Postdoc researcher

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ORCID: 0000-0003-3422-0047

Twitter: @AliciaGoFer

RESEARCH PROFILE

I am an ecologist interested in the diversity of adaptive strategies in plants. My work focuses on understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that lead to phenotypic diversity at intra- and interspecific levels. 

I am also interested in how plant phenotypic traits scale up to the community and ecosystem level. In recent years, I have mainly worked with crops and their wild progenitors, with the aim of improving agricultural sustainability and adaptation to global change.

Keywords: Ecological strategies, Crop evolution, Functional traits, Phylogenetics, Plant domestication, Molecular biology

PUBLICATIONS

Westgeest A. J., Vasseur F., Enquist B. J., Milla R., Gómez‐Fernández A., Pot D., Vile D. & Violle C. 2024. An allometry perspective on crops. New Phytologist. DOI: 10.1111/nph.20129

Milla R., Westgeest A. J., Maestre‐Villanueva J., Núñez‐Castillo S., Gómez‐Fernández A., Vasseur F., Violle C., Balarynová J. & Smykal P. 2024. Evolutionary pathways to lower biomass allocation to the seed coat in crops: insights from allometric scaling. New Phytologist, 243: 466–476. DOI: 10.1111/nph.19821

Gómez-Fernández A., Aranda I. & Milla R. 2023. Early human selection of crops' wild progenitors explains the acquisitive physiology of modern cultivars. Nature Plants, 10: 25–36. DOI: 10.1038/s41477-023-01588-6

Gómez-Fernández A. & Milla R. 2022. How seeds and growth dynamics influence plant size and yield: Integrating trait relationships into ontogeny. Journal of Ecology, 110: 2684–2700. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13979

Gómez-Fernández A., Osborne C. P., Rees M., Palomino J., Ingala C., Gómez G. & Milla R. 2022. Disparities among crop species in the evolution of growth rates: the role of distinct origins and domestication histories. New Phytologist, 233: 995–1010. DOI: 10.1111/nph.17840

Goberna M., Montesinos-Navarro A., Valiente-Banuet A., Colin Y., Gómez-Fernández A., Donat S., Navarro-Cano J. & Verdú M. 2019. Incorporating phylogenetic metrics to microbial co-occurrence networks based on amplicon sequences to discern community assembly processes. Molecular Ecology Resources, 19: 1552–1564. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13079

Matesanz S., García-Fernández A., Limón-Yelmo A., Gómez-Fernández A. & Escudero A. 2018. Comparative landscape genetics of gypsum soil specialists with natural island-like distributions reveal their resilience to anthropogenic fragmentation. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 34: 1–9. DOI: 10.1016/j.ppees.2018.07.001

Gómez-Fernández A., Alcocer I. & Matesanz S. 2016. Does higher connectivity lead to higher genetic diversity? Effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic variation and population structure in a gypsophile. Conservation Genetics, 17: 631–641. DOI: 10.1007/s10592-016-0811-z

Matesanz S., Gómez-Fernández A., Alcocer I. & Escudero A. 2015. Fragment size does not matter when you are well connected: effects of fragmentation on fitness of coexisting gypsophiles. Plant Biology, 17: 1047–1056. DOI: 10.1111/nph.19821

Post-doctorate researcher in Ecology and Agriculture

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Research questions

How do different facets of biodiversity affect the functioning and stability of (agro)ecosystems?

What are the roles of plant-plant interactions and functional traits in determining (agro)ecosystem functioning?

What are the drivers of the global distribution of crop species diversity ?

Can plant functional traits predict the multifunctionality of (agro)ecosystems ?

To address these questions, I assemble concepts, theories and tools from functional ecology, biogeography, agronomy and quantitative ecology. I mainly focus on cultivated ecosystems and their associated plant communities, including crop and weed species. My researches cover a range of spatio-temporal scales, from very local (e.g. plant-plant interactions) to global (e.g. global distribution of crop) and pluriannual (e.g. long-term ecosystem stability) scales.

Publications

Mahaut, L., Violle, C., Shihan, A., Pélissier, R., Morel, J.-B., de Tombeur, F., Rahajaharilaza, K., Fabre, D., Luquet, D., Hartley, S., Thorne, S. J., Ballini, E., & Fort, F. (2023). Beyond trait distances: Functional distinctiveness captures the outcome of plant competition. Functional Ecology, 37(9), 2399–2412. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14397

Munoz, F., Klausmeier, C. A., Gaüzère, P., Kandlikar, G., Litchman, E., Mouquet, N., Ostling, A., Thuiller, W., Algar, A. C., Auber, A., Cadotte, M. W., Delalandre, L., Denelle, P., Enquist, B. J., Fortunel, C., Grenié, M., Loiseau, N., Mahaut, L., Maire, A., Mouillot, D., Violle, C. & Kraft, N. J. B. (2023). The ecological causes of functional distinctiveness in communities. Ecology Letters, 26(8), 1452–1465. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14265

Renard, D., Mahaut, L., & Noack, F. (2023). Crop diversity buffers the impact of droughts and high temperatures on food production. Environmental Research Letters, 18(4), 045002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acc2d6

Mahaut, L., Choler, P., Denelle, P., Garnier, E., Thuiller, W., Kattge, J., Lemauviel-Lavenant, S., Lavorel, S., Munoz, F., Renard, D., Serra-Diaz, J. M., Viovy, N., & Violle, C. (2023). Trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem productivity and stability in temperate grasslands. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32(4), 561–572. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13645

de Tombeur, F., Pélissier, R., Shihan, A., Rahajaharilaza, K., Fort, F., Mahaut, L., Lemoine, T., Thorne, S. J., Hartley, S. E., Luquet, D., Fabre, D., Lambers, H., Morel, J.-B., Ballini, E., & Violle, C. (2023). Growth-defence trade-off in rice: Fast-growing and acquisitive genotypes have lower expression of genes involved in immunity. Journal of Experimental Botany, 74(10), 3094–3103. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad071

Mahaut L., Pironon S., Barnagaud J.Y., Bretagnolle F., Khoury C.K., Mehrabi Z., Milla R., Phillips C., Rieseberg L.H., Violle C., Renard D. (2022). Matches and mismatches between the global distribution of major food crops and climate suitability. Proceedings of the Royal Soeciety-B., 289 (1983) https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1542

Mahaut, L., Violle, C., & Renard, D. (2021). Complementary mechanisms stabilize national food production. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 4922. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84272-z

Mahaut, L., Cheptou, P.-O., Fried, G., Munoz, F., Storkey, J., Vasseur, F., Violle, C., & Bretagnolle, F. (2020). Weeds: Against the Rules? Trends in Plant Science, 25(11), 1107–1116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2020.05.013

Mahaut, L., Fort, F., Violle, C., & Freschet, G. T. (2020). Multiple facets of diversity effects on plant productivity: Species richness, functional diversity, species identity and intraspecific competition. Functional Ecology, 34(1), 287–298. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13473

Munoz, F., Fried, G., Armengot, L., Bourgeois, B., Bretagnolle, V., Chadoeuf, J., Mahaut, L., Plumejeaud, C., Storkey, J., Violle, C., & Gaba, S. (2020). Ecological Specialization and Rarity of Arable Weeds: Insights from a Comprehensive Survey in France. Plants-Basel, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9070824

Delphine Renard & Lucie Mahaut (2019). De nouveaux éléments en faveur de la diversification (New evidence in favor of crop diversification). Perspectives Agricoles

Mahaut L., Gaba S., Fried G., 2019. A functional diversity approach of crop sequences reveals that weed diversity and abundance show different responses to environmental variability. Journal of Applied Ecology. 56 (6): 1400-1409. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.13389

Bourgeois B., Munoz, F., Fried, G., Mahaut, L., Armengot, L., Denelle, P., Storkey, J., Gaba, S., Violle, C., 2019. What makes a weed a weed? A large-scale evaluation of arable weeds through a functional lens. American Journal of Botany.106 (1): 90-100. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.1213

Fried G., Carboni M., Mahaut L., Violle C., 2019. Functional traits modulate plant community responses to alien plant invasion. Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics. 37: 53-63. doi: 10.1016/j.ppees.2019.02.003

Mahaut L., Fried G., Gaba S. 2018. Patch dynamics and temporal dispersal partly shape annual plant communities in ephemeral habitat patches. Oikos. 127: 147-159. doi: 10.1111/oik.04415

Fried G., Mahaut L., Pinston A., Carboni M., 2018. Abiotic constraints and biotic resistance control the establishment success and abundance of invasive Humulus japonicus in riparian habitats. Biological Invasions. 20 (2): 315-331. doi: 10.1007/s10530-017-1533-y