Javier Lloret

Research Scientist

Javier Lloret headshot
Contact Information
Education
Ph.D. Ecology, University of Murcia (Spain), 2012
M.S. Ecology and Hydrology, University of Murcia (Spain), 2004
B.S. Marine Sciences, University of Cadiz (Spain), 1999
MBL Affiliations
Ecosystems Center
Research Area
Ecology
Ecosystems
Global Change
Modeling
Aerial image of the Great Sippewissett Marsh in Cape Cod, MA. In this site, Lloret studies the long-term effects of experimental nutrient additions and quantifies the impacts of accelerated sea level rise.
Aerial image of the Great Sippewissett Marsh in Cape Cod, MA. In this site, Lloret studies the long-term effects of experimental nutrient additions and quantifies the impacts of accelerated sea level rise.

Dr. Javier Lloret is an ecosystem scientist with a background in marine sciences, ecology and hydrology. His research focuses on the ecology and biogeochemistry of coastal wetlands and estuaries. Elucidating controls on coastal ecosystem functioning is critical because wetlands and estuaries play disproportionally important roles in the global cycling of elements such as carbon and nitrogen. These systems also provide human societies with economically valuable services. Estuaries and wetlands are physically, chemically, and biologically complex environments that are severely impacted by human activities. Disturbances derived from the human occupation of the coast, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution by excess nutrients and other substances, fundamentally alter how estuaries and wetlands function, and threaten the provision of valuable ecosystem services. Lloret is particularly interested in how these alterations are affecting and are affected by climate change. He uses a combination of field work, laboratory, mesocosm and landscape scale experiments, innovative biogeochemical tracers, and ecosystem modeling approaches to quantify pathways, transformations, and fate of pollutants in wetland and estuarine habitats, and evaluate the effects of human disturbances. He hopes to produce research that informs management and could help design better environmental policies.

The mangroves of Trinidad and Tobago.
The mangroves of Trinidad and Tobago. Lloret studies the effects of nutrient pollution and hydrological alterations in these valuable tropical wetlands.

         

The Waquoit Bay in Cape Cod, MA.
The Waquoit Bay in Cape Cod, MA. Lloret studies the sources, distribution and effects of nutrient pollution in estuaries across New England and elsewhere.
News and Research Highlights
Javier Lloret works with
Anne Giblin Headshot
Anne Giblin
Senior Scientist and Director, The Ecosystems Center
Ecosystems Center
Selected Publications

Lloret, J., Pedrosa-Pamies, R., Vandal, N., Rorty, R., Ritchie, M., McGuire, C., Chenoweth, K., Valiela, I., 2021. Salt marsh sediments act as sinks for microplastics and reveal effects of current and historical land use changes. Environ. Adv. 4, 100060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2021.100060

Valiela, I., Lloret, J., Chenoweth, K., Elmstrom, E., Hanacek, D., 2021. Control of N concentrations in Cape Cod estuaries by nitrogen loads, season, and down-estuary transit: Assessment by conventional and effect-size statistics. Estuaries and Coasts 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-020-00869-z

Messenger, S., Lloret, J., Galloway, J.N., Giblin, A., 2021. Identifying and assessing effectiveness of alternative low-effort nitrogen footprint reductions in small research institutions. Environ. Res. Lett. 16, 035014. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd9f6

Valiela, I., Juman, R., Asmath, H., Hanacek, D., Lloret, J., Elmstrom, E., Chenoweth, K., Jack Brookshire, E.N., 2020. Water quality, nutrients, and stable isotopic signatures of particulates and vegetation in a mangrove ecosystem exposed to past anthropogenic perturbations. Reg. Stud. Mar. Sci. 35, 101208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2020.101208

Valiela, I., Elmstrom, E., Lloret, J., Stone, T., Camilli, L., 2018. Tropical land-sea couplings: Role of watershed deforestation, mangrove estuary processing, and marine inputs on N fluxes in coastal Pacific Panama. Sci. Total Environ. 630, 126–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.189

Valiela, I., Liu, D., Lloret, J., Chenoweth, K., Hanacek, D., 2018. Stable isotopic evidence of nitrogen sources and C4 metabolism driving the world’s largest macroalgal green tides in the Yellow Sea. Sci. Rep. 8, 17437. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35309-3

Valiela, I., Lloret, J., Bowyer, T., Miner, S., Remsen, D., Elmstrom, E., Cogswell, C., Robert Thieler, E., 2018. Transient coastal landscapes: Rising sea level threatens salt marshes. Sci. Total Environ. 640–641, 1148–1156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.235

Lloret, J., Valiela, I., 2016. Unprecedented decrease in deposition of nitrogen oxides over North America: the relative effects of emission controls and prevailing air-mass trajectories. Biogeochemistry 129, 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0225-5

Lloret, J., Marín, A., 2011. The contribution of benthic macrofauna to the nutrient filter in coastal lagoons. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62, 2732–2740. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.09.014

Lloret, J., Marín, A., Marín-Guirao, L., 2008. Is coastal lagoon eutrophication likely to be aggravated by global climate change? Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 78, 403–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2008.01.003