CREAF has begun 2020 with a new institutional body, the Gender Equality Committee (CIOG), which is responsible for ensuring equal opportunities in the Centre.

Through research conducted on young Scots pine trees and Diprion pini, a sawfly common to conifer forests in the Northern Hemisphere, scientists have shown, for the first time, how trees take steps to protect themselves against insect infestation even before eggs are laid on them.

PROmoting the Governance of Regional Ecosystem ServiceS (PROGRESS), funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aims to initiate a process of exchange of experiences for maintaining nature’s biodiversity, goods and services.

According to a study led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the way trees have responded to drought in the past could be a key indicator of their risk of mortality. The study examined growth rings to compare that response in dead and surviving trees.

During the second day organized by CREAF, the College of Economists and the Department of Territory on the IPBES report it became clear that the estimated cost of protecting biodiversity in Catalonia is 129 million euros per year. year. In Spain, 0.19% of GDP should be invested in the Natura 2000 network. A network that also generates 187,093 direct jobs and 401,906 indirect ones.

Yew is considered a species of interest from the point of view of conservation for its small and isolated populations. An international team led by CREAF has studied the adaptive variation of their populations, a crucial knowledge to develop correct conservation measures.

For the first time, two phenomena that occur in different seasons are connected: the high temperatures advance and extend springs, so that the vegetation grows more intensely and absorbs more moisture from the soil. The consequence is much drier and warmer summers.