Important. This web is the only reliable and updated source for my scientific performance; I am not responsible for any other public reports or databases, which I never review or update.  

​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 Cannabis in 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.

• The time-continuum approach in ecology and evolution and the missing link between them.

• Applications of paleoecological and evolutionary knowledge to biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

• Science & society issues: sixth extinction, evolutionary laws, predictability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS OF THE LAST FEW YEARS

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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. 2024. Iberian Paleoflora and Paleovegetation. Vol. III: Holocene. Universidad Politécnica, Cartagena.

• 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. Dataset

• 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.

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​Papers​​​​

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Under review

• Rull, V. Where were the Caribbean mangroves during the Last Glacial Maximum? A microtopographical approach. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Preprint

• Stein, R., Balascio, N.L., Bradley, R.S., Curtin, L., Peteet, D.M., Rapu, R., Rull, V., Seelenfreund, A., D’Andrea, W.J. Reduced precipitation on Rapa Nui during the decline of the moai culture. Communicatons Earth & Environment. Preprint

• Rull, V., Vicente, A., Casanovas-Vilar, I. Middle Miocene Mediterranean mangroves and potential modern analogs. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. Preprint

• Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T., Blasco, A., Garcés-Pastor, S., Blaauw, M., Calero, M.A., Rull, V. Tracing organic carbon dynamics in a Pyrenean peat bog during the Late-Glacial-Early Holocene transition. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Preprint​

2025 and in press

• Rull, V. (in press). Insights on the indicator capacity of Artemisia pollen in pre-Holocene paleoecology. Palynology. Preprint

• Rull, V. (in press). Goodbye h-index, welcome c-score. Journal of Scholarly Publishing. Preprint

• Rull, V. (in press). The role of Quaternary spatiotemporal gradients and disequilibrium dynamics in shaping the present Neotropical biotic patterns. In: Myster, R. (ed.), Neotropical ecosystem change as temporal and spatiotemporal gradients. Springer Nature, Cham. Preprint​

• Rull, V. 2025. A critical evaluation of fossil pollen records from the mangrove tree Pelliciera beyond the Neotropics: Biogeographical and evolutionary implications. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 335: 105299.

• Rull, V. 2025. The Global Humanization Event (GHE). The Holocene, 35: 111-112.​

2024

• Rull, V., Sigró, J., Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T. 2024. Cannabis pollen sources and dispersal in the Iberian Pyrenees during the last century: preliminary results and proposals for future studies. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 331, 105208.

• Rull, V. 2024. The oldest Caribbean mangroves and postglacial sea-level rise: biogeographical implications. Quaternary, 7: 38.

• 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, 51:1014-1917.

• 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.​

2023

• 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. Dataset

• 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. Dataset

• 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 Cannabis in the Iberian Peninsula: a probabilistic approach based on palynological evidence. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 58: 125704. Dataset​

2022

• 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. Dataset

• 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.​

2021

• 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. Dataset

• 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. Dataset

• 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.​

2020

• 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.