The tropical forests of the Andes-Amazon region are among the most important ecosystems on Earth. Not only are these forests an epicenter for global biodiversity, they also regulate global biogeochemical cycles (e.g. carbon and hydrological cycles) and provide a range of ecosystem services for billions of people (water provision, erosion prevention).
I am interested in Andean forest dynamics and diversity and, in particular, how undergoing global change is promoting altitudinal species migrations in the Andes.
Along with a team of international collaborators, I used forest plot inventories from the subtropical and tropical Andes Mountains to test whether Andean tree communities are changing in composition due to upward plant species migrations.