Maria Leunda

Maria Leunda

Post-doctoral fellow

University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

I am interested in long-term vegetation dynamics of mountain ecosystems. My research is focused on analyzing environmental proxies (e.g. pollen, plant macrofossils or microscopic charcoal particles) deposited in lake sediments or ice archives to address the effects of past climate changes and human impact on mountain vegetation. In the last years, I have started to analyze the ancient DNA (aDNA) preserved in subfossil plant remains to study the millennial-scale genetic diversity changes of different plant species. Understanding the long-term vegetation dynamics is important to better predict the impact that the current Global Change will have on the ecosystems.

Interests

  • Global Change
  • Mountain ecosystems
  • Ancient DNA
  • Pollen
  • Plant macrofossils
  • Ice caves
  • Lake sediments