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I am ecologist working in the interface between fire ecology,  nature conservation and environmental management. My research is devoted to address the on-going environmental challenges that global change poses to our society and our planet. I am particularly interested in the interactions between disturbance regimes, land-use change and climate warming. The relationships among these driving forces are complex and need to be tackled with an holistic, proactive and adaptive management to identify Nature-based solutions (NbS) and ensure successful policy implementation. It also requires a cross-scale perspective that allows us to act locally through tailored-made management actions (e.g., fire management) embedded in global initiatives (such as the New Green Deal). 

I am currently working as post-doctoral researcher at Forest Science Centre of Catalonia funded by a ‘Juan de la Cierva – incorporation’ Fellowship. I am also teaching at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), being PI of the FirESmart project at BIOPOLIS/CIBIO (Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources), in Portugal. My pre- and post-doctoral stages at the UNIL (Switzerland), UQAM/CEF (Canada) and FCUP/CIBIO (Portugal), for a total of 44 months, allowed me to create a solid scientific network (more than 120 co-authors from 10 different countries) that fostered outstanding publications and the impact of our research (see complete CV, and social media & academic profiles). I have just received the I3 Certificate of Scientific Excellence from the Ministry of Science and Innovation. 

Over the last 7 years, I have secured more 210,000€ through the application of highly competitive post-doc grants (the Xunta de Galician post-doc grant, a.k.a. I2C program, and the Spanish program ‘Juan de la Cierva – incorporation’). I have also got funding for value of more 240,000€ through different grants and projects of regional and national Research and Innovation programs. Along my career, I have participated in 11 competitive national and international projects (funded by EU programs such as the FP7, ‘Marie-Curie’ and Horizon 2020). 

My research contributed to the development and consolidation of a new strategic research line around fire management in the host groups (at CIBIO and USC). I have supervised 2 early-career post-doctoral researchers and 5 technician (CIBIO and USC), and more than 10 master and 7 bachelor students —half of which have published their works in SCI journals. I am currently supervising 4 PhD thesis since 2021. In 2020, I was granted as ‘Profesor Contratado doctor’ by the ANECA. I have mostly taught in the degree of Biology, and master programs at the USC and FCUP/CIBIO. My profile facilitated the incorporation of advanced remote sensing and biodiversity modelling techniques, and conservation planning tools into the teaching guide of both master programs.

I also further my research objectives through the role of Guess Editor in Special Issues (see e.g ‘Nature based Solutions to Wildfires’ and ‘Remote Sensing for Biodiversity Monitoring’). I have worked as external reviewer for more than 20 scientific journals. 

Keywords: Landscape ecology, Predictive ecology, Fire ecology, Environmental management, Fire-smart management, Nature-based Solutions, Conservation Biogeography, Ecosystem Services Trade-offs, Spatial Conservation Prioritisation, Conservation Biology, Bird conservation, Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Science.

Cartografía de áreas queimadas en Galicia no século XXI: presentación do produto e aplicación web mapping

Galicia, a pesares de representar só o 6% do territorio do estado español, veuse afectada por máis do 40% dos incendios forestais ocorridos en España durante o período 2001-2010. Un 99% destes incendios son atribuídos directamente a accións antrópicas, sendo maioritariamente deliberados (75%). De acordo coas estatísticas históricas de incendios forestais do ministerio, entre 1968 e…

by Adrian Regos

Wildfire–vegetation dynamics affect predictions of climate change impact on bird communities

Fire–vegetation dynamics (and not only climate) drive the variability of climate change indicators. Wildfire management and land use policies have the potential to offset or exacerbate the effects of climate change on biological communities, offering an excellent opportunity to address global change proactively. Our recent study, recently published in Ecography, suggests that climate change indicators…

by Adrian Regos
RGB composite from Landsat satellite images of the Lagoon Antela.