CREAF is a research and development institute affiliated to the Autonomous University of Barcelona hosting more than 30 scientists, 20 technicians and 20 postdocs and PhD students. CREAF is leading basic and applied research on Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems.
The main objectives of CREAF are:
1) to conduct basic research on the structure, function and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems.
2) to develop conceptual and methodological tools for improving management of both natural and rural environments and
3) to disseminate the project’s research results by means of training, consulting and information.
CREAF has the institutional support of the Universities of Barcelona and Autonomous of Barcelona, as well as the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. Relevant CREAF expertise includes field site maintenance and experimentation, plant biomass and production measurements, powerful GIS techniques, leaf gas exchange, stable isotopes, soil water chemistry, remote sensing, fire ecology, modelling, paleoecology, conservation ecology and land use policy. CREAF has strong experience in European projects and a large network of collaborators in Europe, US, South America, Australia and Japan. CREAF has also got great experience in training pre-doctoral and postdoctoral students. The Institute has the necessary equipment for carrying out the proposed research, including gas exchange systems, gas chromatogry, plant growth facilities, experimental field sites, and modern tools for ecophysiological studies.
CREAF researchers are participating in many international, Spanish and Catalan Programmes on Ecology and Natural Sciences (e.g. IGBP, SCOPE, TERACC, AVEC, Millenium Assessment).
CREAF has been involved in several European projects from previous programmes: STEP, Water pathways, buffering processes, and hydrochemical modelling in Mediterranean forested catchments; DM2E, Aide a la gestion de l’espace méditerranéen en voie de désertification grace a la modélisation des écoulements et de l’érosion des sols sur des bassins versants representatifs ; LUCIFER, Land Use Change Interactions with Fire in Mediterranean Landscapes; CHILL-10000, Climate history as recorded by ecologically sensitive arctic and alpine lakes in Europe during the last 10.000 years; SUCRE, Sustainable use, conservation and restoration of native forests in Southern Mexico and South Central Chile LTEEF, Long-term effects of Climate Change on European Forests; LTEEF-II, Long term effects of CO² increase and climate change on European forests: Impact assessment and consequences for carbon budgets; INTERREG II, Reconstruction of Mediterranean forest landscapes affected by large wildfires events; CLIMOOR, Climate driven changes in the functioning of heath and moorland ecosystems; MODMED, Modelling Mediterranean ecosystems dynamics; SilviStrat, Response strategies to climatic change in management of European forests; ATEAM, Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling; SPREAD, Forest Fire Spread Prevention and Mitigation; ELNINO, Regeneration of Semiarid Plant Communities: The role of El Niño Southern Oscillation and Herbivory Control; CARBO-INVENT, Multi-source inventory methods for quantifying carbon stocks and stock changes in European Forests; EUFIRELAB, Euro-Mediterranean Wildland Fire Laboratory, a wall-less Laboratory for Wildland Fire Sciences and Technologies in the Euro-Mediterranean Region; EPIDEMIE, Exotic plant invasions: deleterious effects on Mediterranean island ecosystems; VULCAN, Vulnerability assessment of shrubland ecosystems in Europe under climatic changes; EUROBIONET, European network for the assessment of air quality by the use of bioindicator plants.

RESEARCH TEAM: Joan Pino, Santi Sabaté, Josep Peñuelas