Prof Maria-Teresa Sebastià Álvarez

Head of the Laboratory

M.-Teresa Sebastià is Professor of Botany of the University of Lleida (UdL) since 1998. She has been a researcher at the Forest Sciences and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC) since 1997, where she currently leads the group ECOFUN on Biodiversity, Functional Ecology and Global Change. She completed her PhD thesis at the University of Barcelona and a postdoc at Harvard University. She has developed research in grasslands, forests and croplands in three continents. Her research has shown (i) the importance of topographical factors in combination with soils for plant community distribution, highly relevant among others for remote sensing; (ii) the interactive effects of climate and management change variables on plant diversity and plant functional traits, showing divergent trait behavior according to stressors’ combinations; (iii) the importance of sown diversity on the delivery of ecosystem goods and services in recently assembled plant communities, suggesting rapid ecosystem organization; (iv) the role of climate, management and biodiversity on soil organic carbon storage, including the shifting role of legumes, and the capacity of sown diversity and management for agroecosystem mitigation and adaptation to climate change; (v) the role of biological interactions on ecosystem functioning in grasslands, including plant-soil biodiversity and the dynamics of fairy rings. She has also developed the TSIS climatic index, where TSIS = MST – MAT. She coordinates a network of infrastructures of eddy covariance flux towers in grasslands across climatic gradients in the Pyrenees. Furthermore, she has coordinated national and EU research projects and sited in several scientific Committees. Finally, she has developed an important mentoring and formation activity, both as a university professor, and as a mentor of young researchers at Master, PhD, and postdoc level. Throughout her career, Prof. Sebastià has been able to attract much funding, both from the private and public sectors, including open competitive calls as well as specific research and professional contracts.

Scopus Author ID: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6603950534

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9017-3575

Publons: https://publons.com/researcher/2671581/m-teresa-sebastia/

WoS Researcher ID: B-5479-2013

Selected publications

• Rodriguez A., Ibáñez M., Chocarro, C. Sebastià M.T. (2023). Livestock species rather than grazing intensity shape plant guild proportions in interaction with multiple environmental drivers in grassland from the Pyrenees. Applied Vegetation Science, in press.
• Peguero, G., Burkart, A., Íñiguez, E., Rodríguez, A., Llurba, R., Sebastia, M.T. (2023) Remote sensing of legacy effects of biodiversity on crop performance. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.108322
• Ibañez, M., Sebastià, M.T.(2022) Net Ecosystem CO₂ Exchange in Mountain Grasslands Is Seriously Endangered by the Temperature Increase in the Eastern Pyrenees. Atmosphere. DOI: 10.3390/atmos13121980
• Rodriguez, A., Ibanez, M., Bol, R., Brueggemann, N., Lobo, A., Jiménez, J.J., Ruess, L., Sebastia, M. T. (2022) Fairy ring-induced soil potassium depletion gradients reshape microbial community composition in a montane grassland. European Journal of Soil Science, 73(3): art. num. 13239. DOI: 10.1111/ejss.13239
• Rodríguez A, Canals RM, Sebastià M-T (2021) Positive effects of legumes on soil organic carbon storage disappear at high legume proportion across a wide range of environmental conditions in grasslands in the Pyrenees. Ecosystems. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-021-00695-9
• Marí, T., Castaño, C., Rodríguez, A., Ibañez, M., Lobo, A., Sebastià, M.T. (2020) Fairy rings harbor distinct soil fungal communities and high fungal diversity in a montane grassland. Fungal Ecology 47(3):100962. DOI: 10.1016/j.funeco.2020.100962
• Debouk, H., Emeterio, L.S., Marí, T., Canals, R.M., Sebastià, M.T. (2020) Plant functional diversity, climate and grazer type regulate soil activity in natural grasslands. Agronomy 10, 1291, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10091291
• Rodríguez, A., Canals, R.M., Plaixats, J., Albanell, E., Debouk, H., Garcia-Pausas, J., San Emeterio, L., Jimenez, J.J., Sebastià M.-T. (2020) Interactions between biogeochemical and management factors explain soil organic carbon in Pyrenean grasslands. Biogeosciences 17, 6033–6050
• Debouk, H., Altimir, N., Sebastià, M.T. (2018) Maximizing the information obtained from chamber-based greenhouse gas exchange measurements in remote areas. MethodsX 5, 973–983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2018.07.021
• Ribas, A., Lluba, R., Gouriveu, F., Altimir, N., Connolly, J., Sebastià, M.T. (2015) Plant identity and evenness affect yield and trace gas exchanges in forage mixture. Plant Soil, 387: 1-16. DOI: 10.1007/s11104-015-2407-7.
• Karhu K., Auffret M., Dungait J.A.J., Hopkins D.W., Prosser J.I., Singh B.K., Subke J.-A., Wookey P.A., Agren G.I., Sebastia M.-T., Gouriveau F., Bergkvist G., Meir P., Nottingham A.T., Salinas N. & Hartley I.P. (2014) Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration rates enhanced by microbial community response. Nature, 513: 81-84. DOI: 110.1038/nature13604.
• Paillet, Y.; Bergés, L.; Hjältén, J.; Ódor, P.; Avon, C.; Bernhardt-Römermann, M.; Bijlsma, R.-J.; De Bruyn, L.; Fuhr, M.; Grandin, U.; Kanka, R.; Lundin, L.; Luque, S.; Magura, T.; Matesanz, S.; Mészáros, I.; Sebastià, M.-T.; Schmidt, W.; Standovár, T.; Tóthmérész, B.; Uotila, A.; Valladares, F.; Vellak, K. & Virtanen R. (2010) Biodiversity Differences between Managed and Unmanaged Forests: Meta-Analysis of Species Richness in Europe. Conservation Biology, 24(1): 101–112.
• Kirwan, L.; Connolly, J.; Finn, J. A.; Brophy, C.; Lüscher, A.; Nyfeler, D. & Sebastià, M.-T. (2009) Diversity-interaction modeling: estimating contributions of species identities and interactions to ecosystem function. Ecology, 90(8): 2032-2038. DOI: 10.1890/08-1684.1.
• Sebastià, M.-T.; de Bello, F.; Puig, L. & Taull, M. (2008) Grazing as a factor structuring grasslands in the Pyrenees. Applied Vegetation Science, 11(2): 215-222.
• Sebastià, M.-T. (2007) Plant guilds drive biomass responses to warming and  water availability in subalpine grassland in the Pyrenees. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44(1): 158-167.
• de Bello, F.; Lepš, J. & Sebastià, M.-T. (2006) Variations in species and functional plant diversity along climatic and grazing gradients. Ecography. 29(6): 801-810.
• Sebastià, M.-T.; Casals, P.; Vojnikovic, S.; Bogunic, F. & Beus, V. (2005) Plant diversity and soil properties in pristine and managed stands from Bosnian mixed forests. Forestry, 78(3): 297-303.
• Sebastià, M.-T. (2004) Role of topography and soils in grassland structuring at the landscape and community scales. Basic and Applied Ecology, 5(4): 331-346.