A new study led by Josep Peñuelas, research professor at CREAF and the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), has shown that if we do away with fungi and bacteria which live on flowers, the quantity and composition of their perfume will be changed entirely.
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.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, showed that forests growing in fertile soils with ample nutrients are able to sequester about 30% of the carbon that they take up during photosynthesis. In contrast, forests growing in nutrient-poor soils may retain only 6% of that carbon. The rest is returned to the atmosphere as respiration.
The team of Josep Peñuelas, researcher of CREAF and lecturer of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), was selected for a Synergy Grant, the prestigious grant offered by the European Research Council to projects by research groups of renowned excellence with interest in jointly solving vanguard research problems in the field of science.
A study conducted by researchers at the CREAF and the Autonomous University of Barcelona demonstrates that many pine populations of the Iberian Peninsula are in decline. The study foresees a very unfavorable scenario for some pine species with predicted climate change, which would see the pines negatively affected by both the expansion of the holm-oak, as well as an increase in drought and fire.
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.
