Tag: biodiversity

Values and dependence of society on pollinators: Pensoft joins the EU project VALOR

VALOR is to prompt better understanding of our relationship with pollinators. Pensoft will lead activities related to co-developing tools for expanding engagement and interaction, and support communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities.

Animal pollinators have become a flagship for biodiversity conservation, largely due to their globally recognised role in supporting broader biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human well-being.

Despite this recognition and the widely acknowledged benefits of pollination, many of the pressures on pollinators persist. As a result, there is growing evidence of localised yet significant deficits in pollination services, affecting both crop pollination and other communities.

Coordinated by Dr Tom Breeze (University of Reading) and funded by Horizon Europe, VALOR is a multi-actor project that will develop a comprehensive, systems-based approach to gaining a deeper understanding of the cascading impacts of pollinator shifts from flower to fork and beyond.

The project will examine the effects of pollinator shifts on ecosystems, farm businesses, and local communities through primary research and modelling.

VALOR’s coordinator Dr Tom Breeze (UREAD) gave an introductory presentation during the project’s kick-off meeting in February (Reading, United Kingdom). 

The project aims to empower actors to develop a deeper comprehension of relationships with pollinators and will produce a range of co-developed tools for landowners, businesses, and policymakers.

These tools will facilitate a better understanding of pollination-related risks and enable users to conduct their own studies by replicating the project’s methods and applying its models. To ensure comprehensive data collection without compromising scale, VALOR will adopt a systems-based approach, employing a series of in-depth case studies in focal regions to assess the importance of pollinators.

VALOR launched in January 2025 and will be running until the end of 2028.

To achieve its goals the VALOR project has six objectives: 

  1. Co-develop a better understanding of stakeholder knowledge needs around pollinators.
  2. Better understand the dependence of society and the economy on pollinators.
  3. Measure and model the cascading impacts of plant-pollinator networks on ecosystems and human well-being.
  4. Explore the consequences of pollinator loss through value chains.
  5. Forecast the resilience of pollinator networks and human benefits under future conditions.
  6. Co-develop tools to engage and empower actors about pollinator conservation.

Pensoft’s role

Building on its experience in communication, dissemination, and exploitation of results, Pensoft will focus on maximising the project’s impact and long-term legacy. This involves a broad scope of activities, including the development of the project’s visual identity and online presence, as well as the translation of research findings into policy recommendations.

As a leader of the work on co-developed tools for expanded engagement and interaction, Pensoft will support the development of a spatially explicit tool to allow users to explore the fine-scale changes in pollinator abundance and diversity, as well as pollination services resulting from a change in landscape management.

Moreover, Pensoft will assist the VALOR project in contributing to the Safeguard Knowledge Exchange Hub (Safe-Hub).

Pensoft will also facilitate collaboration opportunities with other projects, leveraging its expertise in numerous EU-funded projects. These efforts will be directed towards VALOR’s sister project: BUTTERFLY (101181930).

International consortium

The VALOR consortium comprises partners from thirteen European institutions, along with three associated partners, including China and Australia.

The consortium spans a wide and diverse range of scientific disciplines, from pollinator ecology, sociology, and economics to stakeholder engagement and communications. 

  1. University Of Reading (UREAD)
  2. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
  3. Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (ALU-FR) 
  4. Jagiellonian University (UJ) 
  5. The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
  6. Wageningen University (WU)
  7. Lund University (ULUND)
  8. University of La Laguna (ULL)
  9. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU)
  10. The University of Helsinki (UH)
  11. Pensoft Publishers (PENSOFT) 
  12. World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)
  13. European Landowners’ Organization (ELO)
  14. University of New England (UNE)
  15. China West Normal University (CWNU)
  16. Beijing Forestry University (BJFU)

The VALOR project website is coming soon!

In the meantime, follow the project’s progress via its social media channels on BlueSky and LinkedIn.

Promoting sustainable agriculture for pollinators: Pensoft joins the EU project AGRI4POL

The new Horizon project is to assist the transition of agriculture to a positive force for biodiversity, crop pollination services, ecosystems and people. Pensoft will lead the communication, dissemination, exploitation and synergies with other projects.

Threats to pollinators and pollination services that support agriculture and provide benefits to people are a worldwide problem, recognized by intergovernmental scientific assessments, national or transnational initiatives as well as policies.

Intensive agriculture is among the principal threats to pollinator biodiversity and the crop pollination services that pollinators provide. Moreover, typically crop breeding has tended to overlook the benefits of pollination for sustained crop yields in favour of other crop traits.

Coordinated by Dr. Adam Vanbergen (INRAE) and funded by Horizon Europe, the AGRI4POL project takes an ambitious and achievable interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to achieve a transition towards sustainable pollinator-friendly farming.

AGRI4POL kick-off meeting (January 2025, Brussels, Belgium).

The project aims to deliver an integrated state-of-the-art analysis of the crop – farming system – pollinator interplay across levels of biological organisation from the crop gene to the agroecosystem. 

AGRI4POL launched in January 2025 and will be running until the end of 2028.

To achieve its goals, AGRI4POL project has outlined seven objectives:

  1. Work with a multi-actor community on research and solutions for promoting pollinator-friendly farming.
  2. Evaluate crop genetics, varieties and floral traits governing pollinator attraction to stimulate breeding of future pollinator-smart crops.
  3. Establish the benefits of pollinator-friendly farming systems for farmers and farming.
  4. Optimise ecological and landscape features for crop pollination, pollinator biodiversity and multiple ecosystem benefits.
  5. Assess the social and economic opportunities and obstacles presented by pollinator friendly farming options. 
  6. Evaluate how policies and practitioner awareness influence uptake of pollinator-friendly farming from national to international scales.
  7. Communicate and promote the benefits of pollinator-friendly farming.
AGRI4POL’s coordinator Dr. Adam Vanbergen (INRAE) gave an introductory presentation during the project kick-off meeting in Brussels (January 2025, Belgium).

Pensoft’s role

Building on its experience in communication, dissemination, and exploitation of results, Pensoft will focus on maximizing the project’s impact and long-term legacy. This encompasses a wide array of activities, ranging all the way from building a project’s visual identity and online presence and creating a podcast to translating results into policy recommendations. Moreover, Pensoft will be facilitating collaboration opportunities with other projects, leveraging on its involvement in numerous EU-funded projects. As of now, Pensoft takes part in six EU Pollinator projects, which serves well to facilitate synergies.

International consortium

The AGRI4POL consortium comprises twenty partners from fourteen European institutions. The consortium covers a wide diverse range of scientific disciplines spanning from pollinator ecology and agriculture to stakeholder engagement and communications. 

  1. INREA
  2. INRAE Transfert
  3. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ
  4. The University of Reading
  5. Wageningen University
  6. Wageningen Research
  7. Lund University
  8. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
  9. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
  10. Pensoft Publishers
  11. Global Change Research Institute – Ustav Vyzkumu Globalni Zmeny Av Cr Vvi (CzechGlobe)
  12. Université de Mons
  13. University of Ljubljana – Univerza v Ljubljani
  14. Università degli Studi di Padova
  15. WCMC LBG – UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre
  16. Associació Paisatages Vius – Living Landscapes
  17. Maisadour Semences Romania SRL – MAS Seeds
  18. Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori
  19. Eidgenoessisches Departement fuer Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung (WBF-Agroscope)
  20. Swiss Association for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas

For update from AGRI4POL, subscribe to the newsletter on the project website!

You can also forllow AGRI4POL’s progress via its social media channels on BlueSky and LinkedIn.

New blazing star discovery highlights the power of citizen science

The rare plant was identified thanks to photographs uploaded to iNaturalist.

Discovered in the Andean cloud forests of northern Peru, a new species in the blazing star family (Loasaceae) has reinforced the vital role of citizen science in plant research. 

Nasa katjae. Credit: Joshua P. Allen

An international research team collected, identified and documented the rare plant after seeing photographs uploaded by Peruvian naturalist, Carlos Pérez Peña, on the citizen science platform iNaturalist. Assigning the species the name Nasa katjae, they published the discovery in the open-access journal PhytoKeys.

Nasa katjae has striking scarlet-red flowers adapted for hummingbird pollination and is endemic to a single forest near Colasay in the Cajamarca region of Peru, not far from a populated area. Due to its extremely narrow range, it is likely particularly vulnerable to the threat of habitat loss.

The discovery highlights the importance of protecting the remaining pristine habitats in the Amotape-Huancabamba Zone, a biodiversity hotspot home to many rare and isolated species. The team behind the study emphasise that, without immediate conservation efforts, these ecologically fragile regions could be lost to agricultural expansion and climate change before they are fully understood.

Nasa katjae habitat. Credit: Joshua P. Allen

Lead author Dr Tilo Henning of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research remarked on the significance of the find: “If we have overlooked this striking plant, think about what we have missed in more unobtrusive organismal groups such as mosses, fungi and insects.”

“Discovering such a conspicuous flowering plant in a forest directly adjacent to a larger human settlement signifies that we have not even begun to fully map the biodiversity of some regions. We urgently need more taxonomists and funding to meaningfully tackle this.”

While some areas in northern Peru have recently received formal protection, the forest fragment in which Nasa katjae is found remains unprotected. The authors of the study urge decision makers to take action to safeguard these habitats before it is too late.

The discovery of Nasa katjae displays the power of digital tools and citizen science in biodiversity research. Platforms like iNaturalist prove invaluable in detecting and documenting rare species, complementing traditional fieldwork and accelerating new discoveries.

Original source

Henning T, Allen JP, Montesinos-Tubée D, Rodríguez-Rodríguez EF, Peña JLM, Acuña-Castillo R (2025) No end to endemism – contributions to the difficult Nasa Weigend Series Alatae (Loasaceae). A new species from Peru and the rehabilitation of “ Loasa” calycina Benth. PhytoKeys 252: 163-186. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.252.141635

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The woolly devil: a landmark U.S. plant discovery

Belonging to the sunflower family, the tiny plant was found in Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Based on this press release by the California Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have discovered the first new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park for nearly 50 years.

Described in the OA journal PhytoKeys, the new-to-science woolly devil (Ovicula biradiata) is a member of the sunflower family, despite looking quite different to its sunburst-shaped relatives.

Small wooly plants between rocks.
The small, fuzzy flower grows in the harsh, rocky soils of the Chihuahuan Desert and only appears after rainfall. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)

Scientists from the California Academy of Sciences, Big Bend National Park, Sul Ross State University, and Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional (CIDIIR) made the discovery in Big Bend National Park, Texas.

The national park is located within the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest and most biologically diverse warm desert in North America, and is a highly studied floristic region.

“While many assume that the plants and animals within our country’s national parks have probably been documented by now, scientists still make surprising new discoveries in these iconic protected landscapes,” says corresponding author and Academy researcher Isaac Lichter Marck, PhD. 

Desert landscape.
From an elevation of less than 1,800 feet along the Rio Grande to nearly 8,000 feet in Chisos Mountains, Big Bend includes massive canyons, vast desert expanses, forest mountains, and an ever-changing river. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)

Park volunteer Deb Manley was first to observe the plant in March of 2024 by who uploaded the unknown species to the community science app iNaturalist, where an international community of botanists assembled to identify the mysterious flower. 

Known to botanists as a “belly plant,” or a small, discreet plant that can only be properly observed by lying on the ground, this distinctive wild flower with furry white foliage and maroon ray florets is an ephemeral species that only blooms after rain. It thrives in harsh rocky habitats with scant rainfall and grows alongside a variety of drought-tolerant shrubs, such as ocotillo, hedgehog cactus, and creosote.

Researchers have only observed the plant in three narrow locations across the northernmost corner of the park, and it is possible that populations of the species are already diminishing.

Three researchers on hands and knees.
Big Bend National Park staff members Carolyn Whiting, Deb Manley, and Patty Manning discovered the plant while hiking through the northernmost reaches of the park. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)

“Plants that thrive in deserts are often quite unique, having evolved specific mechanisms to withstand the extreme drought-and-deluge conditions of these arid landscapes—from water-storing structures to rapid life cycles triggered by rain,” says Lichter Marck. 

“But as climate change pushes deserts to become hotter and drier, highly specialized plants like the woolly devil face extinction.”

The plant’s woolly appearance and striking red petals inspired the name Ovicula biradiata. Ovicula, meaning “tiny sheep,” refers to the thick, white hairs that cover the plant’s leaves and honors a more iconic endangered species in Big Bend: the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Biradiata, or “bi-radial,” refers to the two ray florets in each of the plant’s flowers. Researchers working with the plant affectionately dubbed the fuzzy flower the “woolly devil,” which has become its suggested common name.

A researchers photographing a tiny plant using a phone.
Park botanist Carolyn Whiting observes the unknown species in March 2024. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)

“Now that the species has been identified and named, there is a tremendous amount we have yet to learn about it,” says Big Bend National Park botanist Carolyn Whiting.

“I’m excited to discover whether there are other populations in the park, the details of its life cycle, what pollinates it, and whether we’ll observe it this spring, given the current drought.”

Researchers are now investigating the woolly devil’s potential medicinal properties.

“Under the microscope, we noticed specific glands that are known to possess compounds with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties in other plants within the sunflower family,” says Academy co-author Keily Peralta.

“While further research is needed to determine these properties, this discovery underscores the potential knowledge we stand to gain from preserving plant diversity in fragile desert ecosystems.”

Original source

Manley DL, Lichter Marck IH, Peralta K, Castro Castro A, Wogan KA, Whiting CV, Powell AM (2025) Ovicula biradiata, a new genus of Compositae from Big Bend National Park in Trans-Pecos Texas. PhytoKeys 252: 141-162. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.252.137624

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Biodiversity restated: > 99.9% of global species in Soil Biota

Soil’s vast biodiversity is under severe threat from topsoil erosion and poisoning, potentially leading to widespread extinctions.

More than 99.9% of global species diversity is found within soils, according to a new review paper published in ZooKeys.

Comparing different studies on soil biota, author Robert J. Blakemore challenges previous estimates, which suggested a much lower proportion of life in soils. “Most life is found in Soil and most is microbial, affected by the current mass extinction event having profound effects influencing all evolution on Earth,” he says.


From the review paper: “Micro monde” progressions with microbial proportions greatly increased from Blakemore after Larsen et al.

“Soil filters and stores freshwater stocks (being subject to Earth tides!) and, as well as ~ 99% of human food, it provides most building materials plus many of our essential medicines/antibiotics. Thus, an important metric must be the scope and snapshot status of living or dormant Soil biota.”

One of the most recent estimates suggests that the soil realm is home to approximately 2.1 x 1024 taxa, which is thought to be more than 99.9% of global species biodiversity, mainly comprised of bacteria and other microbes.

The more you look, the more you find (lhs, pin-head after SCIENCE 2002; rhs, Bacteria on a pin tip courtesy Dr Kateryna Kon of Kharkiv National Medical University).

“Soil also supplies >99.7% of calorific food (just 0.3% from ocean plus 0.3% from aquaculture mostly fed with farmed stockfeed); with just about 6% total global protein from all fish; soil filters and stores most freshwater and is thus responsible for hydrological-recycle rainfall on land,” Blakemore says.

“My other paper last year on Biomass shows Soil houses >99% of organic carbon and it is the loss of this vital resources that is the greatest contributor to atmospheric carbon increase, despite the ‘greening’ effect on land.”

Blakemore, R. J. (2024). Biomass Refined: 99% of Organic Carbon in Soils. Biomass, 4(4), 1257-1300. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomass4040070.

However, this immense biodiversity is under threat. “Soil erosion is one of our greatest global issues of concern, and one of the most ignored. Droughts, floods, deserts, poisoning, capping and so on are affecting all soils and, due to this massive soil loss, plants are incapable of thriving. At the same time deforestation continues, mainly clearing for cattle pastures or soy fields to feed CAFO cows (or other stock),” the author says.

The loss of soil biodiversity has far-reaching consequences, leading to ecosystem degradation, reduced food production, and loss of potentially valuable resources, such as sources of medicines and antibiotics. Furthermore, soil loss inevitably results in silent species loss, mostly of microbes that are most dominant in soils, but also of more obvious soil macrobes, and specifically of earthworms, which are vital for soil health.

Around 7,000 ‘true’ earthworm species have been described, but estimates suggest the total number of earthworm species may be closer to 30,000-35,000 globally. “Due to their high endemicity and Soil’s heterogeneity, their unknowns are legion,” the author notes in his paper.

From the review paper: Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas (GBIF 2016) reporting ~ 667,000 soil biota or just about one third of known 2 million). Note that earthworms have 7,000 known and > 30,000 estimated species. Bacteria had 15,000 known species but estimated over one million (< 1.5% described). However, when microbes (excluding viruses) are properly considered and counted, as herein, soil unknowns are much higher (likely just < 0.0001% known at best). Vascular plants add ~ 400,000 species (cf. Anthony et al. 2023 with 466,000 angiosperm “Plantae”).

Earthworms enhance microbial activity, improve soil structure, and promote plant growth, which is why Blakemore suggests that “a simple solution to soil degradation is to attempt, in any way and at all times, to preserve and enhance earthworm populations.”

“Healthy soils are carbon-rich, hugely biodiverse and are a massive sponge for water – neither flooding nor drying during climatic extremes,” the author says, a reminder that healthy soils are not only vital for maintaining biodiversity, but also indispensable in supporting essential functions of planet and human survival.

“Due to the most pressing problem of topsoil erosion and irreversible extinction losses, a major shift should be realizing the overwhelming importance and fragility of our precious Soil,” Robert Blakemore writes in his paper.

Calling for a change in attitudes and funding to recognise the true scope of soil biodiversity, he encourages the formation of a dedicated Soil Ecology Institute that would catalogue, research and reverse the mass degradation of our planet’s most crucial, yet most neglected ecosystem – that of the Soil Realm.

References:

Blakemore RJ (2025) Biodiversity restated: > 99.9% of global species in Soil Biota. ZooKeys 1224: 283-316. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1224.131153

Blakemore, R. J. (2024). Biomass Refined: 99% of Organic Carbon in Soils. Biomass, 4(4), 1257-1300. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomass4040070.

Blog post on the topic by Robert J. Blakemore: https://vermecology.wordpress.com/2025/02/10/tandc

Take vegetation succession into account when planning solar parks, otherwise problems can grow up

The planning and sustainable management of ground-mounted solar parks can be enhanced by the consideration of vegetation succession.

Large-scale ground-mounted solar parks are relatively new phenomena. Over time, ideas have been put forward about how they can accommodate biodiversity, and some parks are indeed becoming more multifunctional, for example by providing habitats for plants, invertebrates and birds. From a background of studying idyllic ecosystems in dynamic change, Dr. Markus Zaplata, research technician at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany, has come to appreciate the biology of solar parks, and has found evidence that they can support a wide range of biodiversity.

A photo of plants growing near a solar park.
Biodiversity in solar parks is a given (here two Mantis religiosa nymphs) and, with the possible exception of self-seeded woody plants, is desirable. Photo by Dr Markus Zaplata

His research, published in the open-access journal One Ecosystem, proves the previously overlooked fact that vegetation succession also takes place in solar parks, and that certain intrinsic technical structures can even help self-seeded woody plants live there. Vegetation succession refers to the directional development from easily spreading but low-competitive species such as herbs and grasses towards highly competitive species such as woody plants. Mowing alone is not enough to deal with woody plants, he argues. “The fact is that subsurface woody structures continue to grow after mowing, and may at some point massively interfere with the solar installations”, he says.

With 18 years of experience in studying vegetation succession, Dr. Zaplata has supported a research project on biodiversity in solar parks since 2021.

“I do the mowing myself, so I experience the very things I write about in this paper”, he says.

Mowing can also be expensive and labour-intensive, he adds, suggesting that other construction methods and grazing could provide a more sustainable alternative.

Including insights from succession research can make global solar energy landscapes more sustainable, he argues. “The universal and unstoppable ecological process of succession is here linked to a management recommendation that can bring society closer again, on the new or neutral territory of new energy landscapes. In fact, new and old professions are connected, for example solar park manager and livestock farmer.”

A photo of willow tree stalks in a solar park.
Above-ground parts of a willow tree (Salix sp.) that have resisted a recent mowing campaign. Photo by Dr Markus Zaplata

“Finally, and very importantly, my article points out that experts with in-depth predictive knowledge of dynamic vegetation processes must be consulted in the future on everything that has to do with the technical transformation of landscape units, including solar parks,” he says in conclusion.

Original source

Zaplata M (2025) Management and sustainability of ground-mounted solar parks requires consideration of vegetation succession as an omnipresent process. One Ecosystem 10: e141583. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.10.e141583

Year of the Snake: a serpent selection to celebrate Lunar New Year!

Enjoy some of our favourite snake research from across our journals.

Happy Lunar New Year! For more than a billion people worldwide, today is a day of gifts, dancing, celebration and – of course – plenty of delicious food.

Coinciding with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, the 29th of January marks the beginning of a vibrant 15-day festival, which includes 7 days of holiday in China.

As 2025 is the Year of the Snake, we have gathered some of favourite studies celebrating the the scaly world of serpents to celebrate the occasion!

The tug-of-war coral snakes

A different kind of food fight.

A study published in Herpetozoa includes incredible footage of two red-tailed coral snakes (Micrurus mipartitus) engaging in a tug-of-war over a caecilian, a legless amphibian.

Check out the video below.

Two Micrurus mipartitus snakes tugging prey in opposite directions. Credit: Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer.

The event marked the first documented wild case of kleptoparasitism, or food theft, within the family Elapidae.

Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.37.e112716

The Slytherin snake

10 points to Slytherin!

When naming a newly discovered green pit viper species from the Himalayas, researchers sought inspiration from the Harry Potter franchise.

Fittingly, they settled on Trimeresurus salazar, a reference to Salazar Slytherin who founded the serpent-crested Hogwarts house bearing his name. 

Green snake on a branch.
Trimeresurus salazar. Credit: Mirza et al.

The discovery was published in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.

Read it here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.96.48431

The snake in a ski mask

Slithering around in style.

Rhynchocalamus hejazicus is a recently discovered and secretive snake species from the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia.

Upon the species’ discovery, researchers dubbed the stylish serpent “the missing piece of the puzzle” as it fills a large distribution gap for its genus.

Orange snake with a balck head on sand.
Rhynchocalamus hejazicus. Credit: Fulvio Licata.
black snake.
Rhynchocalamus hejazicus (melanistic morphotype). Credit: Fulvio Licata.

Published in Zoosystematics and Evolution, the research also includes a completely black variation of of the species known as a ‘melanistic morphotype.’

Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.123441

The eyelash viper

Separating snake species.

An expedition into the jungles and cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador revealed five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers, previously misidentified as one species.

Published in Evolutionary Systematics, the study received global attention from publications such as National Geographic thanks to the taxonomic importance and visual appeal of the research.

Red snake on a branch.
Red-wine morph of the Central American Eyelash-Pitviper (Bothriechis nigroadspersus), photographed in the Caribbean Island Escudo de Veraguas, off the coast of Panamá. Credit: Alejandro Arteaga.

Check out the research paper here: https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.8.114527

The shovel snake

Who ever said snakes can’t be cute?

Two species of African shovel-snout snakes, Prosymna confusa and Prosymna lisima, were published as new species in ZooKeys back in 2022.

Endemic to Angola, the snakes have unique beak-like snouts that allow them to dig into sandy soils. They also have backward pointed lancet-shaped teeth that they use for cutting open lizard eggs.

Yellow snake with black markings on sand.
Kalahari shovel-snout snake (Prosymna lisima) from southeastern Angola. Credit: Chad Keates.

As they spend the majority of their time underground, these species were not the easiest to study, but they are certainly a treat for the eyes when they surface their wedge-shaped heads!

Read more here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1121.85693

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The Pensoft journal collection contains innumerable snake studies, so we could go on forever sharing our favourites. Instead, we will wish you a happy and prosperous 2025 filled with plenty of safe snake encounters.

Happy Lunar New Year!

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Clear, Open and Engaged: Pensoft’s perspective on the mission of a science communicator

Teodor Metodiev, senior communications officer at Pensoft, offers his thoughts on why and how research should be publicised today.

Teodor Metodiev, senior communications officer at Pensoft at the opening of “The pollinators we can’t live without” temporary exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Sofia, Bulgaria, 2023).

With more than three decades of experience in the domain of science communication, Pensoft has a rich perspective on what it takes to bring science into the spotlight. A testament to this is its growing projects department, where the public face of some of Europe’s most innovative research undertakings is being moulded by a cohort of experts. 

Among their ranks is Teodor Metodiev, a communicator with years of experience when it comes to bridging the gap between the scientific and the public. He recently sat down for an interview to share his observations on the significance, challenges and lessons of the job. 

Read below to find out how effective engagement can make today’s research tomorrow’s reality.  

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Why is science communication important and how can it influence the scope and impact of today’s research?

I believe science communication is fundamental because it eliminates the gap between researchers and users of their work, be they policymakers, practitioners or other stakeholders. By combining novel and traditional communication methods, scientific knowledge, results and data are much more likely to be shared, understood, and applied. If not communicated effectively, scientific results and advances have no real impact and are simply lost in an avalanche of emerging new information.

What are the most common challenges you encounter as a science communicator?

There are many diverse challenges one could encounter as a science communicator! I believe the most common one is the overall complexity of science, which is sometimes very difficult to communicate in a clear, visually appealing way. For me personally, one of the greater challenges is to delve into controversial topics such as climate change, vaccines, or genetic engineering, where emotions and ideologies may run high.

How can complex technical concepts be made accessible to non-science stakeholders and the general public?

Making complex concepts accessible to the general public is among the main responsibilities of a science communicator. There are many different approaches to do that, but it ultimately depends on the audience you want to engage – for example, you would not necessarily want to interact with a farmer through policy briefs. In general, I would list three main ‘pillars’ that can be considered when dealing with complex scientific information:

  • Simplify the language and avoid scientific jargon (i.e. by using short sentences with a clear structure)
  • Always leverage visual aids, such as infographics, animations, videos or graphical abstracts
  • Try to present the information in a narrative-like form – start with the background and problem, and then explain the solutions you are offering.

By adhering to these simple steps, I believe most challenging scientific concepts can be easily translated into an understandable format for laypersons or other stakeholder groups!

Which indicators do you consider crucial when assessing the success of a science communication campaign?

In my view, the success of any science communication campaign should be measured beyond quantitative indicators. Sure, audience reach, number of impressions and demographic data are important, but real success should be assessed through active engagement (i.e. comments or questions towards the topic, participation in events or activities, feedback and criticism from evaluation surveys, etc). I believe that monitoring these qualitative indicators on an ongoing basis is instrumental for a long-term awareness and understanding of a given topic over time.

What has made Pensoft unique and effective in the field of science communication?

I honestly believe the driving force behind Pensoft’s success in science communication is the motivated team behind it –  it has demonstrated that an openness to engage, combined with an urge to learn and expand your horizons, is ultimately the making of a successful science communicator. In addition to being curious and forthcoming, an environmental conscience is another fundamental characteristic of Pensoft which surely resonates with all of its members!

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Explore past and present research projects in Pensoft’s communication portfolio.  

Science Communication in Support of SDGs: Pensoft at the UN’s Science Summit 2024

Boris Barov, Project Manager at Pensoft, talked about open-science publishing and science communication as a stepping stone towards the fulfilment of biodiversity targets. 

Boris Barov (far right) and network partners at the UN Science Summit 2024 (New York, USA).

Last September saw a showcase by Pensoft at the Science Summit 2024 that took place in conjunction with the 79th session of the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA79) in New York.

This participation came about as a result of the collaboration within a network of European organisations from the domains of biodiversity, ecology and engineering.

The organisations at the core of the network held a workshop on the combined role of science and technology in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More precisely, the Kunmig-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM GBF) was selected as a testbed, whose stipulations can guide innovation across sectors and disciplines on the road to the realisation of specific SDGs.

The day-long programme featured 30 presentations that covered a variety of themes related to research priorities and technological instruments servicing the KM GBF.  Experts and stakeholders at the political, academic and professional level were involved in the proceedings, solidifying the network’s status as a hub for innovators in biodiversity conservation efforts.

Among the speakers was Boris Barov, Project Manager at Pensoft, who introduced the audience to the importance of open-science publishing and science communication as a stepping stone towards the fulfilment of biodiversity targets. 

Barov elaborated on the key tenets and approaches ensuring that publishers like Pensoft are actively contributing to the preservation of the biosphere on a global level.

Those include:

  • disseminating conservation-centric research that uncovers findings and innovations critical to the effective implementation of the KM-GBF
  • supporting open access and knowledge sharing that guarantee the free availability of research outputs to any and all parties that need it
  • fostering an interface between science and policy that allows vital expertise to reach and inform decision-makers 
  • championing inclusivity and equality that give indigenous communities a seat at the table 

Additionally, Barov singled out Pensoft’s participation in the EU-funded research projects CO-OP4CBD, BioAgora and TRANSPATH as a testament to effective science communication that empowers stakeholder collaboration and engagement at the science-policy interface. 

It is the intention of the network of organisations to collect the stakeholder input submitted during the event in a future whitepaper designed to outline its approach to facilitating biodiversity governance through research and technology.

Moreover, this is meant to be followed by an open call rallying international support for the integration of biodiversity conservation priorities into the post-SDG agenda of the UN.

Read more about the Horizon Europe-funded CO-OP4CBD & BioAgora projects and Pensoft’s involvement on our blog. You can also follow updates from CO-OP4CBD on BluesSky, X and Linkedin. BioAgora is also on X and Linkedin.

Pensoft turns up ‘the voice’ of two strategic EU projects aiming to safeguard nature

In 2023, Pensoft also joined TRANSPATH as an expert in science communication, dissemination and exploitation. Find more on our blog and follow the Horizon Europe project on X and Linkedin.

Transformative changes for biodiversity and climate protection: Pensoft partners with EU project TRANSPATH

Deep black as midnight: striking new moray eel discovered in Central Indo-Pacific river mouths, named after god of the underworld

This new moray eel is named after the underworld god Hades for its distinctive habitat, unique behaviors, and most notably, its deep, dark coloration.

The Hades’ snake moray (Uropterygius hades), a dark brown, slender snake moray eel, has chosen the road less traveled, thriving in dim and muddy river mouths, unlike most of its marine moray eel relatives. It is widely distributed across the Central Indo-Pacific, and has been found in southern Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, southern Java, and Fiji. This new moray eel was named after Hades, the god of the underworld, due to its unique habitat, burrowing behavior, high sensitivity to light, and most notably, its deep, dark coloration.

Live photo of Uropterygius hades. Image credit: Dr Wen-Chien Huang

Scientists Dr Wen-Chien Huang, Dr Rodulf Anthony Balisco, Dr Te-Yu Liao, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan, Western Philippines University, the Philippines, and Dr Yusuke Hibino, Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History, Japan, describe this new species in a paper published in the open-access journal ZooKeys. They named it after Hades, the underworld god, to emphasize its imposing appearance and its habitat in dim, turbid environments. This idea was inspired by Dr. Wen-Chien Huang, who was influenced by Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Hades in the movie Clash of the Titans.

Live photo of Uropterygius hades. Image credit: Dr Wen-Chien Huang

There are approximately 230 species of moray eels worldwide, with most inhabiting marine environments. Only one species has been confirmed to spend the majority of its life in freshwater. Some marine species, like the slender giant moray (Strophidon sathete), can tolerate and occasionally enter lower-salinity environments such as river mouths. However, moray eels specifically adapted to estuarine habitats are exceedingly rare.

The discovery of Hades’ snake moray was actually accidental, when the three researchers from National Sun Yat-sen University investigated the cave of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, aiming to survey the aquatic fauna and targeting a cave eel species, the bean-eyed snake moray (Uropterygius cyamommatus). This eel, with its highly reduced eye size, is considered an ideal example for studying the evolutionary processes that allow eels to adapt to cave environments. However, the researchers did not find any bean-eyed snake morays in the cave; instead, they collected a slender moray with a conspicuous, uniformly deep dark color.

Fresh specimen of Uropterygius hades. Credit: Dr Wen-Chien Huang

When kept in an aquatic tank, the Hades’ snake moray exhibits tail-first burrowing behavior, which is rarely seen in moray eels. Additionally, it is highly sensitive to light, consistently attempting to hide when exposed to it. Its small eyes—thought to be an adaptation to low-light environments—and its reduced number of head sensory pores—believed to help avoid clogging by the substrate—suggest that this species might be an excellent burrower, relying primarily on chemoreception rather than vision to detect prey or avoid predators.

Original source:

Huang W-C, Hibino Y, Balisco RA, Liao T-Y (2024) Description of a new uniformly brown estuarine moray eel (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) from the Central Indo-Pacific Ocean. In: Ho H-C, Russell B, Hibino Y, Lee M-Y (Eds) Biodiversity and taxonomy of fishes in Taiwan and adjacent waters. ZooKeys 1220: 15-34. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1220.129685