MURESAN ALEXANDRA NICOLETA

PhD in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology (Curriculum Ecology) with a thesis entitled ‘Urban Green and Ecosystem Services: not just a tree’, on the Ecosystem Services provided by urban green infrastructure, analysing the role of the morpho-functional characteristics of tree species, in particular foliage and leaves.

My research interests, after an initial period aimed at studying the functionality of fresh and transitional aquatic ecosystems in the absence and presence of anthropogenic pressures, concern the theme of Ecosystem Services and the connection between these and changes in land use. In particular, my research has focused strongly on the study of the plant component as an ecosystem service provider in climate change mitigation in urban and suburban ecosystems. In particular, I have studied the importance of leaf characteristics and tree community diversity in the type and extent of ecosystem services offered for the improvement of environmental quality by integrating experimental data and modelling (iTree Eco and Remote sensing) and statistical analyses to quantify the contribution to air quality purification due to the presence of vegetation in urban ecosystems.

In addition to these research domains, there is a growing interest in eScience, with a particular emphasis on data harmonisation, the utilisation of semantic artefacts, and the implementation of FAIR principles to enhance information interoperability.