e-mail: m.ruizcolmenero@unsw.edu.au
PhD, University of Alcalá, Spain (December 2012)
Licenciatura (equivalent to BSc Hons) in Environmental Sciences, University of Jaen, Spain (2006)
Research Interests
I am interested in the environmental impact of agricultural soil use, and the assessment of different land management strategies for sustainable land uses. As a postdoctoral researcher in the area of soil science, I specialise in the assessment of soil physical parameters, soil erosion and runoff. My research also involves understanding how the interaction between soil and plant affects the soil water balance.
In particular, I have been investigating the effects of traditional tillage on soil conservation in woody crops (olive trees, vineyards) and the response of soil hydrological properties to changes in land management and in vegetation. Currently I am studying the effect of grazing on soil and the role of grazing as a driver of ecosystems processes on arid and semiarid areas.
Erosion gully
Publications
Peer reviewed journal papers
Ruiz-Colmenero, M., Bienes R., Eldridge, D.J., Marques M.J., 2012. Vegetation cover reduces erosion and enhances soil organic carbon in a vineyard in the central Spain. Catena, 104: 153-160.
Bienes R., Marqués M.J., Ruiz-Colmenero M., 2012. Herbaceous crops, vineyards and olive groves. The traditional land management and its impact on water erosion. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica, 38(1): 49-74.
Ruiz-Colmenero, M., Bienes R., Marques M.J., 2011. Soil and water conservation dilemmas associated with the use of green cover in steep vineyards. Soil and Tillage Research 117: 211-223.
Bienes, R., Jiménez-Ballesta, R., Ruiz-Colmenero, M., Arévalo,D., Álvarez,A., Marqués,M.J., 2010. Incidence of the growing of aromatic and medicinal plants on the erosion of agricultural soils. Spanish Journal of Rural Development, 1(2):19-28.
Bienes, R., Ruiz-Colmenero, M., Marques, M.J., 2010. Soil, phosphorus and organic matter loss by water erosion in revegetated plots with autoctonous shrubs under semi-arid climate. Revista de Ciências Agrárias. 33(1): 58-69.
Book chapters
Marques M.J., Ruiz-Colmenero M., García-Estríngana, P., Alegre, A., Bienes R., 2011. The role of agricultural soil management in water erosion control. Alternative uses of soil. Soil Erosion: Causes, Processes and Effects. Arthur J. Fournier (Ed.) Colección: Environmental Science, Engineering and Technology 99-118. Editorial NovaScience Publishers Inc. New York, USA ISBN: 978-1-61761-186-5.
Marques M.J., Velasco A., Ruiz-Colmenero M., Cuadrado, J., Bienes R., 2010. Sustainable Land Management in steep Vineyards in central Spain. The vision of Land Users. In: Action of rain and wind in soil degradation processes. Donald Gabriels, Jan Vermang (Eds.). UNESCO Chair of Eremology. Ghent. September 2010, pp. 118-124.
Marques M.J., Ruiz-Colmenero M., Bienes R., 2009. Runoff and ground moisture in alternative vineyard cultivation methods in the center of Spain. In: Agricultural Runoff, Coastal Engineering and Flooding. Christopher A. Hudspeth and Timothy E. Reeve (Eds) NovaScience Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-60741-097-3. pp.137-152.