Dr Francesco Maria Sabatini

Postdoc and Coordinator (sPlot)

Research Interests

Who lives with whom and why?

This question is at the core of my research interests. In other words, what are the processes and determinants underlying the distribution of biodiversity? As coordinator of sPlot – the Global Vegetation Database, I can address this question at unprecedented spatial scales. On the ground, though, my favourite study system are old-growth and virgin forests. Not only I cherish old-growth forests for their wild nature, but they are also ideal reference systems for understanding baselines and processes related to natural disturbance regimes, forest dynamics, tree demography, and carbon cycling, and how these processes are modified by forest management.

Find more on my research blog: FORESTS&CO

Curriculum Vitae

Since 2018
Post-Doc at 1) Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Institute of Biology. Geobotanic Lab. 2) German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
2015–2017
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Post-Doc fellow at Conservation Biogeography Lab. Dept of Geography. Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. Germany.
2014–2015
Postdoctoreal Researcher, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza, University of Rome (Italy). Cofunded by LIFE+11 (NAT/IT/135) project FAGUS – Forests of the Apennines: Good practices to conjugate Use and Sustainability
2014
Visiting Scholar at Masaryk University, Brno (Czech Republic)
2010–2014
PhD, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza, University of Rome (Italy)
2013
Visiting PhD Student at University of Turku (Finland)
2010
Visiting Scholar at University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA)
2009
Part-time Scientific and technical adviser. Società Botanica Italiana ONLUS (Italy)
2007–2009
M.Sc. – Environmental Sciences. Faculty of mathematical, physical, and natural sciences. Sapienza, University of Rome (Italy)

Selected Publications

Sabatini FM, Burrascano S, Keeton WS, Levers C, Lindner M, Pötzschner F, ... Kuemmerle T. Accepted. Where are Europe’s last primary forests? DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION
Sabatini FM, Jiménez-Alfaro B, Burrascano S, Lora A, Chytrý M, in press. Beta-diversity of Central European forests decreases along an elevational gradient due to the variation in local community assembly processes. ECOGRAPHY n\a.
Semper-Pascual A, Macchi L, Sabatini FM, Decarre J, Baumann M, Blendinger PG, Gómez-Valencia B, Mastrangelo ME, Kuemmerle T. in press. Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY 55(3):1218-29.
Burrascano S, Ripullone F, Bernardo L, Borghetti M, Carli E, Colangelo M, Gangale C, Gargano D, Gentilesca T, Luzzi G, Passalacqua N, Pelle L, Rivelli AR, Sabatini FM, Schettino A, Siclari A, Uzunov D, Blasi C. 2018. It's a long way to the top: Plant species diversity in the transition from managed to old-growth forests. JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE29: 98-109.
Burrascano S, Chytrý M, Kuemmerle T, Giarrizzo E, Luyssaert S, Sabatini FM, Blasi C, 2016. Current European policies are unlikely to jointly foster carbon sequestration and protect biodiversity. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 201:370-376.
Sabatini FM, Burrascano S, Azzella MM, Barbati A, De Paulis S, Di Santo D, Facioni L, Giuliarelli D, Lombardi F, Maggi O, Mattioli W, Parisi F, Persiani A, Ravera S, Blasi C. 2016. One taxon does not fit all: Herb-layer diversity and stand structural complexity are weak predictors of biodiversity in Fagus sylvatica forests. ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS 69:126-137.
Sabatini FM, Burrascano S, Tuomisto H and Blasi C. 2014. Ground layer plant species turnover and beta diversity in Southern-European old-growth forests. PLOS ONE, 9(4):e95244.
Burrascano S, Keeton W, Sabatini FM, Blasi C. 2013. Commonality and Variability in the Structural Attributes of Moist Temperate Old-growth Forests: a Global Review. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT 291: 458-479, ISSN: 0378-1127, doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2012.11.020

A full list of my publications can be found on my research blog: FORESTS&CO. You can also find me on googleScholar and ResearchGate.

iDiv publications

Angelstam, P., M. Manton, M. Green, B.-G. Jonsson, G. Mikusiński, J. Svensson, F. Maria Sabatini

(2020): Sweden does not meet agreed national and international forest biodiversity targets: A call for adaptive landscape planning. Landscape and Urban Planning 202

DOI

Bruelheide, H., Jimenez-Alfaro, B., Jandt, U., Sabatini, F. M.

(2020): Deriving site-specific species pools from large databases. Ecography *

DOI

Sabatini, F. M., W. S. Keeton, M. Lindner, M. Svoboda, P. J. Verkerk, J. Bauhus, H. Bruelheide, S. Burrascano, N. Debaive, I. Duarte, M. Garbarino, N. Grigoriadis, F. Lombardi, M. Mikoláš, P. Meyer, R. Motta, G. Mozgeris, L. Nunes, P. Ódor, M. Panayotov, A. Ruete, B. Simovski, J. Stillhard, J. Svensson, J. Szwagrzyk, O.-P. Tikkanen, K. Vandekerkhove, R. Volosyanchuk, T. Vrska, T. Zlatanov, T. Kuemmerle

(2020): Protection gaps and restoration opportunities for primary forests in Europe. Diversity and Distributions 26(12) *

DOI

Bruelheide, H., Dengler, J., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Purschke, O., Hennekens, S. M., Chytrý, M., Pillar, V. D., Jansen, F., Kattge, J., Sandel, B., Aubin, I., Biurrun, I., Field, R., Haider, S., Jandt, U., Lenoir, J., Peet, R. K., Peyre, G., Sabatini, F. M., Schmidt, M., Schrodt, F., Winter, M., ..., Kühl, H., Kühn, I., ..., Sop, T., ..., Virtanen, R., von Wehrden, H., Wagner, V., Walker, D. A., Wana, D., Weiher, E., Wesche, K., et al.

(2019): sPlot – a new tool for global vegetation analyses. Journal of Vegetation Science 30(2), 161-86

DOI

Sabatini, F. M., de Andrade, R. B., Paillet, Y., Ódor, P., Bouget, C., Campagnaro, T., Gosselin, F., Janssen, P., Mattioli, W., Nascimbene, J., Sitzia, T., Kuemmerle, T., Burrascano, S.

(2019): Trade-offs between carbon stocks and biodiversity in European temperate forests. Global Change Biology 25(2), 536-48

DOI

Bruelheide, H., Dengler, J., Purschke, O., Lenoir, J., Jimenez-Alfaro, B., Hennekens, S. M., Botta-Dukat, Z., Chytry, M., Field, R., Jansen, F., Kattge, J., Pillar, V. D., Schrodt, F., Mahecha, M. D., Peet, R. K., Sandel, B., van Bodegom, P., Altman, J., Alvarez-Davila, E., Khan, M., Attorre, F., Aubin, I., Baraloto, C., Barroso, J. G., Bauters, M., Bergmeier, E., Biurrun, I., Bjorkman, A. D., Blonder, B., Carni, A., Cayuela, L., Cerny, T., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Craven, D., Dainese, M., Derroire, G., De Sanctis, M., Diaz, S., Dolezal, J., Farfan-Rios, W., Feldpausch, T. R., Fenton, N. J., Garnier, E., Guerin, G. R., Gutierrez, A. G., Haider, S., Hattab, T., Henry, G., Herault, B., Higuchi, P., Holzel, N., Homeier, J., Jentsch, A., Jurgens, N., Kacki, Z., Karger, D. N., Kessler, M., Kleyer, M., Knollova, I., Korolyuk, A. Y., Kühn, I., Laughlin, D. C., Lens, F., Loos, J., Louault, F., Lyubenova, M. I., Malhi, Y., Marceno, C., Mencuccini, M., Muller, J. V., Munzinger, J., Myers-Smith, I. H., Neill, D. A., Niinemets, U., Orwin, K. H., Ozinga, W. A., Penuelas, J., Perez-Haase, A., Petrik, P., Phillips, O. L., Partel, M., Reich, P. B., Römermann, C., Rodrigues, A. V., Sabatini, F. M., Sardans, J., Schmidt, M., Seidler, G., Espejo, J. E. S., Silveira, M., Smyth, A., Sporbert, M., Svenning, J. C., Tang, Z. Y., Thomas, R., Tsiripidis, I., Vassilev, K., Violle, C., Virtanen, R., Weiher, E., Welk, E., Wesche, K., Winter, M., Wirth, C., Jandt, U.

(2018): Global trait-environment relationships of plant communities. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2(12), 1906-17

DOI

Sabatini, F. M., Burrascano, S., Keeton, W. S., Levers, C., Lindner, M., Potzschner, F., Verkerk, P. J., Bauhus, J., Buchwald, E., Chaskovsky, O., et al.

(2018): Where are Europe's last primary forests?. Diversity and Distributions 24(10), 1426-39

DOI

Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Institut für Biologie / Geobotanik und Botanischer Garten
Kirchtor 1
06108 Halle (Saale)
Germany

+49 345 5526199

francesco.sabatini@botanik.uni-halle.de

Affiliation

Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg