The CENTRE FOR FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY (CFE) is a research unit funded by FCT and hosted by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra. CFE seeks to improve knowledge of ecosystem functioning, from the biodiversity of microorganisms, plants and fauna to the ecological complexity of their interactions at the community level. The CFE is formally divided in five main groups:

1 • BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

2 • INVASION ECOLOGY AND BIOTIC INTERACTIONS

3 • ECOPHYSIOLOGY

4 • ECOLOGY OF MARINE AND COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS

5 • ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY

A new research group is being established under the billateral collaboration with the Laboratory of Plant Ecology, at Areia, Paraíba, on the Ecology and Conservation of the Semi-Arid Caatinga of North-east Brazil