Raul García Valdés

I am a professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos https://biodiversos.org/raul-gvaldes and a researcher at the Research Institute in Global Change.

My research focus on forest ecology, biogeography, and global change. I investigate the impact of climate change on forests by studying the relationship between climate and tree composition in species and functional traits, and the dynamics and functioning of these ecosystems. I utilize large databases (e.g., nation-wide forest inventories, functional traits datasets and satellite data) to analyse key relationships (climate-distribution, diversity-functioning, etc.) and key processes (dispersion, recruitment, growth, and mortality). I also use complex models, such as patch (metapopulation), Species Distribution (niche), and Forest Succession (GAP) models, to simulate these relationships and processes and understand how forests will change in the future.