Professor of Horticulture at the University of Craiova, Romania, with expertise in fruit growing, orchard agroecosystems, plant biodiversity, phenology, plant–environment interactions, and the responses of fruit species to environmental factors.
My research includes the assessment of plant diversity in orchard ecosystems, spontaneous vegetation and orchard ground cover, the ecological characterization of plant communities, fruit-tree phenology, and the responses of perennial plants to environmental conditions and climate variability.
I have access to orchards, experimental plots, and research infrastructure in South-Western Romania, which can support biodiversity monitoring, field experiments, and comparative studies on the responses of orchard agroecosystems to climate change and different management practices.
Within BiodivFuture, I am interested in extending this research towards the functional biodiversity of orchard grass strips, interactions between vegetation, pollinators and beneficial insects, ecosystem functions and services, and assessing how biodiversity-based management can contribute to the resilience and future trajectories of perennial agroecosystems.
I am interested in joining an existing or emerging BiodivFuture consortium as a research partner.
I am interested in joining a BiodivFuture project addressing climate-driven transformations of agroecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and future adaptation pathways, particularly in perennial and orchard systems.
My main motivation is to contribute a South-Eastern European perspective and experimental case study to a transnational consortium. Our team can provide access to orchards and experimental plots in South-Western Romania, together with research infrastructure and expertise in fruit growing, plant biodiversity, phenology and plant–environment interactions.
I am particularly interested in collaborative research exploring how climate variability and management practices influence plant communities and functional biodiversity in orchard agroecosystems, and how these changes may affect ecosystem functioning and resilience. I would also like to extend our research towards the relationships between orchard ground-cover vegetation, pollinators and beneficial insects within a multidisciplinary consortium.
The opportunity to integrate our field sites and expertise into a comparative European network of agroecosystems would provide valuable insights into how biodiversity-based management can influence the future trajectories of perennial agroecosystems under climate change.
I am seeking to participate as a research partner rather than as a project coordinator.