About
55
Publications
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Introduction
Research on species habitat selection and distribution models applied to forest management, ecosystem monitoring and restoration
Additional affiliations
June 2020 - present
Position
- Professor (Assistant)
Description
- I’m assistant professor at the School of Forest Engineering and Natural Resources of the Technical University of Madrid (Department of Natural Systems and Resources). My current research is mainly focused on modelling plant and animal species distributions and habitat use to improve landscape connectivity through habitat conservation and restoration. I have also worked on botany, forest biodiversity monitoring, and vegetation mapping. Check my publications in Orcid, Publons or Google Scholar.
June 2016 - May 2020
October 2008 - September 2010
Education
October 2006 - November 2011
October 1999 - June 2001
October 1993 - May 1998
Publications
Publications (55)
Conservation biology faces the challenge of ensuring species persistence in increasingly modified landscapes. Agriculture covers a large proportion of the Earth's surface, but the degree to which crop production is compatible with species use of the landscape is still uncertain, particularly for woodland carnivores with large territories. Here, we...
An important aspect of species distribution modelling is the choice of the modelling method because a suboptimal method may have poor predictive performance. Previous comparisons have found that novel methods, such as Maxent models, outperform well-established modelling methods, such as the standard logistic regression. These comparisons used train...
An expert on local flora usually is the best option for plant species selection in most ecological restoration projects; although species selection often needs to be dealt with swiftly as well as on a limited budget, and obtaining the opinion of a local expert may not always be an economically viable alternative. In such cases, species distribution...
Abstract We propose an evaluation approach to validate stacked species distribution models applied to plant species selection in ecological restoration. The evaluation method does not assess the accuracy of individual species models, but focuses on the ability of the stacked models to discriminate between present and absent species in a vegetation...
Large, fine-grained samples are ideal for predictive species distribution models used for management purposes, but such datasets are not available for most species and conducting such surveys is costly. We attempted to overcome this obstacle by updating previously available coarse-grained logistic regression models with small fine-grained samples u...
Accurate quantification and mapping of forest productivity are critical to understanding and managing forest ecosystems. Local LiDAR or photogrammetric surveys have been used to obtain reliable estimates of canopy heights, yet these acquisitions can entail substantial expenses. Therefore, we developed models using freely available US Geological sur...
An ambitious conservation programme to save the Iberian lynx from extinction conducted several reintro-ductions aiming to restore its historical range. The urgency due to the delicate conservation status prompted translocating captive-born and wild individuals, while preventing an early assessment of how both groups combined their space-use and dif...
Spatial truncation in species distribution models (SDMs) might cause niche truncation and model transferability issues, particularly when extrapolating models to non‐analog environmental conditions. While broad calibration extents reduce truncation issues, they usually overlook local ecological factors driving species distributions at finer resolut...
Background and aims
Decline in tree species is a complex phenomenon involving multiple factors, among edaphic conditions are assumed to play an important role as factor of predisposition of forests to this process. In this regard, scarce information exists on the effects of the internal variability of the soil with depth on the predisposition to de...
• Background and Aims. Vegetative decline in individuals of plant populations is a phenomenon that involves multiple factors, both biotic and abiotic, that lead to highly irregular and complex spatial patterns of mortality at stand or forest scale. Although it might be assumed that site soil conditions are a predisposing factor to this phenomenon,...
La oferta de datos espaciales es cada vez más diversa y variada sobre todo en cuanto a coste, disponibilidad geográfica y resolución (espacial y temporal) se refiere. Es importante considerar estas características en la selección de las variables medioambientales predictoras de los modelos de selección de hábitat, ya que determinan la calidad de la...
La preparación del suelo mediante terrazas subsoladas ha sido un método muy empleado en repoblación por la mejora que produce en las condiciones hidrológicas de la estación, por su bajo coste y por requerir maquinaria y aperos ampliamente disponibles. Sin embargo, la fuerte reducción de la escorrentía que genera en ladera puede llegar a convertirse...
Landscape connectivity has traditionally been studied for animal species rather than for plants, especially under a multispecies approach. However, connectivity can be equally critical for both fauna and flora and, thus, an essential point in the selection of key management areas and measures. This paper explores a spatially explicit framework to a...
Decision-support tools for the selection of species for restoration are much less developed for herbaceous species than for woody species. Further progress is still needed in order to provide objective methods that allow us to expand the list of herbaceous species commonly considered in restoration as well as to refine the selection of taxa compati...
Background
When assessing connectivity, it is crucial to rely on accurate modeling frameworks that consider species movement preferences and patterns. One important aspect is the level of randomness or unpredictability in the route selection. In this respect, traditional approaches (based on least-cost path or circuit theory) consider species movem...
Connectivity assessments and corridor delineation are key contributions to landscape management and biodiversity conservation. We examined the influence of three potentially crucial factors on the results of connectivity analyses, using the two subpopulations of the endangered brown bear in the Cantabrian Range (NW Spain) as a case study. First, we...
Ecological modeling requires sufficient spatial resolution and a careful selection of environmental variables to achieve good predictive performance. Although national and international administrations offer fine-scale environmental data, they usually have limited spatial coverage (country or continent). Alternatively, optical and radar satellite i...
Ecological niche models are powerful tools in ecology. Factors operating at different spatial scales are known to jointly influence species distributions, but their integration in meaningful and reliable niche models is still methodologically complex and requires further research and validation. Here, we compare six different hierarchical niche mod...
Los estudios de selección de recursos aportan gran cantidad de información sobre el comportamiento de los animales y su relación con el territorio. Son capaces de identificar cómo influyen diferentes factores ecológicos (como las cubiertas y usos del suelo) sobre los animales; es decir, permiten inferir qué prefieren o qué los beneficia en mayor me...
Habitat selection models for woodland species usually consider forest attributes derived from land cover maps, such as an area covered by forests or distance to forest edge, but canopy cover is less frequently used as a predictor. We evaluated the effect of including forest canopy cover data in habitat selection models for woodland species using th...
Aim
Species distribution models (SDMs) based on habitat suitability and niche quantification are powerful tools in vegetation science. Recent findings suggest that they could be applied at the landscape scale as vegetation conservation tools, but that some environmental dimensions (e.g. climate) need to be considered at larger scales. Here, we high...
The conservation or creation of ecological corridors is a key to support species persistence in fragmented landscapes. However, little guidance exists on where to concentrate the restoration measures to improve corridor quality and functionality. Focusing on the emblematic Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus as the target species, and using a resistance sur...
The study described in this article published in Land Use Policy (De la Fuente et al., 2018; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.002) is the basis of, and has been developed for, the WWF proposal on strategic ecological corridors and critical areas for connectivity in Spain. _________________________________________________________________...
The connectivity of protected areas, such as the Natura 2000 network, is crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems and for the delivery of ecosystem services into the wider landscapes in which they are embedded.
We here present a novel combination of methods for connectivity analysis across heterogeneous landscapes, integrating graph-based analys...
Un territorio donde los espacios de valor natural estén conectados y se permita el movimiento de fauna y flora, el intercambio de genes y, en un sentido más amplio, el funcionamiento de procesos ecológicos, es clave para conservar la biodiversidad y los recursos naturales y para afrontar con mayores garantías los efectos indeseables del cambio clim...
Forest management increasingly needs the support of species distribution models (SDMs). However, different challenges remain to be addressed before the practical use and generalization of these models in the design of management measures in forest ecosystems. Due to the limited resources that are typically available for forest management, including...
Los esfuerzos de conservación sobre las poblaciones del amenazado lince ibérico (Lynx pardinus) y la reintroducción de ejemplares para expandir las poblaciones hacia sus áreas de distribución histórica hacen necesario evaluar la potencialidad del territorio para albergar poblaciones estables y para facilitar el movimiento de individuos
entre ellas....
El diagnóstico del estado de las especies protegidas requiere de la disposición de un conjunto de datos poblacionales adaptados según la abundancia y la forma de vida de la planta. En la Comunidad de Madrid Narcissus pseudonarcissus subsp. portensis (Pugsley) A. Fern. está declarado En Peligro de Extinción desde 1992 (con el nombre de Narcissus pse...
Spatial resolution of environmental data may influence the results of habitat selection models. As high-resolution data are usually expensive, an assessment of their contribution to the reliability of habitat models is of interest for both researchers and managers. We evaluated how vegetation cover datasets of different spatial resolutions influenc...
Context
Corridors are usually delineated as areas of minimum cumulative resistance to movement through a resistance surface and characterized by their effective distance (accumulated resistance along the least-cost path). The results of these assessments depend on resistance values, which are typically derived from the inverse of habitat suitabilit...
The Pampa grassland of Argentina is one of the most highly threatened biomes in the world. A high proportion of the original grassland cover has been transformed into land for agriculture or degraded. In the southern part of the region, fragmented semi-natural grasslands over exposed rock still persist and connectivity between them is assumed to be...
Context
Multi-scale approaches to habitat modeling have been shown to provide more accurate understanding and predictions of species-habitat associations. It remains however unexplored how spatial and temporal variations in habitat use may affect multi-scale habitat modeling.
Objectives
We aimed at assessing how seasonal and temporal differences in...
Tras décadas de intenso declive, buena parte de los grandes carnívoros de Europa se encuentran en proceso de recuperación. En la Península Ibérica, el oso pardo y el lince ibérico han estado al borde de la extinción, debido principalmente a la persecución humana y a la pérdida y fragmentación de su hábitat. En los últimos años, las acciones de cons...
Developing plant identification skills is an important part of the curriculum of any botany course in higher education. Frequent practice with dried and fresh plants is necessary to recognize the diversity of forms, states, and details that a species can present. We have developed a web-based assessment system for mobile devices that is able to pos...
The Spanish juniper (Juniperus thurifera L.) is a small coniferous evergreen tree that forms open woodlands on poor soils with Mediterranean continental climate. Its natural range is the western part of the Mediterranean basin, mainly Spain, where is currently colonising new areas due to abandonment of arable lands. The Spanish juniper woodlands ar...
que llegan hasta los 8 m, aunque habitualmente no supera los 3 m. Ambas son perennifolias, inermes y presentan hojas simples, coriáceas, sentadas o con un corto pecíolo, que se insertan de manera opuesta en el tallo. Phillyrea angustifolia suele presentar un porte más o menos globoso, con predominio de ramas erguidas. En ella son de destacar, como...
During the last 40 years, decision support tools for plant species selection in
ecological restoration in Spain have been based on species distribution models (also
called ecological niche models), that estimate the probability of occurrence of the
species as a function of environmental predictors (e.g., climate, soil). In this Thesis
some methodol...
The aim of this study was to assess the improvement of plant species distribution models based on coarse-grained occurrence data when adding lithologic data to climatic models. The distributions of 40 woody plant species from continental Spain were modelled. A logistic regression model with climatic predictors was fitted for each species and compar...
Los estudios florísticos no suelen recopilar exhaustivamente las localidades de las especies más comunes y en general se centran en el estudio detallado de la corología de especies raras. El Mapa Forestal de España de Ruiz de la Torre contiene inventarios de plantas leñosas para todo el territorio nacional. Se han comparado mapas corológicos de cin...
As a result of a prelimirary aproach to the Orchidaceae flora from the Zamora province (NW of Spain), 27 species (included in 13 genus) have been compiled in a preliminary checklist. New records are provided for 22 species, 7 new species have been added to the checklist of the province, 1 species has been excluded and the presence of another one ha...
Additions to the vascular plant checklist of Burgos province (Spain).Palabras clave. Novedades, catálogo de la flora vascular, Burgos, España.Key Words. New records, Vascular plant checklist, Burgos, Spain.