PhD student (UB)
Laura Figuerola-Ferrando is a PhD. student at the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, of the University of Barcelona. Her PhD. supervisors are Dra. Cristina Linares and Dr. Joaquim Garrabou, and is being developed under the National Project “Assessing the effectiveness of nature-based solutions for maintaining the integrity and functioning of high-diverse Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages in a climate changed world (CORFUN)”. The thesis project aims to enhance our understanding of coralligenous habitats in the Mediterranean Sea under the effects of global warming by expanding the spatial scales typically employed. In particular, it will apply innovative tools to incorporate citizen science and promote a large-scale assessment of the conservation status of coralligenous habitat-forming species. Moreover, it will assess the current and future potential distribution of main dominant coralligenous species and their environmental drivers among different spatial scales. The final aim of this PhD is to provide useful guidelines for the conservation and management of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages.
She worked in a database of the distribution and demographic data of habitat-forming marine invertebrate species from Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages called CorMedNet, under the project “European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNet)”, which was presented in the EMODNet Open Conference 2021 as a poster. Furthermore, she was working in a metanalysis of the global genetic patterns of habitat-forming marine species.
Previously, Laura collaborated with Dr. Ignasi Montero, conducting experiments with Corallium rubrum and Paramuricea clavata at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM – CSIC). The work involved aquarium experiments, analysing photographs, and calculating the height of C. rubrum.
Selected articles:
- Figuerola-Ferrando L, Barreiro A, Montero-Serra I, Pagès-Escolà M, Garrabou J, Linares C, Ledoux JB (2023) Global patterns and drivers of genetic diversity among marine habitat-forming species. Global Ecology and Biogeography. DOI: 10.1111/geb.13685.
- Linares C, Figuerola L, Gómez-Gras D, Pagès-Escolà M; Olvera A, Aubach A, Amate R, Figuerola B, Kersting D, LedouxJB,; López-Sanz A; López-Sendino P, Medrano A, Garrabou J (2020). CorMedNet - Distribution and demographic data of habitat-forming invertebrate species from Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages between 1882 and 2019. DOI: 10.14284/467
- Montero-Serra I, Garrabou J, Doak D. F, Figuerola L, Hereu B, Ledoux J. B, Linares C (2018) Accounting for life-history strategies and timescales in marine restoration. Conservation Letters, 11(1), e12341.
Contact: lfiguerola@ub.edu