SUMHAL

Its main objective is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity in natural or semi-natural systems in the western Mediterranean, based on high-tech infrastructures, and the association between highly specialised research personnel and the public.

It also seeks to establish a technologically efficient and scientifically robust system that combines field work, virtual research environments (VREs) for the recording, storage, analysis and dissemination of the conservation status and threats of Andalusian biodiversity and the most frequent ecosystems, offering virtual tools, not only to researchers, but also to society and conservation agencies, for the assessment of the current situation after considering the past, making informed decisions and taking adaptive management actions, in order to reduce future vulnerability and the loss of natural heritage.

I’m involving in the WP7: Improve the sustainability of the mediterranean forests and silvopastoral agrosystems under climate change, specifically in the sub-projects LWE2103026 and LWE2103027 (Role of Silvopastoral practises in conservation and Geodatabase, spatial model and Integration in virtual research environments) focus on analyzing the role of traditional silvopastorals in ecosystem biodiversity and in the prevention of forest fires in natural areas of Andalusia, based on up-to-date technological tools. Specifically, the LWE2103026 subproject uses for field tracking: Satellite and RPAS images, GPS devices for livestock tracking and precision GPS for georeferencing points and sampling plots. In addition, this subproject is responsible for collecting spatial and alphanumeric information on different environmental aspects related to the silvopastoral management of the Mediterranean mountain. Sub-project LWE2103027 is based on the information generated in sub-project LWE2103026, for the design of a geodatabase (spatial and alphanumeric), image analysis (satellite-drone), statistical analysis of ecological data and information modelling, which will be aimed at creating silvopastoral management tools for the Andalusian natural spaces. Traditional field sampling, integrated into subproject LWE2103026, will be used to validate the management models obtained in subproject LWE2103027.

See the website of the project for more info

Duration: April 2021 - June 2023
PIs: WP7 M. Fernández-López (EEZ-CSIC); Responsible Researcher: A.B. Robles-Cruz (EEZ-CSIC)