climate change

Houseflies and Blowflies – Not Bees – Are Among South Africa’s Best Mango Pollinators, But Climate Change Threatens Future Harvests

Study introduces a new way to measure pollinator “effectiveness,” not just presence, revealing that climate change could shrink suitable habitat for key mango pollinators by more than 40% in coming decades

Some of the most important pollinators for South Africa’s mango industry aren’t bees at all – they’re houseflies and blowflies, according to a recently published study in Frontiers of Biogeography by scientists at University College London (UCL).

The study, led by Matthew Phillips Sánchez and Richard Pearson of UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, set out to find not just which insects visit mango flowers, but which ones actually pollinate them effectively.

Table of Contents

Not all visitors are pollinators
A shrinking future for mango pollinators
The mango industry
Practical steps for growers

Not all visitors are pollinators

Visiting vs. pollinating species of mango in South Africa. Insect visitors of mango in South Africa (61), composed of five orders and 15 families (‘Visitors’). Compiled from global studies describing visitors to mango flowers, which are also present in South Africa with at least 20 occurrence records on GBIF. Thirty-eight of these are pollinators (pollen deposition effectiveness > 0), belonging to two orders and eight families (‘Pollinators’). Credit to Sánchez and Pearson, 2026.

Mango flowers attract a huge range of insect visitors, but many never touch the flower’s reproductive parts and so transfer no pollen at all. To separate the true pollinators from the freeloaders, the researchers used a Pollen Deposition Effectiveness (PDE) metric, which combines how often a species visits mango flowers, how often those visits make contact with the flower’s reproductive organs, and how much pollen is deposited per visit.

illustrative graphic on mango pollination size — Graphic credit to Matthew Phillips Sánchez, 2026.

Applying this method to 61 known mango-visiting insect species found in South Africa, the team identified 38 true pollinators – and found that flies, not bees, were the amongst the more effective pollinators. Blowflies (family Calliphoridae), the housefly (Musca domestica), and a tiny stingless bee species, Liotrigona bottegoi, ranked as the most effective pollinators identified in the study. Larger insects such as honeybees and carpenter bees (Xylocopa) were generally less effective per visit, likely because their bigger bodies make less consistent contact with the small mango flower’s reproductive structures.

Insects from the orders Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Coleoptera (beetles) and Hemiptera (true bugs) were found not to contribute meaningfully to pollination, either because they don’t make contact with the flower’s reproductive parts or because there wasn’t enough data to assess them.

A shrinking future for mango pollinators

The researchers combined their pollinator effectiveness data with species distribution models, statistical tools that predict where a species can survive based on climate, to project how pollinator habitat in South Africa’s main mango-growing provinces (Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal) might change under future climate scenarios.

The results point to widespread declines. On average, pollinator species are projected to lose 42% (under a moderate-emissions scenario) to 43% (under a high-emissions scenario) of their currently suitable habitat by 2061-2080 or 66,663 km² and 73,608 km² respectively.

Mango pollinator species richness and potential pollination provision. Species richness and potential pollinator provision under present-day climate (left column) and SDM-predicted changes under two climate change scenarios (right columns). Credit to Sánchez and Pearson, 2026.

Flies were projected to be hit hardest, while some bee species were projected to gain ground in parts of the region. The study also found that pollinator communities are likely to undergo substantial species turnover, with many current pollinators potentially shifting toward the country’s south as the climate changes.

Encouragingly, the researchers found that potential pollination service didn’t decline much faster than pollinator numbers overall – a sign of what ecologists call “functional redundancy,” where many species contribute moderate pollination value rather than the community depending on one or two irreplaceable species. This suggests the loss of some species is less likely to cause a sudden pollination collapse, provided enough functionally similar species remain.

The mango industry

mangoes on a tree — Tomy mangoes by alexanruiz via Envato.

Mango is a significant industry in South Africa, valued at more than US$25 million annually and supporting over 13,000 jobs in processing and related trades, in addition to many smallholder and subsistence growers who rely heavily on wild, unmanaged pollinators.

The authors stress that their study is intended primarily as a proof-of-concept for this new modeling approach, rather than a definitive forecast of mango production. The models estimate climatically suitable habitat, not realised populations, and do not account for land use, habitat availability, or the timing of mango flowering relative to pollinator activity.

Practical steps for growers

pile of mangoes — Pile of Fresh Mangoes by elxeneize via Envato.

The researchers highlight several low-cost conservation measures that could help support wild pollinator populations in mango orchards, including reducing pesticide and herbicide use, setting up low-cost “stink stations” to attract pollinating blowflies, planting native flowering plants or allowing wildflowers to grow between orchard rows to provide food and nesting sites for pollinators, and increasing overall plant diversity within orchards.

Original source:

Sánchez MP, Pearson R (2026) Biogeography of pollination under climate change: integrating pollinator effectiveness into species distribution models for mango in South Africa. Frontiers of Biogeography 19: e180771. https://doi.org/10.21425/fob.19.180771

Ancient Penguin Fossils Offer New Window into Antarctica’s Changing Climate

A team of palaeontologists studying penguin fossils from Seymour Island have demonstrated how ancient bird bones can act as chemical archives of past climate change.

A team of palaeontologists from China University of Geosciences (Beijing) studying penguin fossils from Seymour Island off the Antarctic Peninsula have demonstrated how ancient bird bones can act as chemical archives of past climate change.

The researchers used non-destructive X-ray mapping to examine the elemental composition of penguin remains spanning millions of years. As such, they uncovered key insights into how Antarctica shifted from a warm and humid environment to a cooler world.

“Penguins are among the most iconic animals of Antarctica and represent one of the most distinctive groups of birds, having completely lost the ability to fly and instead using their flipper-like wings for swimming.

Seymour Island preserves one of the world’s richest and most stratigraphically continuous records of Eocene penguin fossils. These fossils span an important interval of Antarctic climate evolution, from the relatively warm and humid conditions of the early Eocene to the cooler climate of the middle and late Eocene.”
The Research Team

Sampling area – Tertiary Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island. Image credit: Boyang Xia et al.
Sampling area – Submeseta Formation on Seymour Island. Image credit: Boyang Xia et al.

To study the rare fossils without damaging them, the researchers used micro-X-ray fluorescence scanning to map chemical elements across the surface of the bones. The scans revealed clear differences in the chemical composition of bones from different geological periods.

Older fossils dating back roughly 55 million years contained significantly higher levels of titanium, silicon and potassium. The team linked these chemical patterns to intense land-based weathering and heavy runoff during an ancient warm period, whereas younger fossils from cooler periods showed much lower elemental signals.

“The most surprising result was that the early Eocene fossil showed substantially higher titanium, silicon and potassium signals.

Based on the stratigraphic, sedimentological and palaeoclimatic evidence, we interpret this pattern as being consistent with stronger continental weathering and terrestrial material input under the warm and humid conditions of the early Eocene.”

Analysing millions-of-years-old fossils presented distinct practical challenges:

“One of the main challenges was obtaining reliable elemental information without damaging the fossils.

The irregular shapes and curved surfaces of the fossil bones created practical difficulties during scanning. To minimise the influence of variations in surface height, we positioned the bones as horizontally as possible and maintained a relatively constant distance between the scanning head and the bone surface.”

Overview of the fossil specimens and the µ-XRF scanning area. Image credit: Boyang Xia et al.

Beyond tracking weather conditions on land, the scanning method also detected iron, manganese and sulphur patterns trapped within the bones, reflecting local chemical changes in the marine sediment as the fossils were buried over time.

The team additionally highlights that studying bone geochemistry offers a valuable tool for understanding historical Earth systems alongside traditional techniques such as marine sediment drilling and microfossil analysis.

“An important finding for us was that the elemental information preserved in penguin bones may record not only how external materials entered the bones, but also differences in weathering input, depositional conditions and early diagenetic environments.

We believe that fossils can provide an important complementary source of information for studying palaeoenvironmental changes on the Antarctic Peninsula.”

The study, published in the open-access journal Fossil Record, demonstrates how combining non-destructive chemical scanning with established geological context can unlock valuable environmental data from fossil collections, thus broadening the scope of future polar research.

Original source:

Xia B, Wu H, Li Q (2026) Eocene penguin fossils as archives of Antarctic weathering and climate change: insights from micro-X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping. Fossil Record 29(2): 575-587. https://doi.org/10.3897/fr.29.192319

For more articles on palaeontology, visit the Fossil Record website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.

Hidden Freshwater Giants Could Become The World’s Next Climate Observatories

International research team identifies South America’s unique coastal lake system as a global hotspot for tracking environmental change

More than 100 shallow lakes stretching over 1,000 kilometers along the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil and Uruguay could become one of the world’s most important natural laboratories for understanding how climate change and human activities reshape freshwater ecosystems.

An international team of researchers reports that these largely overlooked subtropical lakes offer an unparalleled opportunity to monitor biodiversity, water quality, pollution, and ecosystem resilience in a rapidly changing world.

Published in One Ecosystem, the study is the first comprehensive assessment of the Southern American Coastal Shallow Subtropical Lakes, highlighting their global scientific importance and outlining a roadmap for long-term international monitoring.

The Tramandaí Lagoon estuary, located between the municipalities of Imbé (left side of the channel) and Tramandaí (right side of the channel) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, connects a complex of more than 40 coastal lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: CECLIMAR Collection (Photo credit: Acervo CECLIMAR).

“Most of what we know about lakes comes from the Northern Hemisphere,” says lead author Mariana Kluge of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

These subtropical lakes fill a major gap in global freshwater research. They allow us to test ecological theories under very different environmental conditions while providing crucial insights into how subtropical freshwater ecosystems respond to climate change and increasing human pressures.
adds Prof. Renata Medina-Silva of Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)

The lake network forms one of the largest continuous coastal shallow-lake systems on Earth. Despite its extraordinary size and diversity, it has received far less scientific attention than well-known freshwater systems elsewhere in the world. Yet the region is already experiencing many of the environmental challenges, expected to intensify in the coming decades – including a direct impact of the El Niño Southern Oscillation – alongside heavy urbanisation, which has driven eutrophication, agricultural and wastewater pollution, emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics, and increasingly frequent extreme rainfall and flooding events.

Coastal lakes from South America — Overview of the environmental heterogeneity found across South America’s unique coastal lake systems. Credit: Kluge et al., 2026.

Christian Wurzbacher of the Technical University of Munich argues that these lakes can serve as “sentinel ecosystems“- natural observatories that reveal early signs of environmental change. By combining microbial ecology, environmental DNA, remote sensing, water chemistry, and long-term ecological monitoring, scientists hope to develop new indicators capable of detecting ecosystem stress before irreversible damage occurs.

Our vision is to establish an internationally coordinated monitoring network that not only benefits South America, but also improves our understanding of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. The microbial communities living in these lakes can act as highly sensitive biological sensors, helping us identify pollution, ecosystem degradation, and even emerging public health risks.
says Prof. Haig of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

lakes in South America — Despite their high ecological value, these lakes are under increasing pressure from eutrophication, urban growth, and competing human uses such as water supply, irrigation, navigation, fishing, recreation, and sewage disposal. Credit: Kluge et al., 2026.

The publication emerged from an international workshop held at two universities – PUCRS and UFRGS – in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, bringing together researchers from Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, and Sweden to define future research priorities. The team identified four representative large-scale lake regions that together capture the broad environmental gradients across the system and offer ideal sites for coordinated long-term observation.

As climate change accelerates and pressures on freshwater resources continue to grow, the researchers believe that protecting and studying these remarkable lake systems will generate knowledge extending far beyond South America – informing global strategies for safeguarding biodiversity, improving water management, and strengthening resilience to environmental change.

Original source:

Kluge M, Shubeita A, Uchaikina A, Alonso C, Herrman B, Menegotto-Silva C, Lopes C, Pagani D, Marques D, Moreira-Silva E, Kristiansson E, Quintana I, Cavalcanti J, Fleck J, Ribeiro K, Varghaei L, Oliveira L, Rodrigues LR, Ramilo L, Crossetti L, Stockenreiter M, Cabezudo M, Lima M, Gonçalves NP, Mazzeo N, Schneider R, Utz LP, Bertilsson S, Wurzbacher C, They NH, Medina-Silva R (2026) Coastal subtropical Southern American shallow lakes as unique ecosystems for monitoring anthropogenic induced ecosystem changes. One Ecosystem 11: e186107. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.11.e186107

Alpine butterflies are keeping pace with climate warming, but habitat loss poses the deeper threat

This research challenges the widely held assumption that temperature niche is the primary force shaping the elevational distribution of mountain butterflies.

A new study published in the open-access journal Alpine Entomology has found that alpine butterflies in the Swiss National Park are closely matching the pace of local warming in their range shift to higher elevations.

But the research, conducted by scientists from the University of Würzburg, the University of Lausanne, Hintermann and Weber AG, and the Bavarian Forest National Park, reveals a more nuanced picture: habitat availability was found to be the key driver of butterfly community composition in the Alps.

*Erebia euryale*. Photo credit: Korbinian Schrauth.

Analysing a recent butterfly survey, the research team found that the proportions of available habitat types explained close to half of all variation in butterfly communities, while elevation on its own accounted for only a small fraction of the difference. The finding challenges the widely held assumption that temperature niche is the primary force shaping the elevational distribution of mountain butterflies.

Lead researcher Korbinian Schrauth, of the Chair of Conservation Biology and Forest Ecology at the University of Würzburg, explained what first prompted the team’s hypothesis:

“The common assumption is that temperature adaptation is the main driving force behind the elevational distribution of butterflies in the Alps. But there are a few cases that appear to be contradictory to this assumption.”

He cited the Peak White, a high-alpine butterfly, which has established colonies on lowland gravel banks, after its high-alpine host plants arrived there via alluvial deposits carried down from higher elevations:

“This and similar examples led us to suspect that the elevational distribution of alpine butterflies might be rather driven by available habitats than by temperatures.”

When the results came in, even the researchers were taken aback by how decisively habitats outweighed elevation as an independent explanatory factor.

“At first we were surprised that the amount of variance explained by elevation on its own was that small, but in the end, it fits quite well with our initial considerations and makes perfect sense given the knowledge of the complex ecology of butterflies.”

The study also found that butterfly communities have become measurably more warm-adapted over the past two decades. This shift was least pronounced at high elevations, which still appear to be dominated by cold-adapted alpine species.

At the same time, the average upslope displacement since 2004 corresponded closely to what would be expected from the local warming recorded in the region, suggesting that butterflies overall are keeping pace with the warming climate.

*Euphydryas aurinia*. Photo credit: Korbinian Schrauth.

Not all species are faring equally well, however. Those restricted to a narrow range of habitat types showed markedly stronger upward shifts than generalist species, pointing to a particular vulnerability among alpine specialists. As vegetation struggles to keep pace with rising temperatures, specialist butterflies face the added risk of elevational butterfly-hostplant mismatches.

According to Schrauth, the conservation implications are significant:

“One of the implications of our study is that, besides reducing carbon emissions, the protection of alpine habitats is the most important measure for preserving the diversity of alpine butterflies.”

To keep track of future changes, the authors recommend repeating the surveys in the Swiss National Park at roughly ten-year intervals, though Schrauth acknowledged that more frequent monitoring would be preferable.

Original source:

Schrauth K, Plattner M, Müller J, Pellet J (2026) Habitat availability shapes composition and climate change response of alpine butterfly communities. Alpine Entomology 10: 121-135. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.10.186978

Cover image:

Butterflies gathering at damp areas of the ground to take up nutrients; such gatherings can give a quick insight into the composition and diversity of alpine butterfly communities. Credit: Korbinian Schrauth.

The Giants of the Reef: New Citizen Science Project Races to Document Centennial Corals

Ancient, massive coral reef colonies hold scientific treasures but remain largely unknown – now they are being mapped with the help of citizen science.

Guest blog post by Federica Siena

Coral reefs hide “scientific treasures” that have survived for centuries, yet many of these giant, ancient organisms remain largely unknown to science. A new study published in the journal Nature Conservation introduces “Map the Giants,” a pioneering citizen-science initiative launched by researchers from the University of Milano-Bicocca to find these giant coral colonies before they are lost to escalating global pressures.

Map the Giants® was born from a sobering yet stimulating realization by the research team: despite their centennial age and their remarkable sizes – defined by the project as colonies measuring at least 5 meters in length – these colonies lack formal recognition. This leaves them vulnerable to disappearance simply because we do not know they exist.

A Mission of Discovery

Coral giant, video credit to Map the Giants®

While these coral giants have withstood the elements for hundreds of years, the last century has brought unprecedented local and global threats. “We are in a race to recognize these organisms. They have survived for centuries, but modern pressures are increasing so rapidly that some colonies may disappear before they are even documented,” the authors emphasized the urgency.

The research highlights that identifying these giants is not just a scientific necessity, but a vital tool for fostering ocean literacy and raising awareness among local stakeholders and the broader community – a goal made possible through a standardized reporting protocol and multi-expert validation that ensures robust data collection regardless of the contributor’s background.

Secrets of Survival

Pavona cf. clavus from Vietnam, 195 metres in perimeter. Credits to Anuar Abdulla
Turbinaria sp. measuring 11m in diameter. Credits to Map the Giants
Pavona sp. from Indonesia measuring 78 m in perimeter. Credits to Easy Divers Bali

The team searched for more than just size; they also looked for vital clues to “coral resilience“. Long-lived giant corals act as high-resolution time capsules, archiving centuries of past climate and environmental conditions within their skeletons.

By locating and studying these ancient survivors, we hope to unlock the genetic secrets and traits that have enabled these specific individuals to resist and acclimatize to environmental changes.
researchers explained

Furthermore, the project aims to provide a validated sampling frame to support peer-reviewed studies on resilient “super-corals,” which could help future-proof and restore the reefs of tomorrow. Ultimately, by identifying these culturally and ecologically valuable colonies, the researchers plan to collaborate with stakeholders to explore protection measures and establish them as marine monuments.

The Power of the Community

@pensoft.publishers
Some #corals have been alive for CENTURIES – and scientists are just now racing to find them before they disappear. 🪸 “Map the Giants” is a new citizen science project tracking coral colonies 5+ metres long. In just 18 months, contributors from 22 countries have already added 133 verified entries to the global database. 👐Pretty incredible what a community can do. Photo and video credit to: Map the Giants, Luca Fallati, Federica Siena, Anuar Abdulla and Easy Divers Bali #coralreefs #science #marine #climatechange
♬ mirage – théos & Antent

The project has already seen remarkable success. In its first 18 months, the initiative received 195 submissions from 22 countries, resulting in 133 validated entries added to the public database. Most surprisingly, the project reports of an incredibly large Porites sp. coral measuring over 60 metres in linear length or a Pavona cf. clavus over 195 metres in perimeter, offering new inspirations for future scientific research.

Citizen science is pivotal. The sheer scale of coral reefs requires a concerted effort. Anyone with a camera and a snorkel can join us. A simple report of a giant’s existence is the first step in recognizing and studying them.
said the project lead Prof. Simone Montano

How to Join the Search

The project is designed for total accessibility. Through a dedicated website (www.mapthegiants.com) and social media presence, the public can contribute data and learn about the beauty and fragility of reef ecosystems. The adaptable protocol ensures that whilst data are robust, the background of the contributor will only affect the level of complexity of the data, not the report on its own. By turning divers and reef users into “coral seekers,” the project aims to bridge the gap between professional science and community-led conservation.

Original source:

Siena FM, Gabbiadini A, Fallati L, Galli P, Montano S (2026) Map the Giants: a new citizen-science portal to map, study and protect the largest coral colonies. Nature Conservation 63: 127-151. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.63.182923

First national assessment identifies 271 established non-native species in Türkiye, with climate change to accelerate invasiveness risks

271 established non-native species in Turkey with an increased risk of invasiveness under future climate warming scenarios.

A team of researchers, led by Dr. Ali Serhan Tarkan, has published the first nationwide assessment of established non-native species in Türkiye in the journal NeoBiota.

The study identifies 271 species that may pose significant threats to the country’s biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and socio-economic systems, providing a crucial baseline for future conservation and biosecurity efforts.

Using a recent global database of non-native established species, the researchers initially identified 1,092 non-native species within Turkish borders. Through a rigorous review by taxonomic experts, the team filtered out native, cryptogenic, and non-established species, narrowing the focus to 271 confirmed established species.

Invasive freshwater fish (*Carassius gibelio*). Photo credit to: Esra Baycelebi.

Of these, marine species are by far the most prevalent, with 198 classified as strictly marine, followed by 42 terrestrial and 27 freshwater species. This trend reflects Türkiye’s extensive coastlines along the Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas, which offer vast ecological niches.

Furthermore, the coastal regions, characterized by dense populations, robust economies, and intensive trade networks, create multiple human-mediated pathways that can facilitate the introduction and establishment of non-native species.

Number of established species in each administrative area of Türkiye based on GBIF records. Gray areas represent administrative areas without non-native species based on GBIF. The marine area represents the Exclusive Economic Zone (extracted from Marine Regions marineregions.org, Flanders Marine Institute 2023). Credit to Tarkan et al., 2026.

The assessment also revealed a clear west-to-east gradient, with non-native species concentrated in the western part of the country and decreasing toward the east. The highest concentrations were found in Kayseri and Muğla, each hosting 37 established species, followed closely by Antalya with 34.

In terms of biogeographic distribution, nearly half of the established species originated from the Indo-Malayan realm, followed by the Australasian realm.

A significant concern raised by the researchers is the substantial impact gap in national reporting. Specifically, the majority of established non-native species in Türkiye had no reported impacts (n = 224; 83%), although this number decreased to 157 (59%) at the global scale.

Doughnut plot indicating the species by (a) impacts and (b) impact mechanisms. Credit to Tarkan et al., 2026.

While only 17% of established species currently have documented impacts within Türkiye, 41% of these same species are known to cause impact elsewhere.

These findings suggest that many species in Türkiye have not yet undergone formal impact assessments. Among those with known effects, ecological and environmental damages were the most frequently cited, primarily driven by biological mechanisms such as competition, predation, and rapid growth.

The outlook for species already established in Türkiye is particularly concerning. Currently, 50% of the 62 species screened using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit pose a high to very high risk of invasiveness. These proportions are projected to exceed 60% under future climate warming scenarios.

Coordinated national efforts will be essential to mitigate the long-term impacts on Türkiye’s biodiversity and ecosystems.
the researchers conclude

The study therefore underscores the urgent need for systematic monitoring, improved impact assessments, and climate-informed risk management strategies.

Original source:

Tarkan AS, Yapıcı S, Kurtul I, Błońska D, Vilizzi L, Baş Sermenli H, Farooq S, Aldemir C, Uçma Uysal T, Giannetto D, Bilge G, Çiftçioğlu M, Najafi-Majd E, Aktay-Sözüer L, Kaya C, Bayçelebi E, Aydın İ, Haubrock PJ, Briski E, Soto I (2026) The first national assessment of established non-native species in Türkiye. NeoBiota 105: 297-317. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.105.176362

Corals’ Boldest Cousins: UH Scientists Discover Marine Creatures Bending the Laws of Evolution

A new Frontiers of Biogeography study shows zoantharian hexacorals defy biogeographic norms with narrow genetic differences across the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.

Guest blog post by Dr. Maria “Duda” Santos and Maria Frostic

In the realm of marine biogeography, there is a widely held scientific principle: the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans are worlds apart. If you dive in Brazil and then in Okinawa, you expect to see entirely different groups of fish and coral. But according to a new global study published today in Frontiers of Biogeography, one group of colorful hexacorals, anemone-like creatures—known as zoantharians—is breaking all the rules.

The study, led by Dr. Maria “Duda” Santos of the UH Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) ToBo Lab and the University of the Ryukyus, began with a moment of “déjà vu” underwater.

Diver in Malaysia looking at a coral reef — **Underwater view in a Malaysian coral reef with Duda searching for zoantharian species. Photo by Sam Webster.**

“During my first dive in Okinawa, I was surrounded by a multitude of species I had never seen in my homeland of Brazil. But then I saw the zoantharians. They looked exactly like the ones back home—the same colors, shapes, and sizes. It was striking.”
shares Dr. Santos

While the Indo-Pacific typically hosts ten times the species diversity of the Atlantic for most reef animals, this research found that the genetic and morphological divergence between oceans for these creatures is surprisingly narrow.

The Secrets of the Ultimate Travelers

Zoantharians from different parts of the ocean that surprisingly show narrow evolution despite the distance — **Sibling zoantharians from the Indo-Pacific (A) and the Atlantic (B) oceans. Images by Dr. Maria “Duda” Santos.**

The researchers suggest that zoantharians may be the ultimate oceanic travelers. Their secret likely lies in high dispersal via an “epic” larval phase, where young zoantharians can survive in open water for over 100 days, paired with an ability to “raft” across ocean basins by hitchhiking on floating objects.

Furthermore, an unusually slow evolutionary rate appears to keep distant populations looking and acting like siblings, even after millions of years of separation by continental barriers.

This discovery has major implications for the future of our oceans. As climate change stresses traditional stony corals, zoantharians are increasingly moving in to fill the void.

“In habitats impacted by stress, some zoantharian species can outcompete stony corals. We are seeing ‘phase shifts‘ where reefs once dominated by corals are being taken over by zoantharians. Understanding how they spread helps us forecast what the reefs of the future will look like.”
explains Dr. Santos

A Global Atlas for a Changing Ocean

This landmark study represents a massive international effort, uniting a team from Hawai’i, Okinawa, Russia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Indonesia. By combining DNA data and records from Mexico to the Philippines, the team has provided the first-ever global “atlas” for a group of animals that has remained in the shadows of their more famous coral cousins for decades. This map of the past and present provides a vital baseline for monitoring how marine life will navigate a warming world.

Original source

Santos, M.E.A., Kise, H., Fourreau, C.J.L., Kiriukhin, B., Kitahara, M.V., Baker, D.M., Toonen, R.J., Liu, P.J., Chang, A., Tu, T.-H., Widiastuti, Agustini, K.M.P., Bowen, B.W. and Reimer, J.D. (2026). Global biogeography of zoantharians indicates a weak genetic differentiation between the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans, and distinct communities in tropical and temperate provinces. Frontiers of Biogeography, 19. doi: https://doi.org/10.21425/fob.19.174247

New Horizon Europe project supports land-coast-sea systems under climate change

“COAST-SCAPES is a collective effort to rethink how we coexist with coastal systems”, explains project coordinator Prof. Manel Grifoll.

COAST-SCAPES: a newly launched project, funded by the European Commission, is to propose a reconsideration of the current coastal ecosystem to enhance resilience and biodiversity protection through nature-based solutions.

Leading maritime engineering specialists, marine ecologists, and biodiversity experts, gathered in Barcelona (Spain) between 7 and 9 October to officially kick start the project’s vision on climate-resilient coastal landscapes. Hosted by the Maritime Engineering Laboratory from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the meeting focused on setting the strategic direction of the project, aligning the scientific, technical and communication objectives and establishing synergies between project partners across Europe and beyond.

In the span of two days, consortium partners were given the opportunity to present their missions with the COAST-SCAPES project, showcasing how each partner institution will contribute to building science-based and community-driven resilience pathways.

The project coordinator, Prof. Manel Grifoll, navigated the discussions, which centered around key deliverables and milestones, future challenges and plans on work-related activities, highlighting the crucial role of the project’s Core and Replicating Pilots for scalable resilience plans for replication and export.

*A group photo of the COAST-SCAPES consortium at the project’s kick-off (Barcelona, October 2025)*.

Officially started on 1 September 2025, the COAST-SCAPES project has major ambitions to co-design systemic resilience solutions for coastal landscapes by developing integrated indicators, proactive climate warning systems, as well as knowledge-based strategies for business and maintenance in order to reduce the risks of climate change and improve land-sea interactions. To achieve this, COAST-SCAPES will promote the utilisation of nature-based solutions (NbS), seeking biodiversity gains and reduction of the environmental footprint under scarce natural resources.

The project brings together a diverse group of partners, including research institutions, universities and technological organisations from Europe, Africa and Latin America. Their shared goal is to restore vulnerable coastal areas and apply resilience through adaptation. Due to human intervention, which drastically altered the evolution of coastal ecosystems, the ecological role of such areas is becoming crucial. By harnessing their low-carbon adaptation potential, coastal ecosystems can mitigate climate-related risks and boost biodiversity.

COAST-SCAPES is a collective effort to rethink how we coexist with coastal systems. By integrating natural processes, technology, and community knowledge, we aim to create adaptive landscapes that safeguard biodiversity and support sustainable livelihoods. Our ambition is to build resilient coasts that can thrive, not just survive, under climate change.
says Prof. Manel Grifoll, project coordinator.

The selected project’s Core Pilots, among which the Mar Menor lagoon in the Iberian Peninsula, will serve as a starting point for leading experts to carry out large-scale resilience plans, while protecting coastal biodiversity and addressing existing infrastructure challenges.

Supported by social and technical innovation, as well as a governance shift, these plans will connect scientists, citizens, policy-makers, environmental activists, and the industry with administrations responsible for local implementations for an increased cross-sectoral engagement. Contributing to a balanced land-to-sea ecosystem and a sustainable biodiversity protection, COAST-SCAPES reminds us that coastal restoration is vital for our adaptation to climate change.

Pensoft’s contribution to COAST-SCAPES:

Pensoft will lead two tasks within the COAST-SCAPES’ Work Package dedicated to dissemination and communication for practical exploitation. The objectives of these tasks are focused on the identification of key exploitable results of the project. Together with other consortium members, Pensoft will be working on establishing the most suitable exploitation pathways for each result. The experienced communication team at the scholarly publishing and technology providing company will also be actively raising societal and technical awareness necessary to transform governance for systemic resilience through yearly newsletters and policy briefs. In addition, Pensoft takes part in Work Package 6, where it will be responsible for the project’s visual identity and ensuring constant visibility of project results, as well as proper data management.

List of project consortium members:

Coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the project brings together 30 partner organisations from 15 countries to develop coastal resilience through nature-based solutions (NbS).

For more information:

Follow the COAST-SCAPES project on Bluesky and LinkedIn.

Project website coming soon!

Funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 101213138, COAST-SCAPES (rethinking COASTal landSCAPES with climate-resilient interventions: systemic land-to-sea solutions).

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.

Scientists call for a global alliance to place biodiversity at the heart of the UN Pact for the Future

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.

A new white paper: “From Knowledge to Solutions: Science, Technology and Innovation in Support of the UN SDGs”, published in the open-science scholarly journal Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO), brings together leading voices from Europe’s biodiversity and data science communities to deliver 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

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About the contributing organisations:

LifeWatch ERIC

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 – IT Center for Science

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.

EGI Federation

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.

VLIZ – Flanders Marine Institute

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.

The European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC-ERIC)

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 Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo)

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.

OpenAIRE

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.

Pensoft

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 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

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.

Athena Research Centre

A leading ICT and AI research institute advancing digital infrastructures and open science platforms. Athena connects computing innovation with biodiversity, humanities, and societal challenges.

In June, Pensoft joined the 2025 largest meeting for conservation experts

We attended the International Congress for Conservation Biology to present the REST-COAST and SELINA Horizon-funded projects, as well as our scholarly journals and books portfolio.

Over 1,200 people from more than 90 countries, including conservation and social science researchers, students, practitioners, government and NGO professionals, policy specialists and leaders from indigenous groups attended the 32^nd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2025), hosted by the SCB Oceania Region from 15^th to 19^th June 2025 in Brisbane/Meanjin, Australia.

*The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) welcomed over 1,200 participants for the 32^nd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2025) hosted by the SCB Oceania Region.*
*Photo credit: BCEC.*

A special focus seen across the talks and overall rhetoric of the event was on indigenous peoples, culture and knowledge, and how they can be recognised and further engaged in the study and protection of the environment in a sustainable and culturally appropriate manner. Other topics popular during the week included biocultural diversity and wildlife trade and traffic.

Throughout the week, the delegates enjoyed three sets of plenary talks, and got to choose from upwards of ten parallel sessions taking place three times each day. Multiple workshops and business meetings would also take place every day around lunch time. Then, each day of the congress would conclude with a poster session at the Exhibition hall. Additionally, multiple social events scheduled throughout the week – such as a nature documentary movie night, a science comedy night, and a closing reception, held amongst the exhibits of the Queensland Museum Kurilpa – would take care of the attendees’ entertainment after long days of talks and presentations.

Our team at Pensoft was proud to join this amazing event as one of the 14 exhibitors at ICCB 2025. At our stand, Pensoft’s Head of Journal development and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva would invite delegates to elaborate on their scientific interests and latest research endeavours, as well as wants and needs concerning the publication, communication and outreach of their work.

*Pensoft’s Head of Journal development and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva at the ICCB2025*
*(Brisbane, Australia).*

Then, visitors would leave the Pensoft stand with helpful advice concerning scholarly publishing and multiple recommended titles from the Pensoft open-access journal portfolio fitting the scope of their research. If you have met us at any event in the past couple of years, you would also know that it is next to impossible for a visitor of ours to leave without at least one of our signature stickers featuring captioned scientific illustrations of species studied in papers from across our journals.

At every event in the past two years, Pensoft has been handing out stickers featuring detailed scientific illustrations of species studied in papers published in Pensoft’s scholarly portfolio. This is our ‘thank you’ to the authors who have trusted our journals with their work.

Many would also become intrigued to know more about the latest activities and results of the two European Union-funded projects that enjoyed prominent visibility at the Pensoft stand, namely: SELINA (an acronym for Science for Evidence-based and Sustainable Decisions about Natural Capital) and REST-COAST (Large scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystems through rivers to sea connectivity). At both projects, our team takes pride in leading work packages dedicated to the communication and dissemination of the projects’ outputs.

Having started in 2022 and set to run until 2027, SELINA comprises 50 partner organisations coordinated by the Leibniz University Hannover. This transdisciplinary project provides smart, cost-effective, and nature-based solutions to historic societal challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security. A main objective is to identify biodiversity, ecosystem condition, and ecosystem service factors that can be successfully integrated into decision-making processes in both the public and private sectors.

Most recently, the consortium launched SELINA’s Communities of Practice initiative to promote collaborative learning and knowledge integration across Europe. This digital platform provides a forum for scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and business representatives to exchange knowledge and further engage with its real-life application. On the Communities of Practice webpage, visitors may explore how SELINA is driving change across Europe.

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Meanwhile, the mission of the EU Horizon’s Green Deal-funded REST-COAST is to address today’s challenges to coastal ecosystems caused by a long history of environmental degradation of rivers and coasts. Bringing together 38 European institutions, led by the Catalonia University of Technology UPC-BarcelonaTech (Spain), the project is set to demonstrate to key stakeholders and decision-makers that large-scale restoration of river deltas, estuaries and coastal lagoons is necessary to sustain the delivery of vital ecosystem services.

*A prominent output by the REST-COAST project is a policy brief addressing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, and serving to provide scientifically-informed policy recommendations and targets.*

At the Pensoft stand, ICCB2025 participants had the opportunity to browse through nine fact sheets produced within the project. Each provides a neat snapshot of the story of one of the pilot sites selected by REST-COAST as representatives of particularly vulnerable hotspots for the main EU regional seas (Baltic, Black, North Atlantic and the Mediterranean). On display was also a recent policy brief addressing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. It serves to provide a concise summary of the issues and challenges at hand, in addition to scientifically-backed policy recommendations and targets.

Both the pilot site factsheets and the policy briefs produced by the consortium are made public in the Media Center on the project website. Further project outputs, including research articles, data papers and project reports, are permanently available from the REST-COAST’s open-science project collection in the Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal.

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On the final day, the ICCB 2025 did not disappoint either. The day started with a touching plenary talk by Amy Van Nice of the Wildlife Alliance, where she shared a lot of her own experience as a wildlife rescuer, but also as a human with her own personal battles along the way. Throughout her talk she remained fully transparent about the current situation in wildlife trafficking, which remains, sadly, a crisis yet to be tackled.

The day continued with a full programme of parallel sessions before everyone gathered for the closing session and the closing ceremony, where delegates could look back at the last year in conservation, and learn about what is to come. The closing ceremony also announced and celebrated the SCB 2025 Global Service Awards and the ICCB awards.

Following the ICCB tradition, the organisers also waited until the end of the event to announce the location of the next international congress. It will take place in 2027 some 12,000 km (7,500 miles) away from Brisbane: in Mexico, where it will be jointly hosted by the North American (SCBNA) and the Latin America and Caribbean (SCB-LACA) regions of the Society for Conservation Biology.