In 1869, the construction of the Suez Canal was completed, connecting two marine regions previously separated for 16 million years and initiating major ecological changes that continue to this day.
Now more than 100 fish species native to the Indo-West Pacific Ocean – including the ‘devil firefish’ – have crossed to become established in the Mediterranean Sea.
But how do they make the journey?
Researchers from the American University of Beirut and the American University in Dubai analysed how invasive fish from the Indo-Pacific region colonise the Mediterranean. Combining ocean current modelling, shipping data, and environmental analysis, they examined records of 136 fish species to map the natural and human-driven factors that enable these invaders to thrive.
Location of the Suez Canal.
Published in NeoBiota, the findings indicate that the primary drivers for the initial entry of invasive fish into the Mediterranean are proximity to the Suez Canal and sea currents transporting fish larvae into nearby eastern Mediterranean regions. However, while sea currents play an important role early in the invasion stage, they cannot explain how species cross into the western Mediterranean.
Indeed, cargo shipping has become increasingly influential, with focal points like Malta acting as key stepping stones for the spread of non-native fish, especially to western Mediterranean areas. Over time, the odds of a region being colonised via shipping have grown significantly.
A ship passing through the Suez Canal in Egypt.
Additionally, local conditions such as high salinity in Mediterranean waters boost the likelihood of invasive species establishing permanent populations, as these fish tend to be pre-adapted to saline environments from their native habitats.
“Scientists have long suspected that the anti-clockwise spread of invasive species in the eastern Mediterranean is due to currents and the high number of first records in Malta is due to shipping.
“Our use of sea current simulations and shipping data could confirm these conjectures and provide quantitative estimates of the effects.”
Heinrich zu Dohna, lead author of the paper.
Logistic regression models indicate that in some regions shipping leads to a sixfold increase of the odds of receiving invasive species, indicating targeted management and monitoring is needed at major shipping hubs.
Better data on ballast water release and ship movements in the Mediterranean are needed, as cargo shipping’s impact on biological invasions is now clear. Malta’s role as a major shipping hub makes it a particular hotspot for secondary introductions and warrants special attention by policymakers and marine managers.
Original source
zu Dohna H, Lakkis I, Bariche M (2025) The spread of Indo-Pacific origin fish species in the Mediterranean Sea is influenced by sea currents, habitat factors, and increasingly by shipping. NeoBiota 101: 73-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.101.157775
“During the Siang Expedition, funded by the National Geographic Society and Felis Creations, we arrived in the remote village of Yingku in Arunachal Pradesh, knowing we were stepping into one of the last frontiers of biodiversity in India. What we didn’t know was that tucked among the forests and farmlands was a tiny creature that had never been formally introduced to science until now,” say researchers Dr. A.P. Ranjith (Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand) and Associate Professor Dr. Buntika A. Butcher (Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand). “On the very first day, we collected a pair both male and female of this amazing, enchanting new species!”
Heinrichiellus natgeo. Photo credit Dr. A.P. Ranjith
Meet Heinrichiellus natgeo, a newly discovered species of parasitoid wasp. The species was described by Dr. Ranjith and Dr. Gavin R. Broad (The Natural History Museum, London, UK), under the supervision of Additionally, genetic data helped them determine the new species’ systematic placement, with the assistance of Dr. Bernardo F. Santos (Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany).
Heinrichiellus natgeo. Photo credit Dr. A.P. Ranjith
“The name natgeo isn’t a coincidence – we chose it in honor of the National Geographic Society, whose legacy of exploration, conservation, and storytelling has inspired thousands of people. This discovery is our way of saying thank you for their outstanding commitment to the environment,” Dr. Butcher says.
Despite its small size, this insect plays an outsized role in keeping ecosystems balanced. It is a natural enemy of several pest species, ensuring that nature’s checks and balances continue working quietly in the background.
In the field, the wasp didn’t shout for attention no bright colors or loud buzzing. Instead, it was a patient hunter, seeking out the eggs or larvae of its host species. “It’s a reminder that some of nature’s most important work happens in complete silence,” says Dr. Ranjith Even though the researchers do not yet have biological data, they assume that this remarkable species will play a significant role in the forest ecosystem by helping to regulate insect pest populations.
Heinrichiellus natgeo. Photo credit Dr. A.P. Ranjith
“And here’s a fun twist in the story: we collected both the male and female specimens using a yellow pan trap a deceptively simple tool that works by tapping into parasitoid wasps’ irresistible attraction to the color yellow. It’s fieldwork science at its most charming: a splash of color in the forest that quietly lures in tiny wonders,” Dr. Butcher says.
“Discoveries like this matter not just for the sake of science, but for the health of ecosystems and the future of conservation, particularly in the world’s biodiversity hotspots,” the researchers say in conclusion. ”In a time when species are disappearing faster than we can document them, every new find is both a small victory for biodiversity and an encouragement for more young talents to engage in biodiversity research.”
Landscape view of Yingku village in Arunachal Pradesh. Photo credit Sandesh Kadur/Felis Images.
Alongside this, the researchers also uncovered two more new species, Heinrichiellus brevispinus from Thailand and Heinrichiellus vedani from South India. These exciting finds remind us that India and Thailand still hold countless hidden treasures of biodiversity, waiting to be discovered. They published their study in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.
Research article:
Ranjith AP, Broad GR, Santos BF, Butcher BA (2025) First report of the genus Heinrichiellus Tereshkin, 2009 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from the Oriental region with the description of three new species. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 98: 757-778. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.98.158760
About the Research team:
Dr. A.P. Ranjith, a post-doctoral fellow at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, is an expert taxonomist specializing in hymenopteran parasitoids, with more than ten years of experience in taxonomy and systematics. He has described over 100 species and 11 genera new to science.
Dr. Gavin R. Broad, based at the Natural History Museum, UK, has several decades of experience in the phylogeny and systematics of ichneumonid parasitoid wasps. He has described several hundred new species and numerous new genera.
Dr. Bernardo F. Santos, from the Museum für Naturkunde, Germany, possesses extensive knowledge of the evolution and phylogeny of parasitoid wasps, with a strong background in parasitoid taxonomy.
Dr. Buntika A. Butcher, who supervised the study, is an Associate Professor at Chulalongkorn University. She is an experienced researcher with strong expertise in the taxonomy and systematics of braconid parasitoid wasps and their biology.
The team focuses primarily on documenting biodiversity in understudied countries such as India and Thailand, while raising awareness of the ecological importance of insect diversity.
A new white paper delivers a clear message: protecting biodiversity is not just an environmental issue. It is essential for food security, public health, climate stability, and the global economy.
The authors make a call for a decisive shift: from fragmented initiatives to a holistic, global approach to biodiversity research and policy, already demonstrated during a workshop at the 79th United Nations General Assembly and the Science Summit (UNGA79). A key part of this transformation concerns the role of research infrastructures in connecting science, technology, and policy: from vast biodiversity collections and genomic observatories, to ecosystem “digital twins” powered by supercomputers.
Behind the paper are a network of legal entities based in Europe and holding global interests, which includes biodiversity, ecology, and engineering communities, coordinated by the LifeWatch European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).
With their combined expertise and through European initiatives, such as Research Infrastructures, e-Infrastructures, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), the Digital Twin projects and academic publishers, these communities provide a basis for collaboration in strategically contributing to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (K-M GBF) targets.
Biodiversity needs to be placed at the centre of the upcoming 2026 UN Summit of the Future and become a core pillar of the agenda after the 2030 deadline for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
The UN Pact for the Future should include biodiversity as a core pillar: “not only of environmental sustainability, but of equity, security, and intergenerational justice”.
urges the team.
To do this, the authors propose the establishment of a global alliance that will strategically integrate biodiversity conservation into the core priorities of the UN Summit of the Future and the post-SDG agenda.
This alliance is meant to join the voices of researchers, policymakers, indigenous knowledge holders, civil society, and industry to ensure that biodiversity underpins peace, prosperity, and justice as a universal enabler.
The white paper also demonstrates how the research infrastructures collectively contribute to the seven Strategic Considerations of the K-M GBF, outlined here in brief and further detailed in the full publication:
Contribution and rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities: Ensuring fair recognition and sharing of benefits with indigenous peoples and local communities, thus integrating their knowledge into biodiversity science.
Collective efforts towards the targets of the K-M GBF: Coordinating biodiversity monitoring, databases, and digital infrastructures to track progress towards global conservation targets.
Fulfilment of the three principal objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its protocols: Studying or supporting the study of all aspects of biodiversity; and providing public and streamlined access to biodiversity information.
Implementation through science, technology, and innovation: Developing and offering technologically advanced and novel solutions for research, data sharing and management to various users; and promoting open science by publishing research findings and increasingly sharing more facets of the research process.
Ecosystem approach: Developing and implementing technologies that enable a cross-domain, multidisciplinary approach to studying biodiversity and ecosystems; and using holistic, cross-disciplinary methods to understand and predict biodiversity and environmental dynamics.
Cooperation synergies: Collaborating with organisations responsible for implementing the CBD, policy agents, international research projects; and participating in international forums and social, scientific and technical initiatives.
Biodiversity and health linkages: Demonstrating how healthy ecosystems support human health, food security, and resilience to pandemics by supporting interdisciplinary research through bringing together knowledge and data and uncovering links and interactions between humans and the environment.
“With the UN’s ‘Pact for the Future’ currently being shaped, we see a unique opportunity to anchor biodiversity as a unifying thread across global goals that will transform how societies respond to the intertwined crises of climate change, nature loss, and pollution,” say the authors.
The white paper is the latest contribution to the LifeWatch ERIC Strategic Working Plan Outcomes open-science collection meant to provide a one-stop access point to the most important deliverables by the European biodiversity and ecosystem research infrastructure, which is currently undergoing a significant upgrade as a response to the needs of its target communities and stakeholders.
***
Original source:
Arvanitidis C, Barov B, Gonzalez Ferreiro M, Zuquim G, Kirrane D, Huertas Olivares C, Drago F, Pade N, Basset A, Deneudt K, Koureas D, Manola N, Mietchen D, Casino A, Penev L, Ioannidis Y (2025) From Knowledge to Solutions: Science, Technology and Innovation in Support of the UN SDGs. Research Ideas and Outcomes 11: e168765. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.11.e168765
This publication is part of a collection:
LifeWatch ERIC Strategic Working Plan Outcomes Edited by Christos Arvanitidis, Cristina Huertas, Alberto Basset, Peter van Tienderen, Cristina Di Muri, Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Ana Mellado
Europe’s biodiversity and ecosystem research infrastructure. LifeWatch ERIC provides access to biodiversity and ecosystem data, services and other research products: its virtual workbenches and digital twins for biodiversity science enable researchers worldwide to analyse biodiversity patterns, processes, and changes in ecosystems, and derive evidence-based knowledge for science and policy.
CSC hosts one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers (LUMI), pioneering biodiversity digital twins and climate models. CSC provides critical support for data-intensive projects that link computing, AI, and environmental science.
A federation of hundreds of data centres providing global-scale computing, AI, and data services. EGI enables large-scale analysis of biodiversity and environmental data from sensors and satellites, supporting international collaboration.
A hub for marine research, coordinating Europe’s Digital Twin of the Ocean and global biodiversity data systems, such as WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species). VLIZ drives blue innovation and ocean data integration.
Europe’s infrastructure for marine biology, offering access to organisms, labs, and genomic observatories. EMBRC connects over 70 institutes across 10 countries, supporting research “from genes to ecosystems.”
The largest initiative to digitise and unify Europe’s natural science collections into a single, FAIR-data-based infrastructure. DiSSCo makes museum collections globally accessible, boosting taxonomic, ecological, and environmental research.
A European e-Infrastructure dedicated to building a globally connected, interoperable, and sustainable open research ecosystem, with Open Science at its core. By offering a suite of services covering the entire research lifecycle, guidelines, and practices that support the adoption of Open Access and FAIR data principles across its network of National Open Access Desks in 34 countries, OpenAIRE supports local researchers, funders, and policymakers in aligning with European and global open science policies.
Founded in 1992 “by scientists, for scientists”, the academic open-access publishing company is well known worldwide for its novel cutting-edge publishing tools, workflows and methods for text and data publishing of journals, books and conference materials. Through its Research and Technical Development department, the company is involved in various research and technology projects. Pensoft coordinated the EU project BiCIKL (2021-2024), which established a new community of Research Infrastructures and users of FAIR and interlinked biodiversity data.
The world’s largest computing society, established to foster ethical and responsible innovation. ACM brings global expertise in computing and AI to biodiversity research and policy.
A leading ICT and AI research institute advancing digital infrastructures and open science platforms. Athena connects computing innovation with biodiversity, humanities, and societal challenges.
By joining Pensoft, the journal will benefit from improved publishing infrastructure and increased visibility and discoverability for its publications.
Published continuously since 1973, the journal offers a venue for high-quality research in dental medicine, public dental health, and healthcare. It publishes research and review articles and short communications, as well as methods, data, and forum papers ina wide range of disciplines in dentistry and dental sciences. Thanks to support from Medical University Sofia, authors of Problems of Dental Medicine can publish their articles for free.
In joining Pensoft, Problems of Dental Medicine will get access to improved publishing infrastructure and benefit from increased visibility and discoverability for its published research. The journal will use Pensoft’s self-developed platform,ARPHA – an end-to-end publishing solution that makes it easy for both humans and machines to access, cite, and reuse research. ARPHA streamlines publishing workflows, providing a single online ecosystem for the entire editorial process, from manuscript submission to peer review, editing, publication, and archiving.
“Problems of Dental Medicine has a long history and established traditions, but joining Pensoft marks a major step forward in the journal’s development,” said Editor-in-Chief Prof. Boyko Bonev. “I am confident that this collaboration will be extremely beneficial, providing broader international visibility, greater accessibility, and new opportunities for the advancement of dental science.”
“We are excited to start this new chapter with Problems of Dental Medicine and believe this partnership will significantly contribute to the development and understanding of dental science,” commented Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO and founder of Pensoft and ARPHA.
The collection brings together contributions from faculty, curators, collection managers, and students from around the world, having sprung from the November 2024 “Collections Reaching Out” symposium at the Entomological Collections Network annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The symposium focused on the conception, preparation, management, and educational use of outreach drawers: special collections of insect specimens curated for public learning and awareness.
A high school outreach class using display drawers. Credit: Abby Weber.
Despite their crucial role in science education and public engagement, outreach drawers have remained understudied. The papers in this new collection aim to fill that gap, examining their purpose, design, usage, and how to assess their impact. The editors, Victor Gonzalez and Jennifer C. Girón Duque, brought together international perspectives to identify best practices and strategies that maximise outreach effectiveness.
Educational collection of the Invertebrate Division at the LOUNAZ Museum. a Young visitors at an insect educational session; b insect cabinets and display boxes showcasing curated specimens. Credit: Paucar-Cabrera et al.
By exploring topics from innovative educational programs and accessible specimen displays, to community science initiatives and frameworks for assessment, the collection demonstrates how outreach collections can turn “bugs in drawers” into powerful vehicles for learning and community engagement.
NHCM’s Diamond Open Access model ensures that these resources are free and available to all, reaffirming the journal’s commitment to inclusivity and expanding the societal impact of natural history collections.
That’s not just a question for crime shows. It’s also exactly what we want to ask every pollinating insect we catch. Who are you – which species? And what have you done – which flowers have you visited, carrying pollen from one to the next? And these questions are important!
Do you like chocolate? Or maybe coffee? How about apples, strawberries, or cherries? All of them need insect pollinators. Unfortunately, many insects are in decline, threatening the stability of ecosystems. Studying them is more important than ever. Traditionally, researchers relied on field observations of foraging behaviour. But these are time-consuming and can never capture the full picture. That’s why many groups now use genetic approaches, studying the pollen carried by insects. This method is called pollen-metabarcoding, where a short genetic sequence from a specific region (in our case, ITS2) can identify the plant species that pollen belongs to.
There’s just one catch: collecting pollen often means killing the insect. Lethal sampling does have its merits – the preserved specimen can be used to answer other questions in the future, for example. But in our case, it felt counterintuitive. We want to study species that might already be endangered, and killing them could worsen their situation. So we had to find another way.
In the field, we found queen-marker cages easy to use and really helpful to get the genetic material we need for our analyses. Credit: Willi Müller.
Enter: the queen-marker cage. This tool – borrowed from beekeepers – is a plastic tube with a mesh at one end and a plunger at the other. We used it to capture a bumble bee, immobilize it, and remove its pollen. The mesh is also large enough to clip one of the bee’s feet – in insects, this part is called the tarsus. That may sound harsh, but it doesn’t significantly affect the animal. During our collection, we observed those five-footed bumble bees visiting flowers and gathering pollen in the days after release, with no difference to their six-footed counterparts.
The mesh of the queen-marker cage is just big enough for a fine pair of scissors to fit through the holes and allow for precise clipping of the bumble bee’s tarsus, here Bombus lucorum agg.
But why take a bee’s foot in the first place? Many animal groups include cryptic species – species that look almost identical, even to experts. Bumble bees are no exception. The only reliable way to tell these look-alike species apart is through DNA barcoding, often using the COI gene. A single clipped foot provides just enough tissue to barcode the bee itself, in addition to analyzing the pollen it carried.
Of course, the work doesn’t end in the field. Once we had the samples, the real detective work started in the lab. And as everyone with hay fever knows: pollen gets everywhere. To avoid contamination, we processed everything in a special clean lab, wearing full-body protective suits. It may seem over the top, but when you’re working with invisible grains of pollen, even the smallest contamination can skew the results.
As pollen is everywhere, we had to use a special clean lab with the corresponding attire.
And in the end, it worked! Our results matched expectations: we detected a cryptic species (fittingly named Bombus cryptarum), we saw that the longest flowers were visited only by bumble bees with the longest tongues, and the pollen we identified came from plants flowering at our study sites during collection.
Now we have a simple and non-lethal way to gather the genetic material needed to identify pollinators and the flowers they visit, answering ‘Who are you, and what have you done?’ – without adding pressure to vulnerable insect populations.
Studying pollination helps us understand and protect ecosystems. Bombus lucorum agg. and Apis mellifera on Phacelia tanacetifolia. Credit: Anna Wurster.
Orignal source
Edwards A, Gemeinholzer B (2025) Case study of non-lethal sampling for plant-pollinator networks via barcoding and metabarcoding on bumble bees in Germany. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 9: e141904. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.9.141904
Follow Metabarcoding and Metagenomics on Bluesky and Facebook.
In October 2025, four major institutions in the biodiversity research landscape: TDWG, GBIF, OBIS and GEO BON, will come together as the organisers of the Living Data 2025 conference.
The event is set to be among one of the most crucial international gatherings of the year for experts and stakeholders in the field of biodiversity data. Set to take place in the Colombian capital of Bogotá between 21st and 24th, Living Data 2025 will centre around four core themes:
Open data
Data integration
Biodiversity data application
Community engagement and capacity-building
As an academic publisher with experience and commitment to all these thematic areas, Pensoft will participate in the event in the capacity of an exhibitor and an award sponsor, as well as a symposium host.
The conference delegates will have the chance to learn more about the publisher, its exclusively open-access scholarly portfolio and participation at various international scientific projects when they visit the company’s branded stand.
During the event, the scientific publisher and technology provider will also present the Pensoft Award for the Best Student Oral Presentation, which grants the winner a free publication in an open-access, peer-reviewed journal from our portfolio.
Crucially, Pensoft’s involvement in the Living Data 2025 programme also includes a dedicated four-hour session titled “Long Live Biodiversity Data: Knowledge Transfer and Continuity across Research Projects”.
The symposium will be jointly co-organised by Pensoft, LifeWatch ERIC and the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre. As the title suggests, the session will focus on the longevity of scientific outputs as they are generated, shared and re-used across disciplines, organisations and initiatives. In this context, tools, information hubs and workflows enabling exchanges that truly consolidate the global biodiversity data space over time will be showcased.
In a broader sense, the session will also seek to demonstrate how targeted communication can help transform science results into actionable knowledge by raising awareness among agenda-setters. This will speak to the potential of a multi-level approach to information sharing to bridge the gap between science and policy in relation to increasingly ambitious global environmental objectives.
Multiple projects affiliated with Pensoft will be represented in these deliberations, in order to share a diverse array of relevant insights:
22 October (Wednesday): 10:45 AM – 12:45 PM (UTC/GMT-5)
23 October (Thursday): 10:45 AM to 12:45 PM (UTC/GMT-5)
You can find out more about Living Data, including the details on registering for an in-person or virtual attendance, on the conference’s website. Our session is listed on this page under ID number 6788879.
As an additional note, the organisers of the conference have launched a call for extended abstracts for all speakers at Living Data 2025 that will remain open until 1st October 2025. The participants who opt to publish their conference abstracts in the Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS) journal will enjoy permanent and far-reaching accessibility and discoverability for their conference contributions.
The TDWG network, who launched BISS as their official scholarly outlet in 2017 in collaboration with long-time partner Pensoft, have posted a list of the advantages for submitting an extended abstract, even though they have already had their abstracts accepted by the Living Data 2025 organisers. Amongst the reaslons are many perks typically associated with a conventional research article, such as DOI registration, indexation at dozens of scientific databases, embedded media, tables and supplementary materials, and usage metrics.
Eurasian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) in the Gandoman Wetlands. Photo by Ruhollah Asgari
The newly published articles focus on supporting the sustainable management of the Danube Delta, including an assessment of the impact of pesticide residues on the river and some insights on the potential of earth observation data for monitoring the Delta. The journal also publishes research on the ecology and biogeography of wetland ecosystems in general, such as a study on the habitat and behaviour of the Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia).
Established in 1993, the journal offers a multidisciplinary platform for studies in the fields of ecology, biodiversity, environmental protection, hydrology, ichthyology, ornithology, limnology, and sustainable development related to wetlands and deltaic environments. It is free to publish and open for submissions.
“With the launch of the first articles in Volume 30 of the Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute, now published with Pensoft, we celebrate an important milestone in advancing research on biodiversity, aquatic ecology, and data integration,” said the journal’s Editor-in-Chief Iuliana-MihaelaTudor of the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development.
“This new stage reflects not only the scientific value of the contributions, but also the collaborative spirit that strengthens our community and drives innovation forward.
“As Louis Pasteur once said, ‘Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.’
“We warmly invite our readers, authors, and collaborators to explore this volume, to share in the exchange of ideas, and to continue building together a future where open science connects and empowers us all.”
A new study published in June reveals that fragmented communication and coordination undermine the effectiveness of Europe’s leading biodiversity research infrastructures (BioRIs). The research led by Allan T. Souza, Tomáš Martinovič, Carrie Andrew, Yi-Ming Gan, and Erik Kusch, examined the communication strategies of four major European BioRIs, uncovering issues that hinder scientific collaboration and data integration across the continent.
BioRIs address the complex challenges in biodiversity research, scientific collaboration across disciplines and national boundaries, and inform the public and policymakers about the status and challenges of the European biodiversity. The new study focusing on the communication and coordination amongst BioRIs revealed issues in communication strategies of the key European BioRIs, including DiSSCo, eLTER, GBIF and LifeWatch ERIC.
Conceptual representation of the Biodiversity Digital Twin (BioDT) with the integration of the four research infrastructures (DiSSCo, eLTER, GBIF and LifeWatch ERIC) involved in the development of the digital twin.
The study revealed uneven geographical representation, inconsistent communication practices, and limited data and service cohesion, ultimately impeding collaboration and efficient resource use. The distribution of BioRIs across Europe is imbalanced, leading to unequal research opportunities and capacities between regions. While communication within individual BioRIs is often strong, collaboration between infrastructures remains limited. The absence of shared tools and standard communication channels severely hampers joint efforts and information flow. The study found no standardised approach to communication methods among BioRIs, creating confusion for stakeholders and reducing transparency and accessibility for scientists, policymakers, and the public. Variations in data standards across infrastructures hinder data integration. While some infrastructures share common standards, others maintain highly specialised protocols, restricting broader collaboration and data use. Although some initiatives show promise for harmonisation, broader systemic challenges persist.
Distribution and representation of European Biodiversity Research Infrastructures is fragmented (A), with each individual research infrastructure differing in its geographical coverage (B).
“Our findings highlight a critical need for a unified communication framework to break down barriers between these infrastructures,” said lead author Allan T. Souza. “Without it, we risk missing opportunities for impactful, cross-disciplinary research vital to tackling Europe’s and the world’s biodiversity challenges.” While some initiatives to tackle this issue demonstrate the potential for harmonisation, the broader systemic challenges persist.
Self-reported collaboration intensity within and between four biodiversity research infrastructures (BioRIs). Upper panel: Collaboration of all BioRIs (DiSSCo, eLTER, GBIF and LifeWatch) are largely siloed, with minimal interaction across BioRIs being reported. Lower panel: Across BioRI, collaboration is uniformly low (left), while within BioRI, collaboration varies, with LifeWatch and eLTER showing the highest intensity (right). These patterns highlight limited cross BioRI integration and variable internal cohesion, highlighting the fragmented scenario in the BioRI landscape.
To overcome these barriers, the study argues for these urgent steps. The first one recommends a standardised communication framework. Creating a shared platform with tools for chat, mailing, discussion boards, calendars, and clear public and internal information separation. Another recommendation is to increase geographical coverage that proposes long-term balancing of BioRI representation across Europe through coordinated funding and capacity sharing. The authors also suggest promoting data interoperability, while harmonising standards and deepening understanding of cross-domain differences to improve integration. And last but not least, it is important to leverage good practice examples.
Envisioned solution/tool architecture for the Biodiversity Research Infrastructures (BioRIs) communication and coordination, showing pages in columns and individual components of the solution/tool. Green components are publicly available, orange one are available to everyone after they login to the system and red ones are available only to the members of the given group. At the bottom are Github repositories where the relevant information for given web page are stored.
Addressing fragmentation within European BioRIs requires improving communication, coordination, and interoperability through both technical and institutional measures. Strategic funding, shared platforms, and community engagement will be key to building a more integrated and efficient research network. The study highlights that changes should be gradual, systematic, and informed by proven models of collaboration.
Research article:
Souza A, Martinovič T, Andrew C, Gan Y-M, Kusch E (2025) Fragmented Networks: Challenges in communication and cohesion of European Biodiversity Research Infrastructures. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e148079. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e148079
In a drawer of the butterfly collection at the Natural History Museum in London (NHMUK) sit a handful of rather unassuming butterfly specimens from Amazonia. Marked only with a couple of bands and eyespots on the underside of their wings, these specimens were thought to be pitch-brown black-eyed satyrs (Euptychia picea) for over 150 years. Labels attached to some of them suggest that they were collected by 19th-century naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace during his expedition to the Amazon rainforest along with his good friend, Henry Walter Bates. A recent 300-page monographic study of this group of butterflies has recognised these specimens as a species new to science: Euptychia andrewberryi, or Berry’s black-eyed satyr.
In 1848, Wallace and Bates set sail on an epic voyage for the Amazon to explore and research its neotropical biodiversity. Their trip was funded by Samuel Stevens, a natural history agent in London. In 1852, after four years of collecting, Wallace returned from Brazil with all his specimens loaded on a ship named the Helen. However, on his way back to London, the Helen caught fire in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and sank. In the blink of an eye, Wallace lost all of his material. This shipwreck is one of the most disastrous events in the history of science, yet fortunately some of Wallace’s Amazonian material escaped the tragedy and made its way to London.
Alfred Russel Wallace.
Throughout the course of his travels in Amazonia, Wallace occasionally shipped back specimens to Stevens in London. In a letter to Stevens, dated 15 November 1849, Wallace wrote from Santarém (500 miles above Pará), “I spent about three weeks at Montealegre and have now been back here nearly a month, so before I leave for the Rio Negro, I send you a small lot of insects; they consist almost entirely of Lepidoptera…”
The registration records at the NHMUK suggest that the holotype of Euptychia andrewberryi entered the collection in 1850, supporting the notion that it was shipped to London while Wallace was still in Brazil.
Andrew Berry. Photo by Shori Hijikata
Andrew J. Berry is a historian of science with a long-standing interest in Wallace. A lecturer in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, Andrew teaches evolutionary biology and related subjects. While working on the Euptychia monograph, Andrew’s dry sense of humor and undying zest were critical in the completion of a study of such great magnitude.
Why monographs are important
Taxonomic monographs serve as a foundation for understanding species diversity and phylogenetic relationships within a given group of organisms. They enhance our understanding of the myriad species with which we share our planet. Undertaking work on a monograph typically requires travelling to many museums, incorporating morphological and molecular studies, and conducting field work, as well as reviewing literature to solve taxonomic or nomenclatural conundrums. Despite this tedious process, which requires a great deal of perseverance, monographs underscore the rather underappreciated nature of taxonomy, representing “a small gain for a huge effort.” Unfortunately, most diverse tropical groups of organisms have not yet received a comprehensive taxonomic treatment.
Euptychia is the largest Neotropical satyrine genus ever to be revised. This monograph increased the known diversity of Euptychia to 50 species, significantly more than hitherto estimated. Although further testing is needed, it is worth emphasising that only 16 described species were recognised in the genus in 2004. It is remarkable to realise that such a profound discrepancy existed between perceived and actual species richness, especially within a well-studied group of invertebrates such as butterflies. This further underscores the importance of revisionary monographic works.
