People

The research group in September 2017. From left to right: Miguel Berdugo, Hugo Saiz, Victoria Ochoa, Ángela Lafuente, Miguel García, Miriam Navarro, Concha Cano, Mónica Ladrón de Guevara, Marina Dacal, Pablo García-Palacios, Dinorah Mendoza, Fernando T. Maestre, César Plaza, Beatriz Gozalo, Yanchuang Zhao, Sergio Asensio and David Sánchez.

To see pictures from the lab in the past click here.

Fernando T. Maestre, Assistant Professor

Check here to know more about Fernando, download his CV and check his publications

Ms.C. student

Undergraduate

Laura Fernández Brun. Graduate student, BIODESERT project

Research topic: Effects of global change on dryland soil microbial communities at multiple spatial scales

María Eulalia Huamán Benítez. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: The role of plant functional traits on ecosystem responses to climate change

Former members of the Maestre Lab

◾ Graduate students

Alberto Benavent. Graduate student (2014-2018). Personal webpage. PhD Thesis defended on 18 October 2018 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish): Sucesión vegetal y microbiana en áreas recientemente deglaciadas de regiones polares. Factores abióticos y bióticos que controlan la biodiversidad dentro del cambio global

Juan Gaitán. Graduate student (2012-2016). Currently he is a tenured researcher at INTA-Castelar (Argentina). Personal webpage. PhD Thesis defended on 22 December 2016 (in Spanish): Atributos estructurales y funcionales de los ecosistemas áridos y semiáridos de la Patagonia y su relación con factores abióticos y el uso antrópico.

Enrique Valencia Gómez. Graduate student (2010-2015). Currently he is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic. PhD Thesis defended on 23 October 2015 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish): Atributos de las comunidades bióticas y funcionamiento del ecosistema en zonas áridas: efectos del cambio climático e implicaciones para la restauración.

Cristina Escolar Miguel. Graduate student (2008-2014). Personal webpage. Currently she is a teacher in a primary school. PhD Thesis defended on 24 March 2014 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish): Efectos del cambio climático en la estructura y funcionamiento de ecosistemas semiáridos dominados por la costra biológica.

Manuel Delgado Baquerizo. Graduate student and post-doc (2010-2013). Currently he is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA). Personal webpage. PhD Thesis defended on 17 May 2013 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish): Efectos del cambio climático sobre la dinámica del nitrógeno en ecosistemas áridos a distintas escalas espaciales.

Santiago Soliveres Codina. Graduate student and post-doc (2006-2013). Currently he is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, 3013 Bern (Suiza). Personal webpage PhD Thesis defended on 13 December 2010 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish):Efectos del estrés abiótico y factores bióticos en las interacciones planta-planta: implicaciones para el funcionamiento y la restauración de los ecosistemas semiáridos.

Andrea del Pilar Castillo Monroy. Graduate student and post-doc (2006-2011). She is now a researcher at the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, in Quito (Ecuador). Personal webpage. PhD Thesis defended on 16 November 2010 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish): Ecología funcional de la costra biológica en ambientes semiáridos gipsícolas de la Península Ibérica.

Pablo García Palacios. Graduate student and post-doc (2006-2011). Currently he is a Juan de la Cierva post-doctoral researcher at Rey Juan Carlos University. Personal webpage. PhD Thesis defended on 9 November 2010 (in English, with introduction and general discussion in Spanish): Ecología funcional de ecosistemas emergentes: relaciones entre composición, estructura y función a distintos niveles de organización.

◾ Post-doctoral researchers

Jiansheng Ye, Postdoctoral researcher (12/2017-09/2018). He is currently a Professor at Lanzhou University (China). Personal web page.

Hugo Saiz, Postdoctoral researcher (02/2016 – 04/2019). He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bern (Switzerland). Personal web page.

Yoann le Bagousse-Pinguet, post-doctoral researcher funded by the Marie Curie program and the BIODESERT project (October 2015 – October 2018). He is currently a tenured scientist at Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (CNRS, France). Personal web page

Rocío Herández Clemente, post-doctoral researcher funded by BIODESERT project and the “Juan de la Cierva incorporación” program (October 2017 – April 2018). She is currently a lecturer at Swansea University. Personal web page

Mónica Ladrón de Guevara, post-doctoral researcher funded by the BIOCOM and BIODESERT projects (June 2015 – March 2018). She is currently a Marie Curie research fellow at CREAF/Arizona State University. Personal webpage

Dinorah Mendoza Aguilar, post-doctoral researcher funded by CONACYT (November 2016-November 2017).

José Raggio. Post-doctoral researcher (June – December 2016). He is now a post-doctoral researcher at Complutense University of Madrid. Personal webpage

Matthew A. Bowker. “Juan de la Cierva” Research Fellow (April 2008-April 2010). He is now an Assistant Professor of Forest Soils & Ecosystem Ecology, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff (Arizona, USA). Personal webpage

Sara Mouro. Post-doctoral researcher of the Portuguese FCT (April 2008-September 2010). She works now at Parexel International.

José Luis Quero. Post-doctoral researcher (January 2010- September 2012). He is now an Assitant Professor at the University of Córdoba.Personal webpage

Raúl Ochoa-Hueso. Post-doctoral researcher (May 2012 – August 2013). He is now a Hawkesbury Institute Research Fellow in Global Change at the Hawkesbury Institute, Sydney (Australia). Personal webpage

◾ Master students

María Concepción Cano Díaz. Ms.C. in Ecology.

Ms.C. thesis: Effects of climate change on the composition and abundance of cyanobacteria associated to biological soil crusts. Defended on 2 July 2015.

Rodrigo Herrera. Ms.C. in Ecological Restoration.

Ms.C. thesis: Effects of Pinus halepensis afforestations on the composition and structure of vegetation in semiarid Mediterranean areas. Defended on 3 October 2013.

Juan Piñeiro Nevado. Ms.c. in Biological Survey and Conservation, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Ms.C. thesis: Assessing the effectiveness of ecotechnology to improve the restoration of degraded semiarid ecosystems. Defended on 17 December 2012.

Nuria Simón. Ms.C. in Ecological Restoration.

Student in training (February – July 2013).

David Villamor González. Ms.C. in Environmental Science.

Ms.C. thesis: Dynamics of plastic and reusable bag use in a large retailer company. Defended on 29 June 2010.

Jorge Papadopoulos Izquierdo. Ms.C. in Ecological Restoration.

Ms.C. thesis: Vegetation and root dynamics along a chronosequence of roadside slopes. Defended on 18 February 2010.

◾ Undergraduate students

Sandra García Aparicio. Bs.C. in E nvironmental Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of climate change on nitrogen cycling in semiarid areas dominated by biocrusts. Deffended on 15 March 2016.

Lorenzo Bartolomé Sánchez. Bs.C. in Environmental Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Ecotechnology as a tool for restroing degraded drylands: a meta-analysis. Defended on 17 July 2009.

Rocío Chaves Jiménez. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of plant species richness on soil enzyme responses to climate change. Defended on 12 July 2013.

Tatiana Mondragón. Bs.C. in Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Student in training (June – July 2013).

Miriam Navarro Ruiz. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Interspecific variability in soil enzyme responses to climate change. Defended on 14 October 2013.

Noelia Saavedra Berlanga. Bs.C. in Environmental Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of climate change on the phenology of different plant functional types. Defended on 3 July 2014.

Silvia de la Calle Pérez. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of plant species richness on the resopnse of soil microbial communities to climate change. Defended on 15 July 2014.

Patricia Giner Pichel. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of clmate change on plant functional traits. Defended on 15 July 2014.

Laura García Huss. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of clmate change on the decomposition of biological soil crusts. Defended on 7 November 2014.

Olga Burgos Gallego . Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of plant species identity and climate change on soil microbial communities. Deffended on 27 March 2015

Carlos Fernández Alonso. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Efects of plant diversity on soil fungi and bacteria. Defended on 27 July 2015

Fabiola Santaolalla Caballero. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects os temperature and moisture on the decomposition of biological soil crusts. Defended on 27 July 2015

Sonia Ruiz Pérez. Bs.C. in Biology, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Influence of storage on the quantification of soil microbial communities using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Deffended on 30 October 2015.

Eduardo Pérez González. Bs.C. in E nvironmental Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University.

Undergraduate thesis: Effects of climate change on carbon cycle variables in ecosystems dominated by biological soil crusts. Deffended on 3 November 2015.

◾ Laboratory/field technicians

Miriam Navarro Ruiz. Field and laboratory technician (02/2016 – 02/2018).

Daniel Encinar Calvo. Field and laboratory technician (October 2013 – May 2016).

María Dolores Puche Herrero. Field and laboratory technician (April 2006 – January 2015).

Patricia Alonso Valiente. Laboratory technician (January 2009-October 2010). She works now at Rey Juan Carlos University.

Javier Gutiérrez Illán (May – July 2010)

Rebecca L. Mau. Laboratory and field technician (March 2009-April 2010). She works now at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff (Arizona, USA).

Alicia Puche Herrero (June – July 2010 and June – July 2011)

Visitors

Orsolya Valko. Associate Professor. University of Debrecen, Department of Ecology. Visitor since 2018.

Lucas Deschamps. Graduate student. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, Canada. Visitor between May and June 2017.

Selina Baldouf, Graduate student, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie, Visitor between March and April 2017.

Yanchuan Yao, Graduate student, Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Visitor since September 2016.

Yoann Le Bagouse-Pinguet, postdoctoral researcher, Department of Botany, University of South Bohemia, República Checa. Visitor between February and May 2014.

Claudia Baraza, Graduate student, Universidad de La Serena (Chile). Visitor between January and March 2008.

Dr. Lohengrin Alexis Cavieres, Professor, Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Chile, Visitor between June 2010 and June 2011.

David Eldridge, University of New South Wales (Australia). Visitor between August and September 2009.

Juan Gaitán, INTA Bariloche (Argentina). Visitor between March and May 2010.

Mónica Ladrón de Guevara, Graduate student, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, Almería, visitor between May and June 2010.

Juan Diego Mentruyt, undergraduate student from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). Visitor between September and December 2011.

Riin Tamme, Graduate student, University of Tartu (Estonia). Visitor between March and May 2012. Personal web page.

Jiansheng Ye. Assistant Profesor, Lanzhou University, China. Visitor in October 2012.

Caixia Zhang. Researcher, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Visitor in October 2012.

Duilio Torres, Professor at Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado (Venezuela). Visitor between June and August 2013.

Guadalupe Peter, Professor at Universidad de Río Negro (Argentina). Visitor for one month in January 2014.

James F. Reynolds, Professor at Duke University (USA). Visitor for two weeks in February 2014.

Jessica Sosa, Ms.C. at Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado (México). Visitor between March and June 2014.

Rosa Mary Hernández, Professor at Universidad Experimental Simón Rodríguez (Venezuela). Visitor between April and September 2014.

Weijun Shen. Researcher from the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Visitor between September and November 2014.