The main area of study concerns the dynamics of organic matter, which plays a leading role in the natural fertility of soils. This area of focus is placed within the context of the need, at the global level, to increase the stocks of organic carbon held in the soil, both as a tool to combat the increase in atmospheric CO2 – the main cause of climate change – and as a means of improving soil fertility, which is currently declining around the world and particularly in Europe.
Our work focuses on a number of different areas, including: (a) studying carbon sequestration in the soil (positive or negative; gains or losses) as a result of changes in use (e.g. reforestation of abandoned agricultural areas, changes in agricultural or forestry practices, etc.); (b) studying the stocks of CO2 held in the soil at the regional level (Catalonia and Spain) and their relationship to uses, climatology and the geological substrate; (c) characterising the organic matter in the soil from a chemical and biochemical perspective, and the impact of changes in use and irregular ecological events (e.g. fire) on these characteristics; and (d) obtaining, characterising and applying organic fertilisers (particularly commercial humus fertilisers) and verifying their usefulness as biostimulants of plant growth.