The IIM leads 3 of the 10 projects for the Ecological and Digital Transition obtained by the CSIC in Galicia.

Santiago de Compostela/Vigo, December 14 , 2022. The Spanish Research Council has initiated nine new research projects funded by the State’s Research Agency through the " 2021 Call for projects aimed at the ecological and digital transition ", part of the Spanish State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research 2021-2023 within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The new projects will conclude in 2025 .

The IIM-CSIC projects, more than €500,000 for a more sustainable future

"Research, development and innovation of a Coastal Observation network: Ría de Arousa" is the research that, under the direction of Antón Velo Lanchas and José Antonio Padín Álvarez (both from the Oceanic Processes in Global Change group) started at the IIM with funding of nearly 245,000 euros.

Between its goals is to generate scientific knowledge related to the risks associated with global change in coastal zones from an integrated network that can be extrapolated to other zones of socioeconomic interest and Marine Protected Areas protected at a State-government level; build a network of observation in nearly real-time for the measurement of biogeochemical variables and biosensors in the Ría de Arousa and in th eadjacent platform and implement an oceanographic monitoring and predictive system in nearly real-time. It will allow for the implementation of historical databases of the Ría de Arousa.

“Integration of inland groundwater discharge into sustainable management strategies of coastal water resources: identification, quantification and characterization” is another of the research projects that are being initiated at the IIM under this call. Funded with 200,000 euros and with Xosé A Álvarez Salgado (Organic Geochemistry Lab) as principal investigator, it is a coordinated project between the CSIC (coordinator) and the University of Vigo .

Its aim is to design a strategy for the identification, quantification and characterization of the impacts and risks associated with the subterranean continental waters discharge (SCWD) off the Galician coast to be incorporated into routine monitoring programmes and thus be able to propose informed measures for their sustainable management.

“Promotion of marine renewable energies in Spain: social preferences and decision-making ” is a project whose main researchers are Mario Soliño Millán (Marine Ecology and Resources) and Emilio Cerdá (Universidad Complutense de Madrid ).

Financed with more than 100,000 euros, its main objective is to know the environmental preferences for marine renewable energy promotion programmes. This knowledge will allow, among other things, to identify unique behaviors that influence environmental valuation, bringing it closer to the real values of the different individuals that make up a society, as well as to improve the design of economic valuation exercises for non-traded environmental goods and services.

Others projects obtained by the CSIC Galicia

The projects of the MBG-Santiago HQ

Elena Corredoira Castro, from the Biotechnology and Forest Improvement Technical Unit , is the main researcher, along with Pilar Sánchez (Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas -CSIC), of the project “ In-vitro regeneration of trees resilient for the recovery of agroforestry ecosystems threatened by climate change: new strategies with small molecules” , funded with nearly 250,000 euros.

The main aim is to discover new molecules that promote cell reprogramming and the induction of somatic embryogenesis to improve the regeneration in-vitro of the most important forest species of the Iberian Peninsula: cork oak , holm oak , chestnut tree, California pine and maritime pine. The five species are seriously affected by diseases caused by different pathogens ( fungi , oomycetes or bacteria) whose effects have been accelerated as a consequence of the effects of climate change.

The projects of the MBG-Pontevedra headquarters

Ana María Butrón Gómez (Corn Genetics and Improvement Group ) and Rogelio Santiago Carabelos (Crop Biochemistry and Physiology Group ) are the main researchers of " Development of double-dip maize varieties . " use in a climate change scenario” , research funded with nearly 220,000 euros.

The project , in which the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (CSIC) and the Institute of Agrobiotechnology (CSIC, Government of Navarra) participate, aims to study the variability for a double use of corn in different water regimes and identify metabolites or physiological characters that serve to indirectly improve the quantity and quality of biomass.

Jorge Durán ( Biogeochemistry and Global Change Group ) is the principal investigator of " Response of greenhouse gas flows and nutrient cycling to climate warming in urban green areas", financed with nearly 240,000 euros.

Rafael Zas Arregui and Luis Sampedro Pérez (Group Genetics and Forest Ecology " are the coordinators of " Clarifying the effects of the use resin to ensure the resilience and sustainability of ecosystem services of maritime pine forests ”, research in which the Forestry Research Center (INIA), University of Lleida, CESEFOR, IGM SL, ENEBADA SL participate.

Funded with close to more than 240,000 euros, its The objectives involve establishing both a network of long-term experimental plots for studies of the integrated effect of the use resin resin on the physiology , ecology and resilience of pine forests such as the effects of resin resin on the defensive machinery, growth and ecophysiology of pines, interactions ecological at the ecosystem level and the regeneration of pine forests .

The projects of the Oceanographic Center of Vigo-IEO

“ Implementation of growth trials _ embryo -larva with sea urchins to study the impact of multiple agents stressors in marine ecosystems ” is one of the two projects that begin at the IEO-Vigo. Funded with more than 90,000 euros and with Juan Ignacio Bertucci as principal investigator, its mission is to study the joint effect of microplastics and chemical products in different climate change scenarios, using embryos of the sentinel species ( Paracentrotus lividus ).

This will be achieved by combining molecular techniques together with Sea Urchin Embryo Testing ( SET) that will allow its impact at the molecular, individual and population level . It is intended to develop a standard protocol for the performance of SET that allows studying the impact of various toxic agents acting together .

“ Approaches Biotechnological and Nutritional for Adaptation to climate change : revealing the keys to the resilience of turbot farming ” is a project that began with funding close to 200,000 euros and under the direction of Montserrat Pérez and Ignacio Fernández. The University of León participates .

Their goal is study the effect of climate change on three fundamental processes of fish culture: gametogenesis , embryogenesis and pre -growing of juveniles . For this , the use of tools will be implemented . genomic , transcriptomic , and nutritional , trying to reveal the mechanisms involved.