BrainMap

Mr. Mihai Pușcaș

dr.

Professor - UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Researcher | Teaching staff | PhD supervisor

I am a Botanist and my research activity is carried out mainly in the field of biogeography and alpine ecology. Particularly, I’m interested in the structure, functioning, and dynamics of alpine herbaceous ecosystems. The main research topics include: (i) Phylogeography and taxonomy of alpine plants in Europe (with a focus on the Carpathians); (ii) Spatial and temporal distribution of high mountain species diversity in the European Alpine System; (iii) Long-term monitoring and the influence of climate change on the structure of alpine ecosystems.

Web of Science ResearcherID: not public

Expertise & keywords

Modeling past, current and future endemic plant species distribution in South-Eastern Carpathians for biogeographic analysis and conservation planning Call name: Postdoctoral Research Projects - PD-2012 call
PN-II-RU-PD-2012-3-0636 2013 - 2015

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: INSTITUTUL DE CERCETARI BIOLOGICE CLUJ FILIALA A INCDSB BUCURESTI

Project partners: INSTITUTUL DE CERCETARI BIOLOGICE CLUJ FILIALA A INCDSB BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: INSTITUTUL DE CERCETARI BIOLOGICE CLUJ FILIALA A INCDSB BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://www.carpathian-endemics.ro/

Abstract:

Historical and ecological factors influence the distribution of species across all environments. Last major events in Earth’s history, the Pleistocene glaciations, have shaped the current areal of species and determined evolutionary processes of speciation and extinction. The best imprint of these biogeographic and evolutionary phenomena resides in the current distribution of endemic species, biological entities characterized by a limited distribution to one or few geographic units. Analyzing their distribution through state of the art methodological and technical approaches can offer valuable information on these processes. Our proposed study aims at disentangling three main aspects of patterns of endemism in an important mountain range of the European Alpine System: the South-Eastern Carpathians. The first approach focuses on the Postglacial areal dynamics of endemic species by using an ensemble approach for species distribution modeling implemented in BIOMOD software and paleoclimatic data. The second approach aims at optimizing the spatial structure of protected areas network in the South-Eastern Carpathians through the use of actual and potential endemic species distribution. The main criteria for conservation prioritization will be protected areas connectivity and the influence of climate change on species distribution. Finally, we will investigate the biogeography of the South-Eastern Carpathians by means of quantitative biogeography.

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator
List of research grants as partner team leader
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects