Dr Lourdes Lopez-Merino

I am currently conducting my research at the Institute for the Environment in Brunel University (UK). My research focuses on the reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental changes and the impact of human activities on the landscape (agriculture, pastoral activities, mining activities) through pollen analysis from a combination of Holocene bog sequences and archaeological records.

At the moment I am focusing my investigation on:

1) mires and archaeological sites in the North of Iberia (Spanish research projects leaded by Prof. Antonio Martinez Cortizas (University of Santiago) and Prof. Jose S. Carrion (University of Murcia),
2) the laminated sediments of the Dead Sea (Israel, a Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership project leaded by Prof. Suzanne Leroy),
3) pollen analysis of wheat species using several microscopic techniques (a British Academy project leaded by Prof. Suzanne Leroy),
3) statistical analyses on Pliocene palynological data in the Caspian Sea (funded by British Petroleum).

Qualifications

2004: BSc Biology, Autonomous University of Madrid (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
2006: MSc Ecology and Environment, Autonomous University of Madrid (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
2009: PhD (Hons), Palynology and Palaeoenvironment, Spanish Research Council (Archaeobiology Group, CSIC), Autonomous University of Madrid (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Publications

Journal Papers

(2013) Martínez Cortizas, A., López-Merino, L., Bindler, R., Mighall, T. and Kylander, M., Atmospheric Pb pollution in N Iberia during the late Iron Age/Roman times reconstructed using the high-resolution record of La Molina mire (Asturias, Spain), Journal of Paleolimnology 1- 16

(2013) Kaal, J., Criado-Boado, F., Costa-Casais, M., López-Sáez, JA., López-Merino, L., Mighall, T., Carrión, Y., Silva Sánchez, N. and Martínez Cortizas, A., Prehistoric land use at an archaeological hot-spot (the rock art park of Campo Lameiro, NW Spain) inferred from charcoal, synanthropic pollen and non-pollen palynomorph proxies, Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (3) : 1518- 1527

(2012) López-Merino, L., Silva Sánchez, N., Kaal, J., López-Sáez, JA. and Martínez Cortizas, A., Post-disturbance vegetation dynamics during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene: An example from NW Iberia, Global and Planetary Change 92-93 58- 70

(2011) López-Merino, L., Cortizas, AM. and López-Sáez, JA., Human-induced changes on wetlands: A study case from NW Iberia, Quaternary Science Reviews 30 (19-20) : 2745- 2754

(2011) Moreno, A., Lopez-Merino, L., Leira, M., Marco-Barba, J., Gonzalez-Samperiz, P., Valero-Garces, BL., Lopez-Saez, JA., Santos, L., Mata, P. and Ito, E., Revealing the last 13,500 years of environmental history from the multiproxy record of a mountain lake (Lago Enol, northern Iberian Peninsula), Journal of Paleolimnology 46 (3) : 327- 349

(2011) López-Merino, L., Moreno, A., Leira, M., Sigró, J., González-Sampériz, P., Valero-Garcés, BL., López-Sáez, JA., Brunet, M. and Aguilar, E., Two hundred years of environmental change in Picos de Europa National Park inferred from sediments of Lago Enol, northern Iberia, Journal of Paleolimnology 46 (3) : 453- 467

(2010) Lopez-Merino, L., Peña-Chocarro, L., Ruiz-Alonso, M., Lopez-Saez, JA. and Sanchez-Palencia, FJ., Beyond nature: the management of a productive cultural landscape in Las Médulas (León, Spain), Plant Biosystems 144 (4) : 905- 919

(2010) Lopez-Dias, V., Borrego, AG., Blanco, CG., Arboleya, M., Lopez-Saez, JA. and Lopez-Merino, L., Biomarkers in a peat deposit in Northern Spain (Huelga de Bayas, Asturias) as proxy for climate variation, Journal of Chromatography A 1217 (21) : 3538- 3546

(2010) Lopez-Merino, L., Martinez Cortizas, A. and Lopez-Saez, JA., Early agriculture and palaeoenvironmental history in the North of the Iberian Peninsula: a multi-proxy analysis of the Monte Areo mire (Asturias, Spain), Journal of Archaeological Science 37 1978- 1988

(2010) Carrion, JS., Fernandez, S., Gonzalez-Samperiz, P., Gil-Romera, G., Badal, E., Carrion-Marco, Y., Lopez-Merino, L., Lopez-Saez, JA., Fierro, E. and Burjachs, F., Expected trends and surprises in the Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation history of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 162 458- 475

(2010) Carrion-Marco, Y., Kaal, J., Lopez-Saez, JA., Lopez-Merino, L. and Martinez Cortizas, A., Holocene vegetation change in NW Spain revealed by anthracological and palynological records from a colluvial soil, The Holocene: a major interdisciplinary journal focusing on recent environmental change 20 (1) : 53- 66

(2010) Gil-Romera, G., Lopez-Merino, L., Carrion, JS., Gonzalez-Samperiz, P., Martin-Puertas, C., Lopez-Saez, JA., Fernandez, S., Garcia Anton, M. and Stefanova, V., Interpreting resilience through long-term ecology: potential insights in western Mediterranean landscapes, The Open Ecology Journal 3 43- 53

(2010) Lopez-Saez, JA., Lopez-Merino, L., Alba-Sanchez, F., Perez-Diaz, S., Abel-Schaad, D. and Carrion, JS., Late Holocene ecological history of Pinus pinaster forests in the Sierra de Gredos of central Spain, Plant Ecology 206 195- 209

(2010) Lopez-Saez, JA., Alba-Sanchez, F., Lopez-Merino, L. and Perez-Diaz, S., Modern pollen analysis: a reliable tool for discriminating Quercus rotundifolia communities in Central Spain, Phytocoenologia: international journal of vegetation ecology 40 (1) : 57- 72

(2010) Alba-Sanchez, F., Lopez-Saez, JA., Benito de Pando, B., Linares, JC., Nieto-Lugilde, D. and Lopez-Merino, L., Past and present potential distribution of the Iberian Abies species: a phytogeographic approach using pollen data and species distribution models, Diversity and Distributions 16 214- 228

(2009) Lopez-Merino, L., Lopez-Saez, JA., Alba-Sanchez, F., Perez-Diaz, S. and Carrion, JS., 2,000 yr of pastoralism and fire shaping high-altitude vegetation of Sierra de Gredos in central Spain, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 158 (1-2) : 42- 51

(2009) Lopez-Saez, JA., Blanco-Gonzalez, A., Lopez-Merino, L., Ruiz Zapata, B., Dorado Valino, M., Perez-Diaz, S., Valdeolmillos, A. and Burjachs, F., Landscape and climatic changes during the end of the Late Prehistory in the Amblés Valley (Ávila, central Spain), from 1200 to 400 cal BC, Quaternary International 200 (1-2) : 90- 101

(2009) Lopez-Saez, JA., Lopez-Merino, L., Mateo, MA., Serrano, O., Perez-Diaz, S. and Serrano, L., Palaeoecological potential of the marine organic deposits of Posidonia oceanica: a case study in the NE Iberian Peninsula, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 271 (3-4) : 215- 224

(2008) Lopez-Merino, L., Lopez-Saez, JA., Ruiz Zapata, MB. and Gil Garcia, MJ., Reconstructing the history of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in the north-western Iberian Range (Spain): from Late-Glacial refugia to the Holocene anthropic-induced forests, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 152 (1-2) : 58- 65

(2006) Peco, B., Lopez-Merino, L. and Alvir, M., Survival and germination of Mediterranean grassland species after simulated sheep ingestion: ecological correlates with seed traits, Acta Oecologica 30 (2) : 269- 275