Research Interests My current research interests are the impact of land-cover and land-use changes on the ecosystem functioning and the hydroclimate of the La Plata Basin in South America, the development of monitoring systems based on time series analysis of ecosystem functioning to assess the effects of global change on protected areas, and the identification of geographical priorities in conservation biology by coupling classical species diversity indices with spatial patterns and temporal trends of ecosystem functining. My research is greately based on remote sensing techniques, time series analysis, and Geographycal Information Systems. In South America, I am collaborating with Dr. José Paruelo (University of Buenos Aires), Dr. Esteban Jobbàgy (Universidad de San Luis), Dr. Howard Epstein (University of Virginia), and Dr. Hugo Berbery (University of Maryland) in the characterization of the seasonal dynamics and interannual trends of ecosystem functioning, and in the identification of ecosystem functional types in La Plata basin for their use in cimate and biogeochemical modeling. In the nothern high latitudes, I am evaluating the effects of global environmental changes on vegetation greenness in the Canadian Boreal forest in collaboration with Dr. Emilio Chuvieco (University of Alcalá), and in the Russian Yamal Peninsula with Dr. Epstein and Msc. Qin Yu. In protected areas of Spain, Argentina, and Uruguay I am collaborating with Dr. Javier Cabello and Dr. Cecilio Oyonarte (University of Almería), Dr. Miguel Delibes and Dr. Néstor Fernández (Doñana Biological Station -CSIC-) and Dr. Alice Altesor (University of the Republic of Uruguay) to develop monitoring and warning systems based on time series analysis of satellite data. In southeastern region of the Iberian Peninsula I am working with Msc. Elisa Liras (Universidad de Almería) to gain better knowledge of the biotic and abiotic controls of the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of ecosystem functioning and the effects of land-use change on them. I am also working with Dr. Antonio Castro (Universidad de Almería) to analyse the global patterns of the light use efficiency of vegetation in the conversion of photosynthetically active radiation into organic carbon compounds and its effect on primary production models based on remotely-sensed estimators of fPAR.