Javier Galán Díaz

• PhD in Plant Ecology
• PostDoc Position at Complutense University of Madrid

This article presents an introduction to the flora of Valdebezana forests. The checklist includes 327 species and 741 citations, which corresponds to 218 genera and 73 families. 299 citations were retrieved from previous references, and 442 are newly described. The fieldwork was performed during March, April and May of 2014 and consisted of differe...

Functional segregation among species in a community depends on their mean trait values (i.e. functional distinctiveness), and the range of trait attributes exhibited by each species (i.e. functional diversity). Previous evidence suggests that invasive plants tend to display traits related to a more acquisitive resource-use strategy than natives. Ho...

Aim Colonization of new areas may entail shifts in diversification rates linked to biogeographical movement (dispersification), which may involve niche evolution if species were not exapted to new environments. Scleria (Cyperaceae) includes c. 250 species and has a pantropical distribution suggesting an extraordinary capacity for long‐distance dis...

The introduction of exotic species to new regions offers opportunities to test fundamental questions in ecology, such as the context-dependency of community structure and assembly. Annual grasslands provide a model system of a major unidirectional introduction of plant species from Europe to North America. We compared the community structure of gra...

A taxonomic revision of the genus Scleria (Cyperoideae, Cyperaceae) in Madagascar is presented. Herbarium specimens have been examined and 422 identified to species level. Our results recognise 25 species of Scleria from Madagascar, plus an additional heterotypic variety. Eight species are endemic to Madagascar, two are near endemic, eight taxa are...

Urban configuration and food availability influence birds’ foraging behaviour and constitute key factors for understanding how they exploit cities. Here, we conducted a field survey in the city of Madrid (Spain) from winter 2021 to autumn 2022 to understand how the common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) exploits the food resources provided by urban...

This resource available in Zenodo includes several datasets: (1) Taxonomy (261 species): Updated taxonomy of the genus Scleria at the species level based on Bauters et al. 2016 and 2019. (2) Occurrences (latitude/longitude): data was compiled using observations from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Red List, research grade identifica...

New species to science are still being discovered and described, often from remote habitats. Madagascar is well known for its high species richness and exceptional levels of endemism across taxonomic groups. With an estimated 2,000 plant species still to be described from Madagascar, efforts are underway to gain better understanding of the Cyperace...

Scleria is a pantropical genus of annual and perennial herbs and the sixth largest genus in the Cyperaceae family with around 261 species. In this study, we produced preliminary extinction risk assessments for the ~30% of Scleria species that do not yet have a global Red List assessment and followed the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endanger...

Exotic allergenic species constitute an important element of global change and are an emergent health issue in Europe due to their potential allergenicity. The grass pollen season is of great importance from the allergic point of view because it includes pollen from ubiquitous species which are responsible for high sensitization rates. In this stud...

Rhinoconjunctivitis and allergic asthma are among the most frequent diseases in the world, and pollen is their main cause. The incidence of respiratory allergic diseases is expected to grow in the coming years as a consequence of ambient pollution, changes in land use and land cover in cities, and climate change. In this context of global change, t...

Introduction Functional trait-based approaches are extensively applied to the study of mechanisms governing community assembly along environmental gradients. These approaches have been classically based on studying differences in mean values among species, but there is increasing recognition that alternative metrics of trait distributions should be...

Background and aims Submediterranean areas are rich ecotones, where slight modifications in environmental conditions can lead to substantial changes in the composition of plant communities. They thus offer an ideal scenario to examine plant community assembly. In this study, we followed a trait-based approach including intraspecific variability to...

Plant phenology is a crucial component of ecosystem functioning and is affected by multiple elements of global change; we therefore need to quantify the current phenological changes associated to human activities and understand their impacts on ecosystems. Urbanisation and the intensification of anthropogenic activities alter meteorological conditi...

Plant phenology is a crucial component of ecosystem functioning and is affected by multiple elements of global change; we therefore need to quantify the current phenological changes associated to human activities and understand their impacts on ecosystems. Urbanisation and the intensification of anthropogenic activities alter meteorological conditi...

Determining the factors that pre-adapt plant species to successfully establish and spread outside of their native ranges constitutes a powerful approach with great potential for management. While this source-area approach accounts for the bias associated with species' regions of origin, it has been only implemented in pools of species known to be e...

Plant phenology plays a crucial role in terrestrial ecosystems and is a key indicator of ecological changes. It is influenced by alterations in meteorological conditions at micro-and mesoscale in cities as a result of urbanisation and the intensification of anthropogenic activities. One example is the urban heat island (UHI), i.e. the increase in t...

A major aim in invasion ecology is to understand the role of exotic species in plant communities. Whereas most studies have explored the traits of exotic species in the context of the introduced community, functional comparisons of entire assemblages of species in their native and introduced communities have rarely been analysed. Taking advantage o...

Vegetation surveys of plant communities in the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian ecotone.

Extensive research efforts are devoted to understand fine root trait variation and to confirm the existence of a belowground root economics spectrum (RES) from acquisitive to conservative root strategies that is analogous to the leaf economics spectrum (LES). The economics spectrum implies a trade-off between maximizing resource acquisition and pro...

Invasions by plant species are an increasing threat which is reducing species diversity across regions, changing community composition and altering ecosystems functioning. While most investigations on impacts of exotic plants are conducted in their areas of introduction, the study of the assembly of exotic species in their native areas is emerging...