Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is a critically important species throughout Europe, both ecologically and economically, and is the cornerstone of Scotland's pinewoods. At CREAF we take part in a pioneering research on how to recover from extreme droughts, led by the University of Stirling.
More than 4,400 terrestrial and freshwater species are threatened by changes in the fire regime. While many species are at risk by the increased frequency and intensity of fire, its suppression can be harmful to some life forms and ecosystems.
The incorporation into the UN scientific database of a recent indicator on the capacity to adapt to climate change promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya raises an automatic question. What does it mean to be able to adapt to the global modification of the climate that we are facing?
Climate change is making forests all over the world more vulnerable to drought, causing tree mortality episodes with serious ecological and social consequences. As yet, the traits of the vegetation replacing trees that have died as a result of drought are not known.
A new study, led by the University of Exeter with the participation of Maurizio Mencuccini, ICREA research professor in CREAF, suggests small trees adapt better to droughts and could grow into a new generation to help the rainforest survive.
The collapse of civilizations has always attracted our attention: entire books, films and thousands of legends have been dedicated to it. What makes some human populations disappear and others not? Is it related to climate crises and pandemics like the current ones?
For a long time now, scientists have been describing nature’s scents on the basis of measurements of their main ingredients, volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Emitted by plants, fungi, bacteria and all animals for communication purposes, such compounds are a form of language.
An international team -where Josep Peñuelas has participated- explores the factors that most affect plant behavior and how they can be included in predictive models to improve them. The result, published in Nature Plants wants to improve understanding of the global carbon cycle and ecosystem services and their future if forests change due to climate change.
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.
