• CONSERVATION OF FOREST SYSTEMS
• Forest soil characterization and dynamics. Study of soil / vegetation / climate relationships. Study of the dynamics of soil organic matter and nutrients from the point of view of soil quality and fertility, carbon storage and the fight against climate change. Development of strategies for the conservation of forest soils.
• Restoration and dynamics of degraded areas. Study of changes in vegetation and soil during succession in degraded ecosystems. Identification of the responsible mechanisms and of biotic and abiotic factors involved in forest regeneration.
• Conservation and improvement of forest resources. Study of the essential genetic factors and parameters in the improvement and conservation of forest genetic resources. Application to programs for the improvement and conservation of genetic resources.
• Population and evolutionary ecology in forest systems. Study of the ecological, populational processes and evolutionary factors that determine the dynamics of forest populations.
• Remote sensing applied to forest systems. Use of space remote sensing, field radiometry and GIS for the study of forest systems (analysis of forest fires, forest health, fixed carbon or biomass temporal evolution of forest systems, among others).

• USE OF FOREST SYSTEMS
• Forest systems functioning and dynamics. Study of the processes of operation, dynamics and growth of forest systems under different environmental and management scenarios. The spatial and temporal dynamics of vegetation, of natural regeneration, and the growth and structure of forest stands are analyzed.
• Forest modeling. Development of forest dynamics models (growth, production, demography and distribution) integrating environmental and silvicultural information to predict the evolution of forest systems in the face of social and environmental change. Research on new methods of developing forest dynamics models and their implementation in support systems for silvicultural decision-making.
• Silviculture and adaptive management. Development and evaluation of silvicultural systems adapted to changing environmental, economic and social situations. Development of adaptive management techniques that facilitate the generation of new silvicultural systems.
• Pastoral and wildlife management. Pastoral management methodologies, and management of wildlife populations under different management scenarios.
• Plague and illness management. Currently, the phenomena of pests and diseases are increasing due to global change and the exchange of invasive foreign species, threatening the survival and multifunctionality of forest stands. This line is focused on the development of methods, tactics and strategies in accordance with sustainability criteria, aimed at reducing the damage to trees caused by these native and introduced biotic agents.
• Protection and interactions against fire. The incidence of forest fires is particularly severe in Mediterranean forest ecosystems, and could be exacerbated in a climate change scenario. Furthermore, fire has decisively contributed to the evolution of plant formations. This line is focused on the one hand on developing methods and tools that minimize the incidence of forest fires, facilitating their prevention and control, while also trying to advance in the knowledge of the effects of fire on the elements of these ecosystems and their strategies

Fátima Cruz
Ángel Hernández Lázaro
Juan José Luque Larena
Carolina Martínez Ruiz
Jose Miguel Olano
Juan Andrés Oria de Rueda
José Arturo Reque Kilchenmann
Carmen Quintano
Paco Rodríguez-Puerta
María Belén Turrión Nieves