Laura Ortiz Díaz

PhD student
My PhD explores functional and phylogenetical community patterns to explain assembly mechanisms within the context of the niche and neutral theories. To do so, my research is focused on species-rich and dynamic annual plant communities of semiarid gypsum Iberian systems, which can be experimentally manipulated due to the small size of plants and the synchronised and short life cycles of participant species. By means of this experimental approach, we are manipulating both the functional and phylogenetical diversity of communities in common garden experiments, as well as environmental filters in the field.