Dr. Catalina Munteanu

I analyze and model long term changes in physical and perceived landscapes to understand land use legacies and to inform sustainable conservation and management. Specifically

• I study drivers and patterns of historical landscape change
• I modelling ecological legacies
• I assess human perception of environmental change

Google Scholar Profile and ORCID Profile 

• Science for the Carpathians S4C, steering committee member, 2018-2023
• International Association for Landscape Ecology, Historical Landscape Ecology Working Group Lead (since 2025) www.landscape-ecology.org/page-18083
• IALE Europe Executive Committee Member (since 2025)
• Supervision of >10 MSc and BSc Thesis and Co-supervision and mentoring of >5PhD projects
• Future Forests Excellence Cluster, University of Freiburg, Germany, Associated Investigator

2024 Bioscience Talks: https://bioscience-talks.aibs.org/episodes/spy-satellites-for-ecology-with-catalina-munteanu-and-volker-radeloff

2024 Forum - Das Wochenmagazin: https://www.magazin-forum.de/de/naturschutz-aus-der-luft

2024 Spektrum der Wissenschaft https://www.spektrum.de/news/satellitenbilder-spionagefotos-fuer-den-naturschutz/2218716

2021 The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/science/corona-satellites-environment.html

2021 The Anthropocene: https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/11/cold-war-spy-satellites-built-to-track-nukes-now-help-monitor-trees/

2020 The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2020/12/17/cold-war-spy-satellite-images-used-track-ecological-change/

2020 Science Magazine: https://www.science.org/content/article/cold-war-satellites-inadvertently-tracked-species-declines

2020 New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2243902-cold-war-spy-satellite-images-reveal-long-term-decline-in-biodiversity/

 2020 BBC Public Radio: https://theworld.org/stories/2020/05/29/cold-war-corona-satellite-images-find-second-life-ecology-research

Meyers B, Thanopolous L, Munteanu C,  Scherer-Lorenzen M (accepted) The effect of light availability and heterogeneity on forest seed bank diversity, Oikos

Navarro L.M. Armstrong C.G. Changeux T, Frisch D, Gil-Romera G, Kaim D, McClenachan L, Munteanu C , Szabó P, Baranov V, Blanco-Garrido F, Camarero J.J , García M.B, Grace M, Izdebski A, Morueta-Holme N, Pando F, Schouten R, Spitzig A, Svenning J.C, Tribot A.S, Viana D.S, Clavero M (2025) Integrating historical sources for long-term ecological knowledge and biodiversity conservation. Nature Reviews Biodiversity https://www.nature.com/articles/s44358-025-00084-3

McClenachan L, Rick T, Thurstan RH, Trant A, Alagona PS, Alleway HK, Armstrong C, Bliege Bird R, Rubio-Cisneros NT, Clavero M, Colonese AK, Cramer K, Davis AO, Drew J, Early-Capistrán MM, Gil-Romera G, Grace M, Hatch MBA, Higgs E, Hoffman K, Jackson JBC, Jerardino A, LeFebvre MJ, Lotze HK, Mohammed RS, Morueta-Holme N, Munteanu C, Mychajliw A, Newsom B, O'Dea A, Pauly D, Szabó P, Torres J, Waldman J, West C, Xu L, Yasuoka H, zu Ermgassen PSE, Van Houtan KS (2024), Global research priorities for historical ecology to inform conservation, Endangered Species Research, 54,285-310.https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01338

Stritih A, Senf C, Kuemmerle T, Munteanu C, Dzadzamia L, Stritih J, Matijašić D, Cortner O, Seidl R (2024) Same, but different: similar states of forest structure in temperate mountain regions of Europe despite different social-ecological forest disturbance regimes. Landscape Ecology, 39(6), p.114 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-024-01908-x

Munteanu C, Kraemer BM, Hansen, H, Miguel S, Milner-Gulland EJ, Nita M, Ogashwara I, Radeloff VC, Roverelli S, Shumilova O, Storch I, Kuemmerle T (2024) -The potential of historical spy-satellite imagery to support research in ecology and conservation, BioScience 74 (3) 159–168 https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae002

Liu, X; Frey J; Munteanu, C ; Denter M; Koch, B (2024) Tree species diversity mapping from spaceborne optical images: the effects of spectral and spatial resolution. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. 10 (4) 463-479. https//doi.org/10.1002/rse2.383

Liu, X, Frey J, Munteanu C, Still N, Koch B (2023) Mapping tree species diversity in temperate montane forests using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery and topography data, Remote Sensing of Environment 292, 113576 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2023.113576

Kraemer BM, Kakouei K, Munteanu C , Thayne MW, Adrian R. (2022) Worldwide moderate-resolution mapping of lake surface chl-a reveals variable responses to global change (1997-2020). PLOS Water 1(10): e0000051 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000051

Munteanu C, Nita MD, Senf C, Oeser J, Seidl R, Kuemmerle T (2022) Identifying high conservation value forests with historical spy satellite images and modern remote sensing. Conservation Biology 36(2)e13820 doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13820

Munteanu C, Kamp J, Nita MD, Klein N, Kramer BM, Muller D, Koshkina A, Prishepov AV, Kuemmerle T (2020). Cold War spy satellite images reveal delayed declines in a keystone steppe species in response to agriculture; Proceedings of the Royal Society B; 287:20192897, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2897

Uvsh, D, Gelbach S, Potapov P, Munteanu C, Bragina E, Radeloff VC (2020) Correlates of forest-cover change in European Russia 1989-2012, Land Use Policy, 96: 104648 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104648

Munteanu C, Pidgeon A, Radeloff V C (2018): Bird conservation in the Carpathian Ecoregion in light of long-term land use trends and conservation responsibility. Biodiversity and Conservation 27(8) 2051-2068 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-018-1524-z

Nita MD, Munteanu C, Gutman G, Abrudan IV, Radeloff VC (2018) Widespread forest cutting in the aftermath of World War II captured by broad-scale historical Corona spy satellite photography, Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol 204, 322-332 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.10.021

Lieskovský J, Kaim D, Balázs P, Boltižiar M, Chmiel M, Grabska E, Király G,Konkoly-Gyuró E, Kozak J, Antalová K, Kuchma T, Mackovčin P, Mojses M, Munteanu C, Ostafin K, Ostapowicz K, Shandra O, Stych P, Radeloff VC (2018), Historical land use dataset of the Carpathian region (1819–1980), Journal of Maps 14 (2), 644-651. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2018.1502099

Munteanu C, Kuemmerle T, Boltiziar M, Halada L, Kaim D, Király G, Konkoly-Gyuró E, Kozak J, Lieskovsky J, Mojses M, Müller D, Ostafin K, Ostapowicz K, Radeloff VC (2017): 19th century land use legacies affect agricultural abandonment, Regional Environmental Change, 17 (8), 2209–2222. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-016-1097-x

Loran C, Munteanu C, Verburg P H, Schmatz D, Bürgi M, Zimmermann N (2017): Long-term change in drivers of forest cover dynamics: an analysis for Switzerland (1850-2000), Regional Environmental Change. Regional Environmental Change 17(8), 2223-2235 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-017-1148-y

Feurdean A, Munteanu C, Kuemmerle T, Nielsen AB, Hutchinson SM, Ruprecht E, Persoiu A, Parr K, Hickler T (2017) Effects of socio-political transformations on semi-natural grasslands in Transilvania (CE Europe), based on pollen and historical land survey. Regional Environmental Change. 17 (8), 2193–2207, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-016-1063-7

Butsic V, Munteanu C, Griffiths P, Knorn J, Radeloff V C, Lieskovský J, Müller D, Kuemmerle T (2016) The impact of protected areas on forest disturbance in the Carpathian Mountains 1985-2010. Conservation Biology, 31(3), 570-580. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26159569

Alix-Garcia J, Munteanu C, Zhao N, Potapov AV, Prishchepov AV, Radeloff VC, Krylov A, Bragina E (2016) Drivers of forest cover change in Eastern Europe and European Russia, 1985–2012, Land Use Policy 59, 284-297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.08.014

Munteanu C, Nita M-D, Abrudan I V., Radeloff VC (2016) Forest history is imposing strong legacies for Romanian forests and forestry, Forest Ecology and Management, 361, 179-193, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.11.023

Kaim D, Kozak J, Kolecka N, Ziółkowska E, Ostafin K, Ostapowicz K, Gimmi U, Munteanu C, Radeloff V (2016): Broad scale forest cover reconstruction from historical topographic maps. Applied Geography, 67, 39-48.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.12.003

Munteanu C, Kuemmerle T, Keuler NS, Müller D, Balázs P, Dobosz M, Griffiths P, Halada L, Kaim D, Király G, Konkoly-Gyuró E, Kozak J, Lieskovsky J, Ostafin K, Ostapowicz K, Sandra O, Radeloff VC (2015) Legacies of 19th century land use shape contemporary forest cover. Global Environmental Change, 34, 83-94.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.06.015

Griffiths P, Kuemmerle T, Baumann M, Radeloff, VC, Abrudan, IV, Lieskovsky, J, Munteanu C, Ostapowicz K, Hostert P (2014) Forest disturbances, forest recover, and changes in forest types across the Carpathian ecoregion from 1985 to 2010 based on Landsat image composites. Remote Sensing of Environment 151, 72–88 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2013.04.02

Munteanu C, Kuemmerle T, Boltiziar M, Butsic V, Gimmi U, Halada L, Kaim D, Király G, Konkoly-Gyuró E, Kozak J, Lieskovsky J, Mojses M, Müller D, Ostafin K, Ostapowicz K, Shandra O, Štych P, Walker S, Radeloff VC (2014) Forest and agricultural land change in the Carpathian region—A meta-analysis of long-term patterns and drivers of change., Land Use Policy 38, 685–697. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0264837714000131

Munteanu C, Radeloff V, Griffiths P, et al. (2017) Land change in the Carpathian Region before and after major institutional changes. In: Gutman G, Radeloff VC (eds) Land Use and Land Cover Change in Eastern Europe after the Collapse of Socialism. Springer 2016.

Borowski D, Munteanu C (2011) Biosphere Reserves in European Mountains: an Exploratory Survey. Biosphere Reserves in the Mountains of the World. MAB pp 35-40.

Munteanu C, Geitner C, Scharr K (2008) Consequences of historical and modern landuse on cultural landscapes and biodiversity of the Maramureş Mountains. In: Gaceu L (ed) Journal of EcoAgriTourism, Proceeding of the International Conference BIOATLAS 2008. Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, Brasov, pp 91–98.