Lines of research

Rural abandonment and associated land-use changes

In RESTECOL we investigate the relationship between the population loss in rural areas and changes in provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, as well as the reverse effect, that is, the effect of restoration of abandoned rural cores on provisioning, regulating and supporting cultural services, biodiversity and biotic interactions.

In addition, we investigate the serious problem of pasture recession in the Pyrenees and the restoration of degraded soils due to rural abandonment, and the process of renaturalization in Aragonese municipalities along an aridity gradient.

RENURSE

Effect of the Restoration of Abandoned Rural villages on Ecosystem Services: towards a sustainable ecological transition of the rural environment. The project analyzes the effects of the restoration of abandoned villages on biodiversity and ecosystems in three rural mountain areas of Huesca, Navarra and Guadalajara. Project website here.

ARBIO 

Study of the effects of Rural Abandonment on multitrophic BIOdiversity and ecological processes in Mediterranean ecosystems.  We work in 40 municipalities of Aragon in which the abandonment of agricultural practices and renaturalization processes in depopulated municipalities are evaluated. The same study area of this project addresses the ARREA project: Effect of ARidity on the Renaturalization of Rural Ecosystems after their abandonment. More information on the ARBIO project here. 

Clearing of pastures in the Pyrenees. Rural Development Plan (PDR, in Spanish)

The decline in grazing activity has led to the encroachment of forests and shrubland. In response, we are engaged in clearing operations and assess the impacts one carbon storaged and the production of blue water (water that flows through rivers and aquifers). We develop management plans in order to calculate the optimallivestock load required to ensure the maintenance and usefulness of the pastures over time. These initiatives are currently under way in the area around Yésero and the Bujaruelo valley, in Huesca.

Renewable energies

The objective is the environmental and social evaluation of the implementation of renewable energy parks, as well as to propose restoration and naturalization actions.

Proyecto with GALP

We work in one of the largest photovoltaic plants in Europe of the energy company, of about 3,000 m2, located in the province of Zaragoza between the municipalities of Chiprana, Escatrón and Samper. We study the flora and fauna inside the plots of the photovoltaic plant, both under the plates and in the outdoor areas, in order to understand the functioning of these new ecosystems and recover their functionality. 

DERPERACER

Deployment of Renewable Energies: Perception and assessment of costs, risks and benefits that influence the acceptance or rejection of new generation plants. We investigate renewable energy deployment projects in different Spanish autonomous communities, some approved and others rejected due to opposition from the local population. We study how the costs, risks and benefits that influence their acceptance or rejection are perceived and valued. For this purpose, we conducted general population surveys, workshops, focus groups as well as personal interviews with local groups.  More information on the project.

Mountain sports activities

We investigate the impact of water sports on the ecological and conservation status of Mediterranean mountain rivers of the protected natural areas of the Pyrenees and pre-Pyrenees. In addition, we generate vulnerability indicators and scientific guidelines for their management in a context of depopulation. 

Since 2017, numerous samplings have been carried out in the Natural Park of Sierra and Canyons of Guara (Huesca) and in the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido (Huesca), where we compare the ecological status of canyon sections where canyoning activities are developed with sections where these activities are not permitted.

Socio-ecological interactions

We investigate the consequences of the interactions between humans and ecosystems, as well as their diverse implications for sustainability, mainly in the flows of ecosystem services and in the equity of access to these services by different social groups.

NADESUD

Influence of natural and anthropic factors on the provision and 
distribution of ecosystem services in Mediterranean agroecosystems. We analyze the different ways by which anthropogenic and natural capital are combined to sustainably co-produce ecosystem services and contribute to the equitable distribution of these services in pre-Pyrenean agroecosystems (Huesca and Navarra) and the Iberian mountain range (Guadalajara and Zaragoza).

VANATE

VAlues of NAture and TElecoupling. We unravel the relationship between the values attributed to nature and the ecosystem management model (circular or tele-coupled economy) by continuing the ESUDIS line in the German areas of Schwäbische Alb, Hainich-Dün and the Schorfheide-Chorin. Project website. 

INTERCEDE

Interactions of Farmland Biodiversity and Agricultural Ecosystem Services under Climate Change. We study how landscape composition affects wild pollinators, and how it changes in a more heterogeneous or more homogeneous landscape gradient in agricultural settings in Saxony-Anhalt. More information.