Today, the article “Rapid adaptation and extinction in synchronized outdoor evolution experiments of Arabidopsis,” co-authored by Carlos Lara Romero, Alfredo García Fernández, Martí March Salas, and José María Iriondo Alegría, researchers at IICG-URJC, was published in the journal Science. Don’t miss this post summarizing this fascinating study.

A study led by researchers from the IICG-URJC reveals that pine plantations fail to reproduce the ant communities characteristic of mature forests, even after more than a hundred years. These reference forests are dominated by species associated with forest habitats, unlike plantations, which are dominated by more generalist species.

Today, March 22nd, is World Water Day, and at the IICG-URJC we want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that rivers, lakes, and wetlands not only provide us with water but also harbour extraordinary biodiversity. However, many of these ecosystems are among the most threatened on the planet.

Don’t miss this post summarizing the preliminary results found by the researcher Jesús López Angulo in his ECORUN project, which was funded by the “1st Call for Research Projects for Postdoctoral Researchers IICG-URJC 2024”.

Don’t miss this post summarizing the findings of researcher Francisco Javier Jiménez in his FLUVEER project, which was funded by the “1st Call for Research Projects for Postdoctoral Researchers IICG-URJC 2024”.

To mark World Wetlands Day, we want to share this post with you, which highlights the importance of integrating scientific knowledge into the conservation and management of these ecosystems, which are seriously threatened by global change. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn how the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems responds to environmental pressures and contributes to the functioning and resilience of wetlands.

Don’t miss this post which gathers the reflections and background of the workshop “C4 Photosynthesis in Cyperaceae” held from October 21 to 23, 2025 in Aranjuez thanks to the funding of the 2nd Call Forward Thinking Actions IICG-URJC.

November 11, 2025, marked International Mountain Day. Therefore, we at the IICG-URJC wanted to share a video with you all about how global change is transforming Mediterranean mountains…

To mark World Evolution Day, celebrated today, November 24th, we want to share a very interesting post with you:
Anacyclus clavatus is a Mediterranean plant known for having two types of fruit: winged and wingless. The function of these wings has always been assumed to be what one would expect in any winged fruit: to allow the fruit to extend its flight time and thus achieve greater dispersal distances. So far, nothing unusual for daisies…

On October 30, 2025, the article “Plant functional traits shape the provision of ecosystem services to Indigenous communities in western Amazonia” was published in the journal People and Nature, co-authored by Luis Cayuela, a member of the IICG research team.
The journal’s blog published a post written by the authors of the article, which we wanted to share with you because we found it very interesting.

Every November 1st, World Ecology Day is celebrated, a date dedicated to recognize the importance of understanding the interactions that make life possible on our planet. Ecology not only studies living beings individually, but also the relationships that connect them to each other and to their environment. And these connections are deeper—and more invisible—than we imagine.
When we walk through the forest, we usually focus on the trees, their leaves, or the water flowing in a nearby river. However, we rarely think about what’s happening beneath our feet: roots and microscopic fungi intertwine, forming an underground network capable of exchanging water, nutrients, and chemical information between the trees. This network is called the “Wood Wide Web”, or in Spanish, “la red subterránea del bosque”. Through it, trees cooperate to survive, especially in environments where resources are limited.

Flowers are loaded with symbolism, such as love, beauty, youth, or… the ephemeral nature of it all. Who hasn’t been moved by each petal that the magic rose from Beauty and the Beast inexorably lost? Indeed, from a more materialistic perspective, a large sector of the flower industry strives to maintain the life of flowers, both in potted plants and cut flowers, as long as possible. And from a more ecological and evolutionary perspective, it’s known to be a losing battle, since keeping a flower open not only entails benefits (economic for the industry, biological efficiency for the flower) but also costs, related to water and energy consumption. From the perspective of evolutionary ecology, it has been known since the mid-1990s that each plant species has a flower life span that is the product of a balance between the speed with which it exports and receives pollen, on the one hand, and the costs of keeping the flower open.

The Global Change Research Institute of Rey Juan Carlos University (IICG-URJC) aims to contribute knowledge about global change and biodiversity loss to help decision-makers in all fields, from government to business, design actions to address this urgent need.
The forest fires ravaging our country are just another example of a long list of dramatic climate events, such as floods and intense droughts, that systematically awaken horror and alarm among all citizens. Therefore, it is critical to have a long-term, cross-cutting strategy based on science and prevention to address the climate emergency.
The IICG-URJC joins to all the stakeholders who express the priority need to reach a State Pact for the climate emergency. President Pedro Sánchez recently announced this. All of us at our institution believe this is a unique opportunity to address this essential climate action. An ambitious, supportive, and responsible challenge.