Jaume Terradas reminds Joan Puigdefàbregas, desertification expert.

Two CREAF researchers have taken part in the study, which shows that small, irregularly shaped fields on farmland boost the number and abundance of species. This is because pollinators use crop borders as highways or corridors for movement and protection. The trend of ever larger crop fields is endangering insect pollinator populations and their ability to pollinate crops

Plants' annual growing season has lengthened, exposing them to frost more often at a time when they are particularly sensitive. That can be detrimental to their activity and lead to substantial crop yield losses.

Nature establishes relationships between species and organisms, forming a very complex network where often great-interconnected nodes appear. They are called 'hubs'. But humans also create this kind of networks, such as airports as nodes and flights as connections.

To Nacho and Marc.

The fourth video of the CREAF Talks conferences is now available. Roderick Dewar, from the Australian National University, presents an approach inspired by how complex systems are modelled in physics.

CREAF and the companies Altran and Starlab have led the design of RitmeNatura.cat, a citizen observatory that encourages members of the public to ‘adopt’ a plant, record the changes it undergoes and provide data that can be used to study the effects of climate change.

Two new conferences are already available, corresponding to Mirco Migliavacca (Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Germany) and Carles Pedrós Alió (National Center of Biotechnology, CSIC, Spain). Mirco told us about the physiological and structural response of vegetation in manipulation experiments. Carles explained how climate change can affect bacteria, and what can bacteria do to climate change.

Once rehydrated, holm oaks have a large capacity for recovery thanks to their high adaptation to the Mediterranean climate. The release of organic compounds into the soil represents a considerable loss of carbon for the holm oak and also modifies the microbial community, which may lead to additional effects on the tree.

How literature, music and cinema have denounced natural disasters and abuses on the population in the name of economic interests and progress?

European products derived from satellite and in-situ data describe the status and the temporal evolution of the planet and, combined with others, will help to understand how human activities are contributing to global change. A better organized European contribution will have even bigger influence in informed decision making.