
Virginia Garófano GómezPolytechnic University of Valencia | UPV · Research Institute for Integrated Management of Coastal Areas (IGIC)
Virginia Garófano Gómez
PhD Environmental Sciences
About
80
Publications
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1,122
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Introduction
Environmental Scientist (Universidad de Granada, 2005) PhD in Ecology (Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, 2013). Post-doctoral Researcher (CNRS/Université Blaise Pascal, 2014-2016). My research is primarily focused on riparian plant ecology and biogeomorphology, with special emphasis on the interactions between riparian species and hydrogeomorphic processes.
Additional affiliations
May 2017 - present
October 2014 - September 2016
CNRS / Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand II
Position
- PhD Student
April 2014 - September 2014
Education
September 1999 - January 2005
Publications
Publications (80)
Riparian corridors in semi-arid Mediterranean environments are ecosystems of high biodiversity and complexity. However, they are threatened because of high levels of human intervention. River damming and related flow manipulation is considered as one of the most prominent human impacts on riparian corridors. This study combines historical time seri...
In the European context, several methodologies have been developed to assess the ecological status and, specifically, the hydromorphological status of running surface waters. Although these methodologies have been widely used, few studies have focused on hydrologically altered water bodies and the factors that may determine their status. In this st...
Many riparian ecosystems in European temperate regions have lost their inherent, highly dynamic character due to human-induced impacts such as river channelization and flow regulation. The lower course of the Allier River (France) is one of the last remaining free meandering river segments, and thus, constitutes an opportunity to investigate ripari...
River hydromorphology has long been subjected to huge anthropogenic pressures with severe negative impacts on related ecosystems’ functioning and water quality. Therefore, improving river hydromorphological conditions represents a priority task in sustainable river management and requires proper assessment tools. It is well known that riparian vege...
Capsule
An accumulated rainfall of around 100 mm favoured the productivity of the specialist Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon, but temperature had a negative effect. By contrast, temperature had a positive effect on the productivity of the generalist Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus, whereas rainfall had almost no effect, although pr...
Rivers have an intricate relationship with the vegetation that colonizes them. Riparian plants, capable of thriving within river corridors, both respond to and influence geomorphology. Yet interactions between river morphodynamics and vegetation tend to be context specific, making it challenging to generalize findings between locations. The current...
The current focus of river restoration on flow and sediment transfer without proper consideration of vegetation as a key structuring agent, beyond its stabilising effect, is too simplistic. We contend that vegetation has an essential role in shaping the physical fluvial environment and should be considered equally alongside hydrogeomorphic processe...
The current focus of river restoration on flow and sediment transfer without proper consideration of vegetation as a key structuring agent, beyond its stabilising effect, is too simplistic. We contend that vegetation has an essential role in shaping the physical fluvial environment and should be considered equally alongside hydrogeomorphic processe...
El abandono de tierras agrícolas es un problema creciente en muchas regiones europeas. La gestión adecuada de las áreas agrícolas tiene importantes implicaciones para el medio ambiente, la sociedad y la economía. La Comunitat Valenciana es la región con mayor producción de cítricos de Europa. Sin embargo, el sector citrícola valenciano está altamen...
Poplars establish on alluvial bars within sand and gravel-bed rivers. Alluvial bars also provide particularly suitable habitats for the proliferation of ants. We hypothesized that ants, by modifying substrate structure and resource availability in fluvial habitats, positively influence poplar growth during its establishment stage. We conducted a pr...
Riparian zones are the paragon of transitional ecosystems, providing critical habitat and ecosystem services that are especially threatened by global change. Following consultation with experts, 10 key challenges were identified to be addressed for riparian vegetation science and management improvement: (1) Create a distinct scientific community by...
1. Riparian zones are vital areas of interaction between land and rivers and are often degraded by several pressures such as urbanisation, intensive agriculture and river engineering works. 2. This policy brief provides five key policy messages and recommendations to be considered by policy-makers, scientists, managers, and stakeholders to enhance...
Riparian ecosystems are highly dependent on feedbacks between vegetation dynamics and hydrogeomorphic components. Physical constraints on vegetation support a mosaic of heterogeneous habitats that support high biological diversity and provide many ecosystem services. Most European rivers have undergone anthropogenic alterations such as channelizati...
The second half of the 20th century has been characterised by the rural abandonment in several regions of the Mediterranean basin. The general collapse of traditional agriculture and livestock activities brought about an intensive migration movement from inland to coastal areas, which produced a massive forest cover increase in abandoned rural area...
Los estudios que analizan los cambios en las comunidades de aves suelen estar enfocados en fenómenos de corta duración, como son las variaciones en ciclos anuales o cambios producidos a raíz de modificaciones del hábitat. Hay pocos trabajos que analicen la estructura de la comunidad a medio-largo plazo, siendo especialmente escasos los estudios sob...
La contaminación difusa del río Serpis es una de sus principales problemáticas ambientales y que determinan su mal estado ecológico. Esta contaminación es consecuencia del uso excesivo de los compuestos químicos agrícolas (plaguicidas y fertilizantes) que, a su vez, son fácilmente arrastrados hasta el agua como consecuencia de la proximidad existen...
El proyecto REDAPTA, “Espacios de Gobernanza para la Adaptación al Cambio Global en Ríos Mediterráneos”, desarrolló sus actividades de forma simultánea en las cuencas de los ríos Tordera (Cataluña) y Serpis (Comunidad Valenciana). El proyecto trabajó en colaboración con dos “espacios de gobernanza”: la “Taula del Delta i de la Baixa Tordera” y la “...
El canvi climàtic implica riscos significatius per als ecosistemes i per al benestar humà. A més de les conseqüències directes del canvi climàtic, hi ha moltes altres conseqüències combinades de diferents canvis ambientals derivats de les pressions humanes, per això parlem de canvi global. Reduir la vulnerabilitat d’un territori als impactes del ca...
Esta guía se ha desarrollado en el marco del proyecto REDAPTA “Espacios de Gobernanza para la Adaptación al Cambio Global en Ríos Mediterráneos” (septiembre 2019 - octubre 2020), concedido al CREAF, con la colaboración de la Universitat Politècnica de València, y que ha contado con el apoyo de la Fundación Biodiversidad, del Ministerio para la Tran...
El proyecto REDAPTA consiste en el desarrollo de procesos participativos de co-diseño de medidas de adaptación al cambio global a través de espacios de gobernanza compuestos por actores de diferentes sectores de interés. En concreto, centra sus actividades en las cuencas de los ríos Tordera (Cataluña) y Serpis (Comunidad Valenciana) y pretende prom...
The correct citation for the reference Martínez-Fernández et al.
(2017b) is:
Martínez-Fernández, V., González, E., López-Almansa, J.C.,
González, S.M., García de Jalón, D., 2017. Dismantling artificial levees
and channel revetments promotes channel widening and regeneration of
riparian vegetation over long river segments. Ecol. Eng. 108, 132–142.
T...
Given the vast amount of literature on the essential influence of riparian vegetation on observed river adjustments and trajectories, and the relative lack of consideration of riparian vegetation in the most frequently used hydromorphological protocols that consider riparian zones, we have two main objectives :
- to review the hydromorphological co...
Las peculiaridades hidrológicas del río Serpis, coincidentes con un carácter mediterráneo acentuado, unidas a la singularidad geomorfológica del territorio por el que discurre determinan la configuración potencial de su bosque de ribera. Sin embargo, las actividades humanas en las inmediaciones del espacio fluvial han dado lugar a un deterioro en s...
Plant communities and dynamics can be characterized according to species composition or plant traits. Here, we used species composition and plant traits to compare their effectiveness in discriminating the biogeomorphological (involving reciprocal feedbacks between physical and biological processes) and ecological (mainly biologically driven) phase...
Las actividades humanas en las llanuras de inundación interfieren negativamente en la regeneración de especies de la familia Salicaceae — álamos/chopos (Populus spp.) y sauces (Salix spp.), que desempeñan un papel clave en los ecosistemas riparios del hemisferio norte. La restauración ecológica inicialmente abordó este problema desde una perspectiv...
El río Serpis a su paso por la comarca de la Safor ha sido históricamente una fuente de recursos de diferente tipo para sus habitantes. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, la desvinculación de la población con el río, así como los cambios acaecidos en la actividad económica de la comarca, han dado lugar a un deterioro en su estado. El objetivo de este e...
European willows (Salicaceae) are pioneer species in temperate zone floodplains. The species are considered invasive and introduction can lead to substantial alteration of floodplain vegetation communities and ecosystem functioning. Invasive spread of different Salicaceae have been attributed to differences in flood tolerance, growth and dispersal...
El río Serpis a su paso por los municipios de la comarca de la Safor ha sido históricamente una fuente de recursos naturales, patrimoniales, económicos y de recreo para sus habitantes. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, la desvinculación de la población con el río, así como los cambios acaecidos en la actividad económica de la comarca, han dado lugar a...
El riu Serpis al seu pas pels municipis de la comarca de la Safor ha sigut històricament una font de recursos naturals, patrimonials, econòmics i d'oci per als seus habitants. No obstant això, en l'actualitat, la desvinculació de la població amb el riu, així com els canvis esdevinguts en l'activitat econòmica de la comarca, han donat lloc a un dete...
Human activities on floodplains have severely disrupted the regeneration of foundation riparian shrub
and tree species of the Salicaceae family (Populus and Salix spp.) throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Restoration ecologists initially tackled this problem from a terrestrial perspective that emphasized
planting. More recently, floodplain restorat...
Within riparian corridors, Salicaceae trees and shrubs affect hydrogeomorphic processes and lead to the formation of wooded fluvial landforms. These trees form dense stands and enhance plant anchorage, as grouped plants are less prone to be uprooted than free-standing individuals. This also enhances their role as ecosystem engineers through the tra...
La stabilisation de berge est un enjeu important pour la protection des infrastructures routières et urbaines. Les approches alternatives au génie civil comme le génie végétal suscitent un intérêt grandissant. Bien que la capacité de bouturage de plusieurs espèces d’arbustes typiques de milieux riverains soit bien connue et exploitée en génie végét...
Climate change and river regulation are negatively impacting riparian vegetation. To evaluate these impacts, process-based models are preferred over data-driven approaches. However, they require extensive knowledge about ecohydrological processes. To facilitate the implementation of such process-based models, the key drivers of riparian woodland su...
El punto de ruptura general de la sociedad rural y de las formas tradicionales de aprovechamiento del territorio ocurrido en la segunda mitad del siglo XX, en especial desde 1960, plantea un escenario nuevo ante el cual las coberturas forestales han experimentado un crecimiento sin precedentes, que hay que valorar con una adecuada escala espacial y...
Plant diversity resilience on stressful river gravel bars depends on the amount of deposited seeds by water flow, i.e. by hydrochory. Pioneer riparian trees that establish on exposed gravel bars enhance fine sediment retention during high flows within their stands and on their lee side, forming obstacle marks. Fine sediment retention can in return...
Populations of the riparian pioneer species Populus nigra L. which establish on alluvial bars within river channels modulate sediment dynamics and fluvial landforms. Dense cohorts of P. nigra have colonized gravel point bars along the channelized River Garonne, France, during the last 20 years and have enhanced the vertical, lateral and longitudina...
Pioneer riparian trees which establish in river active tracts on gravel bars enhance fine sediment retention during high flows within their stands and in their lee side, forming obstacle marks. Fine sediment retention can be accompanied by deposition of seeds transported by water dispersal, i.e. by hydrochory. We tested the hypothesis that pioneer...
Riparian ecosystems are highly dynamic and are subject to hydrogeomorphological processes. In Europe, the lower Allier River (France) is one of the last remaining meandering rivers with laterally dynamic sections. For this study, we developed an original method to analyse the vegetation assemblages and succession processes. The analysis includes bo...
Habitat suitability models (HSM) are concerned with the abundance or distribution of species as a consequence of interactions with the physical environment. Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) were used to model brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) density as a function of environmental variables at the scale of river reach and hydromorphological units (HM...
Riparian ecosystems are highly dynamic ecosystems subjected to hydrogeomorphological processes. Their geomorphological, sedimentological and hydrological heterogeneity makes them one of the richest ecosystems in terms of species diversity. In addition, riparian zones also provide numerous ecosystem functions and services to society. In the European...
Based on the hypothesis of an eco-evolutionary feedback between woody riparian species and fluvial geomorphology, a semi-controlled ex situ experiment has been planned to quantify key response functional traits (morphological and biomechanical) of Populus nigra L. cuttings to simulated hydrogeomorphological constraints, as well as to dissociate the...
Probabilistic Neural Networks (PNN) have been tested for the first time in microhabitat suitability modelling for adult brown trout (Salmo trutta L.). The impact of data prevalence on PNN was studied. The PNN were evaluated in an independent river and the applicability of PNN to assess the environmental flow was analysed. Prevalence did not affect...
Biotic and abiotic interactions between the riparian zone and the river determine relevant hydrological processes and exert control over riparian and bordering upland vegetation types. Vegetation growth and development are mainly controlled by water availability on semi-arid regions, where a moisture gradient determines the transition between the d...
Durante un período de 2 años (noviembre de 2011 - noviembre de 2013) se
realizó en el puerto de Gandia (Valencia) el seguimiento de gaviotas de Audouin
mediante la lectura de anillas a distancia, con el objetivo de determinar
la procedencia de las mismas y conocer sus patrones y picos de migración por
clases de edad a nivel local. Las observaciones...
Past flash-flood activity was assessed in a historically managed mountain forest catchment located in the Central part of Spain using growth disturbances in old Pinus sylvestris L. trees. The objective of the research is to present a case study on the role of dendrogeomorphology in reconstructing and understanding flash floods in this region that w...
For a period of two years (November 2011 - November 2013), a monitoring of the Audouin’s gull was performed at the Port of Gandia (Valencia), writing down all the plastic rings observed and aimed at determining the origin of the Audouin’s gulls and knowing more about their peaks and migration patterns by age classes at local level. The observations...
This report describes an international summer course, ‘‘Tree Rings, Climate, Natural Resources, and Human Interaction’’, held in Valsaín, Spain, in summer of 2012. The course, with 14 participants from three countries (Spain, Algeria, and Russia), included basic training in dendrochronology skills as well as applied projects in dendroclimatology, d...
Riparian ecosystems are required to be preserved to achieve a good ecological status. The Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) specifically supports the assessment of new management tools that allow the European Member States to achieve good ecological status of river-related ecosystems. Within several approaches, a dynamic riparian vegetation di...
This chapter examines causal interactions between physical habitat and floodplain vegetation. The complex network of hierarchical relationships illustrates the understanding of riparian ecosystem functioning. The relationships between riparian vegetation and fluvial hydraulic processes are considered and used to build a conceptual dynamic floodplai...
The riparian corridors in semi-arid Mediterranean environments are ecosystems of high biodiversity and
complexity. A variety of natural disturbances create a spatial and temporal environmental mosaic with few
parallels in other systems. However, they are threatened because of high levels of human intervention. River
damming (and related flow man...
This report describes an international summer course, ‘‘Tree Rings, Climate, Natural Resources, and Human Interaction’’, held in Valsaín, Spain, in summer of 2012. The course, with 14 participants from three countries (Spain, Algeria, and Russia), included basic training in dendrochronology skills as well as applied projects in dendroclimatology, d...
Habitat degradation has reduced the complexity of the Mediterranean streams in Spain and contributed to decreasing the historical range of the endangered Júcar nase, Parachondrostoma arrigonis. This species is endemic to the Júcar River Basin (Spain), and most of its populations live in the Cabriel River, which is divided into two segments by the l...
1 Introducción Es indiscutible la trascendencia que tienen los ecosistemas riparios por el valor natural y paisajístico que poseen además de por la función protectora de los cauces que desempeñan. En este sentido la vegetación de ribera juega un papel fundamental en la estructura del ecosistema, con funciones hidrológicas importantes relacionadas c...
The most widely used statistical methods to predict species richness and identify complex environmental relationships have been based on linear principles, due to its easy use and interpretation. However, these techniques are not efficient to link environmental variables because ecological interactions are generally nonlinear. Artificial neural net...
Flow regulation for different purposes (e.g. flood control, water supply for irrigation, hydropower generation, etc.) has affected the structure and functioning of riparian and aquatic ecosystems of many rivers over the last decades. Changes have been particularly noticeable in permanent and ephemeral rivers situated in Eastern Spain. These rivers...
The spatial distribution of the main riparian woody species in two natural sites was studied in two Mediterranean rivers (Cabriel and Mijares) of the Júcar River Basin District. Five hydrological variables were considered (inundation duration, inundation duration during the growth period, continuous inundation duration, inundation frequency and pla...
Initially riparian vegetation modeling was focused on the study of ecological patches without taking into account the interactive effects of structures and processes in between them (Tabacchi et al., 1998). One of the greatest challenges, when carrying out a riparian ecosystem restoration, is to understand the physical and ecological processes of a...
The spatial distribution patterns of the most representative riparian species in relation to elevation above the channel bed (thalweg) was analysed in 3 study sites in the Júcar River Basin. Two study sites were located in the Mijares River and another in the Serpis River. Sampling by transects allowed the comparison of 3 species present in the 2 r...
El conocimiento de las especies nativas de Chile se caracteriza por ser insuficiente, incompleto, fragmentado y poco actualizado, lo cual constituye una de las principales limitantes para desarrollar estrategias de conservación de especies o planes de conservación y recuperación de sistemas acuáticos. Lo anterior cobra mayor importancia dada la may...