Silvia Castro 

Assistant Professor at the Department of Life Sciences and Centre for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra (UC).

Working on: Plant ecology and evolution, pollination and plant-pollinator interactions

Her research id focused on plant ecology and evolution by studying the dynamics of diploid-polyploid plants namely the origin, maintenance and ecological consequences of polyploidy, and the role of plant-pollinator interactions in plant reproductive strategies and phenotypic selection. Also, she interested in threatened and invasive plants, exploring evolutionary changes in plant reproductive strategies during the invasion process, evolution of invasiveness and impacts in native plant communities.

PolinizAÇÃO: Advancing Pollinator Conservation through Science–Policy–Society Integration in Portugal

Sílvia Castro, Eva Monteiro, Andreia Miraldo, Carolina Caetano, Cândida Ramos, João Loureiro

Pollinators are key components of biodiversity, essential to ecosystem functioning, agricultural productivity, and food security, yet they are experiencing widespread declines driven by habitat loss, pesticide use, invasive species, and climate change. The PolinizAÇÃO project, developed in Portugal, contributes to national and international efforts for pollinator conservation through the co-construction of a National Action Plan for the Conservation and Sustainability of Pollinators.
The project integrates ecological research with participatory processes to inform public policy and territorial management. Core activities include the collection of ecological data on pollinator diversity and abundance, and the development of a national pollinator monitoring programme—an essential step towards structured, long-term biodiversity observation. This programme is being collaboratively designed, incorporating input from both researchers and practitioners, and serves as a tool for tracking population trends and supporting adaptive management.
A central feature of PolinizAÇÃO is its multi-stakeholder engagement strategy, involving researchers, land managers, farmers, policymakers, NGOs, and citizens. The project fostered dialogue and co-creation through thematic and participatory workshops, gathering local knowledge, values, and perceptions, and aligning them with empirical evidence on pollinator ecology and threats. This approach enabled the identification of conservation priorities and the formulation of context-specific actions.
By linking ecological knowledge with societal needs and governance mechanisms, PolinizAÇÃO provides a model for effective science–policy–society interfaces. Its participatory governance framework strengthens stakeholder ownership and fosters long-term commitment to pollinator-friendly practices and biodiversity conservation.

 Iván Gómez-Mestre 

Researcher at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC).

Working on: Plasticity and macroevolution

His research is focused on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity and the role of plasticity in evolution, specifically on how organisms alter their phenotypes in response to changing environments and the evolutionary role of environmentally induced changes in development. He use various species of amphibians and invertebrates (beetles, daphnia) as model studies, studying their adaptations to abiotic factors, as well as their interactions with predators, competitors, pathogens and organisms from other trophic levels.

Phenotypic responses of amphibian larvae to multiple environmental cues and their carry-over post-metamorphic effects

Many amphibians have complex life cycles and are consequently exposed to variation in multiple factors, both in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Amphibians have the ability to respond to such environmental fluctuations by adjusting their physiology, behaviour, morphology and life histories. For instance, risk of pond drying may trigger developmental acceleration in amphibian larvae, allowing them to reach metamorphosis precociously. Such plastic responses, however, often come at a cost like reduced size at metamorphosis and depletion of their fat reserves. Moreover, environmental heterogeneity usually comes from simultaneous variation in multiple factors simultaneously, both biotic and abiotic. We are studying the plastic responses of spadefoot toad tadpoles to risk of pond drying, which is a complex combination of reduced water level, increased temperature, increased larval density and reduced food availability, and the phenotypic responses to these factors can be additive or even antagonistic. In addition, the plastic responses produced during a life stage may have consequences that carry-over to subsequent life stages, and amphibians are no exception. Small metamorphs that have experienced developmental acceleration during their larval stage reduce their survival odds, especially if they metamorphose onto a harsh environment. Current climate change, especially in Mediterranean areas, is translating not only in shorter pond hydroperiods, but also in increased temperature and drought of the terrain to which amphibian metamorphs emerge. We are consequently also studying carry-over effects of juvenile spadefoot toads, especially when they face drier and warmer environments, monitoring juvenile survival, growth, activity pattern, hormonal levels and thermal tolerance.

 Carlos M. Herrera Maliani 

Emeritus Professor of Research at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC).

Working on: Plant-animal interactions

Initially trained as an ornithologist, his scientific work has focused on most facets of the evolutionary ecology of plant-animal interactions, including plant-frugivore, plant-pollinator and plant-herbivore systems, as well as the tritrophic plant-pollinator-fungus system. It aims to contribute to resolving the apparent paradox represented, on the one hand, by the strong historical and ecological constraints on reciprocal adaptations found at the microevolutionary scale and, on the other hand, by the innumerable cases illustrating reciprocal adaptive radiations between plants and herbivores, pollinators and seed predators at the macroevolutionary scale. More recently, it has also added to its research programme the study of microbes potentially consequential for interactions linking plants with their animal pollinators, as well as approaches in population and molecular genetics, molecular phylogenetics, phylogeography and chemistry.

Subindividual variation, epigenetics and the melting of individuality in plants

Elucidating the causes and mechanisms involved in natural variation has historically provided a guiding thread in ecological science, and ecology has diversified into subdisciplines associated with the different, nested spatial scales at which variation occurs. The scale of variation least frequently investigated is the one which takes place within individual plants (= "subindividual variation"). Plant construction is based on the reiteration of homologous structures (e.g., leaves, flowers) which are not identical. Organ trait variance within plants often exceeds variance among individuals and subindividual variation has manifold ecological implications in terms of use of limiting resources (water, light, nitrogen), tolerance to environmental fluctuations, interactions with animals (pollinators, herbivores), and breadth of individual niches. While considerable information has accumulated on the extent and correlates of subindividual variation, a sufficiently general conceptual and mechanistic framework has been not yet agreed upon. The recent epigenetic mosaicism hypothesis postulates that the concerted action of transient, metastable and stable epigenetic differences among modules of the same plant can ultimately account for all forms of subindividual variation in plants.  Epigenetics offers a mechanistic framework for transforming information on subindividual variation (recognition, description, measurement) into knowledge (mechanisms, hypotheses, predictions). The three major epigenetic explanatory layers, along with the respective mechanisms involved, will be introduced and illustrated with empirical examples. Particular emphasis will be placed on the ecological significance of random epimutations arising from the regular 'epigenetic clock' operating in plants. Taken together, epigenetic mosaicism creates dynamic, transient epigenetic individualities nested within genetic individuals.

 Rafael Marcé 

Research Scientist at the Centre for Advanced Studies (CEAB-CSIC), Blanes, Spain.

Working on: Biogeochemistry, inland waters, global change

His scientific career focuses on how water scarcity impacts continental aquatic ecosystems and their ability to provide essential services to society. He investigates how drying affects carbon storage and cycling in inland waters and its implications for anthropogenic carbon redistribution. He contributes to global modeling efforts through the ISIMIP and GLEON networks, studying climate change impacts on lakes and reservoirs. Additionally, designs predictive tools for water quality in reservoirs, emphasizing the impacts of droughts and extreme weather events.

A blind spot in terrestrial carbon inventories: when water matters more than land 

Abstract: Many lakes around the world, particularly those in endorheic basins in arid and semi-arid regions, are shrinking. This poses a significant risk to the sedimentary carbon sink, as organic matter that has accumulated over thousands of years could be exposed to atmospheric oxygen, making it susceptible to remobilization. However, the current IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories primarily account for land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) transitions from land to flooded land, and from flooded land that remains flooded. As a result, the regional estimates of the impact of LULCC on net carbon fluxes overlook areas that have transitioned from flooded land to land, even though this shift has become one of the most significant LULCC processes in many basins over the past few decades. In this study, we use data from the Aral Sea, the world's largest disappearing lake, to assess the impact of incorporating this overlooked carbon flux into existing net carbon exchange models for the Aral Sea basin. Our findings highlight a critical gap in terrestrial carbon inventories, which, if addressed, could significantly refine our understanding of carbon dynamics in these regions.

 Silvia Matesanz 

University Professor and Academic Secretary of the Global Change Research Institute (IICG), Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) .

Working on: Microevolution, climate change, phenotypic plasticity

Her research mainly focuses on the evolutionary ecology of plants, particularly on the micro-evolutionary processes that occur within populations and how phenotypic variation is shaped by genetic and environmental factors. She investigates the role of phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution in the responses of Mediterranean plants to climate change.

Phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution in Mediterranean gypsum endemics: insights into climate change response

Climate change is a major threat to plant populations, especially in the Mediterranean. For gypsophiles—species restricted to gypsum soils—migration is a limited response due to specific edaphic needs, low dispersal, and fragmented distributions. Consequently, in situ processes like adaptive evolution and phenotypic plasticity are essential for their persistence. Future adaptive responses to climate change depend not only on historical evolutionary dynamics but also on the strength of selection and the evolutionary potential of functional traits and their plasticity. Our research investigates: i) the evolutionary potential of key functional traits and their plasticity; ii) whether past selection has shaped population phenotypes and plasticity patterns; and iii) the ability of gypsophiles to express adaptive transgenerational plasticity to drought. Using a quantitative genetics approach, our research shows that gypsophiles exhibit adaptive phenotypic plasticity to drought, sometimes aligned with selection patterns. High genetic variation for plasticity within populations supports their capacity to further evolve adaptive plasticity in response to climate change. This plasticity may have contributed to maintaining high genetic variation, enabling adaptation to contrasting climatic conditions. Populations of several Iberian gypsophiles display similar drought responses, likely shaped by natural selection in heterogeneous environments, and suggesting independent evolution of functional traits and their plasticity. Furthermore, gypsophiles express adaptive transgenerational plasticity to drought, though its extent varies among species. Our findings emphasize that, together, phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution (both past and future) play a key role in shaping population responses to changing conditions, particularly in stressful and spatially constrained habitats like gypsum outcrops.

 Beatriz Mouriño 

Researcher at the Biological Oceanography group of the CIM-UVigo and Professor at the University of Vigo.

Working on: Physical-biological interactions, phytoplankton, ocean turbulence

Her research focuses on understanding physical-biological interactions in the ocean across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. In particular, she examines the mechanisms that control marine primary production, such as intermittent nutrient supplies to plankton communities. To do this, she uses a combination of satellite images, time-series data analysis, physical and biological observations from specific cruises, laboratory experiments, and ocean model simulations. Current topics under investigation include the role of microstructure turbulence in structuring ocean microbial communities and the role of biological nitrogen fixation in coastal upwelling systems.

Tiny but mighty: The challenge of powering life in the ocean as microscopic algae

Photosynthetic organisms such as land plants, algae, and bacteria form the foundation of food webs by producing organic matter while regulating atmospheric CO2. This presentation explores the challenges phytoplankton — responsible for nearly half of global photosynthesis — face in the ocean to power life. Unlike terrestrial plants, phytoplankton live in water, where higher density and viscosity slow physical processes and tightly couple them with biological variability. Their rapid biomass doubling times (within days) make them sensitive to short-term hydrodynamic fluctuations. Moreover, while light is available near the surface, nutrients often lie below the pycnocline, a barrier that limits upward transport. Turbulence can enhance nutrient delivery but may also displace cells into deeper, darker waters. Ramón Margalef’s 1978 mandala hypothesized that turbulence and nutrient availability control microphytoplankton succession: high turbulence and nutrient favor large diatoms, while stratified, nutrient-poor conditions support motile or efficient nutrient users like dinoflagellates and coccolithophores. However, the model originally excluded small-sized phytoplankton and relied on indirect estimates. A recent multidisciplinary dataset—from tropical, subtropical, Mediterranean, and Galician upwelling regions—has enabled the first empirical validation of Margalef’s mandala. Findings confirm the central role of nutrient supply over static concentration, and show diatoms dominate across wider turbulence ranges thanks to nitrogen-fixing symbioses and thin-layer proliferation. Finally, organisms themselves can create turbulence. In 2018, bioturbulence generated by spawning fish in the Ría de Pontevedra was shown to enhance water-column mixing, with potential implications for nutrient supply and productivity—an insight that earned the 2023 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics.

 Elena Ojea 

Oportunius Research Professor at the Future Oceans Lab, CIM-University of Vigo (Spain).

Working on: Climate change adaptation, transformative responses, adaptive capacities, marine social-ecological systems

Her research is devoted to adaptive solutions for marine socio-ecological systems that enable sustainable resource management, social equity and care for marine livelihoods. She is currently involved in several European projects conducting risk and vulnerability assessments of marine systems. She has develop fieldwork in Chile, Mexico, Japan and Spain to explore fishers’ adaptive and transformative responses. Her research has a high international impact, participating in international projects for the FAO or the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. More recently, she has been lead author in the 6th IPCC Report on Impacts and Adaptation, in the ocean chapter and is scientific advisor in Stanford's Blue Food Futures initiative.

Advancing adaptation to climate change in marine social-ecological systems

Oceans are warming faster than terrestrial systems due to climate change, compromising marine life and dependent  human livelihoods  across the globe. We know that ecological impacts are closely intertwined with social ones due to the clomplex and interactive nature of social-ecological systems, such as fisheries or marine protected areas. However, little is know about how such systems can adapt to climate change impacts, confering resilience to the system and avoiding maladaptation outcomes. This presentation addresses how climate change is impacting key marine systems such as global fisheries, highlighting the equity and climate justice questions that arise when looking at the distribution of impact burden. Then it introduces a framework to test adaptation and transformation to climate change impacts that is tested in a series of case studies across regions. The aim is to illustrate the range of responses that individuals perform when confronting different impact levels, and what drives such responses. From coping responses that maintain the system status to adapting and transforming responses that change the structure and dynamics of the systems, we discuss the implications of response pathways. General patterns arise from the cross case study comparisons that allows to derive a general understanding of what drives adaptation and transformation changes in marine systems. Final remarks discuss how to better prepare marine systems to face climate change.

 Sara Palacio 

Tenured scientist at the Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, Spanish Research Council (IPE-CSIC).

Working on: Extreme environments, functional plant ecology, ecophysiology, evolution

Her research analyzes the mechanisms used by plants to adjust their form and function to the abiotic and biotic limitations of the environment where they live, and how these processes have forged plant evolution. These questions are fundamental to understanding the response of plant species to global change and its possible consequences on the functioning of ecosystems. In her research, she uses a combination of botanical, ecological, ecophysiological, molecular and physiological tools to study processes at the whole plant level. In recent years, she has specialized in the mechanisms that plants have to survive in extreme environments. Her research ranges from mountain peaks to the driest deserts of the planet, with a special emphasis on gypsum soils. 

Plant life in extreme environments: how extreme environments can help advance ecological theory

Extreme environments pose a significant challenge to the survival of most organisms. While the majority of living biomass is concentrated in relatively benign habitats, extreme environments account for a substantial proportion of the Earth's surface. Arid regions cover approximately one-third of the land coverage, and polar regions comprise around 20% of the oceanic expanse. Even within seemingly benign environments, microenvironments can create extreme local conditions (e.g., salt marshes, geothermal vents, cliffs, urban heat islands). Thus, planetary conditions are more extreme than commonly assumed. This situation is exacerbated by global change, as climate shifts and habitat destruction intensify the harshness of many regions. Today, extreme environments are more severe than ever before.

In this context, identifying the diversity that colonizes these environments and the evolutionary mechanisms developed to survive under such conditions has become an urgent challenge. These environments host highly specialized organisms that constitute a unique and often narrowly distributed biodiversity, rendering them particularly vulnerable. This diversity encompasses not only singular taxa but also unique metabolic, physiological, anatomical, and ecological adaptations. Understanding these mechanisms is essential not only for conserving this invaluable biodiversity but also as a source of technological advances and solutions to some of the most pressing environmental challenges.

Despite their importance, extreme environments are often overlooked in ecological research, and the organisms adapted to them frequently defy established biological principles. This talk is an invitation to explore the challenges posed by extreme environments and to reflect on the need to incorporate them into ecological studies aiming for truly global insights.

 Mario Pansera 

Oportunius Research Professor  affiliated to the University of Vigo and affiliated Researcher at the Autonoma University of Barcelona (UAB) .

Working on: Post-growth, Science and Technology Policy 

Mario is the PI of ERC Starting Grant for the project PROSPERA (947713) and Coordinator of the H2020 project JUST2CE. His work focuses on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Innovation for degrowth/postgrowth. He gained a PhD in Management at the University of Exeter Business School in 2014. After his Marie-Curie post-doctoral fellowship in Brussels, he worked as a research fellow at the University of Bristol from 2017 to 2020. Mario is currently employed as OPORTUNIUS Research Professor affiliated to the University of Vigo, Associated Researcher at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and in the International Faculty at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where he teaches Responsible Innovation in the ExeMBA.

What stands between us and a post-growth science and technology era?

In an era defined by ecological collapse, deepening inequalities, and persistent techno-optimism, the idea of infinite economic growth has become increasingly untenable. In his keynote, What Stands Between Us and a Post-Growth Science and Technology Era?, Mario Pansera challenges the mainstream belief that science is neutral and technological innovation alone can solve our most pressing global problems. Drawing on his research in post-growth innovation and responsible research practices, Pansera argues that science is deeply embedded in political and economic structures that prioritize growth over sustainability and equity. He critiques the dominant narrative that positions technological fixes as panaceas for crises like climate change, insisting instead that these crises are rooted in social and political dynamics. Thus, any meaningful response must also be social and political. Pansera calls for a radical rethinking of how we do science and for whom, advocating for a post-growth approach that embraces democratic, inclusive, and context-sensitive forms of knowledge production. Only by questioning the values and power structures that shape science and technology can we begin to imagine—and build—a more just and sustainable future.