Dr Nerea Gamonal is an evolutionary and environmental biologist currently serving as a researcher in the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution at the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. She earned her doctorate with a focus on how ecological interactions shape biodiversity in Mediterranean ecosystems.

Her pivotal study, conducted in the Sierra de Guadarrama, examined bee communities across two distinct habitats: a thicket and adjacent grassland. Using a combination of net-trapping, phenological monitoring, and floral profiling, Dr Gamonal and her co-author recorded 331 bee individuals representing six families, 19 genera, and 46 species. Their findings demonstrated that bee diversity is not merely a function of environmental variables—such as temperature or plant species richness—but is also significantly influenced by biological matching between pollinators and flowers.

Importantly, the research revealed that wild bees showed strong preferences for certain flowering species, notably Cistus ladanifer, Echium vulgare, and Lavandula stoechas, and that structural flower traits (e.g., corolla type) correlated with bee tongue morphology. This work contributes to broader conservation efforts by highlighting the importance of floral diversity in sustaining pollinator communities under future climate scenarios.

Dr Gamonal has been widely published in high-impact open-access journals and collaborates with colleagues across interdisciplinary platforms. She is especially dedicated to studying plant–pollinator dynamics and informing ecosystem preservation strategies in biodiversity hotspots. As an active contributor to the global environmental science community, she continues to bridge research with real-world conservation outcomes.

Dr. Nerea Gamonal’s research interests center around biodiversity conservation, pollination ecology, and ecosystem functioning within Mediterranean and temperate habitats. She is particularly focused on the intricate interactions between plants and their pollinators, examining how ecological traits—such as floral morphology, phenology, and species richness—influence pollinator behavior, community structure, and species resilience. Her work integrates field-based biodiversity monitoring with statistical modeling to explore patterns of species distribution and functional diversity across habitats under varying climatic conditions. Dr. Gamonal is deeply interested in understanding how habitat fragmentation, climate change, and anthropogenic pressures affect mutualistic networks, especially bee–flower interactions. Additionally, she explores the role of native vegetation and ecological restoration practices in supporting pollinator health and biodiversity. Her broader academic scope also includes evolutionary adaptations in insect morphology and the ecological implications of phenological mismatches. Through her research, she aims to inform conservation strategies that maintain ecological balance and protect biodiversity hotspots.