The current revival of Bernalism and the use of market-based scientific practices are undermining science as we know it. Read the full paper at: Rull, V. 2016. Free science under threat. EMBO Reports, 17: 131-135.
Blog Archives
The extinction of science
Tagged with: applied science, basic science, Bernalism, Free science, fundamental science, Science
Posted in My publications, Science, Society
Posted in My publications, Science, Society
Montcortès: a unique Mediterranean paleoecological record of the last 3000 years
The Pyrenean Lake Montcortès sediments hold the longest continuous and absolutely varve-dated record of the Mediterranean region, encompassing the last three millennia, from the Late Bronze Age to the present. The high-resolution paleoecological reconstruction of the Montcortès sequence using pollen…
Tagged with: anthropization, Bronze Age, climate change, Contemporary Times, cultivation, deforestation, ecology, fire, grazing, hemp Cannabis, human disturbance, Iron Age, lad use, Last millenia, Middle Ages, Modern Age, Montcortès, paleoclimatology, paleoecology, palynology, pollen, Pyrenees, Quaternary, retting, Roman Empire, vegetation change, vegetation dynamics
Posted in My publications, Research papers
Posted in My publications, Research papers
High-mountain forest resilience
Some high-elevation Pyrenean forests remained virtually pristine during the last 4000 years Palynological analysis of the last ca. 4300 cal yr BP using a sediment core taken from high mountain (ca. 1900 m elevation) Lake Sant Maurici sediments (southern-central Pyrenees)…
Tagged with: Catalonia, Conifer forests, Europe, Forests, High mountains, Holocene, Iberian Peninsula, lakes, Late Holocene, National Parks, palynology, PNAESM, pollen analysis, Pyrenees, Resilience, sediments
Posted in My publications, Research papers
Posted in My publications, Research papers
Spatiotemporal gradients in the anthropization of Pyrenean landscapes
Pyrenean landscapes were anthropized gradually, from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages, following a general elevational pattern, from lowlands to highlands. Human settlement, as derived from archaeological evidence, may occur much earlier than irreversible anhtropogenic transformation of landscape, as…
Tagged with: archaeology, climate change, cultural change, deforestation, ecology, environmental degradation, fire, human disturbance, Landscape anthropization, Late Holocene, natural resources, paleoclimatology, paleoecology, palynology, pollen, Pyrenees, Quaternary, vegetation change, vegetation dynamics
Posted in My publications, Research papers
Posted in My publications, Research papers
Back to the Botanic Institute
After five years (2015-2020) in the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera (ICTJA), now Geosciences Barcelona (GEO3BCN), I am coming back to the Botanic Institute of Barcelona (IBB), both belonging to the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). The IBB…
Posted in PALAB
My three pandemic books
Since the declaration of the COVID19 pandemic and the implementation of the corresponding lockdown measures, I have had to work at home, just as many inhabitants of the planet. Fortunately, part of my job is to write scientific publications and…
Tagged with: biogeography, Books, diversification, Easter Island, ecology, evolution, Neotropics, paleoecology, Quaternary, Rapa Nui
Posted in Books, My publications, Science
Posted in Books, My publications, Science
What is the most biodiverse tropical region?
According to a recent paper by Peter Raven and collaborators, the Neotropics is the most biodiverse tropical region in absolute terms, encompassing one third of global diversity, but Southeast Asia is proportionally richer if we consider its smaller area. Reference:…
Tagged with: biodiversity, biogeography, diversification, Neotropics, tropics
Posted in biodiversity, Research papers
Posted in biodiversity, Research papers
Are we in the Anthropozoic era?
The manuscript entitled: The Anthropozoic era revisited, by V. Rull, has been accepted for publication in the journal Lethaia. The abstract is provided below. Abstract: This paper explains in some detail the poorly known proposal of Stoppani (1873) regarding the…
Tagged with: anthropocene, Anthropozoic, Cenozoic, epoch, era, evolution, extinction, global change, human evolution, period, Quaternary, series, stratigraphy, system
Posted in My publications
Posted in My publications
