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Francesco Martini

I am a post-doc working on the For-ES project to map and assess the condition of the ecosystem services provided by forests in Ireland. Ireland is the least forested country in Europe (11% forest cover) but set the goal of reaching 17% forest cover by 2030. This work will help decision makers to better manage existing forests and improve afforestation programs.

My background is in plant ecology, with experience in forest regeneration processes and in plant-insect interactions, especially herbivores. I have done field work and work with existing datasets from a broad range of forests, starting from my PhD project in the diverse subtropical forests of south China and following with data from Taiwan and later from temperate primary forests in Europe. I am also collaborating mostly as data analyst on other projects such as orchid seed germination and conservation, forest diversity in sacred-groves and protected areas in Bali, and exploring patterns of human threats within protected areas.

Selected publications:

- Martini F., Sun I-F., Chen Y-Y 2022. Effects of plant diversity and leaf traits on insect herbivory in plantation and natural forests. Forest Ecology and Management 509: 120085.
- Martini F., Chang-Yang C-H., Sun I-F. 2022. Variation in biotic interactions mediates the effects of masting and rainfall fluctuations on seedling demography in a subtropical rainforest. Journal of Ecology 110: 762-771.
- Martini F., Zou C., Song X., Goodale U.M. 2021. Abiotic drivers of seedling bank diversity in subtropical forests of southern China. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 784036.
- Martini F., Aluthwattha S.T., Mammides C., Armani M., Goodale U.M. 2021. Plant apparency drives leaf herbivory in seedling communities across four subtropical forests. Oecologia 195: 575-587.
- Martini F. and Goodale U.M. 2020. Leaf damage by herbivore feeding guilds along gradients of elevation and plant species richness. Biotropica 52: 1116-1121.
- Martini F., Xia S., Zou C., Goodale U.M. 2020. Seedling growth and survival responses to multiple soil properties in subtropical forests of south China. Forest Ecology and Management 474: 118382.