Professor at the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, Michoacán, México. Bachelor degree in  Biology (Universidad Metropolitana – Xochimilco, Mexico city), Master in Forestry Sciences (Universidad Autónoma  Chapingo, Estado de México) and Ph.D. in Forestry  (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA).  Sabbatical years at : Centre de foresterie des Laurentides, Quebec city, Canada; UMR Biodiversité Gènes & Communautés, INRA, Cestas, France; UMR BioForA, INRAE, Orleans, France. Research interest is about the management of forest genetic resources considering climatic change: estimation of genetic differentiation (for quantitative/adaptive traits) among conifer populations (along altitudinal gradients), to decide seed and seedling movements for reforestation programs.

Forest declination due to climatic change.  The need of assisted migration and a new silviculture

The 2023-2024 El Niño induced an acceleration of global warming that far exceeded 1.5 °C, bringing several forests close to critical tipping point. The Boreal summer of 2023 witnessed numerous catastrophic forest fires (e.g. over 18 million hectares of forest burned in Canada), as well as many similar catastrophic forest fires in South America in 2024.  The widely accepted goal of sustainable silvicultural practice, which aims to maintain forests in a state resembling natural forest ecosystem, is increasingly becoming an idealistic dream rather than an attainable goal. The time has come to address painful forest management decisions, such as anticipated thinning to reduce water competition and the gradual replacement of native forest populations with more drought-resistant provenances and species through assisted migration. Examples of ongoing research to guide such management decisions are: (a) Species range expansion of Abies religiosa beyond its upper altitudinal limit of 3500 m a.s.l, by assisted migration and using shrubs as nurse plants, to establish stands to eventually provide overwintering sites for migratory Monarch butterfly populations under future climates in central Mexico. (b) Analysis of wood microdensity response to the climatic transfer distance of Pseudotsuga menziesii provenance planted in Corsica and Massif Central, France, to select genotypes more resistant/tolerant to warmer and drier summers in the region.

Co-authors: Philippe Rozenberg (UMR BioForA 0588 INRAE-Orleans), Anne-Sophie Sergent (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina)