Prof Maria-Teresa Sebastià Álvarez

Head of the Laboratory

M.-Teresa Sebastià is Professor of Botany at the School of Agrifood and Forestry Science and Technology (ETSEA) of the University of Lleida (UdL) since 1998, where she coordinates the research group GAMES on Multiscale Management and Analysis of Biodiversity and Environmental Services in Forest and Agrarian Systems under Global Change. She is researcher at the Forest Sciences and Technology Centre of Catalonia, where she leads the laboratory ECOFUN on Functional Ecology and Global Change. She completed her PhD thesis at the University of Barcelona with Prof. Vigo and a postdoc at Harvard University with Prof. Bazzaz. Her main interests include the analysis of biodiversity distribution, mainly plants and soil microorganisms, in relation to environmental factors, including climate and management changes; and how biodiversity contributes to the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services, particularly biogeochemical services. She has developed research in grasslands, forests and croplands, including sown grasslands, in three continents. She coordinates a network of infrastructures of eddy covariance flux towers in grasslands across climatic gradients in the Pyrenees. Furthermore, she has coordinated several national and EU research projects on the effects of climate, land use and management changes on carbon dynamics and biodiversity in grassland ecosystems. In addition, she was chair of WG2 of EU COST Action 852: Quality Legume-Based Forage Systems for Contrasting Environments; and coordinator of WP6 of the ClimAfrica project: Improving our understanding of climate trends and impacts in Africa. The most recent project she coordinates is the PRIMA project SUSFORAGE: Sown forage mixtures for sustainable agroecosystems in the Mediterranean area (2021-2024), including research groups from six countries. She has served as chair and co-chair in numerous national and international Committees, and as a reviewer of articles and of projects for the EU and National Science Foundation of several countries. She participated as an expert in the EU EIP-AGRI Focus Group Grazing for Carbon. She also sits in the following Committees: Group of Experts on Climate Change of Catalonia; Group of Experts on Climate Change of the municipality of Barcelona. She has numerous scientific publications, including books, book chapters and articles.

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.