Ph.D. Biology 2001. University of Barcelona. Thesis: Organic matter accumulation and stabilization in mediterranean forest soils: Physical protection, biochemical quality and depth effects.

Research outline

2001 University of Barcelona. Post-doctoral research.
2006 CNRS. Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, Montpellier. Dir: M. M. Coûteaux
2007 CNRS. Université de Poitiers, UMR 6514. Dir: Laurent Grasset.
2008 Researcher 'Ramón y Cajal' in the Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC).
2013 Staff Researcher in the Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC).

Research topics

 1. Soil organic matter chemistry & biochemistry, as affected by Climate Change, Land use change, Wildfires, and other biogeochemical constraints.
 2. Humic amendments and fertilizers: obtention, characterization, effects on plant production, effects on soil biochemistry.
 3. Terrestrial carbon cycle, with focus on soil C stocks, at regional or national scale. Understanding factors determining soil C storage.

Giannetta B., Siebecker M.G., Zaccone C., Plaza C., Rovira P., Vischetti C. & Sparks D.L. (2020). Iron(III) fate after complexation with soil organic matter in fine silt and clay fractions: An EXAFS spectroscopic approach. Soil & Tillage Research 200, 104617.

Rovira P. & Grasset L. 2019. Plant versus microbial signature in densimetric fractions of Mediterranean forest soils: a study by thermochemolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 19, 58-72.

Giannetta B.,  Zaccone C., Plaza C., Vischetti C. & Rovira P. 2019. Ecosystem type effects on the stabilization of organic matter in soils: Combining size fractionation with sequential chemical extractions. Geoderma 353, 423-434.

Rovira P., Aranjuelo I., Nowak R. & Nogués S. 2019. Limited carbon inputs from plants into soils in arid ecosystems: a study of changes in the delta-13C in the soil-root interface. Plant and Soil 443, 307-322

Lopez-Sangil L., Hartley I.P., Rovira P., Casals P. & Sayer E. 2018. Drying and rewetting conditions differentially affect the mineralization of fresh plant litter and extant soil organic matter. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 124, 81-89.

Garcia-Pausas J., Rabissi A., Rovira P. & Romanyà J. 2017. Organic fertilisation increases C and N stocks and reduces soil organic matter stability in mediterranean vegetable gardens. Land Degradation & Development 28, 691-698.

Rovira P., Sauras T., Salgado J. & Merino A. 2015. Towards sound comparisons of soil carbon stocks: A proposal based on the cumulative coordinates approach. Catena 133, 420-431.