tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67153622472445838672024-03-13T16:59:25.371+01:00Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology LabSpatial Ecology in a changing worldLluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.comBlogger155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-63476673864376648082016-01-14T16:02:00.000+01:002016-01-14T18:43:48.380+01:00Assistant technician position in landscape modelling and data analyses in Solsona (InForest JRU, CTFC-CREAF)<p align="justify">We offer a technician position in landscape modelling and analysis of environmental data to join the <a href="http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com/">Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology Lab</a> at the InForest Join Research Unit (<a href="http://www.creaf.cat/en">CREAF</a>-<a href="http://www.cemfor.cat">CTFC-CEMFOR</a>) in the context of global change impacts on Mediterranean systems. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Main tasks to develop include assistance in the development, maintenance, and analyses of the data generated by different forest landscape models currently being used by the group for research purposes</strong>. These models are spatially explicit and allow generating landscape dynamics and fire regime variability scenarios. Our main modelling framework is currently the <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/medfireproject/">MEDFIRE model</a>. <img style="float: left; margin: 5px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="https://sites.google.com/site/medfireproject/medfire/outputs/Output_01.JPG?attredirects=0" width="240" height="194" /></p> <p align="justify">The position will be framed within the FORESTCAST project (CGL2014- 457 59742-C2-2-R) and the ERA-NET 459 <a href="http://www6.inra.fr/informed-foresterra_eng">FORESTERRA project INFORMED (29183).</a> The successful candidate will also work on the technical model documentation and may be involved in the scientific articles derived from the modelling activities. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Requirements </strong></p> <p align="justify">- University degree, preferably in an environmental area (Biology, Forestry, Geography) but also open to other areas (Maths, Physics, etc) when experience in environmental issues can be demonstrated.</p> <p align="justify">- Previous experience in Geographic Information Systems, remote sensing and management of large data sets (e.g. Forest Inventories). </p> <p align="justify">- Previous experience in teamwork. </p> <p align="justify">- Strong background in statistical and modelling analysis (i.e. previous experience in R statistical language). </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Other aspects</strong> </p> <p align="justify">- Active involvement or experience in environmental modelling frameworks. </p> <p align="justify">- High level programming skills. </p> <p align="justify">- Publication record in international journals. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Working conditions</strong> </p> <p align="justify">- The preselected candidates will go through a personal interview including specific tests on the required skills. </p> <p align="justify">- Working place is at the <a href="www.cemfor.cat">CTFC-CEMFOR</a> in Solsona (Lleida) and the initial contract is of for one year with possibility of extension. - Initial test period of 30 days. </p> <p align="justify">- Salary according to the legal setting established by the CTFC. </p> <p align="justify">Please send CV, reference contacts (at least 2) and a presentation letter (one page maximum) via e-mail, <strong>before February 10th 2016</strong> to <a href="mailto:lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat"><strong>lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat</strong></a> </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Institutional and research context</strong> </p> <p align="justify">The InFOREST JRU is a joint research venture by CTFC and CREAF. These are two forest research centres belonging to the Catalan network CERCA. One cornerstone of the InForest JRU is that it is built on strong national, European and global networks (Canada, Australia, etc), fact that sets up the offer place in an international scope research group. Mediterranean forests are complex socio-ecosystems characterized by an important biodiversity, high levels of spatial environmental heterogeneity, deep interlinking with human populations to which they provide a bunch of ecosystem services. Mediterranean forests are also considered as a hotspot of global change impacts. Based on meta-disciplinary research, our research vision will develop a dynamic approach of the resilience of Mediterranean forests by considering an integrated socio-ecosystem where management, ecological processes, and socio-economic processes interact. Climate change, land-use changes and new demands on ecosystem services act on the system as new disturbance factors or modify previous disturbance regime (fire), which will simultaneously impact the different compartments of the system. </p> <p align="justify">The InForest JRU aims to fill-in knowledge gaps on the basic mechanisms that determine the response to disturbance of the socio-ecosystem, and extend existing models to integrate different processes and perform simulations accounting for their interactions. Modelling expertise by researchers included in the InForest JRU includes: forest dynamics and silviculture, fire behaviour, fire vegetation succession, niche models and optimization strategy and scenario development. Acquired knowledge of the InForest JRU research activity aims to be translated into operational recommendations and tools to support decision, from silviculture at stand level to framework planning and to policy making at regional or national scale. Beyond the cross-evaluation of current practices or organizations (e.g. evaluation of fire prevention strategies on biodiversity evolution or on the response to drought stress), we aim to propose innovative, alternative but still operational, management strategies. </p> <p align="justify"> <hr /></p> <p align="justify"><strong><font color="#ff0000">TÈCNIC EN MODELITZACIÓ DEL PAISATGE I ANÀLISI DE DADES</font></strong> </p> <p align="justify">Es busca tècnic/a en modelització ecològica i anàlisi de dades ambientals amb possibilitats d’incorporar-se al grup de <a href="http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com/">Biodiversitat i Ecologia del Paisatge</a> en el marc de la Unitat mixta InForest Joint dins de l’àmbit del canvi global i els seus impactes sobre els sistemes ecològics. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Les tasques a realitzar inclouen l’assistència al desenvolupament, manteniment i tractament estadístic de les dades generades en diversos processos de modelització ambiental que es treballen en el si del grup.</strong> Els models a impulsar són espacialment explícits i inclouen el desenvolupament d’escenaris de canvi de paisatge i variabilitat en el règim d’incendis a partir del <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/medfireproject/">model MEDFIRE</a>. El candidat treballarà en el marc dels projectes FORESTCAST (CGL2014- 457 59742-C2-2-R) i <a href="http://www6.inra.fr/informed-foresterra_eng">INFORMED (ERA-NET 459 FORESTERRA: 29183).</a> La persona seleccionada col·laborarà en la redacció de les memòries i articles científics derivats de la utilització de les bases de dades esmentades.</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Requeriments </strong></p> <p align="justify">- Formació universitària, preferiblement en l’àmbit del medi ambient: Biologia, Ciències Ambientals, Enginyeria Forestal, Geografia física, però obert a d’altres àmbits (Matemàtiques, Física o altres Enginyeries) amb experiència en temes ambientals. </p> <p align="justify">- Expertesa en Sistemes d’Informació Geogràfica i Teledetecció i gestió de grans bases de dades. </p> <p align="justify">- Experiència prèvia de treball en equip. </p> <p align="justify">- Coneixements en anàlisis i modelització estadística. (Preferiblement experiència prèvia en el llenguatge estadístic R). </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Es valorarà positivament</strong> </p> <p align="justify">- Participació activa i experiència en processos de modelització ambiental. </p> <p align="justify">- Coneixements alts en llenguatges de programació. </p> <p align="justify">- Experiència contrastada en la redacció de memòries o articles científics. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Condicions de treball</strong> </p> <p align="justify">- Els candidats preseleccionats es sotmetran a una prova específica i a una entrevista per part dels serveis de personal del CTFC. </p> <p align="justify">- Lloc de treball al <a href="www.cemfor.cat">CTFC-CEMFOR</a>, Solsona amb una duració de contracte inicial d’un any amb possibilitat d’ampliació. </p> <p align="justify">- Període de proves de 30 dies amb sou segons conveni CTFC. </p> <p align="justify">Envieu CV, contactes de referència (mínim de 2) i carta de presentació (màxim una plana) per correu electrònic, <strong>abans del 10 de Febrer de 2016</strong> a <strong>Lluís Brotons, </strong><a href="mailto:lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat"><strong>lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat</strong></a> </p> <p align="justify"><strong>CONTEXT INSTITUCIONAL I DE RECERCA</strong> </p> <p align="justify">InForest és una unitat mixta de recerca formada pel <a href="http://www.ctfc.cat">CTFC</a>-<a href="www.cemfor.cat">CEMFOR</a> i el <a href="http://www.creaf.cat/ca">CREAF</a>. Els dos centres formen part de la xarxa CERCA de recerca de Catalunya. Un dels pilars de la unitat mixta és que està formada per una robusta xarxa d’investigadors nacionals, europeus i globals (Amèrica, Australia...), fet que posiciona la plaça oferta en un grup de recerca d’àmbit i aplicació internacional. Els boscos mediterranis són sistemes socio-ecològics complexos caracteritzats per posseir una alta biodiversitat, alts nivells d’heterogeneïtat ambiental espacial i fortes relacions amb poblacions humanes a les qual proveeixen un conjunt de serveis ecosistèmics. Els boscos mediterrànies estan també considerats un “hotspot” d’impactes del canvi global. Basada en una perspectiva interdisciplinària, la nostra visió de recerca vol desenvolupar una aproximació dinàmica per mantenir la resiliència dels boscos mediterranis considerant sistemes socio-ecològics integrats on la gestió i les pressions ambientals i econòmiques interactuen mitjançant processos ecològics i socials. El canvi climàtic, els canvis d’usos del sòl i les ràtio de noves demandes en serveis ecosistèmics actuen sobre el sistema com a nous factors de pertorbació o fins i tot modifiquen règims de pertorbació previs, que simultàniament impactaran els diferents comportaments del sistema. </p> <p align="justify">La unitat mixta InForests es proposa omplir buits de coneixement en els mecanismes bàsics que determinen la resposta de les pertorbacions dels sistemes socio-ecològics, i estendre els models existents per a integrar diferent processos i elaborar simulacions que tinguin en compte les seves interaccions. L’expertesa en modelització pels investigadors de la unitat mixta InForests inclou dinàmica forestal i silvicultura, comportament del foc, successió de la vegetació, models de nínxol, optimització estratègica i desenvolupament d’escenaris. El coneixement adquirit de l’activitat de recerca de la unitat mixta es pretén que sigui traslladat a recomanacions i eines operacionals per a donar suport a la presa de decisions, des de nivell de parcel·la a contextos lligats a planificació i elaboració de polítiques a nivell regional i nacional. Més enllà de la possible avaluació de pràctiques actuals, es volen proposar estratègies innovadores i alternatives de gestió dels sistemes socio-ecològics. </p>Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-45528187629210790292015-12-31T11:33:00.001+01:002015-12-31T14:34:24.134+01:00Position on forest ecosystem monitoring using drone technology and remote sensing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6715362247244583867" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.creaf.cat/sites/default/files/projects/images/newforests.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.creaf.cat/sites/default/files/projects/images/newforests.jpg" height="182" width="320" /></a></div>
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A new position to conduct pre/post-doctoral research is open at CEMFOR (CTFC) - CREAF Joint research unit (InFOREST JRU) for one year (with the possibility of an extension) in the context of the new joint research unit between the two research institutions and the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.newforests.cat">NEWFORESTS project</a>. </div>
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<strong>We are seeking multi-disciplinary technology hearted researchers to investigate the possibilities of drone technology in forest health monitoring</strong> and dynamics with a focus on boreal and Mediterranean forest contexts.</div>
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Main focus of the work will be on testing and applying state-of-the-art methods and models in forest and biodiversity dynamics modelling at stand and landscape scales using drone-derived images taken with a variety of sensors. More specifically the candidates will:</div>
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<span style="color: black;">- </span>Integrate drone acquired imagery into analyses of forest health and disturbance dynamics. </div>
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<span style="color: black;">- </span>Translate the acquired knowledge on processes and interactions into operational tools.</div>
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<span style="color: black;">- </span>Increase research capacity by efficient interaction with other related projects in this research area. </div>
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<strong>The position is for one year and will be initially based in Montreal (Canada) for a minimum of 10 months with a shorter stay in Solsona</strong> (Spain). </div>
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<strong>Requirements </strong></div>
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- Master degree in environmental sciences (ecology, forestry, geography or similar). </div>
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- Experience in drone technology (ie. pilot license). - Proven skills in remote sensing analyses. </div>
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- Experience in scientific publications.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/$image5.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>- EU (European citizenship).</div>
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<strong>Institutional context and collaborations</strong> </div>
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The InFOREST JRU is a joint research venture by CTFC and CREAF. These are two forest research centres belonging to the Catalan network CERCA. A strength of CREAF-CTFC is that it is built on strong national, European and global networks. Collaborating with scientists within CREAF-CTFC and with the InForest research partners across Europe, America and Australia will greatly expand the candidate international network. <br />
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<strong>Research context</strong> </div>
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The <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.newforests.cat">NEWFORESTS</a> exchange program brings together researchers from 5 research institutions: two from public research centres in Spain, Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC) and Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), one French institution, Bio-Archaeology and Ecology Centre (CBAE), and two Canadian Universities (University du Québec à Montréal, UQAM, and in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, UQAT) hosting two of the main hubs of the Centre for Forest Research (CEF). The aim of the NEWFORESTS project is to create a competitive platform at the international level to analyse the responses of forest ecosystems to global changes and integrate current knowledge in sound and innovative forest management and planning approaches. The general objective of the program is to determine how to effectively integrate woodland management (including non-management options) into strategies aimed to adjust and mitigate global change. The program is organized in 5 thematic work packages ranging from the basic understanding of forests dynamics, biodiversity and functioning to research on interactions between global change drivers determining disturbances regimes and the integration of the gathered knowledge into advanced modeling tools and sound management guidelines at different spatial scales. A fundamental aspect of the program is that it stresses not only the responsibility of human society as a major driver of global change, but also recognizes that we have an opportunity to mitigate this change through informed, proper management decisions </div>
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<strong>Working conditions</strong> </div>
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- Salary about 1650 euros (depending on experience, taxes included). Travel to Canada covered by the project. Other travelling costs not included. </div>
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- Working place in <a href="http://www.uqam.ca/">Montreal (Canada</a>) and Solsona (120 km north of Barcelona, Spain), <a href="http://www.cemfor.cat/">CEMFOR-CTFC</a>. </div>
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<strong>Send CV, a motivation letter (one page maximum), via e-mail before January 15th 2016 to: lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat</strong> Lluís Brotons, InForest (CEMFOR-CREAF-CSIC), Solsona. </div>
Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-22106300969377978412015-09-24T09:49:00.001+02:002015-09-24T09:53:19.192+02:00Wildfire seen from a drone<p align="justify">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 <a href="http://blog.creaf.cat/en/noticies/the-ctfc-and-creaf-boast-a-new-drone-service-for-research-in-ecology-and-conservation/">InForest are pioneers in drones use for ecology and conservation research.</a></p> <iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yzae0FTXqYo" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <p align="justify"> <br />These flying machines, according to Lluís Brotons, CSIC researcher of InForests unit (CTFC-CREAF) and coordinator of the new drone service, have a huge potential in fields such as forest ecology and conservation biology. Specially in burned areas, drones will allow to study and monitor the affected vegetation.</p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-34909498620903011812015-09-24T09:36:00.001+02:002015-09-24T09:38:11.616+02:00New article: Predicting the future effectiveness of protected areas for bird conservation in Mediterranean ecosystems under climate change and novel fire regime scenarios<p align="justify"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://media.wiley.com/product_data/coverImage/J/DDI/DDI.jpg" width="131" height="167" />Global change challenges traditional conservation approaches based on the selection of static protected areas due to their limited ability to deal with the dynamic nature of driving forces relevant to biodiversity. The <a href="http://media.wiley.com/product_data/coverImage/J/DDI/DDI.jpg">Natura 2000 network (N2000)</a> constitutes a major milestone in biodiversity conservation in Europe, but the degree to which this static network will be able to reach its long-term conservation objectives raises concern. </p> <p align="justify">In this work, recently published in Diversity and Distribution, we have evaluated, in collaboration with <a href="http://www.unil.ch/dee/en/home/menuinst/people/group-leaders/prof-antoine-guisan.html">Antoine Guisan’s lab (Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne</a>), <a href="www.ornitologia.org">ICO (Catalan Institute of Ornithology)</a> and <a href="www.ebcc.info">EBCC (European Bird Census Council),</a> the future changes in the effectiveness of N2000 in a Mediterranean ecosystem between 2000 and 2050 under different combinations of climate and fire-induced land cover change scenarios. To our knowledge, the present study is one of the most ambitious attempts so far to forecast biodiversity changes (i.e. multispecies responses) based on simulations of future vegetation dynamics and fire disturbance under climate change in a fire-prone Mediterranean region. </p> <p align="justify">Our findings show that although the future response of the species to these changes is species specific, large decreases in the amount of optimal habitats are expected for most of the species. In addition, our results also indicate that such a decrease in habitat suitability will be driven by both climate and land cover changes. Interestingly, the response of a high number of species to these changes is predicted to vary substantially depending on the fire management practices that will be implemented in the future. Our results also provide the first assessment of the future effectiveness of the currently established protected areas for the conservation of bird species targeted by N2000 under different combinations of climate and novel fire regime scenarios.</p> <p align="justify">This study offers novel insights into how fire management policies in interaction with land abandonment and climate change might strongly impact on future biodiversity conservation in fire-prone Mediterranean ecosystems. We also emphasize the need for an integrative and proactive conservation perspective wherein agricultural, forest and fire management policies should be considered inside and outside N2000 to effectively maintain key habitats for threatened birds in these types of ecosystems. In the light of our results, we underline the need for an explicit consideration of landscape dynamics when forecasting the future effectiveness of a network of protected areas in a context of global change. </p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281678820_Predicting_the_future_effectiveness_of_protected_areas_for_bird_conservation_in_Mediterranean_ecosystems_under_climate_change_and_novel_fire_regime_scenarios">Regos, A., D’Amen, M., Titeux, N., Herrando, S., Guisan, A., Brotons, L., 2015. Predicting the future effectiveness of protected areas for bird conservation in Mediterranean ecosystems under climate change and novel fire regime scenarios. Divers. Distrib. doi:10.1111/ddi.12375</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-78166771827417339452015-06-02T17:40:00.000+02:002015-09-24T09:52:18.326+02:00New article: Optimising long-term monitoring projects for species distribution modelling. How atlas data may help<div align="justify">
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BKOk9DDtyCU/VNzXbjhj49I/AAAAAAAADB8/1ePuO9IGTio/s1600-h/L.collurio-4-D.Vieuxtemps%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="L.collurio-4-D.Vieuxtemps" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rUs16r_L5-A/VNzXcUBIrOI/AAAAAAAADCE/nzn4V-FFOSU/L.collurio-4-D.Vieuxtemps_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="126" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="L.collurio-4-D.Vieuxtemps" width="175" /></a>In this work, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262343997_Optimising_long-term_monitoring_projects_for_species_distribution_modelling_how_atlas_data_may_help">recently published in Ecography,</a> we provide a method based on modern atlas data to guide the establishment of monitoring projects that will deliver useful data to build accurate distribution models. Long-term monitoring data are used to evaluate population trends, but they may also be integrated in spatial models to produce detailed species distribution maps at large spatial scales. However, sampling design has a strong impact on the predictive accuracy of distribution models and this issue is to be addressed when using this type of data. </div>
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We examined how the number of sampling sites influences the predictive accuracy of the models and we determined the minimum number of sites required to generate reliable spatial models as a direct output of monitoring projects. To do this, we calibrated large-scale, fine-resolution distribution models for 20 bird species using data collected during the ‘Breeding Bird Atlas of Wallonia’ (BBAW) project. Modern atlas projects like BBAW provide data that are analogous to monitoring data. We manipulated the amount of calibration data to represent a range of sampling coverage and we used independent evaluation data to calculate modeling performance parameters. </div>
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The modeling performance was sensitive to particularly small sample sizes and reached an asymptotic level beyond a fairly large sampling coverage. This asymptotic level varied considerably among species depending mainly on their prevalence. Our results suggest that a sampling coverage of 4-5% of the study area is sufficient for most of the species. This innovative analytical framework will guide the design of long-term monitoring projects suited to document and regularly update species distribution maps. </div>
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262343997_Optimising_long-term_monitoring_projects_for_species_distribution_modelling_how_atlas_data_may_help">Aizpurua O., Paquet J.-Y., Brotons L. & Titeux N. (2014) Optimising long-term monitoring projects for species distribution modelling: how atlas data may help. Ecography, early view, doi: 10.1111/ecog.00749.</a>Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-21074891781057230632015-06-01T11:03:00.003+02:002015-06-01T11:18:23.370+02:00New article: Dartford Warbler, unplanned fires and biodiversity conservation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mediterranean landscapes are highly dynamic systems. Climate change is one of the most powerful driving forces of these dynamics and, in the Mediterranean basin, its severity has markedly increased in recent years. However, climate change impacts on biodiversity are often also indirect through changes in disturbance regimes Fire is a critical factor in the Mediterranean and is likely to drive landscape change effects over large areas.
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<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273136313_Fire_management_climate_change_and_their_interacting_effects_on_birds_in_complex_Mediterranean_landscapes_dynamic_distribution_modelling_of_an_early-successional_speciesthe_near-threatened_Dartford_Warbler_%28Sylvia_undata%29">In this study, recently published in Journal of Ornithology, we ask the following questions:</a> (1) how will climate change synergically with fire-conducted vegetation dynamics affect the distributional range of Dartford Warbler over the next 50 years?; and (2) can fire management offset distributional shifts caused by climate change and natural succession processes? <a href="http://www.bou.org.uk/dartford-warbler-regos/">Our group, in collaboration with Antoine Guisan’s lab (Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne), ICO (Catalan Institute of Ornithology) and EBCC (European Bird Census Council), have assessed the potential changes in Dartford Warbler distribution</a> between 2000 and 2050 under different fire management and climate change scenarios, and described landscape dynamics using a spatially-explicit fire-succession model that simulates fire impacts in the landscape and post-fire regeneration (MEDFIRE model). </div>
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The Dartford Warbler was recently evaluated on a global scale as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List, since it is declining at a moderately rapid rate. Declines in the core populations in Spain are largely responsible for the estimated overall decline of the species due to habitat degradation and modification and climate changes. For this study, Dartford Warbler occurrence data were acquired at two different spatial scales from: (1) the Atlas of European Breeding Birds (EBCC) and (2) the Catalan Breeding Bird Atlas (CBBA). Habitat suitability was modelled using five widely-used modelling techniques in an ensemble forecasting framework (BIOMOD2). </div>
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Our results thus highlight the need to take the spatial interaction among climate change, fire-mediated landscape dynamics and fire management policies in highly dynamic and fire-prone ecosystems into account to accurately predict habitat suitability changes of early-succession bird species in a context of land abandonment. Fire management programs must be integrated into conservation plans to effectively preserve sparsely forested and early-succession habitats and their associated species in the face of global change. </div>
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<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273136313_Fire_management_climate_change_and_their_interacting_effects_on_birds_in_complex_Mediterranean_landscapes_dynamic_distribution_modelling_of_an_early-successional_speciesthe_near-threatened_Dartford_Warbler_%28Sylvia_undata%29">Regos A, D’Amen M, Herrando S, Guisan A, Brotons L (2015) Fire management, climate change and their interacting effects on birds in complex Mediterranean landscapes: dynamic distribution modelling of an early-successional species — the near-threatened Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata). J Ornithol. doi: 10.1007/s10336-015-1174-</a>9</div>
Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-57706422094512013012015-05-18T10:24:00.001+02:002015-05-18T10:24:11.435+02:00New article: Predictive modelling of fire occurrences from different fire spread patterns in Mediterranean landscapes<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VDf-MHmMdW0/VVmhpNt9FeI/AAAAAAAADMA/IhCWRVOj1TA/s1600-h/image%25255B1%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" align="left" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HIpxZ3tkc9o/VVmhqLQFK_I/AAAAAAAADMI/EhNAzqH59oM/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="208" height="179" /></a></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275869989_Predictive_modelling_of_fire_occurrences_from_different_fire_spread_patterns_in_Mediterranean_landscapes">In a new work published recently in International Journal of Wildland Fire</a>, we present a modelling exercise for predicting different fire spread patterns in Catalonia, NE Spain. </p> <p align="justify">We introduce mathematically a novel classification of fires according to dominant fire spread pattern, an approach considered in operational fire-fighting, to help understand regional-scale spatial variability in fire regimes. Dominant fire spread patterns are usually linked to specific synoptic weather conditions, topography, or vegetation patterns, determining fire behavior and thus fire suppression opportunities. More deeply, we studied whether climate, topography and fuel variables allowed the prediction of occurrences from different fire spread patterns in Catalonia, NE Spain. </p> <p align="justify">We used MaxEnt to model fire occurrences of wind-driven, topography-driven and convective fires for two different time periods (1989-1999 and 2000-2012). A cross-validation between the two decades modelled was conducted, and results were consistent in all types of fire. The variation partitioning analysis showed how convective fires were more related to forest fuel factors, while wind-driven fires were mostly predicted by unmanageable factors, as topography and wind. Topography-driven fires occurred over a broader range of environments where stronger fire spread determinants such as fuel loads or strong winds were not greatly inducing the occurrence of the other fire spread patterns. </p> <p align="justify">The results presented offer new insights about potential approaches allowing the assessment of environmental change impacts on different types of fire spread patterns. Changes in land-use vegetation cover or changes in forest structure are just an example of the type of events that can differentially determine the occurrence of different kinds of spread patterns. Under a global change context where the future of fire regimes still being uncertain, these findings may have a strong impact on investigations into how fire regimes may be projected into the future under forecast global change as they suggest that future environmental changes may affect different fire spread patterns in an idiosyncratic manner. </p> <p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275869989_Predictive_modelling_of_fire_occurrences_from_different_fire_spread_patterns_in_Mediterranean_landscapes">Duane, A., Piqué, M., Castellnou, M., & Brotons, L. (2015). Predictive modelling of fire occurrences from different fire spread patterns in Mediterranean landscapes. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24(3), 407-418.</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-45775056672144097822015-02-09T18:44:00.001+01:002015-02-09T18:44:07.407+01:00Post-Doctoral position on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Scenarios and Modelling in Mediterranean Forests<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MysI4tkU56o/VNjx3eoolRI/AAAAAAAADA8/E5vMgtUtgyw/s1600-h/clip_image002%25255B7%25255D.gif"><img title="clip_image002" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="clip_image002" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GG-ZtYE8cC4/VNjx4C0UKGI/AAAAAAAADBE/0YYb4udlLl0/clip_image002_thumb%25255B2%25255D.gif?imgmax=800" width="200" height="118" /></a> <p align="justify">A new position to conduct post-doctoral research is open at <a href="http://www.cemfor.cat">CEMFOR (CTFC)</a> - <a href="http://www.creaf.cat/en">CREAF</a> Joint research unit <b>(InFOREST JRU)</b> for <b>one to two years</b> (with the possibility of an extension) in the context of the new joint research unit between the two research institutions and the <a href="http://www.foresterra.eu/foresterra-call/Final_decision_on_funding2.html">new project INFORMED</a> of the <a href="http://www.foresterra.eu/">FORESTERRA-ERA-NET</a>.</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.cemfor.cat"><img title="clip_image002[4]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="clip_image002[4]" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-QveqLvaLuU0/VNjx4fcKE7I/AAAAAAAADBI/NuvB4eRAIlA/clip_image002%25255B4%25255D%25255B5%25255D.gif?imgmax=800" width="113" height="42" /></a>                        <a href="http://www.creaf.cat/en"><img title="clip_image002" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="clip_image002" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4GyDksNmkgA/VNjx5PaB3YI/AAAAAAAADBU/wzXtxw7TSXE/clip_image002%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="121" height="50" /></a></p> </blockquote> <p align="justify">We are <b>seeking multi-disciplinary hearted researchers</b> to investigate the relationship between forest dynamics and drivers of environmental change in a Mediterranean forest context. Main focus of the work will be on testing and applying state-of-the-art <b>methods and models in forest and biodiversity dynamics modelling </b>at different spatial and temporal scales. More specifically the candidates will:</p> <p align="justify">• Integrate knowledge on socio-economic-ecological processes that operate at different spatial and temporal scales. </p> <p align="justify">• Produce robust and credible projections of future changes in forest ecosystem services under different scenarios of global change drivers and management options.</p> <p align="justify">• Translate the acquired knowledge on processes and interactions into operational tools.</p> <p align="justify">• Increase research capacity by efficient interaction with other related projects in this research area.</p> <p align="justify">The candidate is also expected to be involved in the activities related to the Intergovernmental <strong><a href="http://www.ipbes.net">Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)</a></strong> and promote the leadership of the <b>InForest JRU</b> in terms institutional organisation, development of research activities (workshop organisation) and project writing and coordination (H2020 and similar calls).</p> <p align="justify"><b>Requirements</b></p> <p align="justify">- PhD. in environmental sciences (ecology, forestry, geography or similar).</p> <p align="justify">- Excellent publication record.</p> <p align="justify">- Expertise in forest or biodiversity modelling development (statistical, landscape and/or process based models).</p> <p align="justify">- Strong background in modelling, programming and analytical skills in R or equivalent.</p> <p align="justify">- Contrasted capacity to lead work and team up with other researchers.</p> <p align="justify">- Previous experience in international project management and leadership.</p> <p align="justify"><b></b></p> <p align="justify"><b>Institutional context and collaborations</b></p> <p align="justify">The InFOREST JRU is a joint research venture by <a href="http://www.cemfor.cat/">CTFC</a> and <a href="http://www.creaf.es/en">CREAF</a>. These are two forest research centres belonging to the <a href="http://cerca.cat">Catalan network of research institutions CERCA</a>. A strength of CREAF-CTFC is that it is built on strong national, European and global networks. Collaborating with scientists within CREAF-CTFC and with the InForest research partners across Europe, America and Australia will greatly expand the candidate international network. The post-doc will be expected to coordinate collaborative research with these research groups, and participate in meetings and in the writing of project proposals related to the topics of the call.</p> <p align="justify"><b></b></p> <p align="justify"><b>Research context</b></p> <p align="justify"><b></b></p> <p align="justify">Mediterranean forests are complex socio-ecosystems characterized by an important biodiversity, high levels of spatial environmental heterogeneity, deep interlinking with human populations to which they provide a bunch of ecosystem services. Mediterranean forests are also considered as a hotspot of global change impacts. Based on meta-disciplinary research, the <strong>InForest JRU</strong> and the <a href="http://www.foresterra.eu/foresterra-call/Final_decision_on_funding2.html">project INFORMED</a> will develop a dynamic approach to the resilience of Mediterranean forests by considering an integrated socio-ecosystem where management, ecological processes and socio-economic processes interact. Climate change, land-use change and new demands on ecosystem services act on the system as new disturbance factors or modify previous disturbance regime, which will simultaneously impact the different compartments of the system. Resilience is the maintenance of the capacity to respond to disturbance and continue providing ecosystem services, forest composition and structure can change. There is also a feed-back of the socio-ecosystem on global change: forest functions may contribute to climate change mitigation and governance response will contribute to changes in the demand for particular ecosystem services. </p> <p align="justify">The InForest JRU and its research activity through research projects such as INFORMED will aim at fill-in knowledge gaps on the basic mechanisms that determine the response to disturbance of the socio-ecosystem, and it will extend existing models to integrate different processes and perform simulations that account for their interactions. Modelling expertise by project partners includes: forest dynamics and silviculture, fire behaviour, fire vegetation succession, niche models, functional and evolutionary models, economics and optimization strategy, innovative governance modes. </p> <p align="justify"><b></b></p> <p align="justify"><b>Working conditions</b></p> <p align="justify">- Equivalent to the Juan de la Cierva Programme of the Spanish “<i>Ministerio de ciencia e innovación</i>” (http://www.investigacionenconservacion.es/index.php/becas-y-contratos/801-ayudas-juan-cierva-formacion-2015).</p> <p align="justify">- Working place in Solsona (120 km north of Barcelona, Spain), CEMFOR-CTFC<i> </i>(<a href="http://www.cemfor.cat/">http://www.cemfor.cat</a>). Travelling often abroad with European project partners.</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Send CV, a motivation letter (one page maximum) and the contacts of two reference researchers, via e-mail before March 6<sup>th</sup> 2015</strong> to: <b><a href="mailto:lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat">lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat</a> , I</b><b>nForest JRU (</b>CEMFOR-CREAF), Solsona. </p> <p align="justify"><b></b></p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"><b>Research context of the INFORMED project and the InForest JRU:</b></p> <p align="justify">Mediterranean forests are complex socio-ecosystems characterized by an important biodiversity, high levels of spatial environmental heterogeneity, deep interlinking with human populations to which they provide a bunch of ecosystem services. Mediterranean forests are also considered as a hotspot of global change impacts. </p> <p align="justify">The Mediterranean forest scientific community has long collaborative experience in each discipline and this project will contribute to strengthen its interdisciplinary expertise.</p> <p align="justify">Based on meta-disciplinary research, our research vision will develop a dynamic approach of the resilience of Mediterranean forests by considering an integrated socio-ecosystem where management, ecological processes and socio-economic processes interact through a variety of ecological and social processes. </p> <p align="justify">Climate changes, land-use changes and new demands on ecosystem services act on the system as new disturbance factors or modify previous disturbance regime, which will simultaneously impact the different compartments of the system. Resilience is the maintenance of the capacity to respond to disturbance and continue providing ecosystem services, forest composition and structure can change. There is also a feed-back of the socio-ecosystem on global change: forest functions may contribute to climate change mitigation and governance response will contribute to changes in the demand for particular ecosystem services, but these feed-back issues will not be addressed in this project.</p> <p align="justify">The InForest JRU through the INFORMED and related projects will fill-in knowledge gaps on the basic mechanisms that determine the response to disturbance of the socio-ecosystem, and it will extend existing models to integrate different processes and perform simulations accounting for their interactions. Modelling expertise by researchers included in the InForest JRU includes: forest dynamics and management, fire behaviour, fire vegetation succession, niche models and optimization strategy and scenario development. The research context will focus on case studies representative of different scenarios related to global change effects in the Northern and Southern edges of the Mediterranean.</p> <p align="justify">Particular attention will be given to temporal issues, velocity and frequency of changes, time scale of the responses, and INFORMED will consider different time scale issues from one year to one century.</p> <p align="justify">Acquired knowledge will be translated into operational recommendations and tools to support decision, from management at stand level to framework planning and to policy making at regional or national scale. Beyond the cross-evaluation of current practices or organizations (e.g. evaluation of fire prevention strategies on biodiversity evolution or on the response to drought stress), we aim to propose innovative, alternative but still operational, management strategies.</p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-43184003012665874592014-12-26T10:25:00.001+01:002014-12-26T10:25:22.597+01:00New article: Rewilding: a potential alternative approach to conservation in abandoned mountain areas?<p align="justify"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dgAGlLcxzHw/VJ0pajcMZiI/AAAAAAAAC7E/JQIW3AGISD0/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-T6wfjrOMtzI/VJ0pbw4EruI/AAAAAAAAC7M/vx7VSy4Wq0c/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="157" height="207" /></a>Land-use change is a large component of global change and the effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services currently represent a major challenge for ecologists and conservationists. Several authors have recently suggested that REWILDING may be an appealing conservation response to farmland abandonment in areas of Europe where the social structure of farming communities has been eroded and low-intensity farming is no longer socially or economically viable. ECOLAND group, in collaboration with <a href="http://www.grumets.uab.cat/ENG/presentacio.html">GRUMETS lab (CREAF and Autonomous University of Barcelona)</a> and <a href="http://imaisd.usc.es/grupoficha.asp?idpersoatipogrupo=75139&i=en&s=-126-191-196-235&v=">University of Santiago de Compostela (USC),</a> have assessed the relative positive and negative effects of land abandonment on <a href="http://www.reservabiosferageresxures.com/indexen.html">Gerês–Xurés Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (NW Iberian Peninsula)</a> in order to quantify the potential conservation costs and benefits of a rewilding as a land-use management policy.</p> <p align="justify">In a first study published in International <a href="http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QCV114ynR~Dkm">Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation</a>, we aimed to determine if the abandonment of the rural areas was the main driver of landscape dynamics on this particular mountain area, or if other factors, such as wildfires and the land management were also directly affecting these spatio-temporal dynamics. For this purpose, we used earth observation data acquired from Landsat TM and ETM + satellite sensors, complemented by ancillary data and prior field knowledge, to evaluate the land use/land cover changes in our study region over a 10-year period (2000–2010). Our findings showed that rural exodus of the last century, differences in land management and fire suppression policies between Spain and Portugal and the different protection schemes could partly explain the different patterns of changes recorded in these covers. </p> <p align="justify">In a second study, recently accepted in <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-014-0740-7">Regional Environmental Chang</a>e, we investigated the effects of land abandonment processes on bird assemblages at both landscape and local scale. We combined medium-term data on avifauna distribution with information on temporal changes in land-use/land-cover extracted from satellite data. In light of our results, rewilding appears to have overall positive effects on biodiversity and should be considered by policy makers as alternative land-use strategy in marginal mountain areas, particularly if they have been historically affected by wildfires. Fire management aimed at favouring the creation of small burned areas in progressively closed landscapes derived from rewilding may be a complementary alternative to maintain open habitats in these areas. </p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243414002608">Regos, A., Ninyerola, M., Moré, G., Pons, X., 2015. Linking land cover dynamics with driving forces in mountain landscape of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. 38, 1–14.</a> </p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-014-0740-7">Regos, A., Domínguez, J., Gil-Tena, A., Brotons, L., Ninyerola, M., Pons, X., 2014. Rural abandoned landscapes and bird assemblages: winners and losers in the rewilding of a marginal mountain area (NW Spain). Reg. Environ. Chang.</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-46735757727835570062014-11-28T18:02:00.001+01:002014-11-28T18:02:47.085+01:00Tools for exploring habitat suitability for biodiversity under scenarios of rapid land use change.<p align="justify"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/S01678809.gif" />A new article published in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01678809">Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment</a> used scenario development based on changes in key socioeconomic drivers together with resource-based habitat suitability models to develop plausible visions of future pathways of agricultural land use and evaluate their potential consequences on conservation of target species. Analyses focused on three steppe bird species in a protected Natura 2000 area, located in the Iberian Peninsula. Our results showed that changes in land use composition under different scenarios can have important effects on habitat suitability, but that the size of those effects would vary depending on species-specific requirements and spatial distribution of land use changes.</p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880914005143">Laura Cardador, Miquel De Cáceres, David Giralt, Gerard Bota, Núria Aquilué, Beatriz Arroyo, François Mougeot, Carlos Cantero-Martínez, Lourdes Viladomiu, Jordi Rosell, Fabián Casas, Alba Estrada, Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes, Lluís Brotons (2015).  Tools for exploring habitat suitability for steppe birds under land use change scenarios. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 200: 119-125.</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-88754753605350615692014-11-27T18:32:00.000+01:002015-02-09T18:45:52.683+01:00We search for PhD candidates: Applications of spatial and temporal models in the assessment of global change impacts on biodiversity in the Mediterranean<img align="left" src="http://vegmod.ctfc.cat/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Logo_inforest2.png" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" /><br />
We search for PhD candidates interested in applying for a contract in the context of the <a href="http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2014/12/27/pdfs/BOE-A-2014-13539.pdf">Call “Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU)”</a> of the Spanish Ministery of Education. <br />
The candidate will develop a PhD on the applications of species trend modelling and species distribution models (SDM) in the evaluation of the impacts of climate and land use changes on biodiversity with a strong focus on birds and fire regimes. The successful candidate will work in the <a href="http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com/">Biodiversity and landscape Ecology lab</a> within the InForest Joint research unit that the CTFC has recently created with the <a href="http://www.creaf.uab.es/">CREAF in Barcelona</a>. <br />
<strong>Requirements</strong> <br />
• Excellent academic (above 2.5 in 1 to 4 Spanish academic evaluation system) <br />
• Academic qualifications that allow starting a doctoral degree (Official master degree already obtained). <br />
• Proven experience in GIS and remote sensing data (i.e Landsat). analyses. Programming skills preferred. <br />
• Experience in R statistical programming language . <br />
• Experience in writing scientific articles. <br />
• High proficiency in English language.<br />
Interested candidates can send a CV (and request further information)via e-mail to lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat <br />
<br />
<strong>ES BUSQUEN CANDIDATS PER TESI DOCTORAL: APLICACIÓ DE MODELS ESPACIALS I TEMPORALS A L’ESTUDI DELS IMPACTES DEL CANVI GLOBAL SOBRE LA BIODIVERSITAT A LA MEDITERRÀNIA</strong><br />
Es cerquen candidats de tesi doctoral interessats en demanar un contracte dins de la <a href="http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2014/12/27/pdfs/BOE-A-2014-13539.pdf">convocatòria de “Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU</a>)” del ministerio d’Educació.<br />
L’objectiu és el desenvolupament d’una tesis sobre l’aplicació dels models de distribución i tendències temporals d’espècies a l’avaluació dels impactes del canvi climàtic i dels canvis d’ús del sol sobre la biodiversitat amb un focus especial sobre els ocells i els règims d’incendis. El candidat treballarà en el marc del <a href="http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com/">Biodiversity and landscape Ecology lab</a> que forma part de la recentment creada InForest unitat mixta de recerca entre el CTFC i el <a href="http://www.creaf.uab.es/">CREAF</a>.<br />
<strong>Requirements</strong> <br />
• Excel.lent expediente acadèmic (per sobre de 2,5) <br />
• Master oficial obtingut. <br />
• Experiència provada en análisis SIG i d’informació provinent de sensors remots (i.e Landsat). Preferentment amb coneixements de programació. <br />
• Experiència en el llenguatge de programación estadística R. <br />
• Experiència en la redacció d’articles científics. <br />
• Nivell d’anglès molt alt.<br />
Candidats interessats podeu enviar el CV (o demanar més informació) via e-mail a <strong>lluis.brotons@ctfc.cat</strong>Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-69123717054821068872014-11-21T09:27:00.001+01:002014-11-21T09:27:02.796+01:00New article: Woodland bird response to landscape connectivity in an agriculture-dominated landscape<p align="justify"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://static.akkrt.hu/media/9/9/2/3/9923-community_ecology-W_120x0.jpg" /> In a new study published in the journal Community Ecology, Assu Gil-Tena and co-workers  have assessed the role of landscape connectivity in woodland bird species richness, abundance, and community similarity in north-east Brittany (north-west France). Over the last 30 years, ecological networks have been deployed to reduce global biodiversity loss by enhancing landscape connectivity. Bird species dwelling in woodland habitats that are embedded in agriculture-dominated landscapes are expected to be particularly sensitive to the loss of connectivity. In this study, an exhaustive woodland selection protocol was carried out to minimize the effects of woodland size on the response variables. Connectivity of the woodland and forest network in the study area was evaluated using graph-theory, accounting for matrix permeability, and a characteristic median natal dispersal distance at the community level based on the bird species pool recorded in the sampled woodlands. Information-theoretic model selection, controlling for woodland size in all the cases, depicted the response of woodland birds at the community level to the connectivity of agriculture-dominated landscapes. On average, the sampled woodlands (n = 25) contained 15.5 ± 2.4 bird species, with an abundance of 25.1 ± 3.9, and had highly similar bird communities (species composition and proportion); eight species represented 57% of total abundance and were present in at least 22 woodlands. The performance of models improved when using effective, rather than Euclidean, interpatch distances in the connectivity assessment. Landscape connectivity was only significantly related to similarity of proportional species composition. Large woodlands contained communities with more similar species proportions in an inhospitable agricultural landscape matrix than in a more permeable one. Woodland size was the most relevant factor determining species abundance, indicating that the bird population sizes are primarily proportional to the local habitat availability. Connectivity in relation to landscape matrix permeability did not seem to induce the flow of woodland-dependent bird species that are dominant in the community but rather of matrix-dwelling bird species that are less dependent on woodland patch area. In conclusion, both habitat conservation and restoration (i.e., amount and quality), in combination with permeable landscape structures (such as heterogeneous land cover mosaics), are advocated for community level conservation strategies.</p> <p><a href="http://www.akademiai.com/content/556t66200810476r/">Gil-Tena, A., Nabucet, J., Mony, C., Abadie, J., Saura, S., Butet, A., Burel, F., Ernoult, A. 2014. Woodland bird response to landscape connectivity in an agriculture-dominated landscape: a functional community approach. Community Ecology, 15(2): 256-268.</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-79172061099122986832014-11-16T22:44:00.001+01:002014-11-16T22:44:41.718+01:00New article: Species Distribution Models and Impact Factor Growth in Environmental Journals<p align="justify"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 5px" src="http://www.climateshifts.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/PLos-One.jpg" /></p> <p align="justify">In this work, we evaluate the impact of species distribution models (SDMs) on the current status of environmental and ecological journals by asking the question to which degree development of SDMs in the literature is related to recent changes in the impact factors of ecological journals. The results indicate a positive relationship between the number of SDM related articles published in a journal and its impact factor (IF) growth during the period 2000–09. The hypothesis evaluated states that research fronts are likely to attract research attention and potentially drive citation patterns, with journals concentrating papers related to the research front receiving more attention and benefiting from faster increases in their impact on the ecological literature.</p> <p align="justify">However, the percentage of SDM related papers in a journal was strongly and positively associated with the percentage of papers on climate change and statistical issues. The results support the hypothesis that global change science has been critical in the development of SDMs and that interest in climate change research in particular, rather than the usage of SDM per se, appears as an important factor behind journal IF increases in ecology and environmental sciences. Finally, our results on SDM application in global change science support the view that scientific interest rather than methodological fashion appears to be the major driver of research attraction in the scientific literature.</p> <p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0111996">Brotons L (2014) Species Distribution Models and Impact Factor Growth in Environmental Journals: Methodological Fashion or the Attraction of Global Change Science. PLoS ONE 9(11): e111996. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111996.</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-35949307403100742312014-09-16T20:02:00.001+02:002014-09-16T20:02:41.492+02:00ECOLAND creates the “Biodiversity Information Facility” BIF<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mw52J6UAYbk/VBh7Okwcc9I/AAAAAAAACtM/kQtvyWajB88/s1600-h/Captura%252520de%252520pantalla%2525202014-09-16%252520a%252520les%25252019.47.19%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Captura de pantalla 2014-09-16 a les 19.47.19" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Captura de pantalla 2014-09-16 a les 19.47.19" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-sQAvmCatpkM/VBh7Pw0fnrI/AAAAAAAACtU/xKNMepSl0B4/Captura%252520de%252520pantalla%2525202014-09-16%252520a%252520les%25252019.47.19_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="202" height="143" /></a></p> <p align="justify">ECOLAND creates a new facility for biodiversity research: the Biodiversity Information Facility (BIF). </p> <p align="justify">BIF is devoted to organize and standardize available biodiversity data (species distribution, monitoring, natural history traits, amongst others), and related ecological factors (environmental information and human pressure descriptors). These structured information should facilitate the access of the best available information in decision making processes, when dealing with specific questions in hot conservation problems and when developing ecological research on species responses and ecosystem dynamics in a rapidly changing world. </p> <p align="justify">Thus, the new facility is strongly oriented at making biodiversity information more relevant and accessible to policymakers, managers, researchers and other users from governmental and non-governmental organizations. Key products include the design and development of primary biodiversity information systems shaped in data forms, maps and web servers, but especially applications based on data integration and analysis using complex methodologies from ecological research. </p> <p align="justify">Examples include using models to inform conservation policies, designing conservation priorities in protected areas, and combining biodiversity forecasts and indicators to assess global change impacts. <br /></p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify">-------------------------------------------------</p> <p align="justify">La nova Infraestructura sobre Informació de Biodiversitat (IIB o BIF en anglès) d’Ecoland és una nova eina de treball que pretèn contribuir a ordenar i estandarditzar la informació actualment disponible sobre biodiversitat i sobre les factors ambientals que la determinen (condicions ambientals, pressions derivades de l’activitat humana) amb l’objectiu d’utilitzar la millor informació disponible per guiar la presa de decisions, facilitar la <a href="http://www.ecco.cat/">resolució de problemàtiques plantejades des de les polítiques de conservació i la recerca ecològica.</a></p> <p align="justify">Així, <a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/diptico_biodiversidad.pdf">la seva activitat està fortament orientada a facilitar l’accés a la informació</a> rellevant sobre biodiversitat segons les necessitats específiques dels responsables polítics, gestors, experts, investigadors i altres usuaris d’entitats governamentals i no governamentals. Els productes clau que desenvolupa inclouen el disseny i la <a href="http://cambiare.ctfc.es/">documentació d’informació primària en bases de dades</a>, mapes i servidors web, però sobretot productes d’informació més elaborats basats en l’aplicació de metodologies provinents de la recerca ecològica. </p> <p align="justify">Alguns exemples son els destinats a <a href="http://natura2000presiones.ctfc.es/">espacialitzar i prioritzar els recursos per la conservac</a>ió, basats en tècniques de modelització de la distribució d’espècies i en anàlisis de eficàcia d’espais protegits, o bé per avaluar i predir les conseqüències de determinats canvis ambientals, basats en el càlcul d’indicadors i en el desenvolupament d’escenaris ambientals passats i futurs.</p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-51254179779385034482014-09-16T19:40:00.001+02:002014-09-16T19:40:32.400+02:00New article: Reassessing global change research priorities in Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems:<p align="justify"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://www.biogeography.org/images/GEB_sm.jpg" width="111" height="146" />In a new article summarising findings from the <a href="http://www.creaf.uab.es/montes/">CONSOLIDER-MONTES project</a>, researchers involved in this project revisit the research priorities proposed in 1998 to unravel the challenges that global changes induce in Mediterranean systems. </p> <p align="justify">Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems serve as reference laboratories for the investigation of global change because of their transitional climate, the high spatiotemporal variability of their environmental conditions, a rich and unique biodiversity and a wide range of socio-economic conditions. As scientific development and environmental pressures increase, it is increasingly necessary to evaluate recent progress and to challenge research priorities in the face of global change.</p> <p align="justify">A of research priorities is proposed: (1) to establish the role of the landscape mosaic on fire-spread; (2) to further research the combined effect of different drivers on pest expansion; (3) to address the interaction between drivers of global change and recent forest management practices; (4) to obtain more realistic information on the impacts of global change and ecosystem services; (5) to assess forest mortality events associated with climatic extremes; (6) to focus global change research on identifying and managing vulnerable areas; (7) to use the functional traits concept to study resilience after disturbance; (8) to study the relationship between genotypic and phenotypic diversity as a source of forest resilience; (9) to understand the balance between C storage and water resources; (10) to analyse the interplay between landscape-scale processes and biodiversity conservation; (11) to refine models by including interactions between drivers and socio-economic contexts; (12) to understand forest–atmosphere feedbacks; (13) to represent key mechanisms linking plant hydraulics with landscape hydrology.</p> <p align="justify">Main conclusions (1) The interactive nature of different global change drivers remains poorly understood. (2) There is a critical need for the rapid development of regional- and global-scale models that are more tightly connected with large-scale experiments, data networks and management practice. (3) More attention should be directed to drought-related forest decline and the current relevance of historical land use.</p> <p align="justify">Doblas-Miranda, E, J. Martínez-Vilalta, F. Lloret, A. Álvarez, A. Ávila, F. J. Bonet, L. Brotons, J. Castro, J. Curiel Yuste, M. Díaz, P. Ferrandis, E. García-Hurtado, J. M. Iriondo, T. F. Keenan, J. Latron, J. Llusià, L. Loepfe, M. Mayol, G.Moré, D.Moya, J. Peñuelas, X. Pons, <br />R. Poyatos, J. Sardans, O. Sus, V. R. Vallejo, J. Vayreda & J. Retana. 2014. <a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Doblas_et_al_Med_resesarch_Glo_Ecol.pdf">Reassessing global change research priorities in mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems: how far have we come and where do we go from here? Glob. Ecol. & Biog, in press</a>. </p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-9250493334957419192014-09-02T16:26:00.001+02:002014-09-02T16:26:20.421+02:00Candidat a beca FI 2015 per a desenvolupar un projecte de modelització de la vegetació al CTFC<p align="justify"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VlZsILG0O6g/SuB82iIorfI/AAAAAAAAARQ/vIv_mor1wYE/w711-h533-no/Maig_2007%2B005.jpg" width="197" height="148" />Es busca candidat per a sol·licitar una beca de doctorat de Formació d’Investigadors (FI-DGR 2015) per a la realització d’una tesi doctoral sobre la predicció dels potencials efectes del canvi global sobre l’estructura i composició dels boscos a Catalunya, dins del grup de biodiversitat i ecologia del paisatge (<a href="http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com/">http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com/)</a>.</p> <p align="justify"> <br />Els boscos Mediterranis són el resultat de l’acció de processos ecològics (creixement, competència, mortalitat, dispersió, establiment…) en els que intervenen tant atributs de les plantes como factors del anomenat canvi global (increment de la sequera, canvis en el règim d’incendis, abandonament rural…). Un dels reptes actuals de l’ecologia terrestre és ser capaços de fer prediccions quantitatives i espacialment explícites sobre els possibles canvis futurs en els boscos. L’objectiu del projecte de tesis que proposem és el d’explorar les possibles conseqüències del canvi climàtic sobre els boscos de Catalunya. Concretament, ens interessa estudiar els possibles efectes de l’increment de la sequera estival sobre la composició i estructura dels boscos, derivats d’un augment de la mortalitat per estrès hídric i un major impacte dels incendis forestals. La consecució de la tesi implica l’aplicació d’un model de simulació de la dinàmica forestal a escala regional (que s’està desenvolupant en col·laboració entre el CTFC, el CREAF i el CIDE-CSIC) que representa la vegetació de cada cel·la com a un conjunt de cohorts de plantes de diferents espècies llenyoses i simula la dinàmica del bosc (<a href="http://sites.google.com/site/medfireproject/">http://sites.google.com/site/medfireproject/)</a>.</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Requeriments:</strong> <br />• Llicenciats o graduats en Biologia, Ciències Ambientals o Enginyeria forestal. <br />• Bona qualificació acadèmica. <br />• Complir s requisits de la convocatòria FI (consultar <br /><a href="http://www10.gencat.cat/agaur_web/generados/catala/home/recurs/doc/fi_2015_dogc.pdf">http://www10.gencat.cat/agaur_web/generados/catala/home/recurs/doc/fi_2015_dogc.pdf</a>). <br />• Es valorarà especialment coneixements d’estadística, programació en entorn R, sistemes d’informació geogràfica, teledetecció i ecologia forestal.</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Lloc de treball:</strong> <br />Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya, a Solsona (Lleida).</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Contacte:</strong> <br />Les persones interessades poden contactar amb Miquel De Cáceres <br />(miquelcaceres@gmail.com) abans del 7 de setembre, adjuntant CV, una breu descripció dels interessos de recerca (màx. 1 pàgina) i la nota mitjana de l’expedient.</p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-71924425333286759592014-05-12T19:26:00.001+02:002014-05-12T19:26:42.877+02:00New Article: Indicators of the impact of land use changes using large-scale bird surveys: Land abandonment in a Mediterranean region<p align="justify"><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Herrando_Land_abandonment_indicators_Ecol_Ind.pdf"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-a_vRYVRuxU4/U3EETxAEYXI/AAAAAAAACc0/8-HLzMDWRk4/image%25255B6%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a>In a <a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Herrando_Land_abandonment_indicators_Ecol_Ind.pdf">new article recently published in Ecological Indicators</a>, we developed a methodology to generate indicators capable to track the impact of land use changes in biodiversity using data from large scale monitoring projects. In particular we applied the proposed methodology to generate indicators to assess the impact that land abandonment has had in birds in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). </p> <span class="fullpost"> <p align="justify">Generating sound indicators of biodiversity impact has been identified as a critical step towards our understanding of how global change components are affecting the environment across the globe. Land abandonment is recognized as a major component of global change in the Mediterranean basin, however, we lack adequate, quantitative, indicators of its impact on biodiversity. An appealing approach to develop biodiversity indicators is the use of large-scale bird monitoring projects, an important source of information that is already available in many countries. In this study we develop a method to quantify the impact of the two main processes associated with land abandonment in the Mediterranean region, namely the abandonment of farmland, which produces a shift from cultivated land to open natural habitats, and the encroachment by vegetation usually associated with reductions in livestock grazing and wood harvesting practices. </p> <p align="justify">We used data from bird atlas and monitoring schemes in Catalonia (north-east Iberian Peninsula) to characterize species’ population response to these processes by means of detecting quantitative changes in relative abundances along a gradient ranging from habitats not affected by a given driving force to those that arise as a consequence of such force. We then generated multi-species indicators of the impact of these land use changes using these specific population responses to calibrate the relative contribution of each species in the composite index. The temporal patterns depicted by the two indicators in the period 2002–2011 show that vegetation encroachment did have a significant impact on bird communities, whereas any noticeable effect of farmland abandonment on bird populations was observed. The methodology proposed here could be employed to develop indicators capable to track biological impacts of land use change on an annual basis and inform decision-makers about the rate of increase or decrease on wildlife populations.</p> <p align="justify">-----------------------</p> <p align="justify"><font color="#ff0000"><strong>Nou article: Indicadors de l’impacte dels canvis en els usos del sòl utilitzant el monitoratge dels ocells a gran escala: l’abandonament de la terra en una regió mediterrània</strong></font> </p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Herrando_Land_abandonment_indicators_Ecol_Ind.pdf">En un nou article recentment publicat a la revista Ecological Indicators</a>, hem desenvolupat una metodologia que, a partir de les dades de projectes de monitoratge a gran escala, genera indicadors que poden avaluar l'impacte que els canvis soferts en els usos del sòl produeixen en la biodiversitat. En particular, hem aplicat aquesta metodologia per avaluar l'impacte que l'abandonament de terres agrícoles i forestals ha tingut en els ocells a Catalunya en la darrera dècada. Els resultats d’aquest treball quantifiquen l’impacte significatiu que ha tingut el creixement progressiu de la vegetació als sistemes naturals del nostre país. Per contra, aquest treball no mostra un efecte significatiu de l’abandonament de l’activitat pròpiament agrícola. </p> </span> <p align="justify"><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Herrando_Land_abandonment_indicators_Ecol_Ind.pdf">Herrando, S, Anton, M, Sardà-Palomera, F., Bota, G., Gregory, R.D., Brotons, L. (2014). Indicators of the impact of land use changes using large-scale birdsurveys: Land abandonment in a Mediterranean region. Ecological Indicators 45 (2014) 235–244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.04.011</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-48977611272335568352014-05-10T19:31:00.000+02:002014-05-12T19:27:04.423+02:00New article: Using Unplanned Fires to Help Suppressing Future Large Fires in Mediterranean Forests.<p><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0094906"><img title="IMG_7261" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_7261" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-c7e4_N6mcxk/U0sCggkC3HI/AAAAAAAACa0/pnOvd9SNLGk/IMG_7261%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="215" height="171" /></a></p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0094906">In a new article published in PLOS ONE</a>, we assessed changes in fire suppression policies and their impact on fire regimes. Modulating fire suppression efforts in mild weather conditions is an appealing but hotly-debated strategy to use unplanned fires and associated fuel reduction to create opportunities for suppression of large fires in future adverse weather conditions. Using a spatially-explicit fire–succession model developed for Catalonia (Spain), we assessed this opportunistic policy by using two fire suppression strategies that reproduce how firefighters in extreme weather conditions exploit previous fire scars as firefighting opportunities. </p> <span class="fullpost"> <p align="justify">We designed scenarios by combining different levels of fire suppression efficiency and climatic severity for a 50-year period (2000–2050). An opportunistic fire suppression policy induced large-scale changes in fire regimes and decreased the area burnt under extreme climate conditions, but only accounted for up to 18–22% of the area to be burnt in reference scenarios. The area suppressed in adverse years tended to increase in scenarios with increasing amounts of area burnt during years dominated by mild weather. Climate change had counterintuitive effects on opportunistic fire suppression strategies. Climate warming increased the incidence of large fires under uncontrolled conditions but also indirectly increased opportunities for enhanced fire suppression. Therefore, to shift fire suppression opportunities from adverse to mild years, we would require a disproportionately large amount of area burnt in mild years. </p> <p align="justify">Despite the huge resources invested in fire suppression, the impact of wildfires has considerably increased across the Mediterranean region since the second half of the 20th century. We conclude that the strategic planning of fire suppression resources has the potential to become an important cost-effective fuel-reduction strategy at large spatial scale. We do however suggest that this strategy should probably be accompanied by other fuel-reduction treatments applied at broad scales if large-scale changes in fire regimes are to be achieved, especially in the wider context of climate change.</p> <p align="justify">---------------------------------------------</p> <p align="justify"><font color="#ff0000"><strong>Utilizant els focs no planificats per ajudar a suprimir grans focs futurs en boscos Mediterranis.</strong></font> </p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0094906">En un nou article publicat a PLOS ONE</a>, hem avaluat com canvis en les polítiques de supressió del foc poden afectar el règim d’incendis en boscos Mediterranis. La modulació dels esforços de supressió del foc en períodes de climàtologia beningna es una estrategia debatuda per utilitzar focs no planificats  per reduir el fuel dels boscos i crear oportunitats  per suprimir futurs focs en condicions climàtiques adverses.</p> </span> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoihttp://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0094906">Regos A, Aquilué N, Retana J, De Cáceres M, Brotons L (2014) Using Unplanned Fires to Help Suppressing Future Large Fires in Mediterranean Forests. PLoS ONE 9(4): e94906. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0094906</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-71679264497848814812014-05-01T19:33:00.000+02:002014-05-12T19:29:13.002+02:00New associate researcher: Sophie Bontemps<p align="justify"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://images.tvrage.com/people/109/326484.jpg" width="207" height="157" />Sophie Bontemps has become an associate member of the ECOLAND lab. She is working as a post-doctoral researcher at the <a href="http://www.uclouvain.be/sophie.bontemps">Earth and Life Institute of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)</a> in Belgium. Her main background is in remote sensing while she has also advanced skills in GIS. She is involved in two projects funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) for which she has scientific and management responsibilities.</p> <p align="justify">The CCI Land Cover project is part of the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) initiated by ESA to respond the need for information in support to climate science expressed by the GCOS. Recently, 50 Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) have been selected in the atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial to be critical for a full understanding of the climate system and currently ready for global implementation on a systematic basis. Land Cover is one of these variables: it is one of the most obvious and commonly used indicators for land surface and the associated human induced or naturally occurring processes, while it also plays a significant role in climate forcing. </p> <p align="justify">The CCI Land Cover project aims at addressing the characterization of this variable. During the 3 first years (2011-2013), it has generated global land cover products at 300m-1000m spatial resolution over the 1998-2012 period that match the needs of the climate modeling community. From now up to 2016, the project will continue improving this set of products, using new sensors and covering an extended period. The project consortium includes various European labs of image processing as well as 3 Earth System modelling teams. These 3 teams perform model simulations to evaluate the improvements using the new LC_CCI dataset. <br />The Sentinel-2 for Agriculture project is also about land cover classification using remote sensing dataset but it focuses on the agriculture monitoring domain and relies on high spatial resolution imagery. Achieving sustainable food security for all people is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals but remains a global challenge. Earth Observation (EO) can contribute to agricultural monitoring as a proven source for transparent, timely and consistent information on the agricultural productivity at global and regional scale. The up-coming Sentinel-2 mission has the optimal capacity for regional to global agriculture monitoring in terms of resolution (10-20 meter), revisit frequency (5 days) and coverage (global). Further, its compatibility to the Landsat missions will allow building on a long historic time series of observations. The Sentinel-2 for Agriculture project is starting now and aims at preparing the Sentinel-2 exploitation for agriculture monitoring. Algorithms will be developed and validated to derive products in an operational manner for major worldwide representative agriculture systems. Four key products have been defined as relevant by key users of the domain: cloud free surface reflectance composites, cropland mask, crop type map and area estimate, vegetation status. In 2014 and 2015, proxy datasets (SPOT 4 Take 5, Landsat, RapidEye) will be used to simulate Sentinel-2 and generate prototype products while in 2016, the products will be demonstrated with Sentinel-2. </p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-20604459863143551232014-03-29T18:33:00.000+01:002014-05-12T19:28:36.455+02:00New post doc at ECO-LAND: Nicolas Titeux<p align="justify"><a href="http://nicolastiteux.wordpress.com/"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://nicolastiteux.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/finland-060c.jpg?w=221&h=394" width="194" height="339" /></a><a href="http://nicolastiteux.wordpress.com/">Nicolas Titeux</a> recently joined the ECOLAND lab as a post-doctoral researcher on <a href="http://eubon.eu/">biodiversity scenarios in Europe (EUBON</a> and <a href="http://www.trustee-project.eu/">TRUSTEE projects</a>). The emphasis of his recent activities has been on spatial ecology, conservation biogeography and biodiversity monitoring. Important axes of his research are the improvement of predictive modelling approaches to guide the development of conservation strategies and the integration of such approaches into biodiversity monitoring programmes to understand species dynamics in space and over time. </p> <p align="justify">He is also interested in understanding habitat selection patterns and processes in human-modified environments. After his PhD and post-doctoral projects at the <a href="https://www.uclouvain.be/index.html">Université Catholique de Louvain</a> in Belgium, Nicolas has been the head of a small research team in the field of spatial ecology and biodiversity conservation during almost 6 years at the Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann in Luxembourg. His team has been responsible for the establishment and scientific coordination of the national biodiversity monitoring programme. </p> <p align="justify">Nicolas recently joined the ECOLAND lab to work in the <a href="http://eubon.eu/">EU BON</a> and TRU<a href="http://www.trustee-project.eu/">STEE projects</a> and to become integrated in international networks of key research institutions in Europe. Within those projects, he will contribute to the development of methods to improve the assessment/projection of the impacts of recent/future environmental changes on biodiversity. Beyond those projects, Nicolas would be very happy to collaborate with other members of the ECOLAND lab on research topics that match his competences or to participate and help in the fieldwork activities for other projects. His preferred taxa are (not surprisingly) birds, butterflies and bats, but he would be very pleased to learn more about other groups like Mediterranean dragonflies, reptiles or amphibians. Nicolas decided to settle in Solsona with his family for a while and will be on the lookout for any opportunity for a trekking or birdwatching experience in the surroundings...</p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-39463282092019844442014-03-28T13:06:00.001+01:002014-03-28T13:06:51.254+01:00New article: A Resource-Based Modelling Framework to Assess Habitat Suitability for Steppe Birds in Semiarid Mediterranean Agricultural Systems.<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0092790"><img title="Captura de pantalla 2014-03-28 a les 12.58.49" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Captura de pantalla 2014-03-28 a les 12.58.49" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-YsBlRf5Qb2M/UzVl0B6iA1I/AAAAAAAACYk/kixSA0soLgs/Captura%252520de%252520pantalla%2525202014-03-28%252520a%252520les%25252012.58.49%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="179" /></a>A new article has been published in PLoS ONE by ECOLAND and BACLAB members, with the collaboration of researchers from the <a href="https://www.uclm.es/irec/">IREC-CSIC</a>, <a href="http://www.eeza.csic.es/es/default.aspx">EEZA-CSIC,</a> <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/biological-sciences/People/Academic/Simon+Butler">University of East Anglia</a> and <a href="http://www.deptetsea.udl.cat/dept/pvcf/cat/personal/cantero.html">University of Lleida</a>. </p> <p align="justify">In this work included in the <a href="http://www.steppeahead.com">Steppeahead project</a> included in the <a href="http://www.fgcsic.es/especies_amenazadas/es_ES/proyectos/proyectos_cero">Proyecto 0 call from FGCSIC</a>, the authors develop a resource-based model framework to estimate habitat suitability for target species, according to simple information on species’ key resource requirements (diet, foraging habitat and nesting site), and examine whether it can be used to link land-use and local species’ distribution. </p> <span class="fullpost"> <p align="justify">The authors also compare the performance of the resource-based approach to that obtained through habitat-based models relating species’ occurrence and land-cover variables. Habitat suitability estimates generated by the resource-based models performed similarly (and better for one study species) than habitat based-models when predicting current species distribution. Moderate prediction success was achieved for three out of four species considered by resource-based models and for two of four by habitat-based models. Although, there is potential for improving the performance of resource-based models, they provide a structure for using available knowledge of the functional links between agricultural practices, provision of key resources and the response of organisms to predict potential effects of changing land-uses in a variety of context or the impacts of changes such as altered management practices that are not easily incorporated into habitat-based models.</p> <p align="justify">-------------------------------------</p> <p align="justify"><font color="#ff0000"><strong>Nou article: Un model basat en la disponibilitat de recursos per estimar la qualitat de l’hàbitat d’aus estepàries en sistemes agrícoles mediterranis semiàrids.</strong></font> </p> <p align="justify">Integrants dels grups ECOLAND i BACLAD del CTFC publiquen un nou article a la revista PLoS ONE, en col·laboració amb investigadors del <a href="https://www.uclm.es/irec/">IREC-CSIC</a>, <a href="http://www.eeza.csic.es/es/default.aspx">EEZA-CSIC</a>, <a href="http://www.deptetsea.udl.cat/dept/pvcf/cat/personal/cantero.html">la Universitat de Lleida</a> i la <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/biological-sciences/People/Academic/Simon+Butler">Universitat  de East Anglia</a>. </p> <p align="justify">En aquest treball, els autors desenvolupen un model basat en la disponibilitat de recursos per estimar la qualitat de l’hàbitat d’aus estepàries en sistemes agrícoles mediterranis i examinen si poden ser útils per predir la distribució local d’aquestes espècies. Els autors també comparen els resultats d’aquests models amb models correlatius d’hàbitat que relacionen directament els usos del sòl amb dades d’ocurrència de les espècies. Els models basats en la disponibilitat de recursos van predir la distribució local de les espècies de manera similar (i millor per un espècie) als models correlatius d’hàbitat. </p> <p align="justify">Es van obtenir un èxit de predicció moderat per tres de les quatre espècies considerades amb els models de disponibilitat de recursos, i per dos de quatre amb els models correlatius d’hàbitat. Tot i que encara hi ha potencial per millorar els models basats en la disponibilitat de recursos, aquests ja proporcionen una estructura per utilitzar el coneixement disponible sobre els vincles funcionals entre les practiques agrícoles, la provisió de recursos i la resposta de les espècies per predir els efectes potencials dels canvis en els usos del sòl o en les practiques agrícoles en una gran varietat de contextos.</p> </span> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0092790">Laura Cardador, Miquel De Cáceres, Gerard Bota, David Giralt, Fabián Casas, Beatriz Arroyo, François Mougeot, Carlos Cantero-Martínez, Judit Moncunill, Simon J. Butler & Lluís Brotons. 2014. A Resource-Based Modelling Framework to Assess Habitat Suitability for Steppe Birds in Semiarid Mediterranean Agricultural Systems.  published 25 Mar 2014 | PLOS ONE.</a></p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-6393785239818126962014-03-24T14:35:00.001+01:002014-03-24T14:35:24.223+01:00New article: Historical Ecology and Invasion Biology: Long-Term Distribution Changes of Introduced Freshwater Species<p><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Clavero_Historical_ecology_Bioscience.pdf"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; display: inline" align="left" src="http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/64/2.cover.gif" /></a></p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Clavero_Historical_ecology_Bioscience.pdf">In this work</a>, Miguel Clavero (Estación Biológica de Doñana, Sevilla) with support of Dani Villero (ECOLAND) show how analysis of historical datasets may have implications for present-day environmental management. </p> <span class="fullpost"> <p align="justify">Based on Spanish historical written accounts from the sixteenth century to the present, they describe the long-term dynamics in the distributions of three freshwater species: tench (Tinca tinca), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius italicus). The results show the widespread, human-mediated expansion of the three species and support their introduced status, which has been controversial for tench and crayfish. The temporal patterns of spread of the three species differ dramatically. Although tench and crayfish expanded rapidly, carp spread mainly during the twentieth century, probably because of hydrologic alterations to Spanish streams. This prolonged time lag in the expansion of an introduced species calls for precaution when judging species invasiveness. Austropotamobius italicus is the focus of several conservation actions in Spain, a strategy that should be questioned in the view of the crayfish's probable introduced status.</p> <p align="justify">------</p> <p align="justify"><strong><font color="#ff0000">Ecología històrica i biologia de les invasions</font></strong></p> <p align="justify">En aquest treball, Miguel Clavero (Estación Biológica de Doñana, Sevilla) amb el recolzament de Dani Villero (ECOLAND) mostren com els anàlisis de dades històriques poden tenir implicacions en les estratègies de conservació portades a terme en l’actualitat.</p> <p align="justify">Basant-se en dades històriques publicades a Espanya des de mitjans del S.XVI fins a l’actualitat, han descrit la dinàmica de la distribució a llarg termini de 3 espècies d’aigües continentals: la tenca (Tinca tinca), la carpa (Cyprinus carpio) i el cranc de riu (Austropotamobius italicus). Els resultats mostren com en el passat l’àmplia expansió de les tres espècies va ser facilitada per l’home, donant suport al seu estatus d’espècies introduïdes, fet molt controvertit en els casos de la tenca i el crac de riu. Els patrons de dispersió de les tres espècies son molt diferents. Encara que la tenca i el cranc de riu es van expandir ràpidament, la carpa es va expandir principalment al llarg del S.XX, probablement a causa de alteracions hidrològiques dels rius espanyols. Un Aquest lapse temporal tant dilatat per a l’expansió d’una espècie introduïda suggereix que cal aplicar el principi de precaució alhora de jutjar la capacitat invasiva de les espècies. El cranc de riu (Austropotamobius italicus) es objecte de nombroses accions de conservació a Espanya, una estratègia de conservació que cal posar en qüestió a la llum del seu probable nou estatus d’espècie introduïda.</p> </span> <p align="justify"><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/Publicacions/Articles_SCI/2014_Clavero_Historical_ecology_Bioscience.pdf">Clavero, M & Villero, D. 2014. Historical ecology and invasion biology: long-term distribution changes of introduced freshwater species. Bioscience, 64:145-153</a>.</p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-54706943803269319922013-12-27T16:33:00.001+01:002014-03-28T15:28:07.415+01:00NEWFORESTS project: kick-off meeting 3-4th February, in Montreal, (Quebec- Canada)<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.newforests.cat"><img title="Captura de pantalla 2013-12-29 a les 18.59.55" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Captura de pantalla 2013-12-29 a les 18.59.55" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-QDmPYd2qjww/UzWG5YLNdbI/AAAAAAAACY8/7s60ZtSlMyc/Captura-de-pantalla-2013-12-29-a-les%25255B1%25255D%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="194" height="115" /></a>In early February members from forest research institutions in Quebec, (Canada), Catalonia (Spain) and southern France met in Montreal for the <a href="http://www.newforests.cat">kick-off meeting of the project NEWFORESTS</a>. The meeting included a live broadcast of the event to be held on the <strong>Tuesday the 4th</strong> to those interested in the project (more to follow at <a href="http://www.cemfor.cat">CEMFOR</a> and <a href="http://www.cef-cfr.ca">CEF</a>).</p> <p align="justify">The NEWFORESTS is a new exchange programme bringing together researchers from 5 research institutions: two from public research centres in Spain, <a href="http://www.cemfor.cat">Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia (CTFC)</a> and <a href="http://www.creaf.uab.es/cat/index.htm">Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF),</a> one French institution, <a href="http://www.umr5059.univ-montp2.fr">Bio-Archaeology and Ecology Centre (CBAE</a>), and two Canadian Universities (University du Québec à Montréal, UQAM, and in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, UQAT) hosting two of the main hubs of the <a href="http://www.cef-cfr.ca">Centre for Forest Research (CEF).</a>    </p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.newforests.cat"><img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto 5px; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zsEBveRSxd8/Ur2d4lMoizI/AAAAAAAACZE/hXah3EwdlkM/image8%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="399" height="72" /></a></p> <p align="justify">Building from previous collaborations (i.e. <a href="http://lia-montabor.uqat.ca">LIA MONTABOR</a>, <a href="http://www.fcm.uqam.ca">FOREST COMPLEXITY MODELLING</a>), the aim of the NEWFORESTS project is to create a competitive platform at the international level to analyse the responses of forest ecosystems to global changes and integrate current knowledge in sound and innovative forest management and planning approaches. The general objective of the program is to determine how to effectively integrate woodland management (including non-management options) into strategies aimed to adjust and mitigate global change. </p> <p align="justify"><a href="http://www.newforests.cat">The project is organized in 5 thematic work packages</a> ranging from the basic understanding of forests dynamics, biodiversity and functioning to research on interactions between global change drivers determining disturbances regimes and the integration of the gathered knowledge into advanced modelling tools and sound management guidelines at different spatial scales. A fundamental aspect of the program is that it stresses not only the responsibility of human society as a major driver of global change, but also recognizes that we have an opportunity to mitigate this change through informed, proper management decisions.</p> <p align="justify">General objectives of the project kick-off-meeting were:</p> <p align="justify">-    Discuss the general governance of the NEWFORESTS project aiming at ensuring exchanges between the consortium institutions in the topics covered by the program of work.</p> <p align="justify">-    Identify, propose and develop a program of activities for the consortium in the forthcoming months and years. </p> <p align="justify">-    Introduce the members of the consortium to each other in more detail to enhance reciprocal knowledge of main research carried out and to facilitate the establishment of research exchanges. </p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-52720529374493274352013-12-02T19:25:00.000+01:002013-12-29T19:32:51.483+01:00EUBON meeting in Solsona: European contribution to the Biodiversity Observation Network<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bD-adcvWSsY/UsBqx9ErHXI/AAAAAAAACOg/8NnOptcRMY4/s1600-h/IMG_1470%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1470" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1470" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-r1LBl_0fTGA/UsBqzL8TvcI/AAAAAAAACOo/NQ5hh0SmPNE/IMG_1470_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="213" height="164" /></a></p> <p align="justify">A international team of researches from the <a href="http://eubon.eu">EUBON project (Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network)</a> gathered from 25-27th November in Solsona to held the kick-off meeting for two of the project work-packages. </p> <p align="justify">Discussions, including the different members of <a href="http://www.eubon.eu/show/links_5546">EBCC-CTFC team in the project,</a> revolved around the development of state-of-the-art methods and models aimed at using the rapidly growing amounts of available data on biodiversity patterns, trends and their dependency on natural and anthropogenic drivers. Other objectives discussed focussed on the analyses of biodiversity and their relationships to various drivers, focussing on populations and species ranges, using newly available data from monitoring, collections and remote-sensing, and the projection of biodiversity patterns to possible future trends and threats to biodiversity across scales based on EU scenario data. </p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6715362247244583867.post-75560730576716725542013-11-29T10:56:00.001+01:002013-11-29T10:56:35.610+01:00Se busca candidato a beca FPU para un proyecto sobre modelización de la vegetación en el CTFC<p align="justify"><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/FPU_VegetationModelling_CTFC.pdf"><img title="Captura de pantalla 2013-11-29 a les 10.57.37" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Captura de pantalla 2013-11-29 a les 10.57.37" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bDpE4-cN9I8/Uphk0Oa1lLI/AAAAAAAACKA/R2uESvcl_Xo/Captura%252520de%252520pantalla%2525202013-11-29%252520a%252520les%25252010.57.37%25255B10%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="416" height="132" /></a><a href="http://biodiversitat.ctfc.es/ECOLAND/FPU_VegetationModelling_CTFC.pdf"><strong>Se busca candidato para solicitar beca de Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) para la realización de una tesis doctoral.</strong></a> </p> <p align="justify"><strong><font color="#ff0000">Tema: Predicción de cambios en la estructura y composición de la vegetación a escala de paisaje/regional.</font></strong> </p> <p align="justify">La vegetación Mediterránea es el resultado de la acción de procesos ecológicos (crecimiento, competencia, mortalidad, dispersión...) en el que intervienen tanto los atributos de las especies como factores del llamado cambio global (incremento de la sequía, cambios en el régimen de incendios, abandono rural...). Uno de los retos actuales de la ecología terrestre es el ser capaces de predecir los cambios en la vegetación resultantes de dichas interacciones en un contexto espacialmente explícito. El objetivo del presente proyecto es el desarrollar y aplicar estrategias de modelización para realizar predicciones de cambios estructurales y de composición de la vegetación a escala de paisaje/regional. El proyecto de tesis se enmarca en el contexto del proyecto “BIONOVEL: Assessing the impact on biodiversity of uncertain and novel future landscapes under different drivers of global change in a Mediterranean region” desarrollado en el área de <a href="http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.com.es">Biodiversidad y Ecología de del Paisaje del CTFC.</a> </p> <p align="justify">El proyecto de tesis constaría de tres fases: (1) En primer lugar, se realizarían predicciones de cambios en el estrato dominante (árboles o arbustos) usando un modelo de <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/medfireproject/">simulación de paisaje espacialmente explícito (MEDFATE, MED-LDM),</a> recientemente desarrollado en colaboración con el CREAF y el CIDE-CSIC, que representa la vegetación de una parcela como un conjunto de cohortes de plantas de distintas especies, y simula la dinámica de la vegetación tomando en consideración distintos factores de cambio (e.g., incremento de la sequía, incendios forestales y procesos de abandono rural); (2) A continuación, se desarrollarían modelos para obtener predicciones de cambios en el sotobosque usando las cambios en el estrato dominante como variables explicativas en combinación con otros factores (e.g. climáticos, edáficos, disponibilidad de propágulos); (3) Finalmente, las predicciones obtenidas a nivel de especie como resultado de las fases anteriores se resumirían como cambios en tipos de vegetación mediante técnicas de clasificación de la vegetación. </p> <p align="justify">Lugar de Trabajo: Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya, en Solsona (a 120 km al norte de Barcelona). </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Perfil del candidato/a: Licenciados o graduados en Biología, Ciencias Ambientales o afines, con buen nivel de inglés y que cumplan los requisitos de la convocatoria FPU. Se valorarán conocimientos en estadística, programación, sistemas de información geográfica, teledetección y ecología de la flora vascular Mediterránea. </strong></p> <p align="justify"><strong>Los requisitos y procedimiento de aplicación de la becas <a href="https://sede.educacion.gob.es/catalogo-tramites/profesores/formacion/universitarios/fpu.html">FPU se pueden consultar en la convocatoria publicada en la web Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.</a></strong></p> <p align="justify"><strong>Plazo de presentación: antes del 16 diciembre 2013</strong>. </p> <p align="justify">Los candidatos pueden contactar con <font color="#ff0000"><strong>Miquel De Cáceres (miquelcaceres@gmail.com),</strong></font> enviando su CV y la nota media del expediente. </p> Lluís Brotonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05440162128842689230noreply@blogger.com0