Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

• 01865 285526
• imma.oliveras@ouce.ox.ac.uk

• Ecosystems Theme

Imma is an ecosystem ecologist who explores the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems to global change. She is interested in how changes in the abiotic conditions - and particularly extreme drought events and modified fire regimes - affect plant form and function, and how this aggregates to diversity and ecosystem functioning. She is particularly passionate about mountainous and tropical environments.

Imma is a Lecturer and Deputy Leader of the Ecosystems Program at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford. She leads a research group in disturbance ecology and global change. She is a Junior Research Fellow at Oriel College, and Adjunct Professor at the Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso (Brazil).

2021

• Aguirre-Gutierrez, J., Rifai, S., Shenkin, A., Oliveras, I., Bentley, L.P., Svatek, M., Girardin, C.A.J., Both, S., Riutta, T., Berenguer, E., Kissling, W.D., Bauman, D., Raab, N., Moore, S., Farfan-Rios, W., Figueiredo, A.E.S., Reis, S.M., Ndong, J.E., Ondo, F.E., N'ssi Bengone, N., Mihindou, V., Moraes de Seixas, M.M., Adu-Bredu, S., Abernethy, K., Asner, G.P., Barlow, J., Burslem, D.F.R.P., Coomes, D.A., Cernusak, L.A., Dargie, G.C., Enquist, B.J., Ewers, R.M., Ferreira, J., Jeffery, K.J., Joly, C.A., Lewis, S.L., Marimon-Junior, B.H., Martin, R.E., Morandi, P.S., Phillips, O.L., Quesada, C.A., Salinas, N., Schwantes Marimon, B., Silman, M., Teh, Y.A., White, L.J.T. and Malhi, Y. (2021) Pantropical modelling of canopy functional traits using Sentinel-2 remote sensing data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 252. 112122.
• Armenteras, D., Meza, M.C., González, T.M., Oliveras, I., Balch, J.K. and Retana, J. (2021) Fire threatens the diversity and structure of tropical gallery forests. Ecosphere, 12(1). e03347.
• Brummer, A.B., Lymperopoulos, P., Shen, J., Tekin, E., Bentley, L.P., Buzzard, V., Gray, A., Oliveras, I., Enquist, B.J. and Savage, V.M. (2021) Branching principles of animal and plant networks identified by combining extensive data, machine learning and modelling. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 18(174).
• Malhi, Y., Girardin, C., Metcalfe, D.B., Doughty, C.E., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Rifai, S.W., Oliveras, I., Shenkin, A., Aguirre-Gutiérrez, J., Dahlsjö, C.A.L., Riutta, T., Berenguer, E., Moore, S., Huaraca Huasco, W., Salinas, N., da Costa, A.C.L., Bentley, L.P., Adu-Bredu, S., Marthews, T.R., Meir, P. and Phillips, O.L. (2021) The Global Ecosystems Monitoring network: Monitoring ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling across the tropics. Biological Conservation, 253. 108889.
• Matos, I.S., Eller, C.B., Oliveras, I., Mantuano, D. and Rosado, B.H.P. (2021) Three eco-physiological strategies of response to drought maintain the form and function of a tropical montane grassland. Journal of Ecology, 109(1): 327-341.

2020

• Aguirre-Gutierrez, J., Malhi, Y., Lewis, S.L., Fauset, S., Adu-Bredu, S., Affum-Baffoe, K., Baker, T.R., Gvozdevaite, A., Hubau, W., Moore, S., Peprah, T., Zieminska, K., Phillips, O.L. and Oliveras, I. (2020) Long-term droughts may drive drier tropical forests towards increased functional, taxonomic andphylogenetic homogeneity. Nature Communications, 11(1).
• Armenteras, D., González, T.M., Vargas Ríos, O., Elizalde, M.C.M. and Oliveras, I. (2020) Incendios en ecosistemas del norte de Suramérica (Fire in the ecosystems of northern South America: advances in the ecology of tropical fires in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru). Caldasia, 42(1): 1-16.
• Boonman, C.C.F., van Langevelde, F., Oliveras, I., Couédon, J., Luijken, N., Martini, D. and Veenendaal, E.M. (2020) On the importance of root traits in seedlings of tropical tree species. New Phytologist, 227(1): 156-167.
• Cardoso, A.W., Malhi, Y., Oliveras, I., Lehmann, D., Edzang Ndong, J., Dimoto, E., Bush, E., Jeffery, K., Labriere, N., Lewis, S.L., White, L.T.J., Bond, W. and Abernethy, K. (2020) The Role of Forest Elephants in Shaping Tropical Forest-Savanna Coexistence. Ecosystems, 23: 602-616.
• Cardoso, A.W., Oliveras, I., Abernethy, K.A., Jeffery, K.J., Glover, S., Lehmann, D., Edzang Ndong, J., White, L.J.T., Bond, W.J. and Malhi, Y. (2020) A distinct ecotonal tree community exists at central African forest-savanna transitions. Journal of Ecology.
• Christmann, T. and Oliveras, I. (2020) Nature of Alpine Ecosystems in Tropical Mountains of South America. In, Goldstein, M.I. and DellaSala, D.A. (eds.) Encyclopedia of the World's Biomes. Elsevier. pp. 282-291. ISBN: 978-0-12-816097-8.
• Corrêa Scalon, M., Domingos, F.M.C.B., da Cruz, W.J.A., Marimon Júnior, B.H., Marimon, B.S. and Oliveras, I. (2020) Diversity of functional trade-offs enhances survival after fire in Neotropical savanna species. Journal of Vegetation Science, 31(1): 139-150.
• Goldsmith, G.R., Fisher, J., Oliveras, I., Malhi, Y. and Doughty, C. (2020) ECOSTRESS: NASA's Next Generation Mission to Measure Evapotranspiration From the International Space Station. Water Resources Research, 56(4). e2019WR026058.
• Marimon-Junior, B.H., Hay, J.D.V., Oliveras, I., Jancoski, H., Umetsu, R.K., Feldpausch, T.R., Galbraith, D.R., Gloor, E.U., Phillips, O.L. and Marimon, B.S. (2020) Soil water-holding capacity and monodominance in Southern Amazon tropical forests. Plant and Soil, 450(1): 65-79.
• Matos, I.S., Oliveras Menor, I., Rifai, S.W. and Rosado, B.H.P. (2020) Deciphering the stability of grassland productivity in response to rainfall manipulation experiments. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 29(3): 558-572.
• Oliveras, I., Bentley, L., Fyllas, N.M., Gvozdevaite, A., Shenkin, A.F., Peprah, T., Morandi, P., Peixoto, K.S., Boakye, M., Adu-Bredu, A., Schwantes Marimon, B., Marimon Junior, B.H., Martin, R., Asner, G., Diaz, S., Enquist, B.J. and Malhi, Y. (2020) Corrigendum: The Influence of Taxonomy and Environment on Leaf Trait Variation Along Tropical Abiotic Gradients. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.
• Oliveras, I., Bentley, L., Fyllas, N.M., Gvozdevaite, A., Shenkin, A.F., Peprah, T., Morandi, P., Peixoto, K.S., Boakye, M., Adu-Bredu, A., Schwantes Marimon, B., Marimon Junior, B.H., Martin, R., Asner, G., Diaz, S., Enquist, B.J. and Malhi, Y. (2020) The Influence of Taxonomy and Environment on Leaf Trait Variation Along Tropical Abiotic Gradients. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 3.

2019

• Aguirre-Gutierrez, J., Oliveras, I., Rifai, S., Fauset, S., Adu-Bredu, S., Affum-Baffoe, K., Baker, T.R., Feldpausch, T.R., Gvozdevaite, A., Hubau, W., Kraft, N.J.B., Lewis, S.L., Moore, S., Niinemets, U., Peprah, R., Phillips, O.L., Zieminska, K., Enquist, B. and Malhi, Y. (2019) Drier tropical forests are susceptible to functional changes in response to a long-term drought. Ecology Letters, 22(5): 855-865.
• Brummer, A.B., Lymperopoulos, P., Shen, J., Tekin, E., Bentley, L.P., Buzzard, V., Gray, A., Oliveras, I., Enquist, B.J. and Savage, V.M. (2019) Identifying branching principles in biological networks using imaging, modeling, and machine learning. arXiv. 1903.04642.
• Rosan, T.M., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Oliveras, I., Phillips, O.L., Malhi, Y., Gloor, E. and Wagner, F.H. (2019) Extensive 21st-century woody encroachment in South America's savanna. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(12): 6594-6603.
• Shenkin, A., Bentley, L.P., Oliveras, I., Salinas, N., Adu-Bredu, S., Marimon, B.H., Marimon, B., Peprah, T., Lopez Choque, E., Rodriguez, L.T., Arenas, E.R.C., Adonteng, C., Seidu, J., Passos, F.B., Reis, S.M., Blonder, B., Silman, M., Enquist, B.J., Asner, G.P. and Malhi, Y. (2019) The Influence of Ecosystem and Phylogeny on Tropical Tree Crown Size and Shape. bioRxiv: 1-36.

2018

• Cardoso, A.W., Oliveras, I., Abernethy, K.A., Jeffery, K.J., Lehmann, D., Ndong, J.E., McGregor, I., Belcher, C.M., Bond, W.J. and Malhi, Y. (2018) Grass species flammability, not biomass, drives changes in fire behaviour at tropical forest-savanna transitions. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 1(6).
• Da Silva, A.P., Mews, H.A., Marimon-Junior, B.H., de Oliveira, E., Morandi, P.S., Oliveras, I. and Marimon, B.S. (2018) Recurrent wildfires drive rapid taxonomic homogenization of seasonally flooded Neotropical forests. Environmental Conservation, 45(4): 378-386.
• Gvozdevaite, A., Oliveras, I., Domingues, T.F., Peprah, T., Boakye, M., Afriyie, L., Peixoto da Silva, K., de Farias, J., Almeida de Oliveira, E., Farias, C.C.A., Prestes, N.C.C., Neyret, M., Moore, S., Marimon, B.S., Junior, B.H., Adu-Bredu, S. and Malhi, Y. (2018) Leaf-level photosynthetic capacity dynamics in relation to soil and foliar nutrients along forest–savanna boundaries in Ghana and Brazil. Tree Physiology, tpy117.
• Janssen, T.A.J., Ametsitsi, G.K.D., Collins, M., Adu-Bedu, S., Oliveras, I., Mitchard, E.T.A. and Veenendaal, E.M. (2018) Extending the baseline of tropical dry forest loss in Ghana (1984–2015) reveals drivers of major deforestation inside a protected area. Biological Conservation, 218: 163-172.
• Moore, S., Adu-Bredu, S., Duah-Gyamfi, A., Addo-Danso, S.D., Ibrahim, F., Mbou, A.T., dr Grandcourt, A., Valentini, R., Nicolini, G., Djagbetey, G., Owusu-Afriyie, K., Gvozdevaite, A., Oliveras, I., Ruiz-Jaen, M. and Malhi, Y. (2018) Forest biomass, productivity and carbon cycling along a rainfall gradient in West Africa. Global Change Biology, 24(2): 496-510.
• Oliveras, I., Roman-Cuesta, R.M., Urquiaga-Flores, E., Quintano Loayza, J.A., Kala, J., Huaman, V., Lizarrage, N., Sans, G., Quispe, K., Lopez, E., Lopez, D., Torres, I.C., Enquist, B.J. and Malhi, Y. (2018) Fire effects and ecological recovery pathways of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests along a time chronosequence. Global Change Biology, 24(2): 758-772.
• Pastor, E., Oliveras, I., Urquiaga-Flores, E., Quintano-Loayza, J.A., Manta, M.I. and Planas, E. (2018) A new method for performing smouldering combustion field experiments in peatlands and rich-organic soils. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 26(12): 1040-1052.
• Rifai, S.W., Girardin, C.A.J., Berenguer, E., del Aguila-Pasquel, J., Dahlsjo, C.A.L., Doughty, C.E., Jeffery, K.J., Moore, S., Oliveras, I., Riutta, T., Rowland, L.M., Murakami, A.A., Addo-Danso, S.D., Brando, P., Burton, C., Ondo, F.E., Duah-Gyamfi, A., Amezquita, F.F., Freitag, R., Pacha, F.H., Huasco, W.H., Ibrahim, F., Mbou, A.T., Mihindou, V.M., Peixoto, K.S., Rocha, W., Rossi, L.C., Seixas, M., Silva-Espejo, J.E., Abernethy, K.A., Adu-Bredu, S., Barlow, J., da Costa, A.C.L., Marimon, B.S., Marimon, B., Meir, P., Metcalfe, D.B., Phillips, O.L., White, L.J.T. and Malhi, Y. (2018) ENSO drives interannual variation of forest woody growth across the tropics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 373(1760).
• Thomson, E.R., Malhi, Y., Bartholomeus, H., Oliveras, I., Gvozdevaite, A., Peprah, T., Suomalainen, J., Quansah, J., Seidu, J., Adonteng, C., Abraham, A.J., Herold, M., Adu-Bredu, S. and Doughty, C.E. (2018) Mapping the leaf economic Mapping the leaf economic spectrum across west African tropical forests using UAV-acquired hyperspectral imagery across west African tropical forests using UAV-acquired hyperspectral imagery. Remote Sensing, 10(10). 1532.
• Veenendaal, E.M., Torello-Raventos, M., Miranda, H.S., Sato, N.M., Oliveras, I., Langevelde, F., Asner, G.P. and Lloyd, J. (2018) On the relationship between fire regime and vegetation structure in the tropics. New Phytologist, 218(1).
• Visakorpi, K., Gripenberg, S., Malhi, Y., Bolas, C., Oliveras, I., Harris, N., Rifai, S. and Riutta, T. (2018) Small-scale indirect plant responses to insect herbivory could have major impacts on canopy photosynthesis and isoprene emission. New Phytologist, 220: 799-810.

2017

• Oliver, V., Oliveras, I., Kala, J., Lever, R., Teh, Y.A. (2017) The effects of burning and grazing on soil carbon dynamics in managed Peruvian tropical montane grasslands. Biogeosciences.

2016

• Cardoso, A.W., Medina-Vega, J.A., Malhi, Y., Adu-Bredu, S., Ametsitsi, G.K.D., Djagbletey, G., van Langevelde, F., Veenendaal, E. and Oliveras, I. (2016) Winners and losers: tropical forest tree seedling survival across a West African forest–savanna transition. Ecology and Evolution, 6(10): 3417-3429.
• Devisscher, T., Malhi, Y., Landivar, V.D.R. and Oliveras, I. (2016) Understanding ecological transitions under recurrent wildfire: A case study in the seasonally dry tropical forests of the Chiquitania, Bolivia. Forest Ecology and Management, 360: 273-286.
• Neyret, M., Bentley, L.P., Oliveras, I., Marimon, B.S., Marimon-Junior, B.H., Almeida de Oliveira, E., Barbosa Passos, F., Castro Ccoscco, R., dos Santos, J., Matias Reis, S., Morandi, P.S., Rayme Paucar, G., Robles Cáceres, A., Valdez Tejeira, Y., Yllanes Choque, Y., Salinas, N., Shenkin, A., Asner, G.P., Díaz, S., Enquist, B.J. and Malhi, Y. (2016) Examining variation in the leaf mass per area of dominant species across two contrasting tropical gradients in light of community assembly. Ecology and Evolution, 6(16): 5674-5689.
• Oliveras, I. and Malhi, Y. (2016) Many shades of green: the dynamic tropical forest–savannah transition zones. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 371.

2014

• Oliveras, I., Anderson, L.O., Malhi, Y. (2014) Application of remote sensing to understanding fire regimes and biomass burning emissions of the tropical Andes. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 28(4): 480-496.
• Oliveras, I., Eynden, M., Malhi, Y. Cahuana, N., Menor, C., Zamora, F. (2014) Grass allometry and estimation of above-ground biomass in tropical alpine tussock grasslands. Austral Ecology, 39(4): 408-415.
• Oliveras, I., Girardin, C., Doughty, C.E., Cahuana, N., Arenas, C.E., Oliver, V., Huaraca Huasco, W. and Malhi, Y. (2014) Andean grasslands are as productive as tropical cloud forests. Environmental Research Letters, 9(11). 115011.
• Oliveras, I., Malhi, Y., Salinas, N., Huaman, V., Urquiaga-Flores, E., Kala-Mamani, J., Quintano-Loaiza, J.A., Cuba-Torres, I., Lizarraga-Morales, N. and Román-Cuesta, R. (2014) Changes in forest structure and composition after fire in tropical montane cloud forests near the Andean treeline. Plant Ecology and Diversity, 7(1-2): 329-340. Special Issue: Ecosystem Dynamics of Amazonian and Andean Forests..
• Román-Cuesta, R.M., Carmona-Moreno, C., Lizcano, G.,New, M., Silman, M., Knoke, T., Malhi, Y., Oliveras, I., Asbjornsen, H., Vuille, M. (2014) Synchronous fire activity in the tropical high Andes: an indication of regional climate forcing. Global Change Biology, 20(6): 1929-1942.

2013

• Oliveras, I., Meirelles, S.T., Hirakuri, V.L., Freitas, C.R., Miranda, H.S. and Pivello, V.R. (2013) Effects of fire regimes on herbaceous biomass and nutrient dynamics in the Brazilian savanna. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22: 368-380.

2012

• Marthews, T.R., Metcalfe, D., Malhi, Y., Phillips, O., Huaraca Huasco, W., Riutta, T., Ruiz Jen, M., Girardin, C., Urrutia, R., Butt, N., Cain, R. and Oliveras, I. (2012) Measuring Tropical Forest Carbon Allocation and Cycling: A RAINFOR-GEM Field Manual for Intensive Census Plots (v2.2). . Manual, Global Ecosystems Monitoring network.

2011

• Roman Cuesta, R.M., Salinas Revilla, N., Asbjornsen, H., Oliveras, I., Huaman, V., Gutiérrez, Y., Puelles, L., Kalad, J., Yabar, D., Rojas, M., Astete, R., Jordán, D.Y., Silman, M., Mosandl, R., Weber, M., Stimm, B., Günter, S., Knoke, T. and Malhi, Y. (2011) Implications of fires on carbon budgets in Andean cloud montane forest: The importance of peat soils and tree resprouting. Forest Ecology and Management, 261(11): 1987-1997.

2010

• Llorens, P., Poyatos, R., Latron, J., Delgado, J., Oliveras, I. and Gallart, F. (2010) A multi-year study of rainfall and soil water controls on Scots pine transpiration under Mediterranean mountain conditions. Hydrological Processes, 24(21): 3053-3064.
• Pivello, V.R., Oliveras, I., Miranda, H.S., Haridasan, M., Sato, M.N. and Meirelles, S.T. (2010) Effect of fires on soil nutrient availability in an open savanna in Central Brazil. Plant and soil, 337(1): 111-123.

2009

• Oliveras, I., Gracia, M. and Retana, J. (2009) Factors influencing fire severity in a large wildfire under extreme meteorological conditions. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 18(7): 755-764.

2008

• Oliveras, I. and Bell, T. (2008) An Analysis of the Australian Literature on Prescribed Burning. Journal of Forestry, 106(1): 31-37.

2006

• Bell, T. and Oliveras, I. (2006) Perceptions of prescribed burning in a local forest community in Victoria, Australia. Environmental management, 38(5): 867-878.
• Oliveras, I. (2006) Modelling the long term effect of changes in fire frequency on the total area burnt. Orsis: organismes i sistemes, 20: 73-81.
• Oliveras, I. and Piol, J. (2006) Relationships among issue of fires, total area burnt, and large fires in southern France, eastern Spain and Portugal. IEEE Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Environment Identities and Mediterranean Area (ISEIMA), 2006.. 84-87.
• Oliveras, I., Pinol, J. and Viegas, D.X. (2006) Generalization of the fire line rotation model to curved fire lines. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 15(4): 447-456.

2003

• Oliveras, I. and Martinez-Vilalta, J. (2003) Hydraulic properties of Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinea and Tetraclinis articulata in a dune ecosystem of Eastern Spain. Plant Ecology, 169(1): 131-141.

2002

• Martinez-Vilalta, J., Prat, E., Oliveras, I. and Pinol, J. (2002) Hydraulic properties of roots and ítems of nine woody species from a Hola oak forest in NE Spain. Ocealogica, 133(1): 19-29.

2001

• Oliveras, I. and Llorens, P. (2001) Medium-term sap flux monitoring in a Scots pine stand: analysis of the operability of the heat dissipation method for hydrological purposes. Tree Physiology, 21(7): 473-480.