According to a study co-led by CREAF staff published this week in the journal Nature, droughts caused by climate change could result in the death of the tallest tress in tropical forests. For the first time, the scientists have shown that after prolonged water deficit tall trees suffer embolisms in their circulatory systems and die of dehydration.
An international study with participation of CREAF has concluded that singing in higher pitches is no guarantee of success for city birds. This was after observing city-dwelling birds in around 20 cities worldwide, Barcelona being one of them. The researchers compared around 400 species and analyzed whether these were more abundant in their natural habitat or in urban areas.
According to a study in which CREAF participated, the populations of birds or butterflies living in open habitats have been negatively affected by the loss of field and scrubland habitat. Conversely, species which live in forests have been favored. These variations were related with changes in the Catalonian (and Mediterranean) landscape over the last few decades.
When I studied the subject of ecology at the University of Barcelona, about the years 1964-65 (fifty years ago!), Margalef was our teacher. Even though he was still not a university professor but the director of the Fisheries Research Institute of the CSIC (now Institute of Marine Sciences) where he concentrated his research. The ecology classes were at the building of the University Square, the practices at the Institute. There was by then only a book on ecology, by G.L.
This research initiative financed by the European Horizon 2020 program has 47 partners, including CREAF, and a budget of 15 million euros.
A new Earth Observation satellite with 10 meter resolution able to see elements that were not visible in equivalent satellites of the same kind. In moving elements, the information of the three pixels that form the three channels that form color images (red, green and blue) are seen separated and objects become visible even if are smaller than a single pixel. This could allow for opening new Research lines in the field of mobility and road transport.
El Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat (DTES) de la Generalitat de Catalunya presenta el seu catàleg de projectes de ciència ciutadana i medi ambient. BeWater i AtrapaelTigre.com són dos projectes del CREAF que formen part d'aquest aparador virtual.
According to a study in which CREAF participated, the delay of late-summer rains could change the equilibrium between males and females in these Mediterranean weevils, favoring the females. The authors have shown that male weevils are more sensitive to prolonged drought.
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.
