Miguel Porto

My research focuses on understanding the drivers of the joint distribution patterns of plant species and plant communities, and I am especially concerned with using that knowledge for the conservation of rare and little known plant species. I combine the use of large occurrence datasets with state of the art methods for modelling communities, while integrating the networks of biotic interactions between species to improve the prediction of biodiversity. I am also interested in devising workflows to translate this knowledge into practical solutions for the conservation of biodiversity and approaches to best transfer knowledge to society, so that it becomes useful to all kinds of users and stakeholders with different needs.

In parallel with the research, I am interested in the practical in situ conservation of rare plant communities and species associated with the increasingly scarce remnants of natural or semi-natural vegetation. I am also involved in the development of biodiversity databases and web-based solutions to analyse, explore, present and share biodiversity data, maximizing its potential.