Laura Barbero Palacios

I am an ecologist specialized in wildlife management and conservation, and terrestrial ecosystem ecology. I am interested in understanding terrestrial herbivore-ecosystem interactions.

As ecosystem engineers, herbivores play a major role in ecosystem functioning. Herbivores link the energy flow from plants to predators, and affect ecosystem properties such as plant composition and productivity. Among all the effects herbivores have in the ecosystem, I am interested in how they interact with nutrient recycling. Herbivores can modify nutrient cycling through different pathways, directly or indirectly connected with their daily activities. However, the effect of herbivores on biogeochemical cycles depend on when and where this interactions is done, which makes very complex generalize their effects. Understanding how herbivores can modify nutrient cycling (especially carbon cycling) will be a key to reverse climate change. Moreover, it will be useful to halt soil poverty and desertification, and to improve our ecosystems through rewilding.

Through my career, I have assessed the effects of herbivores on ecosystems in many ways. I was part of the INCREMENTO project, in which we study the effects of deer reintroduction on Mediterranean ecosystem multifunctionality. Currently I am working in TUNDRAsalad project doing a systematic review on the effects of herbivore assemblages in tundra ecosystem.