Research Group

Carlos LadoPrincipal Investigator

is a Research Scientist with the Scientific Research Council of Spain (CSIC), and member of the Department of Mycology at the Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid. His research interests over the last 20 years have been centred on the biosystematics of Myxomycetes, with a particular interest in the taxonomy, distribution and ecology of these organisms in Neotropical regions. He has carried out field research in Europe, Tropical Africa and especially the Neotropics. He maintains the first global database on the nomenclature of Myxomycetes. He was co-principal investigator of the PBI project “Global Biodiversity of Eumycetozoans” funded by the NSF (USA)

Enrique Lara PandiCo-Principal Investigator

is a researcher at the Spanish Research Council, and works at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. His main group of interest is Arcellinida, a clade of free-living amoebae characterized by a shell (also called test). These organisms are notoriously sensitive to changes in the environment, which turns them into an excellent bioindicator group for pollution and the effects of climate change. His research focuses on molecular systematics of Arcellinida, and worked extensively on community ecology and biogeography of these organisms.

Diana Wrigley de BasantaResearch scientist

is the former Science Department Chair of the American School of Madrid, Spain. Her research of over 25 years centres on the biology and ecology of the corticolous myxomycetes, with an emphasis on their response to the physical parameters of pH and the availability of water. Much of her work has been on the culture of Myxomycetes, in moist chambers of substrate material and spore-to-spore culture on defined media. She has carried out field research in various parts of Europe, Madagascar, Mexico, Cuba, Chile and Argentina. She is currently participating in projects on the Neotropics, and collaborated in the Planetary Biodiversity Inventories of the National Science Foundation (USA).

Arturo Estrada-TorresResearch scientist

founded the Laboratory of Mycological Research at the University of Tlaxcala in Central Mexico where he is a Professor. His research interests centre on the taxonomy and ecology of fungi and myxomycetes. His studies of myxomycetes have included fieldwork in many states of Mexico, much of Central America and his recent emphasis has been on the tropical and arid regions of South America. He has collaborated with the University of Arkansas (USA) on making an inventory of global biodiversity of Myxomycetes.

Anna RonikierResearch scientist

is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Botany (Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland). Her research has been on the taxonomy and ecology of fungi, with a special interest in the species of arctic and alpine ecosystems. Lately she has dedicated part of her investigation to the study of nivicolous Myxomycetes, which develop in mountain habitats near the melting snow.

Leonardo D. FernándezResearch scientist

Associate Professor at the Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins and researcher at the Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad (CIRENYS), Chile. His research focuses on investigating the patterns and processes underlying microbial diversity patterns at different spatial scales. He often brings together approaches from systematics, ecology, biogeography and macroecology to address this task. He has also been involved in projects committed to investigating the identity and magnitude of microbial diversity at national and international scales. Currently, he is leading a FONDECYT-ANID project (N° 11170927) focused on investigating protist and bacterial biogeography and macroecology in Chile.

Belén EstébanezResearch scientist

Professor at the Universidad Autónoma, Madrid (Spain). She has been working at Hiroshima University (Japan) and at the Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid. Her research focuses on the study of the biodiversity and functional morphology of bryophytes. She also works with Iberoamerican researchers on the identification of neotropical bryophytes.

Carlos RojasResearch scientist

Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and Researcher at the Forest Resources Unit of the University of Costa Rica. His work on Myxomycetes has been carried out mainly in the Neotropical region where he has worked in the high elevations of Central and South America. His research focuses on the study of Myxomycetes, as model organisms, for the development of ecological applications related to forest resources management. Currently, he also works on documenting the presence of Myxomycetes in poorly studied regions of Central America.

Italo TreviñoPostdoctoral Fellowship

is a researcher at the Michael Owen Dillon Scientific Institute (IMOD) in Peru. He carried out his doctoral thesis at the Royal Botanical Garden, CSIC (Spain), on the Myxomycetes of Peruvian Andes. His research interests centre on the taxonomy, ecology of myxomycetes with special attention to the tropical Andes.

Joaquina María GarcíaPostdoctoral Fellowship

PhD in Biology from the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP). She carried out her doctoral thesis at the Royal Botanical Garden, CSIC (Spain) focused on the biosystematic study of the order Physarales. She has specialized in molecular studies and in the analysis of phylogenetic relationships among the genera and species of this group of Myxomycetes. Based on the results of her thesis she has proposed a new and more natural, systematic of the order Physarales.

Iván GarcíaPostdoctoral Fellowship

PhD in Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain), he completed his doctoral thesis in the Royal Botanic Garden, CSIC (Spain) concerning the biosystematic study of the order Trichiales. His research focuses on the analyses of the phylogenetic relationships within the order Trichiales and the evolutionary patterns of the morphological features of the fruiting bodies, including ultrastructural approaches.

Paulina JanikPhD student

is a PhD student of Doctoral Studies in Natural Sciences at the Institute of Botany (Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland) under the supervision of Anna Ronikier and the collaboration of Carlos Lado. The primary objective of the thesis is to study intraspecific diversity of the complex Didymium nivicola, concerning comprehensive morphological and molecular analyses.

Fernando UserosPhD student

has a Master´s degree in Biodiversity in Tropical Areas and Conservation (CSIC-UIMP, Spain). He has a training contract to complete a PhD thesis at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid (Spain), under the direction of Enrique Lara. The objective of the thesis is the study of Arcellinida and Myxomycetes in athalassohaline environments, particularly the Andean salt flats. This includes their diversity, evolutionary relations, ecology and molecular adaptations.

Other members of the research group

Steven L. Stephenson, Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Arkansas in the United States, E-mail: slsteph@uark.edu. Asunción Alipio Cano, Senior Professor of Biological Sciences at San Marcos University in Lima (Peru), E-mail: acanoe@unmsm.edu.pe. Blanca León, Honorary Professor of San Marcos University in Lima (Peru), E-mail: leon@austin.utexas.edu. Adam Rollins, Assistant Professor of Biology at Lincoln Memorial University (Tennessee, USA), E-mail: adam.rollins@Imunet.edu. María Aguilar, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta (Canada), E-mail: aguilarg@ualberta.ca. Georde Ndiritu, Research of the National Museums of Kenia, E-mail: gatereg@yahoo.com. Laura Lorenzo, Professor of the Botanical Department at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue (Río Negro, Argentina), E-mail: laurador@gmail.com. Esperanza Beltrán-Tejera, Professor of Botany at the Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canaris (España), E-mail: ebeltran@ull.edu.es. María Romeralo, has worked as Research assistant at the Department of Systematic Botany, Uppsala University (Sweden), E-mail: maria.romeralo@gmail.com. Juan Mosquera, has worked as Research assistant at the University of Manchester (UK), E-mail: alt8t@yahoo.com. Eva García-Carvajal, scholar FPI at the Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC (Madrid, España), E-mail: fiteuma@hotmail.com. Juan Carlos Hernández, Laboratory assistant, Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC (Madrid, España), E-mail: hernandez@rjb.csic.es. Carlos de Mier, Image technician, Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC (Madrid, España), E-mail: cmier@rjb.csic.es