After five exciting and intense years of fieldwork, we are pleased to announce the completion of the 2025 sampling campaign for the INCREMENTO and MULTISPECTRAL projects started in 2019.

Throughout this period, we’ve carried out a broad range of innovative ecological experiments to better understand the impact of red deer on the integrity of the Mediterranean on ecosystem integrity. We completed individual plant surveys across our study sites, amassing over 3,500 records that include browsing intensity, spectral signatures, and survival metrics—an invaluable dataset for understanding long-term vegetation responses. Since 2021, we have conducted over 500 micromammal captures, adding an essential layer to our understanding of small mammal ecology and its interactions with vegetation and tick populations.

We launched new experimental setups to investigate tick dispersal by colour-marking ticks and tracking their movement using CO₂ traps. Additionally, we assessed the role of vegetation structure on tick survival, opening new paths in landscape epidemiology.Now, with the fieldwork concluded, we move into the data analysis and writing phase. We’re excited about the insights that will emerge from this extensive dataset and look forward to sharing our results in the near future.

We installed 30 x 30 m exclosures to study plant regeneration under low deer density for the RESTAURA project led by Prof. Ramon Perea (Paella lab https://cbds.montes.upm.es/?page_id=328), providing insights into how large herbivores shape Mediterranean ecosystems.

These five years of fieldwork have been a true adventure, filled with learning, teamwork, and discovery. We are deeply grateful to all the students, collaborators, friends, and colleagues who have contributed their time, energy, and expertise to these projects.

Thank you all – this journey wouldn’t have been possible without you!