Research

SORRY, A MORE UP TO DATE VERSION IS IN PROGRESS...

My general field of expertise is plant physiological ecology and, in particular, plant water relations.

Currently, and besides enjoying the Scottish weather (see picture...), I am working in the NERC-funded project "Endogenous regulation of age-related changes in forest net primary productivity". Specifically, in this project we are trying (a) to separate the effects of age and size by comparing the physiological response of trees of different ages both in the field and once grafted onto a common rootstock, and (b) to test some of the predictions of the hydraulic limitation hypothesis, one of the preferred explanations of the age-related decline in tree growth.

So far most of the fielwork for the above menctioned project has been carried out in an old growth Caledonian pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest in the Scottish Highlands (Guisachan site). The picture on the left shows the canopy of one of the old trees we are monitoring. Measurements in the field include standard micrometeorological variables, soil water content, tree growth, leaf-to-sapwood area ratio, stem sap flow, stem diameter increment, water potentials, and carbon isotope composition of needles.

I have a long-term interest in the mechanism of sap ascent in plants and its ecological implications. That was the topic of my PhD thesis and has been the object of most of my research so far. In this area, my research has focused on:

• Hydraulic constraints in the xylem of woody plants and its relationship with plant performance and survival under dry conditions. Most of these studies were conducted in Mediterranean communities in Spain (see refs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 & 11 in my publication list).
• The effect of a simulated drought on plant performance. The impact on vegetation of experimentally reducing rainfall and runoff was monitored in 150 m2 plots in a holm oak forest in NE Spain (see refs. 6 & 7 & 15).
• The mechanism and impact of freezing-induced xylem embolism. This was the subject of a study conducted in the Chihuahuan desert, New Mexico, USA (see ref. 5).
• Modelling of water transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum as an aid to predict drought-induced mortality (see ref. 3).

I have also an interest on university-level education and particularly on the way biological concepts are explained to students. My undergraduate years helped me to develop a substantial concern on that issue, while my year working as Assistant Professor in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona provided the opportunity of conducting some applied research on the subject (see refs. 9 & 10).

Finally, coming from a family of ornithologists I also have a long-lasting-although-almost-forgotten interest in birds. My only proper incursion into that subject was a study on habitat selection of the passerine community nesting in the Ebro Delta, NE Spain (see refs. 1).