Group of Conservation of Soils and Water
RESEARCH LINE 1: Impact of climate change and land use change on hydro-geomorphological processes and biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients in natural and agricultural Mediterranean ecosystems.
Scientific Objectives
1.1) To evaluate the impact of climate change and land use change on hydro-geomorphological processes, soil degradation, soil quality, carbon sequestration, and on the stabilization of soil organic matter.
1.2) To determine the role of soil erosion in the carbon cycle at different spatial and temporal scales.
RESEARCH LINE 2: Sustainable land management of agricultural and natural Mediterranean ecosystems for the adaptation and mitigation of global change
Scientific Objectives:
2.1) To identify and evaluate sustainable land management strategies and practices to promote the integrated management of natural resources and the resilience of Mediterranean ecosystems to global change.
2.2) To analyse socio-ecological and political systems for the transfer of knowledge and the implementation of sustainable land management in Mediterranean socio-ecosystems.
RESEARCH LINE 3: Soil restoration and vegetation cover in Mediterranean ecosystems.
Scientific Objectives:
3.1) To investigate the response of natural plant communities to climate change and the co-limitation of primary productivity by water and nutrients in semi-arid ecosystems.
3.2) To define ecological management and restoration practices for degraded areas with the aim to improve ecosystem services, focussing on the regulation of water cycles, erosion control, soil fertility and carbon sequestration, and the maintenance and recovery of biodiversity.