Research associate
Paleoecology & Biochronology Research Group

Personal web https://www.vrull.net/

• Paleoecologist - biologist (1981), PhD ecology (1990)
• Senior Researcher - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Associate Researcher - Catalan Institute of Paleontology (ICP). This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Featured in the Stanford ranking of the world's top scientists (top-0.5% paleontologists and top-10 palynologists).
• Publications - 14 books and >300 papers (>200 in JCR journals), 75% as first/single author.
• Research interests - (paleo)ecology, evolution and biogeography
• Temporal scope - Cenozoic
• Biogeographical scope - tropical, subtropical and temperate terrestrial biomes

CURRENT RESEARCH

• Origin and evolution of Caribbean mangroves under the influence of natural (tectonic, climatic, eustatic) and anthropogenic drivers. Late Cretaceous to present.
• Evolutionary origin of Neotropical biodiversity and environmental drivers involved, with emphasis on paleogeographic and paleoclimatic shifts. Eocene to present.
• Neogene climates and vegetation of the western Mediterranean (NE Iberian Peninsula), and their relationship with vertebrate evolution.
• Historical biogeography of Cannabisin the Iberian Peninsula and its relationship with cultural shifts. Late Pleistocene to present.
• Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation and landscape shifts in the Iberian Pyrenees, with emphasis on spatiotemporal anthropization patterns.
• Influence of human settlement on the flora and vegetation of Atlantic (Azores) and Pacific (Easter Island) oceanic islands . Late Holocene.
• The Anthropocene/Anthropozoic as a new geological epoch/era: empirical clues and conceptual insights.
• Applications of paleoecological and evolutionary knowledge to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation .
• Science & society issues: sixth extinction, evolutionary laws, predictability.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (last 5 years)

Books​​

• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2024. Vegetation and Landscape Dynamics of the Iberian Pyrenees during the last 3000 years . Springer Nature, Cham.
• Rull, V. 2024. Origin and Evolution of Caribbean Mangroves. Springer Nature, Cham.
• Carrión, J.S. et al. (>100 authors including Rull, V.). 2022. Paleoflora y Paleovegetación Ibérica. III: Holoceno. Ministerio Ciencia/Innovación-Fundación Séneca, Murcia.
• Rull, V., Stevenson, C.M. 2022. The Prehistory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Towards an Interdisciplinary Integrative Framework . Springer Nature, Cham.
• Rull, V. 2020. Paleoecological Research on Easter Island. Insights on Settlement, Climate Change, Deforestation and Cultural Shift . Elsevier, Amsterdam.
• Rull, V. 2020. Quaternary Ecology, Evolution and Biogeography . Academic Press, London.
• Rull, V., Carnaval, A. 2020. Neotropical Diversification: Patterns and Processes . Springer Nature, Cham.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T., Huber, O., Señaris, C. 2019. Biodiversity of Pantepui, the Pristine ‘Lost World’ of the Neotropical Guiana Highlands . Academic Press, London.

JCR Papers​​ ​

• Rull, V., Blasco, A., Sigro, J., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2024. Last-century forest dynamics in a highland Pyrenean national park and implications for conservation. Plants, 13: 1144.
• Rull, V. 2024. The Rapa Nui Little Ice Age drought: evidence, potential causes and socioecological impact. Journal of Biogeography , doi 10.1111/jbi.14812.
• Rull, V. 2024. The 'Anthropocene': alea iacta est . EMBO Reports, 25: 939-943.
• Rull, V., Alba, D., Casanovas-Vilar, I. 2024. Middle Miocene vegetation of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), as recorded by fossil pollen analysis: state of the art and future prospects. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 321: 105042.
• Rull, V. 2023. An updated review of fossil pollen evidence for the study of the origin, evolution and diversification of Caribbean mangroves. Plants,12: 3852.
• Rull, V., Blasco, A., Calero, M.A., Blaauw, M., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2023. A continuous centennial Late Glacial-Early Holocene (15-10 cal kyr BP) palynological record from the Iberian Pyrenees and regional comparisons. Plants, 12: 3644.
• Rull, V. 2023. Settlement and anthropization of the Azores Islands. Journal of Biogeography, 50: 2008-2011.
• Rull, V. 2023. Anticipation, discovery and serendipity in Quaternary paleoecology: personal insights from the Iberian Pyrenees. Quaternary, 6: 42.
• Rull, V., Sigró, J., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2023. Present climate of Lake Montcortès (Central Pyrenees): paleoclimatic relevance and insights on future warming. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica (Geographical Research Letters) , 49: 23-38.
• Rull, V. 2023. Human settlement and landscape anthropization of remote oceanic islands: a comparison between Rapa Nui (Pacific Ocean) and the Azores (Atlantic Ocean). Plants, 12: 2089.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2023. A recent Cannabis pollen increase on the Iberian Pyrenees. Science of the Total Environment , 886: 163947.
• Rull, V. 2023. Eocene/Oligocene global disruption and the revolution of Caribbean mangroves. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics , 59: 125733.
• Rull, V. 2023. Rise and fall of Caribbean mangroves. Science of the Total Environment, 885: 163851.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2023. Resilience of Pyrenean forests after recurrent historical deforestations. Forests , 14: 567.
• Rull, V. 2023. Taxon cycles in Neotropical mangroves. Plants, 12: 244.
• Rull, V. 2023. The Neogene-Quaternary diversification trend in the shaping of modern Caribbean mangroves. Quaternary Science Reviews , 300: 107920.
• Rull, V., Burjachs, F., Carrión, J.S., Ejarque, A., Fernández, S., López-Sáez, J.A., Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, R., Ochando, J., Pérez-Díaz, S., Revelles, J., Riera, S., Rodríguez, S. 2023. Historical biogeography of Cannabisin the Iberian Peninsula: a probabilistic approach based on palynological evidence. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics , 58: 125704.
• Rull, V. 2022. Responses of Caribbean mangroves to Quaternary climatic, eustatic and anthropogenic drivers of ecological change: a review. Plants, 11: 3502.
• Rull, V., Sacristan-Soriano, O., Sánchez-Melsió, A., Borrego, C.M., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2022. Bacterial phylogenetic markers in lake sediments provide direct evidence for historical hemp retting. Quaternary Science Reviews, 295: 107803.
• Rull, V. 2022. Inductive prediction in biology. EMBO Reports , 23: e54846.
• Rull, V. 2022. The Caribbean mangroves: an Eocene innovation with no Cretaceous precursors. Earth-Science Reviews , 231: 104070.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2022. Climatic and anthropogenic drivers of forest succession in the Iberian Pyrenees during the last 500 years: a statistical approach. Forests, 13: 622.
• Rull, V. 2022. Origin, early expansion, domestication and anthropogenic diffusion of Cannabis, with emphasis on Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics , 55: 125670.
• Rull, V. 2022. On predictions and laws in biological evolution. EMBO Reports, 23: e54392.
• Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T., Corella, J.P., Sigró, J., Rull, V. , Dorado-Liñán, I., Valero-Garcés, B.L., Gutiérrez-Merino, E. 2022. Regional precipitation trends since 1500 CE reconstructed from calcite sublayers of a varved Mediterranean lake record (central Pyrenees). Science of the Total Environment , 826: 153773.
• Rull, V. 2022. Biodiversity crisis or sixth mass extinction? EMBO Reports, 23: e54193.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2021. Conifer forest dynamics in the Iberian Pyrenees during the Middle Ages. Forests , 12: 1685.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T., Corella, J.P., Trapote, M.C., Montoya, E., Valero-Garcés, B. 2021. A unique Pyrenean varved record provides a detailed reconstruction of Mediterranean vegetation and land-use dynamics over the last three millennia. Quaternary Science Reviews , 268: 107128.
• Rull, V., Cañellas-Boltà, N., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2021. Late-Holocene forest resilience in the central Pyrenean highlands as deduced from pollen analysis of Lake Sant Maurici sediments. The Holocene , 31: 1797-1803.
• Rull, V. 2021. The Anthropozoic era revisited. Lethaia , 54: 289-299.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T., Corella, J.P., Valero-Garcés, B. 2021. Bronze Age to Medieval vegetation dynamics and landscape anthropization in the southern-central Pyrenees. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology , 571: 110392.
• Rull, V., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2021. A spatiotemporal gradient in the anthropization of Pyrenean landscapes. Preliminary report. Quaternary Science Reviews, 258: 106909.
• Rull, V. 2021. Contributions of paleoecology to Easter Island’s prehistory: a thorough review. Quaternary Science Reviews , 252: 106751.
• Rull, V. 2021. Pristinity, degradation and replacement: the three dimensions of human impact on island vegetation. Progress in Physical Geography , 45; 407-426.
• Cao, M., Rivas-Ruiz., Trapote, M.C., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T., Rull, V., Rosell-Melé, A. 2020. Seasonal effects of water temperature and dissolved oxygen on isoGDGT proxy (TEX86) in a Mediterranean oligotrophic lake. Chemical Geology, 551: 119759.
• Rull, V. 2020. Drought, freshwater availability and cultural resilience on Easter Island (SE Pacific) during the Little Ice Age. The Holocene, 30: 774-780.
• Rull, V. 2020. The deforestation of Easter Island. Biological Reviews, 95: 124-141.