Lab Objectives
The Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology lab is devoted to the investigation and modelling of the factors determining species distributions in a complex and changing world
Featured Post
Wildfire seen from a drone
InForest mixed unity, composed by CTFC and CREAF, has published the first images taken by drones of the burned area from Òdena’s wildfire (Barcelona area), occurred last july which burned more than 1.200 ha. Ecoland lab and InForest are pioneers in drones use for ecology and conservation research.
Lab News
New article: Calibrating Sentinel-2 imagery with multispectral UAV derived information to quantify damages in Mediterranean rice crops caused by western Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)
Objective quantification of damages caused by conservation interest birds in the rice crops of the Ebro Delta to compensate farmers, based on satellite images and drone. An example of science applied to protected areas management. Since 2018, the Catalan Government quantifies in an objective manner the economical compensations received by rice farmers in the Ebro…
The potential of agricultural conversion to shape forest fire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes
A new study published in Ecosystems explores whether new croplands and pastures allocated across the territory facilitate fire extinction activities. The authors found that more heterogeneous agro-forest mosaics increase fire suppression effectiveness and thus final burnt area decreases In densely populated fire-prone regions, interactions between global change drivers, such as land-cover changes and climate change,…
New article: From stand to landscape: modelling post-fire regeneration and species growth
How does a forest change after a fire?In this new work published in the Ecological Modeling journal, the authors propound this question for the Mediterranean forest. They propose specific responses via simulating species regeneration and species growth in burned areas. Landscape models are comprehensive tools that allow for an understanding of landscape dynamics and a…
New article: Adapting prescribed burns to future climate change in Mediterranean landscapes
A new article published in Science of the Total Environment evaluates fire management effects on fire regime under climate change. The authors found that prescribed burning reduce high-intensity fires associated with climate change and that adaptive prescribed burning gain in cost-efficiency compared to rigid strategies Fire regimes are shifting or are expected to do so…
New article: Contrasting impacts of precipitation on Mediterranean birds and butterfies
A new article led by Sergi Herrando (Catalan Institute of Ornithology and CREAF) examines the role played by temperature and precipitation preferences in determining population trends for birds and butterflies in a Mediterranean area, concluding that water availability is likely an important driver of animal population change in the Mediterranean region, with highly contrasting impacts…
New PhD in town: Núria Aquilué, Models and the management of forest landscapes under global changes
In this thesis, Núria Aquilué presents two simulation modelling approaches to characterise forest ecosystems to then evaluate landscape-scale forest management strategies to be applied in an uncertain global change context. All the proposed strategies seek at enhancing resilience of forest landscapes to shifting disturbances regimes. She applies each of these two modelling approaches to two distinct highly managed forest regions.
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