James Aronson is a researcher at the Center of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CNRS) in Montpellier, France, and head of the Restoration Ecology group at the Missouri Botanical Garden, USA. João S. Pereira is a professor of ecology and president of the Scientific Council of the Technical University of Lisbon. Juli G. Pausas is an ecologist of the Spanish National Research Council CIDE, CSIC). His research focuses on ecology and evolution of Mediterranean plants.