Publications

Lab members in bold. Full and current list on Google Scholar.

Publications from LASO Lab and Francisco Laso: remote sensing, land-cover change and participatory mapping in the Galápagos and Ecuador.

Journal articles

• 2026 · Agricultural Systems 231, 104506
  Trajectories of farming systems reshape land use/land cover dynamics in the agricultural zones of the Galapagos Islands
  Benítez, F. L., Mena, C. F., Laso, F. J., Zapata, M. B., Rivas-Torres, G., & Gobin, A.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104506
• 2022 · Landscape Ecology
  Navigating agricultural landscapes: responses of critically endangered giant tortoises to farmland vegetation and infrastructure
  Pike, K., Blake, S., Gordon, I., Cabrera, F., Rivas-Torres, G., Laso, F. J., & Schwarzkopf, L.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01566-x
• 2020 · Remote Sensing 12(1), 65
  Land cover classification of complex agroecosystems in the non-protected highlands of the Galapagos Islands
  Laso, F. J., Benítez, F. L., Rivas-Torres, G., Sampedro, C., & Arce-Nazario, J.
  https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010065
• 2020 · Drones 4(4), 62
  Drone-based participatory mapping: examining local agricultural knowledge in the Galapagos
  Colloredo-Mansfeld, M., Laso, F. J., & Arce-Nazario, J.
  https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4040062
• 2017 · Journal of Land Use Science
  Modeling road building, deforestation and carbon emissions due to deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: the potential impact of oil frontier growth
  Mena, C. F., Laso, F. J., Martinez, P., & Sampedro, C.
  https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2017.1404648
• 2017 · Fungal Biology 121(11), 939–955
  Out of Asia: biogeography of fungal populations reveals Asian origin of diversification of the Laccaria amethystina complex, and two new species of violet Laccaria
  Vincenot, L., Popa, F., Laso, F. J., Donges, K., Rexer, K.-H., Kost, G., … Selosse, M.-A.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funbio.2017.08.001
• 2016 · Ecology
  Termites promote resistance of decomposition to spatiotemporal variability in rainfall
  Veldhuis, M. P., Laso, F. J., Olff, H., & Berg, M. P.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1658
• 2009 · Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development, Issue 2
  Challenges to the conservation of river turtles (Podocnemis spp.) in the Peruvian Amazon
  Laso, F. J.

Book chapters

• 2024 · Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Elsevier
  Animals and land cover/land use change: a remote sensing—Galapagos Islands assessment
  Walsh, S. J., Laso, F. J., & Giefer, M.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-13220-9.00004-4
• 2023 · Island Ecosystems: Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands, Springer Nature (pp. 225–243)
  Mapping narratives of agricultural land use practices in the Galapagos
  Laso, F. J., & Arce-Nazario, J.
• 2020 · Land Cover and Land Use Change on Islands, Springer Nature (pp. 137–166)
  Galapagos is a garden
  Laso, F. J.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43973-6_6
• 2020 · Land Cover and Land Use Change on Islands, Springer Nature (pp. 167–182)
  Evaluating land cover change on the island of Santa Cruz, Galapagos Archipelago of Ecuador through cloud-gap filling and multi-sensor analysis
  Shao, Y., Wan, H., Rosenman, A., Laso, F. J., & Kennedy, L. M.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43973-6_7
• 2020 · Land Cover and Land Use Change on Islands, Springer Nature (pp. 63–88)
  Social-ecological drivers of land cover/land use change on islands: a synthesis of the patterns and processes of change
  Walsh, S. J., Brewington, L., Laso, F. J., Shao, Y., Bilsborrow, R. E., Arce-Nazario, J., … Pizzitutti, F.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43973-6_3

Edited volumes

• Expected 2027 · Springer Nature, Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galápagos Islands series · under contract
  Human–Wildlife Conflicts in the Galápagos Islands
  Laso, F. J., & Giefer, M. (Eds.)

Educational materials

• 2024 · Fundación Educación para Comunidades Sostenibles
  Compendio de contenidos esenciales sobre alimentación, nutrición y soberanía alimentaria (contextualización curricular con enfoque de sostenibilidad para Galápagos)
  Klingman, A., & Laso, F. J.
• 2022 · Backward by Design Mini-Studies, WWU
  Combining backward design with narrative tools can structure complex subjects into engaging courses
  Laso, F. J.
  https://cedar.wwu.edu/wis_backwardsbydesign/31

Dissertation

• 2021 · Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Agriculture, wildlife, and conservation in the Galapagos Islands
  Laso, F. J.