Andrea Loayza

I am a plant ecologist. My research is focused on the functioning, conservation and maintenance of biodiversity in arid ecosystems. I am primarily interested in understanding how plant-animal interactions change as a function of the context, in examining how anthropogenic land use changes alter patterns of biodiversity, and in understanding the role of aridity in shaping plant communities. Research projects of my current and very talented graduate students include changes in plant-frugivore networks along disturbance gradients in semi-arid ecosystems, functioning and potential reservoirs of biodiversity of agroecological systems along an aridity gradient, changes in composition and diversity of bird communities across Mediterranean landscape mosaics, reproductive strategies of ferns in arid and semi-arid environments, and effects of nut extraction for the regeneration of the Chilean Palm in Mediterranean forests.