Dr. Anamaria Roman

Dr. Anamaria Roman

Senior Researcher II, Head of Department
INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH – ICB Cluj-Napoca

I am a plant ecologist studying the impact of climate and land use on the diversity of functional traits and their effects on the services provided by semi-natural ecosystems and agroecosystems. I also use proximal and remote sensing techniques for high-throughput phenotyping and monitoring of plant species traits.

Email:

anamaria.roman@icbcluj.ro

  • REASEARCH
  • PROJECTS
  • PUBLICATIONS
My experience comprises functional plant ecology, as well as ecosystem monitoring and assessment in the contexts of climate and land-use change. My research includes: 
  • Mapping the distribution of plant species, vegetation, and habitats using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) along with proximal and remote sensing techniques for biodiversity inventory, monitoring and conservation.
 
  • Understanding the interactions between plant traits and their ecological functions to predict how ecosystems will respond to ongoing environmental changes in order to design management practices that increase the resilience and sustainability of natural ecosystems and agroecosystems the face of land-use changes and climate variability.
 
  • Conducting high-throughput phenotyping of plant traits in semi-natural or controlled environments. This involves the digital analysis of 2D and 3D imagery and hyperspectral modeling (VIS, NIR, IR). Additionally, I use Spectranomics to link plant spectral signatures with their functional traits, contributing to the study of plant functional ecology and supporting pre-breeding programs.
    • FRUITDIV (2024-2028), Horizon Europe project (ICB Cluj team leader, WP1-co-leader) - the inventory and phenotyping of the untapped potential of fruit tree Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) diversity for sustainable agriculture, particularly focusing on pome fruits (Malus, Pyrus) and stone fruits (Prunus).
     
    • FRUITRESCUE (2023-2027), BNP Paribas project (ICB Cluj team leader, Principal Investigator)-assessing the adaptability of both wild and cultivated apple trees to climate change by integrating and modeling the genomic, phenotypic, and environmental data along the present and past climate data.
     
    • AI-powered remote plant surveys (2024-2025), Mozaic Earth (ICB Cluj team leader) – performing plant species inventories on photo images and contributing as ecologists experts to the development of the Nature Analysis Platform by Mozaic Earth Ltd (UK).
     
    • LIFE-DIVERSEED (2024-2031), LIFE Programme, (ICB Cluj team leader) – habitat and flora mapping, inventory, seed collections and grassland restoration in Slovakia and Romania (ROSCI0227 Sighisoara-Tarnava Mare).
     
    • Plant BCC (2023-2024), rePlanet & Fundatia ADEPT, (ICB Cluj team leader)- plant surveys in Transylvania for the development of the methodology for biodiversity credits inventory
     
    • 88PHE-FRUITDIV (2025-2026), Premiere Orizont Europa – Instituții, (ICB Cluj team leader) - using High-Throughput digital and spectral phenotyping techniques for the study of plant bioresources, with a particular focus on the eco-physiological characteristics of fruit trees.
     
    • SPECTRAVEG (2020-2022), PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2019 (team member) – developing new open-source GIS-based analysis tool for assessing the vegetation resources by translating the LIDAR-derived metrics and spectral vegetation signatures.
    • Senf C., …., Roman A., …., Zuleta, D., 2025. Towards a global understanding of tree mortality. New Phytologist, accepted paper.
     
    • Chen X., .......,Roman A., Volk G., Bazot S., Cornille A., 2023. Ecological and evolutionary drivers of phenotypic and genetic variation in the European crab apple (Malus sylvestris Mill.), a wild relative to the cultivated apple. Annals of Botany, 131, 1025-1037. Doi: 1093/aob/mcad061
     
    • Marușca T., *Roman A., Taulescu E., Ursu T.M., Popa R.D.P., 2021. Detecting trends in the quality and productivity of grasslands by analyzing the historical vegetation relevés: A case study from Southeastern Carpathians, Vlădeasa Mountains (Romania). Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 49, Article No. 12378, Doi:15835/nbha49312378
     
    • Gălătuș R., Papara R., Buzura L., Roman A., Ursu T., 2020. Wearable multi-sensor for plant monitoring, based on fluorescent fibers. Book Series: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 11361, Biophotonics in Point-of-Care, 113610Z. Doi: 1117/12.2559993
     
    • Roman A., Ursu T-M., Fărcaş S., Opreanu C.H., Lăzărescu V.A., 2019. Documenting ancient anthropogenic signatures by remotely sensing the current vegetation spectral and 3D patterns: A case study at Roman Porolissum archaeological site (Romania). Quaternary International, 523, 89-100. Doi: 1016/j.quaint.2019.07.002
     
    • Roman A., Ursu T.M., Onțel I., Marușca T., Pop O.G., Milanovici S., Sin-Schneider A., Gheorghe C.A., Avram S., Fărcaș S. Frink J.P., 2019. Deviation from grazing optimum in the grassland habitats of Romania within and outside the Natura 2000 Network. IN: Musarella C.M., Ortiz A.C., Ricardo Q.C. (Eds.) Habitats of the World: Biodiversity and Threats. 1-19. IntechOpen. Doi: 5772/intechopen.85734
     
    • Gafta D., *Roman A., Ursu T.M., 2018. Trends in single trait dispersion between early-mid successional stages: the importance of species pool extension and habitat scale. Journal of Plant Ecology, 11, 103-113. Doi:1093/jpe/rtw127
     
    • Roman A., Gafta D., Ursu T.M., Cristea V., 2018. Plant assemblages of abandoned ore mining heaps: a case study from Roşia Montană mining area, Romania. IN: Greller A.M., Fujiwara K., Pedrotti F. (Eds.) Geobotany Studies-Geographical Changes in Vegetation and Plant Functional Types. Springer International Publishing. Chapter 14: p. 303-332. Doi: 1007/978-3-319-68738-4_14
     
    • Vassilev K., …., Roman A., …., Dengler J., 2018. The Romanian Grassland Database (RGD): historical background, current status and future perspectives. Phytocoenologia, 48, 91-100. Doi: 1127/phyto/2017/0229.
     
    • Roman A., Ursu T.M., Fărcaş S., Lăzărescu V.A., Opreanu C.H, 2017. An integrated airborne laser scanning approach to forest management and cultural heritage issues: a case study at Porolissum. Annals of Forest Research, 60, 127-143. Doi: 15287/afr.2016.755
     
    • Roman A., Ursu T.M., Lăzărescu V.A., Opreanu C.H., Fărcaş S., 2017. Visualization techniques for ALS-derived DTM in forested steep terrain: detecting archaeological remains in the subsurface. Geoarchaeology-An International Journal, 32, 549-562. Doi: 1002/gea.21621
     
    • Roman A., Ursu T.M. 2016. Multispectral Satellite Imagery and Airborne Laser Scanning Techniques for the Detection of Archaeological Vegetation Marks. IN: Opreanu C.H., Lăzărescu V.A. (Eds.) Landscape Archaeology on the Northern Frontier of the Roman Empire at Porolissum. An Interdisciplinary Approach. Chapter 4. pp. 141- 152. Mega Publishing House. ISBN 978-606-543-787-6.
     
    • Roman A., Gafta D. 2013. Proximity to successionally advanced vegetation patches can make all the difference to plant community assembly. Plant Ecology and Diversity, 6, 269-278. 1080/17550874.2013.771222
     
    • Gafta D., Roman A., Puşcaş M., Şuteu A., 2012. Floristic heterogeneity of Festuca airoides-dominated grasslands in the Romanian Carpathians. Plant Biosystems, 146, 603-613.

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