The Department of Plant Biology and Ecology has its venue at the Faculty of Science and Technology in the Leioa Campus in Bizkaia. Its staff is formed by total number of 78 members, which can be divided into 38 persons having teaching and research duties, 39 persons having only research duties plus 1 person for administration. They are organized into 11 research groups working on several topics in the general fields of Ecology, Botany and Plant Physiology. The research groups are: Flora, vegetation and terrestrial habitats of the northern Iberian Peninsula; Marine benthos: ecology and bioindication; Mycology: taxonomy, ecology and applied topics (mycorrhizae); Pastoralism and vegetation-herbivory relationships in mountain areas; Ecology of marine phytoplankton; Ecology of marine zooplankton; Ecology of rivers; Ecosystem services; Climate change and bioenergetic crops; Efficient use of nitrogen and its application in agrarian systems; Ecophysiology of the stress and contamination on plants.

They regularly work on a number of around 35 competitive research projects financed by different organisms, such as the Basque Country University, The Basque Government, The Spanish Ministry of Education and Research, The European Union and some other agencies such as the BBVA Foundation etc. Furthermore, a yearly average number of 25 contracts with different companies and public administrations are obtained per year, implementing the transference activity of the department. The results are the publication of about 80 papers per year in international indexed journals plus 40 more in non-indexed ones, books and book chapters. Additionally, there are presented regularly over 120 posters and oral communications per year in different scientific meetings all over the world.

There is a wide equipment which allows this intense research activity. It includes four 4 x 4 vehicles, a herbarium of 40,000 specimens, three reserach greenhouses, one of them with mesocosmos, phytotron, artificial river and the corresponding laboratories with the all the ordinary equipment.

The teaching activity deals with a total of 13 subjects in the degrees of Biology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Environmental Sciences, Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Pharmacy, taking place in two faculties: Science and Technology, located on the Bizkaia campus in Leioa, and Pharmacy, located on the Araba Campus, in Vitoria-Gasteiz. These subjects include topics such as Botany, Ecology, Plant Physiology, Plant Biotechnology, Geobotany, Limnology, Biodiversity, Vegetation Restoration, Medicinal Plants, Forest Ecology, etc.

There are also two official master degrees located in this department: Master in Ecosystem Biodiversity, Functioning and Management and the Master in Agrobiology, which is taught in cooperation with the Public University of Navarre.  Additionally, another post-graduate title is offered: the Master in Environment, Sustainability and Objectives for Sustainable Development.

For the training of new physicians, this department offers two Doctoral Programs to master's graduates, one in Agrobiology and one in Plant Biology and Ecology. There has been an average of 8 doctorates per year in the last 10 years.

It is also assumed the scientific supervision of the Arboretum of the Campus of Leioa, the participation in the in the Councils of several Natural Parks of the Basque Country and in Naturzaintza, the consulting organ for nature conservation of the Basque Government.