The Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (IRET) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) was established in 2018 merging two previous CNR institutes, the Institute of Agroenvironmental and Forest Biology (IBAF) and part of the Institute for the Study of Ecosystems (ISE).
The institute is involved in research, both basic and applied, on the study of structure, functioning and productivity of terrestrial ecosystems, biotic and abiotic components and their interactions, with a specific focus on global change and anthropogenic pressure.
Special attention is paid to the different levels of biome organization, function, metabolism and evolution, as well as ecosystem services and their implications for environmental quality and human health. The analysis that stresses resulting from climate and land use changes, pollution, and increasing urbanization have on biodiversity and soils forms the basis for the study of adaptations and mitigation strategies, including socioeconomic ones.
The primary objectives of IRET are the study, protection, management and enhancement of natural resources, biodiversity and land, with a view to their sustainable use that moves toward the increasing affirmation of the bio-economy and circular economy, exploiting enabling technologies and “nature based solutions.”