Curriculum
Dr. Patricio García-Fayos is a Scientific Researcher of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) in the Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificacion from 1989.
He got his degree in Biological Sciences by the University of Valencia in 1979, and got his Ph. Dr. at the same university in 1987. He has published more than 40 scientific papers on plant ecology and soil erosion and usually acts as a referee of 14 scientific journals. He is member of the British Ecological Society (BES) and the Spanish Association for Terrestrial Ecology (AEET). He have collaborated with researchers of several universities like UNAM (Mexico DF, Mexico), Universidad de Chile (Santiago, Chili), Universitat Estudi General (Valencia, Spain), Universidad Complutense (Madrid, Spain), University of Chester (UK), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Holland), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Faculty of Science (Leuven, Belgium) and scientific institutes like INRA (Orleans, France), CSIC (IPE, CCMA, IMEDEA, EEZA in Spain) and technological institutes like Centre d'Investigacions i Experiencies Forestals (GVA, Valencia, Spain) Centro de Mejora Forestal de El Serranillo (DGCONA, Guadalajara, Spain).
His research main lines are about the ecology of plant colonization (reproduction, seed dispersal, soil seed bank, seed predation, seed germination and seedling dynamics) and the plant-plant interactions of perennial species. Likewise, he is also interested in studying the evolutionary relationships among Mediterranean floras across the World. Several of the species he focused his studies play a great role in the soil erosion control, like Pistacia lentiscus, Stipa tenacissima, Juniperus sabina, Rosmarinus officinalis and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi.
The erosion-vegetation relationships in semiarid and degraded ecosystems are another point of interest. His research on this subject focuses in the mechanisms explaining the very low plant colonization rates in those areas and the join effects of climate and erosion on plant species richness and soil properties. He and his collaborators developed methodologies to measure seed removal by water erosion in hillslopes. From this collaborative work have emerged predictive models on the influence of seed coat properties in the ability of seeds to resist soil water erosion. These and other results from the collaboration of private companies, like Estudios y Paisajes, Ferrovial and ACS, and the public administration, like Banc de Llavors Forestals de la Generalitat Valenciana, have been used to improve vegetation restoration plans for roads and railway infrastructures.
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