I am an ecologist specialized in wildlife management and conservation, and terrestrial ecosystem ecology. I have finished my studies in Spain, and currently I am working as a research assistant in the Agricultural University of Iceland (Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands).

I am interested in understanding the interactions between herbivores and tundra ecosystems since these habitats are rapidly changing due climate change. As ecosystem engineers, herbivores play a major role in ecosystem functioning. Herbivores link the energy flow from plants to predators, and affect ecosystem properties such as plant composition and productivity. Among all the effects herbivores have in the ecosystem, I am interested in how they interact with nutrient recycling. Understanding how herbivores can modify nutrient cycling (especially carbon cycling) will be a key to reverse climate change.

Through my career, I have assessed the effects of herbivores on ecosystems in many ways. Currently I am leading a group of 30 plus international scientists with the aim to perform a systematic review about the effects of herbivore assemblages in tundra ecosystem multi-functionality. This is framed in the TUNDRAsalad project. Furthermore, I am a member of the Herbivory Network, a collaborative network where plant-animal interactions are investigated in tundra ecosystems, and with the goal to design standardized protocols for measuring herbivory across Arctic ecosystems and I have collaborated in the Nutrient Network (NutNet) and the Bug-Network doing fieldwork in several places in Iceland.

If you would like to contact me or learn more about my work visit:

Twitter: @laurabarberop

Email: laura@lbhi.is

Website – Research (1): https://tundraecology.hi.is/laura-barbero-palacios/  

Website – Projects (2): https://zoogeochemistry.wixsite.com/laurabarberopalacios  

Select publications:

Barrio, I.C., Laura Barbero-Palacios, E. Kaarlejärvi, J.D.M. Speed, S. Heiðmarsson, D.S. Hik, and E.M. Soininen. (In press). “What are the effects of herbivore diversity on tundra ecosystems? A systematic review protocol.” Environmental Evidence (Accepted 12-01-2022)

Barbero-Palacios, Laura., J. Carreira, E. Baraza, J. Adams Krumins, M. Brolly, N. Burnside, J.  Bartolomé, S. Lavín, J. Calleja, J. Carvalho, R. Tinoco Torres, I. Barrio, R. Perea and E. Serrano. (2020). “The role of wild ungulates in nutrient cycling in Mediterranean ecosystems: a pending issue” / “El papel de los ungulados en el ciclo de nutrientes en ecosistemas mediterráneos: una asignatura pendiente.” Galemys 32. https://doi.org/10.7325/Galemys.2020.F1

Published by Women in the Arctic and Antarctic