32 results match your criteria: "Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF)[Affiliation]"
Nat Commun
October 2024
Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Late spring frosts, occurring after spring phenological events, pose a dire threat to tree growth and forest productivity. With climate warming, earlier spring phenological events have become increasingly common and led to plants experiencing more frequent and severe frost damage. However, the effect of late spring frosts after leaf-out on subsequent flowering phenology in woody species remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Biol
June 2024
Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), CSIC-CMCNB, Barcelona 08038 Catalonia, Spain. Electronic address:
Migratory insects may move in large numbers, even surpassing migratory vertebrates in biomass. Long-distance migratory insects complete annual cycles through multiple generations, with each generation's reproductive success linked to the resources available at different breeding grounds. Climatic anomalies in these grounds are presumed to trigger rapid population outbreaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmbio
August 2024
European Forest Institute, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7, 53113, Bonn, Germany.
The world is currently facing uncertainty caused by environmental, social, and economic changes and by political shocks. Fostering social-ecological resilience by enhancing forests' ability to provide a range of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, habitat provision, and sustainable livelihoods, is key to addressing such uncertainty. However, policy makers and managers currently lack a clear understanding of how to operationalise the shaping of resilience through the combined challenges of climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and changes in societal demand.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 2024
The Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
The Tibetan Plateau, recognized as Earth's third pole and among the most responsive regions to climate shifts, profoundly influences regional and even global hydrological processes. Here, we discerned a significant weakening in the influence of temperature on the initiation of surface freeze-thaw cycle (the Start of Thawing, SOT), which can be ascribed to a multitude of climatic variables, with radiation emerging as the most pivotal factor. Additionally, we showed that the diminishing impact of warming on SOT yields amplified soil moisture within the root zone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2024
Urat Desert-grassland Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Proc Biol Sci
February 2023
Instituto Universitario de Investigación Marina (INMAR), Departamento de Biología, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus Río San Pedro, 11510 Puerto Real, Spain.
In structured populations, persistence under environmental change may be particularly threatened when abiotic factors simultaneously negatively affect survival and reproduction of several life cycle stages, as opposed to a single stage. Such effects can then be exacerbated when species interactions generate reciprocal feedbacks between the demographic rates of the different species. Despite the importance of such demographic feedbacks, forecasts that account for them are limited as individual-based data on interacting species are perceived to be essential for such mechanistic forecasting-but are rarely available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals (Basel)
November 2022
Forest Sciences and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), Carretera de Sant Llorenç¸ de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain.
is a North African amphibian that was introduced in southern France early the 20th century and has spread south and north along the Mediterranean coastal plains up to 170 km. In order to disentangle the conservation implications of the spread of for sensitive native species, we examined the impact of long-term climate warming on the basis of niche overlap analysis, taking into account abiotic factors. The study area covered the distribution ranges of all genus species in northwestern Africa (659,784 km), Sicily (27,711 km), the Iberian Peninsula, and southern France (699,546 km).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Physiol
November 2021
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
As individual animals are exposed to varying environmental conditions, phenotypic plasticity will occur in a vast array of physiological traits. For example, shifts in factors such as temperature and oxygen availability can affect the energy demand, cardiovascular system, and neuromuscular function of animals that in turn impact individual behavior. Here, we argue that nonlinear changes in the physiological traits and performance of animals across environmental gradients-known as physiological performance curves-may have wide-ranging effects on the behavior of individual social group members and the functioning of animal social groups as a whole.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
October 2021
Geosciences Barcelona (Geo3BCN-CSIC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Lluís Solé i Sabarís s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Humans have made such dramatic and permanent changes to Earth's landscapes that much of it is now substantially and irreversibly altered from its preanthropogenic state. Remote islands, until recently isolated from humans, offer insights into how these landscapes evolved in response to human-induced perturbations. However, little is known about when and how remote systems were colonized because archaeological data and historical records are scarce and incomplete.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew Phytol
December 2021
Chair of Ecosystem Physiology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, 79110, Germany.
The effect of drought on the interplay of processes controlling carbon partitioning into plant primary and secondary metabolisms, such as respiratory CO release and volatile organic compound (VOC) biosynthesis, is not fully understood. To elucidate the effect of drought on the fate of cellular C sources into VOCs vs CO , we conducted tracer experiments with CO and position-specific C-labelled pyruvate, a key metabolite between primary and secondary metabolisms, in Scots pine seedlings. We determined the stable carbon isotope composition of leaf exchanged CO and VOC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Plant Sci
July 2021
UFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Hydrosystems, Leipzig, Germany.
Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and saprotrophic fungi interact in the breakdown of organic matter, but the mechanisms underlying the EcM role on organic matter decomposition are not totally clear. We hypothesized that the ecological relations between EcM and saprotroph fungi are modulated by resources availability and accessibility, determining decomposition rates. We manipulated the amount of leaf litter inputs (No-Litter, Control Litter, Doubled Litter) on Trenched (root exclusion) and Non-Trenched plots (with roots) in a temperate deciduous forest of EcM-associated trees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Ecol Evol
October 2021
Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany; Division of Integrative Fisheries Management, Department of Crop and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philippstrasse 13, Haus 7, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
We outline key mechanisms by which fishing can change the shoaling tendency and collective behaviour of exploited species - an issue that is rarely considered and poorly understood. We highlight potential consequences for fish populations and food webs, and discuss possible repercussions for fisheries and conservation strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Manage
October 2019
Joint Research Unit CTFC - AGROTECNIO, Solsona E, 25280, Spain; Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallès E, 08193, Spain; Department of Agriculture and Forest Engineering (EAGROF), University of Lleida, Lleida E, 25198, Spain.
Understanding ecosystem vulnerability is essential in risk management to anticipate disasters. While valuable efforts have been made to characterize vulnerability components (exposure, sensitivity, and response capacity) at particular ecosystem stages, there is still a lack of context-specific studies accounting for the temporal dimension of vulnerability. In this study, we developed a procedure to identify the main natural dynamics of monospecific and mixed forests and to assess the variations of sensitivity and response capacity to fire along successional dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
May 2017
Division of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, Technical University of Braunschweig, Mendelssohnsstr. 4, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
Anuran amphibians undergo major morphological transitions during development, but the contribution of their markedly different life-history phases to macroevolution has rarely been analysed. Here we generate testable predictions for coupling versus uncoupling of phenotypic evolution of tadpole and adult life-history phases, and for the underlying expression of genes related to morphological feature formation. We test these predictions by combining evidence from gene expression in two distantly related frogs, Xenopus laevis and Mantidactylus betsileanus, with patterns of morphological evolution in the entire radiation of Madagascan mantellid frogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Pollut
August 2017
Air Pollution Division, CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense 22 (edif. 70), Madrid 28040, Spain.
Mediterranean Basin ecosystems, their unique biodiversity, and the key services they provide are currently at risk due to air pollution and climate change, yet only a limited number of isolated and geographically-restricted studies have addressed this topic, often with contrasting results. Particularities of air pollution in this region include high O levels due to high air temperatures and solar radiation, the stability of air masses, and dominance of dry over wet nitrogen deposition. Moreover, the unique abiotic and biotic factors (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
November 2016
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Global Ecology Unit, Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF)-CSIC-Campus de Bellaterra, Bellaterra 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
In evergreen conifers, where the foliage amount changes little with season, accurate detection of the underlying "photosynthetic phenology" from satellite remote sensing has been difficult, presenting challenges for global models of ecosystem carbon uptake. Here, we report a close correspondence between seasonally changing foliar pigment levels, expressed as chlorophyll/carotenoid ratios, and evergreen photosynthetic activity, leading to a "chlorophyll/carotenoid index" (CCI) that tracks evergreen photosynthesis at multiple spatial scales. When calculated from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite sensor, the CCI closely follows the seasonal patterns of daily gross primary productivity of evergreen conifer stands measured by eddy covariance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScience
October 2016
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Richmond NSW 2753, Australia. Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.
The biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, showing that continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
April 2016
Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.
Science
June 2015
China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China. Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, Universitetsparken 15, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
The evolution of eusociality is one of the major transitions in evolution, but the underlying genomic changes are unknown. We compared the genomes of 10 bee species that vary in social complexity, representing multiple independent transitions in social evolution, and report three major findings. First, many important genes show evidence of neutral evolution as a consequence of relaxed selection with increasing social complexity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
February 2014
Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF)/Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Catalonia, Spain.
Environ Manage
October 2013
Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), 08193, Bellaterra, Spain,
Land use and land cover change (LUCC) is an acknowledged cause of the current biodiversity crisis, but the link between LUCC and biodiversity conservation remains largely unknown at the regional scale, especially due to the traditional lack of consistent biodiversity data. We provide a methodological approach for assessing this link through defining a set of major pressures on biodiversity from LUCC and evaluating their extent, distribution, and association with a set of physical factors. The study was performed in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (MRB, NE of Spain) between 1956 and 2000.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
September 2012
Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
Surface water chemistry has changed in response to reduced atmospheric deposition of sulphur and acidity in many regions of Europe and North America. Most of these studies come from acidic or low-alkalinity surface waters under high acidic deposition. Mediterranean climates offer a different biogeochemical context, characterised by streamwaters of higher alkalinity and low acid inputs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFunct Plant Biol
April 2011
Department of Crop Systems, Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, viale dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy.
In this study, we investigated the potential of the photochemical resistance index (PRI) to track photosynthetic activity under water stress conditions by measuring PRI, leaf fluorescence, the xanthophyll cycle and photosynthetic activity in different forest tree species subjected to progressive drought. The PRI declined with pre-dawn water potential and a significant relationship between PRI and the xanthophyll de-epoxidation state (DEPS) was observed, although with large interspecific variability in the sensitivity of PRI to changes in DEPS. For single tree species, a strong relationship was observed on either PRI light saturated photosynthesis or PRI maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (ΔF/Fm'); a larger variability in both relationships was apparent when data from different species were pooled together.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWaste Manag
March 2011
Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Facultat de Ciències i Biociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Spain.
Composting is a waste management technology that is becoming more widespread as a response to the increasing production of sewage sludge and the pressure for its reuse in soil. In this study, different bioassays (plant germination, earthworm survival, biomass and reproduction, and collembolan survival and reproduction) were assessed for their usefulness in the compost quality assessment. Compost samples, from two different composting plants, were taken along the composting process, which were characterized and submitted to bioassays (plant germination and collembolan and earthworm performance).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScience
May 2009
Global Ecology Unit, Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF-CEAB-CSIC), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain.