ORCID 
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GitHub Long-term change & paleolimnology
Using lake sediments to reconstruct how climate and people have reshaped island and Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems over centuries to millennia.
MIGUEL G. MATIAS · MNCN–CSIC
How freshwater ecosystems change.
Freshwater ecology, macroecology and paleolimnology. I combine lake-sediment records, large-scale models and replicated experiments to understand how freshwater biodiversity responds to environmental change — over centuries and across continents.
Científico Titular (Senior Researcher) · Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid
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01 / RESEARCH
From local communities
to broad ecological patterns.
Freshwater macroecology & distribution modelling
Modelling where aquatic species occur, and why, from river basins to continents — with hierarchical approaches built for the structure of freshwater networks.
Food webs & trophic structure
Understanding how trophic structure responds to environmental gradients, using trait-based, eDNA and network approaches to predict food webs where they cannot be observed directly.
Experimental macroecology
Scaling experiments up to the scales of biogeography: coordinated, replicated experiments across climatic regions to test macroecological predictions.
RESEARCH IN FOCUS / ISLAND LAKES
[TODO: Miguel — Azores feature heading]
Reconstructing climatic and human impacts on Azorean lake ecosystems through lake-sediment records.
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Consistent diversity loss but divergent functional responses of freshwater biofilms to salinity and nutrient enrichment across climatic regions
↗2026 · PreprintChronic warming, not heatwaves, predicts tropical fish colonization in the Mediterranean
↗2026 · PreprintHumans simplified trophic structures in island lake ecosystems
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Explore 10 graphical abstracts
From ORCID ↗ · Updated 2 November 2026
03 / ABOUT
Background and people.
Career, editorial work and CV.
LET’S CONNECT
Start a conversation.
Email: [TODO: Miguel — confirm address; DECISION: institutional CSIC address (recommended) vs miguelmatias@gmail.com]
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)
C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
[TODO: Miguel — confirm the department/building line]
[TODO: Miguel — add Bluesky/LinkedIn if wanted]