Personal profile
Biography
I completed a BSc in Biological sciences at Pontifical Catholic University (Chile) in (2007-2011). I then worked on forest regeneration after fires in a temperate rainforest in southern Chile (2012). Later, I completed my PhD at The University of Western Australia (2012-2016). My PhD focused on how root symbionts, such as mycorrhizal fungi change over ecosystem development in a biodiversity hotspot. The most interesting finding of my thesis was the role of both mycorrhizal fungi and soil-borne pathogens in plant coexistence and potential in plant diversity. Later, I joined Oregon State University as a postdoc evaluating the role of native oomycetes in structuring plant communities in a temperate forest in southern Washington. This study aimed to identify the native oomycete community, their host range, and their role in plant coexistence. I then moved back to UWA as a Research Associate to study the role of agricultural land-use on the plant symbionts arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Currently, I am working at CSIRO studying the potential uses of mycorrhizal fungi in ecosystem restoration.
Education/Academic qualification
Microbial Ecology, PhD, Changes in root symbionts during long-term soil and ecosystem development and their ecological role for the maintenance of plant diversity
20 Jul 2012 → 24 Oct 2016
Award Date: 24 Oct 2016
biological sciences, Honours, Nucleation-driven regeneration promotes post-fire recovery in a Chilean temperate forest, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
31 Mar 2003 → 31 Oct 2007
Award Date: 7 Oct 2011
External positions
Postdoctoral fellow, CSIRO - Land and Water
23 Dec 2020 → …
Industry keywords
- Environmental
- Agriculture and Food
- Bioinformatics
Research expertise keywords
- microbial ecology
- mycorrhizal fungi
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 15 Life on Land
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Pasteurisation of soil from an extremely phosphorus-impoverished habitat increases phosphorus availability and enhances the growth of Agonis flexuosa (Myrtaceae)
Zhang, Z., Migliorini, D., Albornoz, F. E., Finnegan, P. M., Ranathunge, K. & Lambers, H., Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Plant and Soil. 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A simple plant–mycorrhizal fungal resource trade co-evolution model explains mutualism stability, extinction and transitory parasitism via fitness feedback
Grasso, S. V., Ryan, M. H., Albornoz, F. E. & Renton, M., Nov 2025, In: New Phytologist. 248, 3, p. 1429-1441 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
AusAMF: The Database of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Australia
Frew, A., Powell, J. R., Heuck, M. K., Albornoz, F. E., Birnbaum, C., Dearnaley, J. D. W., Egidi, E., Finn, L., Kath, J., Koorem, K., Oja, J., Öpik, M., Vahter, T., Vasar, M., Watts-Williams, S., Zheng, Y. & Aguilar-Trigueros, C. A., Jul 2025, In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. 34, 7, 11 p., e70090.Research output: Contribution to journal › Data article › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
Changes in soil microbial assemblages, soil chemistry, and vegetation composition associated with Eucalyptus viminalis dieback
Albornoz, F. E., Prober, S. M., Steinrucken, T. V., Bissett, A., Mackinnon, M., Van Dyke, L., Taws, N., Linde, C. C. & Gooden, B., Sept 2025, In: Plant and Soil. 514, 1, p. 535-553 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Arbuscular mycorrhizal communities respond to nutrient enrichment and plant invasion in phosphorus-limited eucalypt woodlands
Albornoz, F. E., Prober, S. M., Bissett, A., Tibbett, M. & Standish, R. J., Aug 2024, In: Journal of Ecology. 112, 8, p. 1842-1855 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access13 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)
Datasets
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Data from: Native soilborne pathogens equalise differences in competitive ability between plants of contrasting nutrient-acquisition strategies
Albornoz, F. E. (Creator), Burgess, T. I. (Creator), Lambers, H. (Creator), Etchells, H. (Creator) & Laliberté, E. (Creator), DRYAD, 16 Jul 2016
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.515j4, http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.515j4
Dataset
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Plant-microbe interactions in Bossiaea linophylla (Fabaceae) are altered by competition with the cluster-rooted species Banksia attenuata (Proteaceae) in severely phosphorus-impoverished soils of southwestern Australia
Zhang, Z. (Creator), Chen, L. (Creator), Migliorini, D. (Supervisor), Albornoz Ramirez, F. (Supervisor), Finnegan, P. (Supervisor), Ranathunge, K. (Supervisor) & Lambers, H. (Supervisor), The University of Western Australia, 19 Jan 2026
DOI: 10.26182/tweb-rn43
Dataset
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Data from: Greater root phosphatase activity in nitrogen-fixing rhizobial but not actinorhizal plants with declining phosphorus availability
Png, G. K. (Creator), Turner, B. L. (Creator), Albornoz, F. E. (Creator), Hayes, P. E. (Creator), Lambers, H. (Creator) & Laliberté, E. (Creator), DRYAD, 20 Feb 2018
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.65vs3, http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.65vs3
Dataset
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Pasteurisation of soil from an extremely phosphorus-impoverished environment increases phosphorus availability and enhances the facilitative effect of cluster-rooted species on Agonis flexuosa (Myrtaceae)
Zhang, Z. (Creator), Chen, L. (Creator), Migliorini, D. (Supervisor), Albornoz Ramirez, F. (Supervisor), Finnegan, P. (Supervisor), Ranathunge, K. (Supervisor) & Lambers, H. (Creator), The University of Western Australia, 31 Jul 2026
DOI: 10.26182/03a2-jd45
Dataset
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Data from: Changes in ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition and declining diversity along a 2-million-year soil chronosequence
Albornoz, F. E. (Creator), Teste, F. P. (Creator), Lambers, H. (Creator), Bunce, M. (Creator), Murray, D. C. (Creator), White, N. E. (Creator) & Laliberté, E. (Creator), DRYAD, 29 Jul 2016
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.kt38r, http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.kt38r and one more link, https://zenodo.org/record/5026308 (show fewer)
Dataset
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Changes in Below Ground Plant Interactions During Long Term Soil & Ecosystem Development in the South Western Australian Global Biodiversity Hotspot
Lambers, H. (Investigator 01) & Albornoz, F. (Investigator 02)
Ecological Society of Australia
1/05/13 → 31/05/14
Project: Research