Etiqueta: Josep Peñuelas

News

Climate change is already threatening the Mediterranean ecosystems of Catalonia

19 de July 2017Albert Naya i Díaz

An extensive review of studies and databases reveals that drought and an increase in temperature are already causing species substitutions, greater aridity, higher forest fire risk, lower soil fertility, and lower water availability, among other negative impacts.

News

Achieving the COP21 agreements is currently far-fetched

9 de June 2017Albert Naya i Díaz

The COP21 set the maximum temperature increase for 2100 at 1.5° C. The only scenario which would allow achievement of this goal would require vastly reducing human CO2 emissions, significantly increasing the prominence of renewable energies, and the use of some type of artificial carbon sequestration technology.

News

Plants absorb pharmaceuticals and personal-care products carried by irrigation water

18 de May 2017CREAF

Pharmaceutical and personal-care products for human and animal use are increasingly released into the environment. 

News

Plausible rice yield losses under future climate warming

3 de April 2017CREAF

Josep Peñuelas leads a study which suggests that rice yield will be more senstive to climate warming. Adaptatation polices to climate change are urgently needed to reduce its effect on rice yield.

News

Phosphorus, once only a nutrient, has become a contaminant on a global scale

17 de March 2017Albert Naya i Díaz

Freshwater ecosystems near densely populated areas have levels of phosphorus which are very high and out of balance with nitrogen levels. This has resulted in altered ecosystem functioning, lower water quality, and has made water conservation more difficult.

News

Remote sensing of leaf pigments will improve climate change models

7 de February 2017Albert Naya i Díaz

An international team of researchers co-led by Josep Peñuelas (CSIC and CREAF) has developed a new method for monitoring changes in the photosynthetic activity of perennial conifers throughout the year. This new technique, based on the analysis of remote sensing images captured by satellites, will improve global models of atmospheric carbon capture and permit more precise predictions about climate change.

News

The loss of soil carbon can accelerate climate change

1 de December 2016Albert Naya i Díaz

The journal Nature has today published a study which had the participation of CSIC scientists at CREAF, Marc Estiarte and Josep Peñuelas, which demonstrates the relationship between the release of carbon from soils and the acceleration of climate change.

News

Josep Peñuelas receives an Honoris Causa from the University of Estonia

4 de October 2016Verónica Couto Antelo

CSIC and CREAF researcher Josep Peñuelas has received an honorary doctorate degree from the Estonian University of Life Sciences for his studies on global change. The university council considers his studies as excellent, and also values his international collaboration with Estonian researchers. The presentation of the award took place on September 23rd in the city of Tartu.

Knowledge

Peñuelas, awarded with Margalef Prize

21 de July 2016Jaume Terradas

In the prizes to the trajectory of a scientist, people say , the hardest is to begin, because after the first award, the winner can be pretty sure that others will come. Maybe, but there are different categories of prizes. Josep Peñuelas is starting to get the big ones, those that he deserves by his contributions to ecology, his dedication and his ability to empathize in order to establish fruitful relationships with scientists all around the world.

News

The treeline in Tibet increases slower than temperatures

27 de April 2016Albert Naya i Díaz

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 

News

The world has become greener over the past 33 years

26 de April 2016CREAF

Since 1982, Earth has become greener in an area covering 36 million km2, close to two times the size of the United States. Above all, this seems to be the result of a fertilizing effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on plants. The study was carried out with satellite images which can capture this increase in terrestrial leaf area.

News

CO2 absorption in European ecosystems depends on two major climatic phenomena

18 de January 2016Albert Naya i Díaz

The worst scenario occurs when NAO and EA are in opposite phases. This ocurred in the first few years of the previous decade and during this period, the CO2 uptake was below average. Recently, NAO and EA were in the same phase and ecosystems have been able to remove more carbon from the atmosphere.

News

Wood and leaf densities explain how forests function across the globe

24 de December 2015Albert Naya i Díaz

Understanding ecosystem dynamics can lead to greater benefits in forest management, species conservation, and carbon sequestration. A new study puts forward results which can be generalized for the whole globe and to 53,000 tree species thanks to the large quantity of data gathered and analyzed.

News

Agriculture and forestry increase the production world ecosystem biomass by 15%

6 de October 2015Marina Torres Gibert

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.

News

The response of leaf unfolding phenology to climate warming has significantly reduced in Central Europe

23 de September 2015CREAF

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.

News

Flowers pollinized by insects are more fragrant than those pollinized by the wind

1 de July 2015Marina Torres Gibert

A study published in the journal Biochemical Systematics and Ecologyand carried out by a team of CREAF researchers has shown that pollination by insects increases emissions of the molecules that give flowers their odors. Flower fragrances are needed to attract insects and guarantee the exchange of pollen with other flowers.  

News

Increased daytime temperatures is causing earlier leaf emergence

29 de April 2015Marina Torres Gibert

A study led by a CREAF-CSIC researcher has outlined a new methodology for describing changes in the life cycle of plants caused by planetary warmingwith higher precision. Daytime, rather than nocturnal temperatures determine phenological changes. The increase in temperatures, leading to an earlier spring, alters the global functioning of ecosystems.

News

The youngest ecosystems are those most sensitive to climate change

24 de March 2015Marina Torres Gibert

CREAF participated in a study which proposes that in order to understand the full impact of climate change, it is not enough to study just protected natural areas, which are mature and able to handle change; instead, it is important to focus on the study of those ecosystems which have been altered and are still recovering.

News

Scientists identify the 13 most important research challenges to face global change in the Mediterranean region

3 de February 2015J.Luis Ordóñez

Scientists consider it key to understand why droughts kill so many trees and the influence of local forest histories on tree mortality. They also warn that we know very little about the joined effects of different disturbances on each ecosystem, and highlight the necessity to plan research projects covering more time and space. 

News

Close to 50% of phosphorus emitted to the atmosphere is a result of human activities

15 de December 2014Anna Ramon Revilla

According to the study in which CREAF participated, China contributes 43% of this amount. For decades it had been thought that human activities were responsible for only around 5% of atmospherically-circulating phosphorus. More phosphorus in the air means more phosphors deposited on the ground. This can boost plant growth and the capacity to sequester atmospheric CO2; for that reason human activities may be altering the phosphorus and carbon cycles to a degree which was previously unknown

News

What will the future smell like?

22 de July 2014Anna Ramon Revilla

Researchers from CREAF, CSIC, and the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of Estonia have found that flowers are becoming more fragrant as the global mean temperature rises. In addition, intense heat provokes changes in the composition of floral aromas, transforming the odors of natural areas. This could lead to pollinizers mistaking the identity of flowers, especially specialist species whose flower visits are guided by their own innate olfactory preferences.

News

Nutrient-rich forests absorb more carbon

7 de April 2014Anna Ramon Revilla

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,

News

Nightime global warming limites CO2 uptake by boreal flora

5 de September 2013Anna Ramon Revilla

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.

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