Research

Ecological dynamics
across scales

My work connects mechanistic theory and large-scale ecological data. The systems differ—communities, epidemics, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, drylands—but the recurring question is how structure and environmental forcing shape ecological response.

Stability & resilience

Structure shapes ecological responses to perturbations

How does ecological structure determine whether populations and communities absorb, amplify or reorganize after perturbation?

I study the links between demographic structure, interaction architecture and ecological resilience. Recent work ranges from structured community matrices and ecological networks to demographic responses under different perturbation regimes and the role of rare events.

Dynamical systemsNetwork theoryDemographyStochastic processes

Selected work

2026

Ecological networks balance connectivity with flexibility to perturbations

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Daniel Oro, Jordi Bascompte, Meritxell Genovart

bioRxiv · 2026.06.12.731932preprint

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2026

A demographic framework for assessing population vulnerability to contrasting perturbation regimes

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Daniel Oro, Daniel F. Doak, Maria Begoña García, Meritxell Genovart

bioRxivpreprint

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2025

Population Structure Plays a Key Role in Community Stability

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Christina Hernández, Meritxell Genovart, Roberto Salguero Gómez

Ecology Letters · 28 · e70272

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2026

Rare events and their role in ecological dynamics

Daniel Oro, Daniel F. Doak, Àlex Giménez-Romero, Meritxell Genovart

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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Climate & disease

From transmission mechanisms to climate-driven epidemic risk

How do climate, host biology and vector dynamics interact to determine when and where disease can emerge?

This research line connects mechanistic epidemiology with climate and geospatial data. I develop models across scales—from vector seasonality and within-host pathogen progression to global risk mapping—with a long-running focus on Xylella fastidiosa and Pierce’s disease.

Epidemiological modelsClimate dataSpatial riskMulti-scale modelling

Global maps of estimated Pierce's disease climatic risk

Selected work

2026

A mechanistic framework linking within-host pathogen progression to vector-mediated transmission under climate forcing

Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Cabanillas, Manuel A. Matías, Àlex Giménez-Romero

bioRxiv · 2026.07.01.735761preprint

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2025

High-resolution climate data reveals increased risk of Pierce's disease for grapevines worldwide

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Eduardo Moralejo, Manuel A. Matías

Scientific Reports · 15 · 31282

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2024

Global warming significantly increases the risk of Pierce's disease epidemics in European vineyards

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Maialen Iturbide, Eduardo Moralejo, José M. Gutiérrez, Manuel A. Matías

Scientific Reports · 14 · 9648

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2024

Linking intercontinental biogeographic events to decipher how European vineyards escaped Pierce’s disease

Eduardo Moralejo, Àlex Giménez-Romero, Manuel A. Matías

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · 291 · 20241130

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Spatial ecology

Reading ecological processes from patterns in space

What can ecosystem geometry, fragmentation and self-organized spatial patterns tell us about the processes that generate resilience?

I use spatially explicit models and large-scale spatial data to connect ecological pattern with process. Current systems include coral reefs, Posidonia oceanica meadows and dryland vegetation, with an emphasis on general spatial regularities and resilience indicators.

Spatial modelsPattern formationMacroecologyRemote sensing

Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow

Selected work

2026

Inferring seagrass meadow resilience from self-organized spatial patterns

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Elena del Campo, Manuel A. Matías

biorxivpreprint

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2026

Intermittent precipitation and spatial Allee effects drive irregular vegetation patterns in semiarid ecosystems

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Bernard A. Afful, Priscilla E. Greenwood, Manuel A. Matías, Luis F. Gordillo

biorxiv · 2026.02.05.703943preprint

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2026

Hydrodynamics shapes annularity in coral reefs via scale-free growth processes

Eva Llabrés, Àlex Giménez-Romero, Tomàs Sintes, Carlos M. Duarte

arxivpreprint

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2026

Thermal Stress Is Associated With Fragmentation of Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica Meadows

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Tomàs Sintes, Carlos M. Duarte, Manuel A. Matías

Global Change Biology Communications · 1 · e70031

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AI & remote sensing

Extending ecological observation across scales

How can machine learning and Earth-observation data turn sparse ecological observations into robust, transferable maps?

I combine satellite imagery, geospatial data and deep learning to map marine habitats and reconstruct ecological variables. The emphasis is on scalable ecological observation and robust transfer across locations and environmental conditions.

Deep learningSatellite imageryGeospatial analysisTransferability

World map used as a motif for large-scale ecological observation

satellite → representation → map

Selected work

2025

A generalizable deep learning framework for large-scale mapping of seagrass habitats

Àlex Giménez-Romero, Dhafer Ferchichi, Pablo Moreno-Spiegelberg, Tomàs Sintes, Manuel A. Matías

Ecological Indicators · 180 · 114349

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2022

pH trends and seasonal cycle in the coastal Balearic Sea reconstructed through machine learning

Susana Flecha, Àlex Giménez-Romero, Joaquín Tintoré, Fiz F. Pérez, Eva Alou-Font, Manuel A. Matías, Iris E. Hendriks

Scientific Reports · 12 · 12956

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Across themes

Methods are a bridge, not the destination.

Mechanistic modellingDynamical systems · epidemiology · population models

Stochastic & spatial ecologySpatial processes · individual-based models · pattern formation

Networks & complex systemsEcological networks · stability · perturbation analysis

Data-driven ecologyRemote sensing · deep learning · geospatial and climate data