Ecology and Conservation Across Scales

"Ecology and Conservation Across Scales" aims to halt biodiversity loss by studying the patterns of species distribution and abundance and addressing global environmental changes.

Key objectives include:

• Characterising major patterns of ecosystem structure and functioning, identifying key drivers and mechanisms of biodiversity loss using comprehensive spatial and temporal data.
• Maximising synergies between taxonomists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and computer scientists to develop innovative tools and best practices.
• Finding solutions to reverse the current global biodiversity crisis by transferring scientific knowledge and collaborating with other societal actors aligned with national and international strategies.

Our research covers a wide diversity of organisms (from microorganisms to vertebrates), systems (Mediterranean, tropical, polar, and island biomes), and habitats (from subterranean to drylands, forests, coastal, and marine environments). Utilising infrastructures like our field station, Herdade da Ribeira Abaixo (LTER site), long-term plot-based monitoring stations, Natural History Collections, and digital Big Data repositories, this research area is supported by eight research groups focusing on various biomes and approaches, from cutting-edge theory to applied conservation issues.

Coordination