Dr. Catarina Siopa – Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology

Curriculum vitae

Since 01/2025	Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer, Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg
10/2024 – 12/2024	Researcher at the Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Portugal
01/2020 – 09/2024	PhD student, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Portugal, with an FCT research grant (48 + 6 months). Title of dissertation:”Animal-pollinated crops: drivers and trends of pollinators and pollination in agricultural landscapes”. Betreuende: Sílvia Castro & João Loureiro
10/2023 – 12/2023	Guest researcher, INBIOMA, National University of Comahue, Argentina
05/2022 – 07/2022	Guest researcher, Federal University of Goiás, Brazil, Luísa Carvalheiro research group
12/2018 – 12/2019	Research associate, InovKiwi Project, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Portugal
09/2016 – 07/2018	Master of Science in Ecology, Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Title of master’s thesis: “The role of selfing in the establishment of neotetraploid lineages of Jasione maritima“
06/2016 – 08/2016	Internship, Serra da Lousã Ecological Park, Portugal
09/2012 – 07/2016	Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Research

My research focuses on the interactions between plants and pollinators and their importance for plant and food production. I am therefore also interested in how human activities affect pollinator communities and how we can protect and promote pollinators in agricultural systems.

During my PhD, I was the lead researcher for PolLimCrop, where we collected a comprehensive dataset on global pollination deficits in crops. I also compiled an updated summary of crop dependence on pollinators. In recent years, I have worked with various crops such as kiwi, sunflower, sweet cherry, apple and almond, investigating their pollinator visitors, plant-related factors and their impact on pollination (such as compatibility and floral biology aspects), as well as the influence of field and landscape management on pollinator visits and production.

Teaching

Publications

Siopa, C., Loureiro, J., Gaspar, H., Lopes, S. & Castro, S. (2026): Flowering synchrony and cultivar compatibility as key factors for optimising sweet cherry pollination and production. Annals of Applied Biology 188: 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.70044
Eeraerts, M., Siopa, C., Osterman, W., Osterman, J., Chabert, S. & Verheyen, K. (2025): The Global Contribution of Wild Insect and Honeybee Visitation to Crop Pollination Success Is Asymptotic. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34: e70088. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70088
Lanuza, J. B., Knight, T. M., Montes‐Perez, N., Glenny, W., Acuña, P., Albrecht, M., …, Siopa. C., … & Bartomeus, I. (2025): EuPPollNet: a European database of plant‐pollinator networks. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34: e70000. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70000
Osterman, J., Mateos-Fierro, Z., Siopa, C., Castro, H., Castro, S., & Eeraerts, M. (2024): The impact of pollination requirements, pollinators, landscape and management practices on pollination in sweet and sour cherry: a systematic review. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 374: 109163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109163
Loureiro, J., Afonso, A., Caetano, C., Castro, H., Castro, M., Castro, S., … & Siopa, C. (2024): The Annual Meeting of the ECOFLOR goes out of the borders of Spain for the first time. Ecosistemas 33: 2799. https://doi.org/10.7818/ECOS.2799
Siopa, C., Carvalheiro, L. G., Castro, H., Loureiro, J. & Castro, S. (2024): Animal‐pollinated crops and cultivars—A quantitative assessment of pollinator dependence values and evaluation of methodological approaches. Journal of Applied Ecology 61: 1279–1288. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14634
Siopa, C., Castro, H., Loureiro, J. & Castro, S. (2023): PolLimCrop, a global dataset of pollen limitation in crops. Scientific Data 10: 905. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02797-6
Ferreira, M., Lopes, B., Granado, A., Siopa, C., Gaspar, H., Castro, H., … & Loureiro, J. (2023): Video abstract production guide. Frontiers in Communication 8: 1060567. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1060567
Gaspar, H., Wood, T. J., Siopa, C., Tavares, D., Loureiro, J. & Castro, S. (2023): New contributions to the Portuguese bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Anthophila), with captures from recent pollination ecology studies. Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (SEA) 72: 199–211.
Mota, L., Hevia, V., Rad, C., Alves, J., Silva, A., González, J. A., …, Siopa, C., … & Castro, S. (2022): Flower strips and remnant semi‐natural vegetation have different impacts on pollination and productivity of sunflower crops. Journal of Applied Ecology 59: 2386–2397. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14241
Gaspar, H., Loureiro, J., Castro, H., Siopa, C., Castro, M., Casais, V. & Castro, S. (2022): Impact of local practices and landscape on the diversity and abundance of pollinators in an insect-dependent crop. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 326: 107804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107804
Gaspar, H., Wood, T. J., Siopa, C., Lopes, S., Loureiro, J. & Castro, S. (2022): New regional contributions to the knowledge of the Portuguese bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Anthophila). Boletín de La Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (SEA) 71: 54–62.
Castro, H., Siopa, C., Casais, V., Castro, M., Loureiro, J., Gaspar, H. & Castro, S. (2021): Pollination as a key management tool in crop production: Kiwifruit orchards as a study case. Scientia Horticulturae 290: 110533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110533
Castro, H., Siopa, C., Casais, V., Castro, M., Loureiro, J., Gaspar, H., … & Castro, S. (2021): Spatiotemporal variation in pollination deficits in an insect-pollinated dioecious crop. Plants 10: 1273. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10071273
Siopa, C., Dias, M. C., Castro, M., Loureiro, J. & Castro, S. (2020): Is selfing a reproductive assurance promoting polyploid establishment? Reduced fitness, leaky self‐incompatibility and lower inbreeding depression in neotetraploids. American Journal of Botany 107: 526–538. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1441
Castro, M., Loureiro, J., Serrano, M., Tavares, D., Husband, B. C., Siopa, C. & Castro, S. (2019): Mosaic distribution of cytotypes in a mixed-ploidy plant species, Jasione montana: nested environmental niches but low geographical overlap. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 190: 51–66. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boz007