For the International Day of Biodiversity, the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), is co-organizing, together with the Balearic Biodiversity Centre of the University of the Balearic Islands (CBB-UIB), the second edition of the Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Meeting.

The event will take place on May 22nd in Palma (Mallorca) and will bring together researchers, managers, and students from a variety of fields including biology, evolution, ecology, conservation, and environmental sciences, among others. The aim is to jointly address the major challenges facing the scientific community in the context of the global biodiversity crisis, and to contribute to the planet’s well-being.

For the second year, and under the hashtag #BiodiversityDay2025, this multidisciplinary meeting seeks to strengthen collaboration among research centers and promote an innovative, collective approach to the study, management, and conservation of biodiversity.

Throughout the day, several experts will present recent research projects developed in our region, highlighting topics such as:

– Strategies for biodiversity conservation and sustainable management
– Accelerated discovery and characterization of organisms
– New tools for biodiversity analysis and research
– Ecology, biological responses to environmental variables, and the use of organisms as bioindicators

Rosa Fernández, principal investigator at IBE, will give a talk on "The genomic basis of animal terrestrialization." Also from the IBE, Javier del Campo, principal investigator and head of the Microbial Ecology and Evolution group, will present the "Catalan Initiative for the Earth Biogenome Project (CBP): building bridges in biodiversity genomics," which he co-chairs with Marta Riutort from IRBio (UB).

In the days leading up to the meeting, Javier del Campo will also lead a genomics annotation workshop in Palma (Mallorca) focused on biodiversity, as part of the themed workshop on Generating Reference Genomes, co-organized by the CBB and the CBP.

Programme – II Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Meeting

8:15 – 9:30 Sign up and poster’s set up

9:30 – 9:45 Welcoming and opening remarks. Margarita Gomila. Director of the Centre Multidisciplinar per a la Biodiversitat Balear (UIB)

9:45 – 10:00 “Balearic Biodiversity Centre and the role of the national Biodiversity Centres”. María Capa. Coordinadora Centre Balear de Biodiversitat (CMB-UIB)

10:00 – 10:30 “Ecological and evolutionary implications of fish behavior in exploited species”. Josep Alós. Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats (UIB-CSIC)

10:30 – 11:00 “Understanding plant biodiversity by improving genome annotations”. Aureliano Bombarely. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-UPV)

11:00 – 11:20 Speed talks (Four speakers, followed by five minutes for questions)

11:20 – 11:45 Speed talks (Five speakers, followed by five minutes for questions)

11:45 – 12:15 Coffee Break + Posters

12:15 – 12:45 “Ancient DNA as a time machine for biodiversity research or lost and found: Rediscovering biodiversity with ancient DNA”. Pere Bover. Universidad de Zaragoza

12:45 – 13:15 “The genomic basis of animal terrestrialization”. Rosa Fernández. Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF)

13:15 – 13:45 “Unveiling species by species the diversity of culturable ascomycetes in Spain: From terrestrial substrates to aquatic sediments”. Josepa Gené. Universitat Rovira i Virgili

13:45 – 14:05 Speed talks (Four speakers, followed by five minutes for questions)

14:05 – 14:25 Speed talks (Four speakers, followed by five minutes for questions)

14:25 – 15:30 Lunch Break + Posters

15:30 – 15:45 “Catalan Initiative for the Earth Biogenome Project: Building bridges in biodiversity genomics”. Javier del Campo and Marta Riutort. Co-Presidents of the Catalan Initiative for the Earth Biogenome Project (CBP)

15:45 – 16:00 “A new platform for Balearic biodiversity data integration and research”. Tommaso Cancellario. Centre Balear de Biodiversitat (CMB-UIB)

16:00 – 16:30 “Exploring the hidden diversity of the smallest marine protists”. Ramon Massana. Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)

16:30 – 17:00 “Shedding light on ocean DNA: Exploring marine biodiversity across ecosystems and biological dimensions for enhanced conservation”. Naiara Rodriguez-Ezpeleta. AZTI – Centro de Investigación Marina y Alimentaria

17:00 – 17:30 “Challenges in the conservation of marine biodiversity: The case of Pinna nobilis”. Maite Vázquez. Centre Oceanogràfic de les Balears (IEO-CSIC)

17:30 – 19:00 Cocktail

Organization

Scientific Committee:

Enrique Arboleda (CBB-UIB), Maria Capa (CBB-UIB), Javier del Campo (IBE / CSIC-UPF), Joan Pons (IMEDEA / CSIC-UIB)

Organizing Committee:

Matteo Agazzi (IBE / CSIC-UPF), Joan Díaz (CBB-UIB), Sergi Guasch (CBB-UIB), Claudio Padua (CBB-UIB), Jorge Palomo (CBB-UIB)

This event is funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, NextGenerationEU, through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and the Government of the Balearic Islands.

More information: https://centrebaleardebiodiversitat.uib.es/biodiversityday2025/