to the abiotic environment and interact with coexisting species is a key question to answer in order to understand successional trajectories in forests. Much of my thesis work at the University of Granada and my ongoing research focuses on exploring the spatiotemporal patterns of plant regeneration in Mediterranean forests and shrublands, and the underlying mechanisms. I find particularly interesting the study of positive interactions among plants during the recruitment process, and how its magnitude varies among species, with ontogeny, and along environmental gradients. Because global change implies alterations in resource availability, stress levels, and species composition, this line of research provides relevant information to understand and predict current and future dynamics of forest ecosystems.
Key-words: coexistence, environmental gradients, global change, plant-animal interactions, plant-plant interactions, regeneration niche, spatio-temporal patterns, trade-offs.
Linking community dynamics and ecosystem processes using neighborhood models
Although trained as a population and community ecologist, I have recently become interested in ecosystem ecology and the link between species and ecosystems. In forests, different tree species can have distinctive effects on a whole suite of ecosystem processes (e.g. N and C cycling). This implies that changes in the composition of a tree community due to natural or anthropogenic causes can lead to modification of ecosystem processes that, in turn, produce feedbacks that drive further changes in community composition. For example, it has been suggested that climate change could have stronger effects on ecosystem function (e.g., C sequestration) due to indirect changes in species composition than to direct changes in temperature or rainfall. As a postdoctoral associate at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, I collaborated with Dr. Charles Canham in developing spatially-explicit neighborhood models of the impacts of invasive tree species on ecosystem function and community dynamics. We continue this line of research with native species in forests of southern Spain where specific composition is threatened by climate change, soil-borne pathogens, and land-use changes. Neighborhood models are a powerful tool to integrate population, community and ecosystem ecology.
Key-words: ecosystem function, invasive species, neighborhood analyses, nutrient cycling, plant-soil feedbacks, soil-borne pathogens, spatially-explicit models, species-specific effects.
Projects
Ongoing research projects
2011-2014 The role of plant-soil feedbacks in the community dynamics of declining Quercus forests (RETROBOS). MICINN. PI: Lorena Gómez Aparicio
2011-2014 Global change, altitudinal migration and colonization of degraded habitats in Mediterranean mountains (MIGRAME). Excellence Research Group Programme of the Andalusian Government. PI: Regino Zamora.
2010-2013 Quercus suber decline and global change in the Doñana National Park: an experimental approach (DECALDO). Autonomous Organization of National Parks-MARM. PI: Luis V. García.
2009-2012 Ecological interactions and global change in Mediterranean forests (INTERBOS). Subproyect 1: Tree-soil interactions and functioning of Mediterranean forests: a spatially-explicit approach using neighborhood models. MICINN. PI: Dr. Teodoro Marañón.
2009-2014 Spanish woodlands and global change: threats and opportunities (MONTES). MICINN.
PI: Dr. Javier Retana.
Publications
Publications
In press
Holmgren, M., L. Gómez-Aparicio, J.L. Quero & F. Valladares. Non-linear effects of drought under shade: reconciling physiological and ecological models in plant communities. Oecologia
Matías, L., L. Gómez-Aparicio, R. Zamora & J. Castro. Disentangling the complex relationships among resources and early plant community recruitment: an experimental approach. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics.
2011
Gómez-Aparicio, L., R. García-Valdés, P. Ruíz-Benito and M.A. Zavala. Disentangling the relative importance of climate, size and competition on tree growth in Iberian forests: implications for forest management under global change. Global Change Biology 17: 2400-2414.
García, L.V., C. Ramo, C. Aponte, A. Moreno, M.T. Domínguez, L. Gómez-Aparicio, R. Redondo and T. Marañón. Protected wading bird species threaten relict centennial cork oaks in a Mediterranean Biosphere Reserve: a conservation management conflict. Biological Conservation 144: 764-771.
Alía, R., F.J. Auñón-Garvía, M. Benito-Garzón, R. García-Valdés, C. Fernández-Aragón, L. Gómez-Aparicio, E. Ojea, D. Purves, P. Ruiz-Benito, & M.A. Zavala. Forest Ecosystems. Biodiversity in Spain: bases for sustainability under Global Change. Observatorio de la Sostenibilidad en España (ed.) Pp 227-262 (In Spanish)
2010
Pérez-Ramos, I.M., L. Gómez-Aparicio, R. Villar,
L.V. García and T. Marañón. 2010. Seedling growth and
morphology of three oak species along field resource gradients and seed
mass variation: a seedling age-dependent response. Journal of
Vegetation Science 21: 419-437. 
2009
Gómez-Aparicio, L. , M.A. Zavala, F. Bonet and R. Zamora. 2009. Are pine plantations valid
tools for restoring Mediterranean forests? An assessment along gradients of climatic
conditions, stand density and distance to seed sources. Ecological Applications.19: 2124-2141.
Mendoza, I., Gómez-Aparicio, L. Zamora R. and Matías L. 2009. Recruitment limitation
of forest communities in a degraded Mediterranean landscape. Journal of Vegetation Science
20: 367-376
Gómez-Aparicio, L. 2009. The role of plant interactions
in the restoration of degraded ecosystems: a meta-analysis across
life-forms and ecosystems. Journal of Ecology 97: 1202-1214.
2008
Zamora, R., P. García-Fayos and L. Gómez-Aparicio.
2008. Plant-plant interactions, plant-animal interactions and succession.
Pp 373-396 in: Valladares, F. (Ed.). Ecología del Bosque
Mediterráneo en un Mundo Cambiante (Second edition).
Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, EGRAF, Madrid (In Spanish)
Gómez-Aparicio, L. 2008. Spatial patterns of recruitment in a Mediterranean tree
(Acer opalus subsp. granatense): linking the fate of seeds, seedlings, and saplings in
heterogeneous landscapes at different scales. Journal of Ecology 96: 1128-1140.
Gómez-Aparicio, L., I.M. Pérez-Ramos, I. Mendoza, J.L. Quero, L. Matías,
J. Castro, R. Zamora & T. Marañón. 2008. Oak seedling survival and growth along
resource gradients in Mediterranean forests: implications for regeneration under current and
future environmental scenarios. Oikos 117: 1683-1699.
Gómez-Aparicio, L. and C.D. Canham, 2008. Neighborhood models of the effects of invasive tree
species on ecosystem processes. Ecological Monographs.
Gómez-Aparicio, L., C.D. Canham, and P.H. Martin. 2008. Neighborhood models of the effects
of the invasive Acer platanoides on tree seedling dynamics: linking impacts on communities and
ecosystems. Journal of Ecology 96: 78-90.
Gómez-Aparicio, L. R. Zamora, J. Castro and J.A. Hódar. Facilitation of tree saplings
by nurse plants: microhabitat amelioration or protection against herbivores? Journal of Vegetation Science.
Perkins, S., S. Altizer, O. Bjornstad, J.J. Burdon, K. Clay, L. Gómez-Aparicio, J.M. Jeschke,
P. Johnson, K.D. Lafferty, C.M. Malmstrom, P. Martin, A. Power, P.H. Thrall, D.L. Strayer, and M. Uriarte.
2008. Pp 179-204 in Invasion biology and parasitic infection. In: Ostfeld, R.S., F. Keesing, & V.T. Eviner
(Eds). Ecology of Infectious diseases: effects of disease on ecosystems and of ecosystems on disease.
Princeton University Press.
Gómez-Aparicio, L. and C.D. Canham. 2008. Neighborhood analyses of the allelopathic effects of
the invasive Ailanthus altissima in temperate forests. Journal of Ecology 96: 446-458.
Quero, J.L., Gómez-Aparicio, L. R. Zamora and F.T. Maestre. 2008. Shifts in the regeneration niche
of an endangered tree (Acer opalus ssp. granatense) during ontogeny. Basic and Applied Ecology 9: 635-644.
2007
Gómez-Aparicio, L., J.M. Gómez and R. Zamora. 2007. Spatiotemporal patterns of seed dispersal
in a wind-dispersed Mediterranean tree (Acer opalus subsp. granatense): implications for
regeneration. Ecography 30: 13-22.
2006
Gómez-Aparicio, L., F. Valladares and R. Zamora. 2006. Differential light responses of
Mediterranean tree saplings: linking ecophysiology with regeneration niche in four co-occurring species.
Tree Physiology 26: 947-958
2005
Gómez-Aparicio, L., R. Zamora and J.M. Gómez. 2005. Analysis of the regeneration
status of the endangered Acer opalus subsp. granatense throughout its geographical
distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Biological Conservation 121: 195-206.
Gómez-Aparicio, L., J.M. Gómez, R. Zamora and J.L. Bottinguer. 2005. Canopy vs. soil
effects of shrubs facilitating tree seedlings in Mediterranean montane ecosystems. Journal of Vegetation
Science 16: 191-198.
Gómez-Aparicio, L., J.M. Gómez and R. Zamora. 2005. Microhabitats shift rank in
suitability for seedling establishment depending on habitat type and climate. Journal of Ecology 93:
1194-1202.
Gómez-Aparicio, L., F. Valladares, R. Zamora and J.L. Quero. 2005. Response of tree seedlings to
the abiotic heterogeneity generated by nurse shrubs: an experimental approach at different scales.
Ecography 28:757-768
2004
Gómez-Aparicio, L., R. Zamora, J.M. Gómez, J.A. Hódar, J. Castro and E. Baraza.
2004. Applying plant facilitation to forest restoration in Mediterranean ecosystems: a meta-analysis of the
use of shrubs as nurse plants. Ecological Applications 14: 1128-1138.
Castro, J., R. Zamora, J.M. Gómez, J.A. Hódar and L. Gómez-Aparicio. 2004.
Benefits of using shrubs as nurse plants for reforestation in Mediterranean mountains: a 4-year study.
Restoration Ecology 12: 352-358.
Castro, J., R. Zamora, L. Gómez-Aparicio, J.M. Gómez, J.A. Hódar and E. Baraza. 2004. Shrubs as nurse plants in Mediterranean systems: evaluation of a new reforestation technique. Cuadernos de la Sociedad Española de Ciencias Forestales 17:145-150. (In Spanish)
Zamora, R., P. García-Fayos and L. Gómez-Aparicio. 2004. Plant-plant interactions, plant-animal interactions and succession. Pp 371-396 in: Valladares, F. (Ed.). Ecología del Bosque Mediterráneo en un Mundo Cambiante. Editorial Parques Nacionales, Madrid. (In Spanish)
2001
Gómez L., R. Zamora, J.A. Hódar, J.M. Gómez and J. Castro. 2001. Facilitation of tree seedlings by shrubs in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain): disentangling the mechanisms. Pp 395-400 in Radoglou, K. (Ed). Forest Research: a Challenge for an Integrated European Approach. NAGREF. Forest Research Institute. Thessalonica, Greece.
Gómez, J.M., L. Gómez, R. Zamora and J. Montes. 2001. Limitations to the regeneration of tree species in the Sierra Nevada National Park. Pp 212-218 in Junta de Andalucía (Ed.). Montes para la Sociedad del Nuevo Milenio. III Congreso Forestal Español, Coria Gráfica, Sevilla, Spain. (In Spanish)
Zamora, R., L. Gómez, J. Castro, J.A. Hódar, J.M. Gómez, S. Elola and J. Montes. 2001. Shrubs increase survival of tree saplings in the Mediterranean mountain: evaluation of a new reforestation technique. Pp 154-159 in Junta de Andalucía (Ed). Montes para la Sociedad del Nuevo Milenio. III Congreso Forestal Español, Coria Gráfica, Sevilla, Spain. (In Spanish)
Zamora, R., J. Castro, J.M. Gómez, D. García, J.A. Hódar, L. Gómez and E. Baraza. 2001. The role of shrubs in forest regeneration. Quercus 187: 41-47. (In Spanish)
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