Human-induced increase in nitrogen deposition profoundly alters nitrogen (N) cycling globally. Yet, the ultimate fate of nitrogen deposition on forest ecosystems isn’t fully understood. Rossella Guerrieri, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow in CREAF sheds light on the overlooked leaf microbial transformations of nitrogen deposition and its contribution to N cycling.
Aude Valade, CREAF researcher, and the international team behind the study published in Nature recommends that forests be managed with a view to preserving the ecological, social and cultural ecosystem services they provide, rather than to cooling the planet as envisaged in the Paris Agreement.
A study led by CREAF researcher Judit Lecina Díaz has mapped Spain's carbon and biodiversity hotspots, which are located in the Pyrenees and their foothills, Madrid, Cuenca, La Rioja and Andalusia, and along the coast of the Cantabrian Sea.
Trees that have grown in highly suitable climatic conditions are less capable of dealing with extreme droughts, according to a study that underlines the importance of taking a forest's history into consideration when deciding how best to conserve and manage it.
Coordinated by CREAF and comprising more than 50 European organizations, NEMOR has produced a document seeking the European Commission's recognition of mountains as a unique setting for activities such as testing related to the effects of climate change, reversing depopulation and promoting new circular economy projects.
The final conclusions of the LIFE MEDACC project, conducted by the Catalan Office for Climate Change (OCCC) of the Ministry of Territory and Sustainability, CREAF, IPE-CSIC and IRTA, draw attention to the need to adapt forest, agriculture and water management strategies to the new arid conditions expected as a result of climate change. Since 1973, the water flow at the headwaters of the Muga and Ter rivers has dropped by almost half, and the volume of the middle and lower sections of the Segre has decreased by as much as 60%.
A new video of CREAF Talks conferences is now available. Scott Ollinger, from University of New Hampshire, USA, talks about basic relations among foliar N and CO2 assimilation in forests, relationships between N concentrations and a suite of functionally convergent plant traits that influence canopy reflectance, and implications for broad-scale N mapping and ecosystem—climate interactions.
The increase in drought episodes and the lack of water in the soil have favored Mediterranean species. At the same time, conifers are losing ground because they are less adapted to droughts. These trends correspond to the period of 1987 to 2012 and have been confirmed through satellite remote sensing images.
A study led by CREAF shows that decreases in pollutant deposition and the increase in atmospheric CO2 have stimulated photosynthesis and carbon sequestration in forests. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how carbon circulates in the atmosphere, in living organisms, oceans, and soils in order to anticipate the effects of climate change.
Rossella Guerrieri has a PhD in Forestry and Environmental Sciences and has been a post-doc at CREAF since 2016. Her projects are related to the natural cycles of forests and she is a strong advocate of the social impacts of science.
A new study has concluded that, universally, trees that have died from drought are unable to transport water to their leaves. The findings also highlight trees that have drained their carbon reserves since they are not able to carry out photosynthesis. The results of the study will permit the creation of more precise models for predicting the effects of climatic changes on vegetation.
Enrique Doblas is part of a European interest group on climate change adaptation in the forestry sector. CREAF’s knowledge and innovations will be taken into account when planning solutions to fight climate change.
The forth post of Francisco Lloret's section Festina Lente. In this one he explains different dimensions of combining forest management with biodiversity conservation.
What is the future that the Mediterranean forests expect? Climate change is already strongly felt and its impacts reach everywhere. Francisco Lloret tells the current situation and how we will have to prepare ourselves and forests to the coming changes .
The European project MENFRI was coordinated by CREAF and came to an end in 2016. Its novel approach, centering on cooperation and knowledge transfer, has opened the door to new opportunities, The NODE being one of them.
The use of the term 'resilience' has been extended. But success entails risks. When dealing with complex concepts encapsulated in a word, the risk translates into confusion. It is therefore worth entertaining the passage and meditate for a while.
The NODE will be officially launched on 16th November 2016 at the European Parliament in Brussels, within the conference Jobs, Development, Social Inclusion and Climate Change Migration in the Mediterranean: The transformative power of the Forestry and Environmental sector.
In this new post, Jaume Terradas thinks about what nature has meant for human since the dawn of our species, and how the accumulation of people in cities leads us to be away from nature.
The forest treeline shifts upward slower than temperature increase, and it can be hindered by densification of shrubs. A number of factors influence upward forest expansion, including the particular plant species growing near trees, climate change, human activity, and terrain morphology. The Tibetan Plateau, practically devoid of human pressures, offers a pristine area for study
A study by CTFC and CREAF scientists has led to the development of a mathematical model which predicts drought stress in forests. The research shows that forest drought stress depends on climatic conditions as well as vegetation and soil characteristics.
CREAF has participated in an international study which has estimated the total biomass production of all planetary ecosystems. These data can be used to improve accounting of the global supply of natural resources and plan strategies for boosting the sequestration of atmospheric carbon.
Leaf unfolding occurred on average about 4 days earlier every one degree increase in spring temperature between 1980 and 1994, whereas this value dropped to -2.3 days C-1 between 1999 and 2013, a decrease of over 40%. According to this study recently published in the jorunal Nature with the participaction of Josep Peñuelas, researcher from CSIC at CREAF, warmer winters and photoperiod are forcing plants to control their phenology calendars.
A CEED (Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions) Research Fellow has been recently awarded one of the five Victorian Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. He will travell to Spain to study the threat of fires to biodiversity at the CTFC (Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia) and CREAF (Centre of Ecological Research and Forestry Applications).
InForest mixed unity, composed by CTFC and CREAF, has published the first images taken by drones of the burned area from Òdena's wildfire (Barcelona area), occurred last july which burned more than 1.200 ha. InForest is pioneer in drones use for ecology and conservation research.
Thee ability of forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere depends on nutrients available in the forest soils, shows new research from an international team of researchers,
A study carried out by scientists at the CREAF and the CSIC has shown that the reflectance PRI index allows for the quantification of gasses emitted by plants in order to communicate or in situations of stress. This index is calculated by measuring the light that vegetation reflects with the help of photosensors on planes or with satellite images.
Nightime temperatures on the planet have increased 1.4 times faster than daytime temperatures. This asymmetry alters carbon fluxes and plant growth in the northern hemisphere, according to a study in which the CREAF is participating.
A new model of landscape evolution, developed by a group of Catalan and Canadian researchers, identifies that the ability to extinguish fire is essential in the explanation of the fire patterns in Catalan territory. The model also shows that, if current climate trends continue, the burned area could increase by more than 60% in the next 20 years.
Enrique Doblas and Jordi Vayreda, researchers at the CREAF, will begin the MENFRI project (Mediterranean Network of Forestry Research and Innovation) in December, a European forest management project funded by the call FP7 – INCO.
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