New Horizon Europe project will support the green transition by boosting skills and competences

The GREEN TALENT project aims to combat crises of climate change and biodiversity loss by enhancing professional development in the field

Officially started on 1 June 2025, the newly-funded Horizon Europe project GREEN TALENT is to run for 4 years with the overall objectives to unite 17 academic, public and private sector partner institutions from 9 European countries, and the United States.

The project’s goal is to develop the capacity of organisations and pathways to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and support secondments across these countries, fostering international collaboration in research and innovation (R&I), as well as public and private decision-making. 

Grounded in the EU’s comprehensive ERA Policy Agenda, the GREEN TALENT initiative has ambitious plans to enhance professional development in the field, providing Green talents with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through group mentoring activities, job shadowing, and networking events.

During its implementation, the project has planned to establish four demonstration hubs in Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, which will host 45 secondments, acting as collaborative spaces between representatives of academic and non-academic sectors.

“GREEN TALENT is about empowering a new generation of innovators, practitioners, and communities to respond to the urgent and interconnected challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

To succeed, we need innovation in its broadest sense – embracing not only new technologies, but also collaboration, knowledge exchange, behavioural change, and new financing mechanisms. By strengthening capacity and excellence across academia, business, and practice, we are building the partnerships and platforms needed to scale impactful solutions. 

GREEN TALENT establishes four national hubs – in Malta, Cyprus, Greece, and Bulgaria – that will build on recent regional successes to foster cross-sector collaboration addressing climate change and biodiversity loss through nature-based solutions.

These hubs will foster collaboration among stakeholders at local and national levels, while engaging with European and international partners to enable mutual learning, inform best practices, and scale successful interventions beyond national contexts.

“GREEN TALENT strengthens Europe’s ability to lead the green transition by investing in people, fostering inclusive innovation, and delivering measurable progress toward climate resilience and biodiversity recovery,”

says the project coordinator, Mario Balzan, Ecostack Innovations.

Launched to support the green transition, GREEN TALENT will implement ongoing follow-up and assessment measures to ensure the long-term impact of its training activities. These efforts will enable participants to continuously refine their skills and effectively apply newly acquired competences within their home institutions.

All training materials will be openly accessible via a newly developed GREEN TALENT Capacity-Building Platform. In addition to comprehensive learning resources, the platform will showcase case studies, support peer learning, and host an Exchange Forum to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and cross-sector collaboration.

By equipping research and innovation talents with practical skills and fostering international cooperation, GREEN TALENT aims to drive meaningful progress toward climate resilience and biodiversity preservation.

Pensoft’s role at GREEN TALENT:

Pensoft will lead the project’s Work Package 7: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation. The primary objectives of the WP are the creation of a distinct brand identity, spreading knowledge through sustainable outreach strategies to facilitate knowledge exchange between academia and non-academia by organising events and workshops, while encouraging collaboration across GREEN TALENT’s Demonstration Pilots through shared success stories and highlighting secondees’ achievements. 

Consortium partners:
  1. Ecostack Innovations
  2. University of Trento
  3. University of Hannover
  4. National University of Ireland Maynooth
  5. University of Helsinki
  6. The New School: A University in New York City
  7. SWECO Belgium
  8. University of Malta
  9. Pensoft Publishers
  10. National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
  11. National Nuseum of Natural History, Bulgaria
  12. Harokopio University
  13. University of Crete
  14. Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos
  15. Open University of Cyprus
  16. The Cyprus Institute
  17. VL Sustainability Metrics LTD
For more information:

Follow the GREEN TALENT project on BlueSky and Linkedin.

Project website coming soon!

Disclaimer:

Funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 101217375, GREEN TALENT (Building Capacity and Partnerships for Systemic Solutions to the Climate and Biodiversity Crises).

Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the EU nor the REA can be held responsible for them.

A prolific discovery: three new orchid species from Costa Rica and Panama

The new species utilise an unusual method of asexual reproduction known as prolification.

Researchers have discovered three new Pleurothallis orchid species in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama. The new species utilise an unusual method of asexual reproduction known as prolification.

Pleurothallis winkeliana. Credit: Karremans et al.

Found in the cool, misty highlands of the Talamanca range at elevations between 1400 and 2550 metres, the newly discovered species, Pleurothallis matrisilvae, Pleurothallis pridgeoniana and Pleurothallis winkeliana are described in the open-access journal PhytoKeys. 

Prolific stems in species across Pleurothallidinae. Credit: Karremans et al.

Prolificating plants produce miniature plantlets directly from their flowering stems, allowing them to bypass seed production.

Whilst prolification is rarely a fixed feature within this group of orchids, it becomes common under stressful environmental conditions. The ability may be advantageous in the challenging conditions of cloud forests, but remains underexplored scientifically. Methods of asexual reproduction might also be important when pollinators are scarce.

Pleurothallis matrisilvae. Credit: Karremans et al.

The new species have each adapted to exhibit prolification in different ways, such as forming long chains or bushy growths. These adaptations helped researchers identify them as distinct species, despite their initial visual similarities with other plants. 

With close to 1700 species currently recorded, a third of which not known from anywhere else in the world, Costa Rica is a well-known orchid biodiversity hotspot. The discovery of these orchids displays the Talamanca range’s significance as a rich and largely unexplored area. 

Pleurothallis pridgeoniana. Credit: Karremans et al.

With these additions, Costa Rica now boasts 67 recognised species of Pleurothallis, though researchers believe many more await formal identification. Such abundance highlights the importance of conserving these unique ecosystems.

Thanks to Costa Rica’s robust system of protected areas (SINAC), local institutions such as Lankester Botanical Garden of the University of Costa Rica are able to uncover and describe floristic novelties in an effort to study and conserve the country’s unique biodiversity.

Original source

Karremans AP, Pupulin F, Gange J, Bogarín D (2025) Three new species of Pleurothallis (Orchidaceae) from Costa Rica and Panama, with a note on asexual reproduction by prolification in Pleurothallidinae. PhytoKeys 256: 197-220. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.256.140316

Follow PhytoKeys on X, Bluesky and Facebook.

Europe’s most complete stegosaurian skull unearthed in Teruel, Spain

A new study by palaeontologists from the Fundación Dinópolis, published in the journal Vertebrate Zoology, rewrites the evolutionary history of this dino group.

A photo of a person holding a large, textured fossil resembling a dinosaur skull, with distinct eye sockets, against a backdrop of grass.
Close-up photograph of the Dacentrurus armatus skull found in Riodeva (Teruel, Spain).

Palaeontologists from the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis have published new research in the prestigious scientific journal Vertebrate Zoology published by Senckenberg. The article describes a partial stegosaurian skull discovered in the municipality of Riodeva (Teruel, Spain) and proposes a new hypothesis about the evolutionary history of plated dinosaurs.

Stegosaurs were dinosaurs mainly characterized by being plant-eaters, moving on all fours, and displaying two rows of plates and/or spines from the neck to the end of the tail. The specimen studied was recovered during the palaeontological excavations led by the Fundación Dinópolis at the “Están de Colón” fossil site, located in sediments of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation, dating to the Late Jurassic epoch (around 150 million years ago). It is the best-preserved stegosaurian skull ever found in Europe and has been identified as belonging to the species Dacentrurus armatus.

An illustration of a large, spiked dinosaur with a long neck standing by the shore, roaring against a backdrop of sea and cloudy sky.
Illustration of Dacentrurus armatus. Credit: Adrián Blázquez / Fundación Dinópolis.

Sergio Sánchez Fenollosa, a researcher at the Fundación Dinópolis and co-author of the study, explains: “The detailed study of this exceptional fossil has allowed us to reveal previously unknown aspects of the anatomy of Dacentrurus armatus, the quintessential European stegosaur, which in 2025 marks 150 years since its first description. Dinosaurian skulls are rarely preserved due to the extreme fragility of their bones. This discovery is key to understanding how stegosaurian skulls evolved.

A close-up photo of a dinosaur sculpture's head, with another dinosaur in the background.
Head of a Dacentrurus armatus sculpture on display at Dinópolis (Teruel, Spain).

Furthermore, alongside the anatomical study, we have also proposed a new hypothesis that redefines the evolutionary relationships of stegosaurs worldwide. As a result of this work, we have formalized the definition of a new group called Neostegosauria”.

According to the researchers, this new group includes medium to large-sized stegosaurian species that at least lived in what is now Africa and Europe during the Middle and Late Jurassic, in North America during the Late Jurassic, and in Asia during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.

Alberto Cobos, managing director of the Fundación Dinópolis and co-author of the publication, adds: “This dual achievement–both the study of an exceptional fossil and the proposal of a new evolutionary hypothesis–positions this research as a global reference in stegosaurian studies.

This fossil site from Riodeva continues to be a subject of research and still holds numerous relevant fossils, including more postcranial elements from the same adult specimen and, notably, juvenile individuals, a particularly rare combination in this type of dinosaurs. These discoveries continue to exponentially increase the palaeontological heritage of the province of Teruel, making it one of the iconic regions for understanding the evolution of life on Earth”.

3D rendering of a fossilized piece of dinosaur skull.
Cranial reconstruction of a stegosaur, showing the studied fossil in its anatomical position.

The scientific article has been published in the renowned international journal Vertebrate Zoology under the title New insights into the phylogeny and skull evolution of stegosaurian dinosaurs: An extraordinary cranium from the European Late Jurassic (Dinosauria: Stegosauria). The authors are palaeontologists Sergio Sánchez Fenollosa and Alberto Cobos from the Fundación Dinópolis. The article is available open access at: https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.75.e146618

Illustration of a Dacentrurus skull from Riodeva, Spain, showing three views: fossil, outlined diagram, and 3D model, scale 10 cm.
Set of images of the most complete stegosaurian skull found in Europe, belonging to Dacentrurus armatus and recovered from Riodeva (Teruel, Spain).

This contribution from the Fundación Dinópolis, affiliated with the Dept. of Medio Ambiente y Turismo of the Gobierno de Aragón, is part of the activities of Research Group E04-23R FOCONTUR, funded by the Gobierno de Aragón (through the Dept. of Empleo, Ciencia y Universidades). Additionally, it is part of the research of the Unidad de Paleontología de Teruel, funded by the Gobierno de España (through the Ministry of Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades). The work at this site is also supported by the project titled Los yacimientos paleontológicos de la provincia de Teruel como factor de desarrollo territorial (IV), subsidized by the Gobierno de España and the Gobierno de Aragón through the Teruel Investment Fund (via the Dept. of Presidencia, Economía y Justicia).

Research article:

Sánchez-Fenollosa S, Cobos A (2025) New insights into the phylogeny and skull evolution of stegosaurian dinosaurs: An extraordinary cranium from the European Late Jurassic (Dinosauria: Stegosauria). Vertebrate Zoology 75: 165-189. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.75.e146618

Image credit: Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis

New copepod species highlights fragile biodiversity in Bermuda’s caves

It is the only member of the Tetragoniceps genus living in caves and could represent an ancient, early-diverging member of its evolutionary lineage.

Bermuda’s Walsingham cave system harbors a wide diversity of cave-dwelling animals not found anywhere else in the world; now, one more joins their ranks as researchers of the University of Cambridge, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and Senckenberg am Meer German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research have discovered a new copepod species.

Three close-up views of a translucent shrimp-like creature, showcasing its segmented body and delicate antennae against a dark background.
Confocal laser scanning microscopy images of Tetragoniceps bermudensis.

Copepods are some of the most diverse of all crustaceans, found everywhere from freshwater ponds to the open ocean. These tiny organisms are some of the most abundant animals in the marine plankton, and an essential component of food webs worldwide. However, their huge diversity remains rather poorly known, particularly in challenging environments like subterranean caves.

New species of Brazilian copepod suggests ancient species diversification and distribution

The new Bermudian copepod, Tetragoniceps bermudensis, was first collected in 2016 by Sahar Khodami, Pedro Martinez Arbizu, and Leocadio Blanco-Bercial from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and the Senckenberg am Meer German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research, who ventured into Roadside Cave through a narrow passageway in Bermuda’s ancient limestone bedrock. However, it was only when researchers analysed it in detail, in 2024, that T. bermudensis was confirmed to be an entirely new species. Like other members of Bermuda’s cave fauna, Tetragoniceps bermudensis – named after the country where it was discovered – might represent an ancient, early-diverging member of its evolutionary lineage, the research team say. Together with other ancient crustaceans inhabiting the island’s caverns, it persisted in a secluded, delicate underground ecosystem relatively free from competitors and predators.

Sahar Khodami
Leocadio Blanco-Bercial
Pedro Martinez Arbizu
The team during the sampling expedition to Roadside Cave in 2016.

“The new species of copepod crustacean, Tetragoniceps bermudensis, is the first of its genus from Bermuda, as well as the first known cave-dwelling species of the genus anywhere in the world and only the second within its family, Tetragonicipitidae,” says lead author Giovanni Mussini of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences. “This finding from Roadside Cave adds to the great diversity of endemic crustaceans (and other cave fauna) found in the island’s network of limestone caves.”

The team during the sampling expedition to Roadside Cave in 2016.

The team only found one female egg-bearing individual at Roadside Cave, a small cavern in Bermuda. It is hard to estimate just how rare the new species is based on a single specimen, but the finding “suggests a correspondingly limited area and a probable endemic status, consistent with the high degree of endemism typical of Bermuda’s cave-dwelling fauna,” the researchers write in their paper in the journal ZooKeys.

A photo of a dimly lit cave interior with water dripping from stalactites.
Views of Roadside cave.

Roadside Cave, where the new species was found, may face threats from “urban development, vandalism, dumping, littering and pollution, and sediment disturbance due to unlawful access by humans and domesticated animals,” which makes protecting this small creature all the more urgent. The researchers call for formal protection of the cave and for robust enforcement of existing measures to protect its precious fauna.

“The discovery of this species highlights that there remains a cryptic diversity of cave-dwelling species still to be discovered even in a densely populated island like Bermuda, whose hidden, underground biodiversity is all too often overlooked,” Mussini says in conclusion.

Research article:

Mussini G, Niimi YJ, Khodami S, Kihara TC, Martinez Arbizu P, Blanco-Bercial L (2025) A new species of Tetragoniceps Brady, 1880 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Tetragonicipitidae) from an anchialine cave in Bermuda, with an updated key to the species of the genus. ZooKeys 1239: 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1239.144436

Journals published on ARPHA now archived in the Biodiversity Heritage Library

To date, the content available on BHL includes 16,000 legacy articles and also extends to future articles.

Content from more than 30 biodiversity journals published on the ARPHA Platform will now be archived in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives.

A vibrant orange butterfly perched on yellow flowers, with text announcing journal archiving in the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

A global consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries, BHL digitises and freely shares essential biodiversity materials. A critical resource for researchers, it provides vital access to material that might otherwise be difficult to obtain.

Under the agreement, over 16,000 articles published on Pensoft’s self-developed ARPHA Platform are now available on BHL. Both legacy content and new articles are made available on the platform, complete with full-text PDFs and all relevant metadata.

Thanks to this integration, content in our journals will become even more accessible and readily discoverable, helping researchers find the biodiversity information they need.

Prof. Lyubomir Penev

More content published on ARPHA will gradually be added to the BHL archive.

The publications will be included in the Library’s full-text search, allowing researchers to easily locate relevant biodiversity literature. Crucially, the scientific names within the articles will be indexed using the Global Names Architecture, enabling seamless discovery of information about specific taxa across the BHL collection.

This automated workflow is facilitated by the ARPHA platform and uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to enable exposure and harvesting of repository metadata. 

“Pensoft is pleased to collaborate with BHL in our joint mission to support global biodiversity research through free access to knowledge. Thanks to this integration, content in our journals will become even more accessible and readily discoverable, helping researchers find the biodiversity information they need,” said Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO and founder of Pensoft and ARPHA.

The news comes soon after BHL announced it is about to face a major shift in its operation. From 2026, the Smithsonian Institution – one of BHL’s 10 founding members – will cease to host the administrative and technical components of BHL. As the consortium explores a range of options, the BHL team is confident that “the transition opens the door to a reimagined and more sustainable future for BHL.”

Probiotic supplementation may help reduce chemotherapy side effects in breast cancer

A new study published in the journal Pharmacia showed that multi-strain probiotics can have impact on chemotherapy-related side effects.

Chemotherapy is one of the most popular ways to treat breast cancer. Even though it has proven to be effective, it also has downsides, such as a higher risk of side effects, as it doesn’t only attack the cancer cells but can also affect normal cells. Chemotherapy-related side effects such as fatigue, weakness, and proneness to infections can influence treatment adherence        and undermine the effectiveness of the therapy and the patients’ quality of life.

Probiotics are among the emerging alternative supplements being studied for their potential benefit in cancer treatment. A new study published in the open-access journal Pharmacia explored the effects of multi-strain probiotics on chemotherapy-related side effects using Karnofsky performance score, complete blood count, and blood biochemistry.

The findings show that probiotics with 7 strains have a potential effect in patients with breast cancer, especially in the improvement of common chemotherapy-related side effects, such as fatigue and nausea. Another potential effect of multi-strain probiotics is improving blood urea nitrogen levels. Significant improvement was observed in the ability to perform activities of daily living, which means patients can go about their lives more independently and reduce their reliance on others. This might also be related to the improvement of nausea and fatigue symptoms.

Close-up photo of a Black doctor showing pills and pill bottle at the camera

In conclusion, multi-strain probiotics have been shown to have potential benefits in chemotherapy-related side effects for patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Further, larger study is needed to explore these effects and to confirm the benefits of multi-strain probiotics before they are used in clinical practice.

Research article:
Kirtishanti A, Wijono H, Kok T, Setiawan E, Tanggo VVCM, Zahara GS, Davina W, Presley B (2025) Effect of multi-strain probiotics supplementation on chemotherapy-related side effects among patients with breast cancer: A pilot trial. Pharmacia 72: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3897/pharmacia.72.e144998

The Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute joins Pensoft’s portfolio

The journal, now published on Pensoft’s full-featured platform ARPHA, invites research in a variety of fields related to the Danube delta.

Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft welcomes the latest addition to its diverse portfolio of scholarly outlets: the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute (SADDI).

Aerial photo of the Danube Delta, with a journal cover featuring birds, highlighting scientific research on the region. Photo by Dr. Cristian Trifanov.

The official journal of the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development in Tulcea, Romania, SADDI publishes research in a variety of fields related to the Danube Delta and similar wetland ecosystems. Established in 1993, it 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.

Cover of "Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute" featuring a photo of Thalasseus sandvicensis birds.

SADDI is led by Editor-in-Chief Iuliana-Mihaela Tudor of the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development.

As a diamond open-access journal, SADDI will be free to read and publish and invites researchers and scientists to submit their manuscripts.

In joining Pensoft, SADDI will get access to improved publishing infrastructure and benefit from increased visibility and discoverability for its published research, making use of Pensoft’s full-featured platform ARPHA, an end-to-end publishing solution that makes it easy for both humans and machines to access, cite, and reuse research.

The 5 Most Distinct Features of ARPHA

At the 32nd International Symposium “Deltas and Wetlands” in Tulcea, which will take place on 12–17 May, Pensoft’s CEO Prof. Lyubomir Penev will give a talk how the newly revamped SADDI has changed now that it is powered by the ARPHA publishing platform, and will also discuss how scholarly publishing can help advance Danube conservation.

“The Pensoft team is excited to cooperate with the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development as we support SADDI’s growth and development. We appreciate this new partnership and look forward to seeing the journal thrive using our advanced publishing services,” Prof. Penev said ahead of the event.

Rare grasshopper thought extinct rediscovered after 40 years

Unique to the island of São Nicolau, the insect is a “living fossil” that has shown remarkable resilience, surviving for millions of years.

The Monte Gordo Grasshopper (Eyprepocprifas insularis) has proved to be a rare and elusive species: its last, and, until now, only sighting was a single specimen found in 1980. This is why researcher Dr. Michel Lecoq declared it extinct in 1996.

A photo of a holotype grasshopper, Eyreprocoprizias insularis, labeled with collection details from San Nicolau, Cape Verde, 1980.
Eyprepocprifas insularis, male, holotype. This specimen, collected by the Programme de Recherche Interdisciplinaire Francais sur les Acridiens du Sahel team at São Nicolau, Cape Verde, in Oct. 1980, was the only known for many decades. Scale bar: 1 cm. Photo credit: Christophe Herve, MNHN, Paris.

After more than 40 years of no records, an exciting discovery happened thanks to a holiday Rob Felix took with his fellow researcher Annelies Jacobs in Cape Verde, the insect’s only known location, “to look for birds and other interesting stuff for field biologists like us. Before going on our trip, we looked for information about this peculiar grasshopper that was thought to be extinct for a long time. We were hoping and dreaming that maybe we could find it again.”

“During a night walk on our first evening on São Nicolau to a colony of a unique seabird species, the Fea, I stumbled upon a grasshopper sitting on the path. When I looked closer in the torch’s light, I immediately recognised its unique appearance. I shouted out loud: it’s Eyprepocprifas! To my surprise, correct at once because it’s not the most easily pronounceable genus name,” he says.

Close-up photo of a brown grasshopper perched on textured, reddish-brown rocks.
Eyprepocprifas insularis, male. This endemic to Monte Gordo Natural Park, São Nicolau, Cape Verde, was rediscovered in 2023 after being declared extinct. Photo credit: Rob Felix

In the following days, Rob and Annelies found several other specimens in Monte Gordo Natural Park and its surroundings.

Endemic to the island of São Nicolau, this grasshopper is a “living fossil,” meaning it hasn’t evolved significantly for millions of years and has few or no living relatives.

Habitat of Eyprepocprifas insularis on São Nicolau, Cape Verde. Photo credit: Rob Felix

“E. insularis must have been there for a very long time and has been able to withstand the severe ecological conditions,” the researchers write in their paper, which was published in the Journal of Orthoptera Research.

  • A close-up photo of a brown grasshopper perched on vibrant green leaves.
  • A close-up photo of a brown grasshopper with two white stripes along its back resting on a vibrant green leaf.
  • Close-up photo of a brown and tan grasshopper resting on earthy soil with dried plant material.
  • Close-up photo of a dark, textured grasshopper on a rocky surface.
  • Close-up photo of a brown grasshopper perched on a wooden surface.
  • A close-up photo of a brown grasshopper resting on a green leaf.
  • Close-up photo of a brown, textured grasshopper perched on green leaves.
  • A photo of a small, brown grasshopper sitting on a green leaf.

This montane grasshopper has shown remarkable resilience, surviving in the challenging environment of Cape Verde’s islands and enduring periods of intense drought and strong winds that can introduce new species from the African continent.

“The rediscovery of the only endemic brachypterous (short-winged) grasshopper, Eyprepocprifas insularis, on São Nicolau, an island with a volcanic origin dating back approximately five million years, provides significant insight into the island’s ecological and evolutionary history,” the researchers write.

They say this rediscovery is a crucial first step toward the insect’s conservation: as a threatened species restricted to a small area, E. insularis might actually be closer to extinction than we think.  Now that it has been found again, we have the opportunity to take steps to protect this unique species and its habitat.

Research article:

Felix R, Jacobs A, Lecoq M (2025) Rediscovery of the Monte Gordo Grasshopper Eyprepocprifas insularis: An ancient brachypterous species endemic to São Nicolau, Cape Verde (Orthoptera, Eyprepocnemidinae). Journal of Orthoptera Research 34(2): 159-168. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.34.144016

Biodiversity Knowledge Hub makes an appearance at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2025

The Biodiversity Knowledge Hub fosters interoperability between diverse resources to make it easier to use and combine information.

Gabriel Peoluze (LifeWatch ERIC) presents the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub poster at EGU 2025
(Vienna, Austria).

On Monday, 28 April, the first day of the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2025 (EGU 2025), participants had the chance to discover one of the most promising initiatives in biodiversity informatics: the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH). BKH was presented as part of a dedicated poster session, titled “Biodiversity Knowledge Hub: Addressing the impacts of environmental change by linking Research Infrastructures, Global Aggregators and Community Networks“.

Understanding and addressing the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity and ecosystems demands access to reliable FAIR data (as in Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). However, the current landscape is often fragmented, making it difficult to combine and use these resources effectively.

Enter the Horizon-funded project Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL): a pioneering initiative that demonstrates the transformative power of interdisciplinary collaboration. Coordinated by Pensoft, BiCIKL ran between 2021 and 2024.

New BiCIKL project to build a freeway between pieces of biodiversity knowledge
The Vision of BiCIKL

Within BiCIKL, 14 European institutions from ten countries teamed up with the aim to integrate biodiversity data across research infrastructures, scientific repositories, and expert communities.

Through this integration, BiCIKL bridged the gap between isolated knowledge systems and delivered actionable insights to guide conservation and resilience efforts. The project embodies the principles of open science by demonstrating how interdisciplinary collaboration can turn fragmented data into cohesive, usable knowledge for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

How to ensure biodiversity data are FAIR, linked, open and future-proof?
The Biodiversity Knowledge Hub

At the heart of BiCIKL’s success is the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH): an innovative platform that provides seamless access to biodiversity data, tools, and workflows. The BKH fosters interoperability between diverse resources, thus making it easier to combine information from different sources. Whether for advanced research analytics or policymaking in support of sustainable development, the BKH empowers users with tools tailored to their needs.

A few of the standout features of the BKH include:
  • Modular design to allow continuous expansion and adaptability to new challenges in biodiversity and climate resilience
  • Interoperable systems that connect a variety of databases, repositories, and services to deliver integrated knowledge.
  • Community building by welcoming a broad network of stakeholders to ensure the platform’s long-term sustainability and growth.
Watch the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub video on YouTube.
Setting a New Benchmark in Biodiversity Informatics

Through its collaborative approach, BiCIKL set a new standard for how biodiversity and climate resilience initiatives can be harmonised globally. By showcasing best practices in data integration, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement, BiCIKL became much more than a project: it turned into a blueprint for future biodiversity knowledge infrastructures.

The Biodiversity Knowledge Hub serves to demonstrate how harmonised standards and active collaboration are key to unlocking the full potential of biodiversity data. In doing so, its mission is to create scalable, long-term solutions that are crucial for addressing today’s pressing environmental challenges.

The poster presentation at EGU25 outlined the methodologies and technologies driving the BKH, emphasizing its role as a pioneering model for integrated biodiversity knowledge and action. As environmental pressures continue to mount, the work of BiCIKL and the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub offers a hopeful path forward—one where knowledge flows freely, collaborations flourish, and data-driven solutions guide our way to a more resilient future.

Visit the Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL) project’s website at: https://bicikl-project.eu/.

Don’t forget to also explore the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH) for yourself at: https://biodiversityknowledgehub.eu/ and watch the BKH’s introduction video. 

Revisit highlights from the BiCIKL project on X/Twitter from the project’s hashtag: #BiCIKL_H2020 and handle: @BiCIKL_H2020.

BiCIKL project sums up outcomes and future prospects at a Final GA in Cambridge

Elephant instead of wild boar? What could have been in Europe

Even under today’s climatic conditions, the long-extinct straight-tusked elephant could still live in Europe.

Elephants are among the largest land mammals on Earth and are often referred to as “ecosystem engineers” because they sustainably alter their surroundings through grazing, trampling, and digging. Europe, too, had an elephant: the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) lived on our continent for around 700,000 years. The species survived multiple ice ages before becoming extinct during the last one due to additional hunting pressure from humans. Throughout its existence, the straight-tusked elephant helped shape Europe’s landscape, maintaining open spaces and light woodlands. Many native plant species are still adapted to these conditions today. 

A photo of a towering elephant statue standing on grassy terrain under a blue sky with fluffy clouds, its trunk raised and tusks visible.
A sculpture of Palaeoloxodon antiquus next to the paleontological museum of Ambrona (Soria, Spain). Photo credit: PePeEfe under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

“The German name Waldelefant (forest elephant) originates from the assumption that this species primarily lived in the wooded regions of Europe. However, fossil evidence shows that P. antiquus often inhabited open or semi-open habitats with mosaic-like vegetation, similar to modern elephants,” explains Prof. Dr. Manuel Steinbauer, Chair of Sport Ecology at the University of Bayreuth. 

What for?

Our perception of nature is shaped by what we experience in our surroundings. Ecosystems without direct human influence are often perceived as “natural.” However, when considering insights gained from fossils, it becomes clear that today’s ecosystems— even without direct human intervention—differ significantly from those in which the species of our landscapes evolved thousands of years ago. Studies like the one carried out by the Bayreuth research team highlight the importance of studying past ecosystems for conservation. Understanding how climate and environmental changes have historically affected large mammals can provide valuable insights for modern conservation strategies.

To reconstruct the way of life of P. antiquus and, in particular, its actual habitat—known as the realised niche—the research team examined scientific literature and palaeontological databases for fossil finds of P. antiquus that could be assigned to specific Marine Isotope Stages. Marine Isotope Stages are periods in the earth’s history that reflect climate history, representing warm and cold stages. The Bayreuth research team assigned fossil finds from across Europe to either a warm or cold stage and used climate models from these periods to reconstruct the realised niche of the straight-tusked elephant. A comparison with modern climate data suggests that straight-tusked elephants would still be able to live in Europe today. The climate in Western and Central Europe would be particularly suitable, except for mountainous regions such as the Alps and the Caucasus. 

Map of Europe showing occurrence probability with black points indicating data locations, overlaid on a gradient green background.
Current potential distribution of the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) in Europe. The colouring represents the probability of occurrence, with grey indicating “very unlikely” and dark green “very likely”. The black dots mark the fossil finds on which the prediction is based.

“In the past, megafauna like the straight-tusked elephant and their regulatory mechanisms—such as grazing—were omnipresent. Many European species, particularly plants that thrive in open habitats, likely established in their diversity in Europe because they benefited from these ecological influences. Traditional conservation strategies in Europe primarily aim to protect biodiversity by shielding habitats from human activities. However, this strategy alone is unlikely to restore the lost ecological functions of megafauna,” says Franka Gaiser, a doctoral student in the Sport Ecology research team and lead author of the study. 

Modern conservation projects actively reintroduce large herbivores to Europe. However, this comes with challenges, as the ecological processes that have shaped modern ecosystems are not yet fully understood. Additionally, today’s large herbivores cannot entirely replace the role of extinct megafauna, as both the animals themselves and the landscape structures, as well as species interactions, have changed significantly.

Original publication:

Gaiser F, Müller C, Phan P, Mathes G, Steinbauer MJ (2025) Europe’s lost landscape sculptors: Today’s potential range of the extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus. Frontiers of Biogeography 18: e135081. https://doi.org/10.21425/fob.18.135081