Dr. Tudor Ursu

Dr. Tudor Ursu

Scientific Researcher II
INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH – ICB Cluj-Napoca

I specialize in multidisciplinary plant biology and ecology, integrating classical and modern approaches to understand and protect biodiversity. My research interests range from evaluating climate-driven changes in the distribution patterns of high-mountain plant taxa to biodiversity assessment and conservation planning. This includes optimizing human practices in semi-natural ecosystems in the context of land-use changes and climate change.

Email:

tudor.ursu@icbcluj.ro

  • REASEARCH
  • PROJECTS
  • PUBLICATIONS
I am a researcher in functional plant ecology, as well as ecosystem monitoring and assessment in the contexts of climate and land-use change. My research includes:
  • Evaluating the changes in plant distribution patterns under the pressure of changing climatic parameters, particularly in the high-mountain taxa. This information may serve for climate change impact monitoring and for designing adaptation strategies.
 
  • 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.
 
  • Exploring the interactions between plant traits and their ecological functions to optimize the human practices in semi-natural and agricultural ecosystems in the context of land-use changes and climate variability.
I have extensive research experience, working in over 15 research projects funded from international/structural funds and over 20 research projects funded from national research funds, among which:
  • FRUITDIV (2024-2028), Horizon Europe project (team member) - 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).
 
  • Plant BCC (2023-2024), rePlanet & ADEPT Foundation, (team member)- plant surveys in Transylvania for the development of the methodology for biodiversity credits inventory
 
  • SPECTRAVEG (2020-2022), PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2019 (team leader) – developing new open-source GIS-based analysis tool for assessing the vegetation resources by translating the spectral and LIDAR-derived vegetation language.
 
  • BACK TO THE ROOTS: Associating crops for a more sustainable farming (2018, team leader), research collaboration funded by INRAE, UMR GQE- Le Moulon, France, and Heinrich Heine University, Institute of Quantitative Genetics & Genomics of Plants/CEPLAS, Dusseldorf, Germany
   
  • EVK2-CT-2000-00056, 25.10.2000 - 13.04.2003, GLORIA Europe, The European dimension of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments - a contribution to GTOS–PC-5. This project laid the foundation of an extensive international long-term monitoring network including a Romanian Permanent Site, with on-going vegetation and temperature monitoring. From 2020 onwards, TU is keyperson for IBRC for the monitoring activities.
    • Knollová, I., Chytrý, M., Bruelheide, H., Dullinger, S., Jandt, U., Bernhardt-Römermann, M,...Ursu, T.M.,..Essl, F. (2024) ReSurveyEurope: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe. Journal of Vegetation Science, 35, e13235. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13235
     
    • Chen X., .......,Ursu T.M., 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
     
    • Lembrechts, J.J., van der Hoogen, J., Aalto, J., Aschroft, M.B., ..Ursu, T.-M.,.. & Lenoir, J. (2022). Global maps of soil temperature. Global Change Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16060
     
    • Staude I.R., Pereira H.M., Daskalova G., Bernhardt-Römermann M., Diekmann M., Pauli H., ..Ursu T.-M.,.. & Baeten L. (2022). Directional turnover toward larger-ranged plants over time and across habitats. Ecology Letters, https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13937
     
    • Kwon,T., Shibata, H., Kepfer-Rojas, S., Schmidt, I., Larsen, K., Beier, C., Berg, B., Verheyen, K., Lamarque, J.-F., Hagedorn, F., Eisenhauer, N., Djukic, I. and TeaComposition Network with Ursu T-M. (2021). Effects of Climate and Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition on Early to Mid-Term Stage Litter Decomposition Across Biomes. Front. For. Glob. Change 4:678480. doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2021.678480
     
    • Burli, S., Theurillat, J-P., Winkler, M., ..., Unterluggauer, P., Ursu, T-M., Villar, L., Vittoz, P., (2021). A common soil temperature threshold for the upper limit of alpine grasslands in European mountains. Alpine Botany. DOI: 10.1007/s00035-021-00250-1
     
    • 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.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.07.002.

We explore life, discovering solutions for a sustainable future.

Send us a message