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 warmingscenarios.
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
Bridging 40 years of otter science and global eco-volunteering, Projeto Lontra and Estuarine Management and Technologies invite research for a topical collection.
This call is a natural evolution of a story that began in January 1986. On the wild shores of Peri Lagoon in southern Brazil, my father and I stood beneath the canopy of the Atlantic Forest and dreamed aloud: What if we could protect this place by protecting its most elusive guardian, the Neotropical otter?
Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis). Photo credit to Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
Swimming neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis). Photo credit to Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
That dream became Projeto Lontra. For forty years, we have walked these shores not as distant scientists, but as neighbors, listening to the water, reading the spraints, and learning from fishers who’ve known these lagoons longer than any journal has existed.
But conservation cannot be a solitary act. And so, in the early 2000s, a quiet revolution began. People of all ages from France, Germany, and beyond started arriving, not as tourists, but as eco-volunteers through different international organizations, such as Cybelle Planète. They came not to “save” us, but to stand with us.
Eco-volunteers installing a trap camera inside an otter cave. Credit to Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
This is the heart of our partnership: reciprocity, not rescue.
More Than Volunteering. A Model of Shared Stewardship
Cybelle Planète does not sell travel; rather, it cultivates responsibility. Their volunteers spend weeks living alongside our team, collecting spraints at dawn, mapping latrines, teaching in local schools, and planting native trees. They return home not just with photos, but with data that feeds into global assessments, and with a transformed understanding of what it means to care for a shared planet.
As one Cybelle Planète coordinator once told me:
We don’t promote travel. We promote responsibility.
This ethos mirrors our own. In Brazil, conservation has too often been framed as a deficit, something we lack, something others must fix. But Projeto Lontra has always believed that local knowledge is expertise and long-term presence is data. Our 40-year dataset, born from patience, not satellites, is proof.
Eco-volunteers from Australia and New Zealand. Credit to Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
Playing with the otters. Credit to Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
Eco-volunteer at an expedition. Credit to Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
Now, this partnership takes on new scientific weight as a cornerstone of the Scientific Journal Estuarine Management and Technologies and its Topical Collection “Otters as Bioindicators of Estuarine Health.” But rather than spotlight methods or metrics, we want to spotlight people and the relationships that make science meaningful.
Voices of the Collaboration
To truly reflect the spirit of this alliance, we invited key voices to share their vision:
Nosso papel não é promover viagens, mas cultivar a responsabilidade – de longo prazo, recíproca e fundamentada na confiança entre os atores locais da conservação e os cidadãos internacionais.
(Our role is not to promote travel, but to foster responsibility – long-term, reciprocal, and grounded in trust between local conservation actors and international citizens.)
We are reminded that research and materials produced outside traditional commercial or academic sectors can be just as important.
For over 30 years, the Bulletin has amplified voices from the Global South that commercial journals overlook. Projeto Lontra’s legacy reminds us that grey literature is often golden and that true bioindicator science grows from the ground up.
Dr. Arno Gutleb, IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
A Call to Join the Movement
Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis). Photo credit to: Projeto Lontra and Instituto Ekko Brasil
This isn’t just a story about otters. It’s about a new way of doing conservation:
Municipalities can use tools like the Otter Health Index (OHI) to monitor their estuaries without million-dollar labs.
Researchers can contribute to a truly global bioindicator framework that centers tropical species.
Eco-volunteers can join hands-on programs that generate real data while fostering cross-cultural understanding.
And everyone – scientist, student, and citizen – can engage with the “Otters as Bioindicators” Topical Collection to help shift the narrative from extraction to exchange, from hierarchy to humility.
Because in the end, the otter teaches us this: ecosystems are woven from connection. So too must be our efforts to protect them.
Scientists have discovered that a widely recognized Amazonian antbird is not one, but five distinct species – including two completely new to science. This revelation of hidden biodiversity was achieved by integrating artificial intelligence, vocal analysis, and traditional museum work, demonstrating how cutting-edge technology can transform our understanding of life in Earth’s richest ecosystems.
The research focused on the Cercomacra cinerascens antbird species complex, a group of small, insect-eating birds widespread across the Amazon Basin. While these birds appear nearly identical in plumage, they produce strikingly different songs.
Birds rely heavily on vocal communication, which are important for species recognition. Their songs act as acoustic signatures, providing a powerful key to unlocking hidden diversity.
the researchers explain
The team named one of the new species (Cercomacra mura) in honor of the Mura people, Indigenous inhabitants of the western Amazon where this bird occurs.
One of the new antbird species, Cercomacra mura, perched on a branch. Credit to Tomaz Melo.
The second new species takes its name from its most diagnostic trait: a song composed solely of two‑note, raspy phrases. From the Latin raucus (hoarse, raspy) and sonus (sound), the scientific name Cercomacraraucisona directly reflects its unique vocal signature.
One of the new antbird species, Cercomacra raucisona. Photo credit to: Fernando Zurdo
To decode these signatures, the team employed BirdNET, an artificial intelligence tool developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This machine-learning algorithm converts sound into numerical data, allowing for the automated comparison of bird recordings collected across the Amazon. The vocal patterns it revealed were then cross-referenced with meticulous analyses of vocalizations, plumage patterns and morphology.
This multidisciplinary approach confirmed that populations separated by major Amazonian rivers, such as the Amazonas, Ucayali, Madeira, and Tapajós, have evolved into distinct species. “These rivers function as long-term natural barriers”, says lead author Cavarzere.
Populations diverged independently over millennia into the unique species we describe today, which are kept isolated by these major rivers.
the researchers explain
The discovery underscores the vast amount of cryptic biodiversity still awaiting discovery in the Amazon, even among seemingly well-known birds. It also highlights a new paradigm for taxonomy, where AI-powered tools work in concert with traditional bioacoustics and specimen-based research.
By merging artificial intelligence with the foundational science of bioacoustics and museum collections, we can uncover diversity that would otherwise remain invisible. Recognizing these species is the first and most critical step toward ensuring their protection in a rapidly changing world.
the researchers conclude
Original study:
Cavarzere V, Breviglieri EL, Silveira LF (2026) Integrative taxonomy of the Cercomacra cinerascens species complex with description of two new species (Aves: Thamnophilidae). Vertebrate Zoology 76: 73-91. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.76.e171834
Students at the forefront of conservation or how community science helps gather data on cavity-nesting bees and wasps, enhancing our understanding of ecosystem interactions.
Can students be the front lines of conservation? A new Canada-wide study, published in Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, suggests they can. The efforts of some 5000 students produced data detailed enough to reveal complex ecological networks hidden inside a small PVC and cardboard tube home.
A trap nest installed at a Bees@Schools community science location. Multiple tubes nested in are visible. Photo credit to Sage Handler.
They invited schools to volunteer across Canada to install standardised ‘trap nests’ – simple PVC pipe and cardboard tube homes that mimic natural cavities where bees and wasps build nests.
Cavity-nesting bees and wasps play key roles in pollination and pest control, yet their distributions and feeding relationships are often poorly known because they can be small, secretive and difficult to observe directly.
Nesting tubes gathered from one trap nest, ready to be cut open and processed. Photo credit to Sage Handler.
Instead of relying only on traditional identification under a microscope, the researchers used DNA metabarcoding – a method that reads DNA from mixed samples and can detect many species at once.
This allowed the team to identify not only which bee or wasp species built each nest, but also which plant pollen or insect prey were brought back as food. The result was a rich, detailed view of both where cavity-nesting bee and wasp species live and how they interact with plants and other insects.
A rainbow of pollen prepared for DNA metabarcoding. Credit: Sage Handler An intact cavity-nesting bee nest extracted from a nesting tube. Credit: Sage Handler (Hill)
A key outcome of the study was the creation of tripartite networks: maps linking (1) the nesting bee or wasp, (2) its food (pollen or insect prey) and (3) parasites. This kind of network is extremely difficult to build through observation alone, but trap nests can act like tiny ecological time capsules.
Every brood cell contains biological traces and metabarcoding can recover them. Students weren’t just collecting insects, they were collecting entire ecological interaction datasets: the raw material needed to build food-web maps across a whole country!
A lot of people want to contribute to conservation or learn more about biodiversity, but don’t know how. This shows that a small, practical action, like hosting a trap nest, can contribute real data that researchers can use. Community and citizen science is becoming more common, so keep an eye out for research happening in your neighbourhood.
says Handler, the lead author of the study
Original resource:
Handler S, Coveny K, Braukmann TWA, Raine NE, Steinke D (2026) Welcome to Hotel Hymenoptera: monitoring cavity-nesting bee and wasp distribution and their trophic interactions using community science and metabarcoding. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 10: e139674. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.10.139674
Guest blog post by Dr. Oldemar de Oliveira Carvalho Junior
For four decades, we’ve been quietly watching otters along the southern coast of Brazil. Not just because they’re charismatic and playful, but because they are among nature’s most honest diagnosticians. Just like a doctor checks your pulse, blood, and behavior to assess your health, scientists can use otters to monitor the condition of estuaries, those vital transition zones where rivers meet the sea.
Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis). Photo credit to: Projeto Lontra / Instituto Ekko Brasil
Otters sit at the top of the food chain in estuaries. They need clean water, healthy fish populations, connected habitats, and safe denning sites. If any of these elements falter, otters are among the first to respond, with fewer sightings, changes in their diet, or markers of disease.
While a water sample offers only a fleeting snapshot, otters aggregate environmental signals across time and space.
Neotropical otter with a cub. Photo credit to Projeto Lontra / Instituto Ekko Brasil
In fact, their very presence, or absence, tells a story. In regions where Atlantic Forest fragmentation has severed the connection between land and water, otter sightings have plummeted by 30% in just a decade.
This isn’t just a loss of biodiversity; it’s a warning for everyone downstream. Fewer otters mean degraded waterways, disrupted food webs, and weakened natural buffers against floods and erosion.
A “living record” of pollution
Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) feeding on fish. Video credit to: Projeto Lontra / Instituto Ekko Brasil
The diet of otters consists of 70-80% fish, as well as crabs and other aquatic animals. As they consume prey, they also accumulate pollutants, like heavy metals, microplastics, and industrial chemicals, that have built up in those animals. Their bodies effectively become archives of contamination.
Think of an otter as a biological hard drive: by analyzing its scat (feces), we can reconstruct what pollutants are moving through the estuary, even if they’re invisible to the naked eye.
For instance, in Brazil, we’ve found microplastic fibers in otter droppings from protected lagoons, proof that no coastal system is truly isolated from human impact.
The tropical knowledge gap
Neotropical otter. Photo credit to: Projeto Lontra / Instituto Ekko Brasil
Globally, over 70% of otter research focuses on temperate species like the Eurasian or sea otter. Meanwhile, the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) receives less than 4% of scientific attention, despite inhabiting the world’s most biodiverse and threatened estuaries.
This imbalance in the research poses a great conservation risk. Tropical estuaries face unique pressures: rapid urbanization, mangrove deforestation, and climate-driven sea-level rise. Without focused research, we risk managing these ecosystems with tools designed for entirely different environments.
Our work aims to close this divide, establishing the Neotropical otter as a key indicator to drive evidence-based conservation across the Global South.
Land-based diseases in aquatic sentinels
Video from trap camera of two Neotropical otters in a shelter. Video credit to: Projeto Lontra / Instituto Ekko Brasil
One of our most striking findings showed that 66% of otters tested positive for Toxoplasma gondii – a parasite shed only by domestic cats. How does a land-based pathogen end up in an aquatic mammal? The answer is through runoff.
The rain washes cat feces from the streets, gardens, and informal settlements into rivers and lagoons. This reveals a sobering truth: even within protected areas, otters are exposed to threats originating far inland. To protect these sentinels of ecosystem health, we must implement integrated management strategies that address sewage overflow, urban runoff, and domestic animal impact.
What comes next?
Neotropical otter inside a shelter. Video credit to: Projeto Lontra / Instituto Ekko Brasil
We’re finalizing the Otter Health Index (OHI), a low-cost toolkit for municipalities, NGOs, and community groups to monitor estuaries using simple metrics: spraint frequency, habitat connectivity, contaminant screening, and local knowledge. It’s designed for places with limited labs but rich ecological insight.
After 40 years of observing otters, we’ve learned this: protecting them isn’t just about saving a species. It’s about safeguarding the intricate web of processes that sustain clean water, fisheries, flood resilience, and human well-being.
Otters aren’t just inhabitants of our estuaries; they are their guardians. If we listen to what they’re telling us, we’ll know exactly what these ecosystems need to survive and thrive.
Original sources:
Carvalho Junior, O., Bez Birolo, A., Tosatti, M., Haddout, S., Ljubenkov, I. and Jayachandran, P.R. eds., (n.d.). Otters as Bioindicators of Estuarine Health: Innovations in Monitoring and Management from Tropical Coastal Brazil. PEstuarine Management and Technologies. doi:https://doi.org/10.3897/emt.coll.317
Birolo, A.B., Tosatti, M., Junior and Assiya Haddout (2026). Otters as bioindicators of estuarine health: Scientific gaps, field-based insights, and a framework for future research. Estuarine Management and Technologies., 3, pp.65–78. doi:https://doi.org/10.3897/emt.3.185117.
With 55% of its native habitat gone, the Cerrado is in crisis. Preserving this biodiversity hotspot demands immediate reform and the protection of Indigenous rights.
“In addition to surviving some of the poorest soils in intertropical Brazil, the vegetation of the Cerrado has achieved the ecological feat of withstanding wildfires, rising from its own ashes like a kind of phoenix among Brazil’s ecosystems. It cannot, however, withstand the violent technological artifices invented by so-called civilized men.”
Aziz Ab’Saber, 2003 (translated)
Often overshadowed by the Amazon, the Cerrado is the second-largest Ecodomain in South America. Despite covering 24% of the territory and sustaining major watersheds, it has historically been sidelined in global conservation dialogues.
Our detailed review recently published in Nature Conservation warns that this biodiversity hotspot is currently facing a massive, multi-faceted ecological crisis. Despite its significance, the region has seen more than 55% of its native vegetation converted, an area exceeding 1 million km², with the vast majority of this destruction occurring within the last five decades.
Land use and land cover (LULC) in the Cerrado Ecodomain in 1985 and 2023, revealing significant changes in the spatial structure of the territory. An intensification of human activities can be observed, with emphasis on agricultural expansion, which resulted in the significant replacement of native vegetation by alternative uses. This process represents an accelerated landscape transformation over the last four decades. These maps were made using the Cerrado shapefile developed by Cássio Cardoso Pereira, with LULC data available from MapBiomas (2024).
While recent data suggests a slight reduction in annual deforestation rates, the accumulated loss continues to climb, making the Cerrado the Ecodomain in Brazil with the greatest loss of native vegetation.
Annual clearing in the Cerrado (2001–2025) according to PRODES (INPE 2025). Bars represent the total area cleared each year (km²), with colors ranging from dark orange (highest values) to light orange (lowest values), indicating relative variation in intensity. Arrows indicate the percentage change compared to the previous year: increases (↑, red), decreases (↓, green), and stability (→, black, 0.0%). These data do not detect degradation, only complete removal of natural vegetation. Annual data refer to the so-called “reference year”, which runs from August of one year to July of the following year, based on satellite images with a resolution of 10 to 30 meters. The icons used in this figure are from Wikimedia licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Figure design: Cássio Cardoso Pereira.
This expansion is driven by a combination of agricultural and urban growth, mining, and land speculation, creating a landscape that is increasingly fragmented and ecologically compromised.
Inverted forest and hidden carbon
One of the things that make Cerrado truly unique is its “inverted forest“. Unlike tropical rainforests that store their biomass in high canopies, the Cerrado has achieved an ecological feat of survival by storing approximately 90% of its carbon belowground through massive, deep root systems. This underground network makes the Ecodomain a critical carbon sink and a primary regulator of water.
Schematic representation of the distribution of carbon stocks in the Cerrado, characterized as an “inverted forest” due to the predominance of biomass and carbon belowground. Estimates were obtained from Terra et al. (2023). Figure design: Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira.
However, misguided restoration efforts that focus solely on planting exotic trees in naturally open areas can further exacerbate this issue, highlighting the need for restoration strategies that prioritize ecological functionality and native seed banks over simple afforestation.
Ecosystem diversity and conservation challenges
However, it is not just the vast tropical savanna in Cerrado that makes up this inverted forest, but the complex and interdependent mosaic of grasslands, savannas, and forests, each with distinct structures, ecological processes, and vulnerabilities. Treating it as homogeneous invisibilizes both grassland and forest formations, complicating effective conservation policies.
For example, natural grasslands, especially in the montane Campos Rupestres, occupy limited areas, harbor high endemism, and face strong pressures from mining, biological invasions, and increased fire. Whilst savannas, although dominant in the area, have been widely converted into monocultures, exotic pastures, and forestry, compromising ecological integrity.
Main anthropogenic threats to the Cerrado resulting from land-use changes, ranked by impact on each ecosystem type (I–III: grassland, savanna, and forest). The ecosystems illustrated are according to Ribeiro and Walter (2008). For more details on each ecosystem. Figure design: Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira.
Even though some species are adapted to natural fire, many ecosystems, such as forests, the marshland formationsVeredas, and the montane Campos Rupestres, are highly vulnerable. Exotic species invasions and increased frequency and intensity of fires exacerbate ecological losses even without direct deforestation. We’ve found out that nearly all fires in the Cerrado are human-induced and occur outside natural regimes, causing cumulative degradation.
Threatened biodiversity and conservation gaps
Our research highlights a troubling pattern of ‘silent extinctions’ across the Cerrado. While this Ecodomain is home to thousands of unique plants and animals, we have identified a massive gap in how these species are monitored. Plants and invertebrates are the most threatened yet the least studied. This means species are vanishing before they can even be scientifically documented. Current policies are failing because they rely on incomplete data; we cannot protect what we have not yet cataloged. To prevent total collapse, we must expand our conservation criteria to protect not just individual species, but the complex ecological interactions that sustain the region’s water and soil.
Percentage distribution of threatened species among different biological groups in the Cerrado. The information was adapted from the IUCN Red List (2024), the Flora and Funga of Brazil portal (2024), the official national list of threatened species by MMA (2022), terrestrial vertebrate data from Vieira-Alencar et al. (2025), freshwater fish data from Lima and Ribeiro (2011), and invertebrate data from Embrapa (2023). Figure design: Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira.
Cerrado’s water crisis
The environmental crisis in the Cerrado is also a “silent water crisis” that threatens Brazil’s national security. The Ecodomain sustains the country’s main watersheds and major aquifers, yet this balance is being disrupted by irrigated agriculture, agrochemical contamination, and dam construction. Excessive surface and groundwater withdrawal is already leading to reduced river flows and the degradation of Veredas, which are essential for water regulation.
Paradoxically, the very sectors that drive this degradation, such as agribusiness and energy production, are the most dependent on these water resources, creating a cycle of increasing water insecurity. Protecting the Cerrado’s riparian zones and aquifers is no longer just an environmental concern but a prerequisite for the survival of the regional economy and climate resilience.
Disconnect between law and reality
The Cerrado is facing a dangerous disconnect between environmental law and ecological reality. Our research reveals that current protection is startlingly thin: while we cataloged 706 Conservation Units, they cover only 8% of the Ecodomain, with less than3% under strict protection.
To assist researchers and policymakers, we have compiled an unprecedented dataset of these units, including the often overlooked Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPNs) and crucial ecotones, available at: https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.61.168273.suppl1.
However, data alone isn’t enough. The Brazilian Forest Code, specifically the 20% Reserva Legal (RL) and the narrow 30-meter Áreas de Preservação Permanent (APPs) are ecologically insufficient. These leave vital formations like Veredas and Campos Rupestres as isolated, vulnerable fragments.
To prevent ecosystem collapse and secure Brazil’s water supply, we advocate for urgent reforms: increasing RL requirements to at least 35%, expanding protection zones to reflect biological reality, and enforcing strict traceability to decouple agricultural production from habitat loss.
Recognition and protection of Indigenous lands
Kayapó people from the state of Pará. Their lands are located in the Amazon, but include a Cerrado enclave, which is shown in the review. Photo credit to: Adriano Adriano Jerozolimski
Beyond legal designations, we emphasize that the future of the Cerrado depends on recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples, whose traditional knowledge and sustainable land management have maintained the ecosystem’s balance for millennia.
For instance, recent laws such as the Marco Temporal and agribusiness proposals threaten to reduce their territories and accelerate biodiversity loss, making it urgent to protect and fully recognize these lands to conserve the Cerrado and its ecological resilience.
Mobilizing knowledge and adding value
Effective conservation requires recognizing the Cerrado as a biodiversity hotspot with dedicated legal instruments capable of protecting its full ecological heterogeneity.
Moving forward, the extractive logic of the past must be replaced with with regenerative systems, prioritizing conservation, restoration, and biodiversity-based economic alternatives, including agroforestry, payments for ecosystem services, fiscal incentives such as ICMS Ecológico. Ultimately, these measures will help promote conservation, social justice and sustainable certifications that recognize the Cerrado’s biodiversity as a core economic asset
Original publicaiton:
Pereira, C.C., Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira, Maia, L.R., da, V., Arantes-Garcia, L., Fernandes, S., França, G., Carvalho, G., Rodrigues, J., Salm, R. and Fearnside, P.M. (2026). The Cerrado crisis review: highlighting threats and providing future pathways to save Brazil’s biodiversity hotspot. Nature Conservation, 61, pp.29–70. doi: https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.61.168273
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.
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:
Work with a multi-actor community on research and solutions for promoting pollinator-friendly farming.
Evaluate crop genetics, varieties and floral traits governing pollinator attraction to stimulate breeding of future pollinator-smart crops.
Establish the benefits of pollinator-friendly farming systems for farmers and farming.
Optimise ecological and landscape features for crop pollination, pollinator biodiversity and multiple ecosystem benefits.
Assess the social and economic opportunities and obstacles presented by pollinator friendly farming options.
Evaluate how policies and practitioner awareness influence uptake of pollinator-friendly farming from national to international scales.
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.
The Chinese muntjac(Muntiacus reevesi)is an invasive alien species for Europe with established populations across the western part of the continent. Photo by Mario Shimbov (Pensoft).
As one of the partners in charge of maximising the project’s impact, Pensoft will work on OneSTOP’s visual branding, communication, dissemination and exploitation, and the development of a data management plan for the project.
Invasive alien species (IAS) pose one of the most significant threats to global biodiversity, contributing to species extinctions, ecosystem degradation, and economic losses exceeding $400 billion annually.
To tackle this, the EU enforces Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, aiming to prevent IAS introduction, enhance early detection, and manage their spread. Member States coordinate efforts with scientific support and citizen engagement to minimise their impact and protect Europe’s biodiversity. Addressing this urgent challenge, the EU Horizon project OneSTOP has officially launched as part of a coordinated European effort to combat biological invasions in terrestrial environments.
Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Invasive Alien Species
OneSTOP is one of two ambitious projects funded under the Horizon Europe programme, the other being GuardIAS, which focuses on marine and freshwater habitats. The two collaborative initiatives held their joint official kick-off meeting in January at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. Together, these projects aim to develop innovative solutions for detecting, preventing, and managing invasive alien species across all ecosystem realms.
The ОneSTOP project consortium at the project’s kick-off meeting held on 20-24 January 2025 in Ispra, Italy.
The project is structured around four key objectives:
Improve species detection and response time by incorporating computer vision, environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis and citizen science initiatives.
Facilitate swift action against invasive species threats by openly sharing data in international standards for biodiversity data with stakeholders who need it.
Support policy-makers in making informed decisions about where and how to allocate resources for invasive species management by developing data-driven systems.
Ensure stakeholder collaboration and knowledge exchange by implementing Living Labs at the regional level and an international policy forum, thereby encouraging socio-political action.
OneSTOP aligns with the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) mission to protect EU biodiversity by improving IAS management through advanced biosecurity technologies and enhanced data integration. By fostering collaboration with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and supporting Member States with innovative tools, the project strengthens the EU’s capacity to detect, respond to, and mitigate IAS threats in line with existing regulations.
Pensoft’s role in OneSTOP
As the leader of Work Package 1, Pensoft is responsible for shaping OneSTOP’s visual identity and developing a comprehensive strategy for communication, dissemination, and impact. This includes crafting a data and knowledge management plan to ensure the project’s findings are effectively shared and utilised. By fostering collaboration with key biosecurity networks, these efforts will strengthen OneSTOP’s long-term influence.
A key part of this work is to raise awareness about invasive alien species (IAS) and their pathways, ensuring that policymakers, researchers, and the public understand their impact and the importance of prevention. Pensoft will contribute to translating complex scientific findings into accessible content—including infographics, policy briefs, and interactive visualisations—to engage policymakers, researchers, and the public. These efforts will ensure that IAS knowledge is effectively shared, fostering collaboration and informed decision-making across sectors. Knowledge transfer materials will be shared through various channels, including OneSTOP’s five Living Labs across Europe, where stakeholders will be actively engaged in outreach and citizen science initiatives.
Pensoft will play a vital role in strengthening public awareness, fostering engagement, and promoting effective strategies for monitoring and managing IAS.
International Consortium
The project brings together twenty international partners from fifteen countries operating in various sectors, ultimately contributing with diverse expertise:
For more information, visit the OneSTOP project website, and make sure to follow the project’s progress via our social media channels on BlueSky and LinkedIn.
One third of Vietnam’s 329 mammal species are threatened with extinction, according to a recent study published in our open-access journal Nature Conservation.
Conducted by German scientist Hanna Höffner of the University of Cologne and Cologne Zoo, alongside an international team, the research underscores Vietnam’s vital but fragile position as a biodiversity hub within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.
The study reveals that 112 mammal species in Vietnam face extinction, despite most being found in at least one protected area. Some micro-endemic species, such as the Da Lat tube-nosed bat (Murina harpioloides), are particularly vulnerable as they are not present in any protected sites.
Murina harpioloides. Credit: Son Truong Nguyen.Hipposideros alongensis. Credit: Son Truong Nguyen.
Around 40% of the threatened species lack ex situ conservation (zoo conservation breeding) programs, which increases their risk of extinction. Iconic species like the saola (Pseudoryx vuquangensis), the silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), and the large-antlered muntjac (Muntiacus vuquangensis) are among the Critically Endangered taxa at risk.
The study advocates for the IUCN‘s “One Plan Approach” to species conservation, which calls for combining different expertise and integrated in situ and ex situ management strategies. Establishing assurance colonies in zoos and increasing connectivity between isolated protected areas are critical recommendations for safeguarding Vietnam’s unique mammal diversity.
A gaur (Bos gaurus) in Vietnam.
By building up ex situ populations for threatened taxa, zoos can help to literally “buy time” and act as modern arks that can contribute with later releases according to the IUCN’s “Reverse the Red” conservation campaign. Ex situ species holding data by Species360 are now also integrated in the IUCN Red List species’ chapters (a “One Plan” approach to species data).
Ex situ preservation of threatened Vietnamese mammals worldwide.
Vietnam is home to a rich array of mammals, including 36 endemic species and nine micro-endemic taxa. Its primate fauna is particularly noteworthy, with 28 species, the highest number in mainland Southeast Asia. This includes the endemic tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus) and Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri).
Northern Vietnam and the Annamite Mountain Range are biodiversity hotspots, hosting species such as the Critically Endangered Cao-vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus), the southern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus siki) and the red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus).
A red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus).
The study calls for prioritising the “One Plan Approach” to conservation of highly threatened species, reassessing Data Deficient species, and enhancing habitat connectivity.
VIETNAMAZING logo.
The conservation campaign VIETNAMAZING by EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) currently highlights Vietnam’s biodiversity treasure and advocates for improved conservation of threatened mammal species.
Original study
Höffner H, Nguyen ST, Dang PH, Motokawa M, Oshida T, Rödder D, Nguyen TQ, Le MD, Bui HT, Ziegler T (2024) Conservation priorities for threatened mammals of Vietnam: Implementation of the IUCN´s One Plan Approach. Nature Conservation 56: 161-180. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.56.128129
Beneath the arid pre-Saharan zone of Morocco lies Aziza Cave, also known as Kef Aziza or Tazouguert Cave. The vast subterranean system stretches over 3.5 kilometers of surveyed galleries, making it Morocco’s fifth-largest cave system and one of the top ten most extensive caves in North Africa.
A view of the Sahara desert and Aziza cave’s entrance.
Beyond its sheer size and geological significance, Aziza Cave harbors a rich and diverse array of subterranean life that is only now beginning to be revealed widely. In a recent study in the journal Subterranean Biology, researchers cataloged the subterranean fauna of Aziza Cave and provided a detailed checklist of 26 different taxa potentially representing cave-restricted species. Among these are 22 troglobitic species, organisms that have adapted to life entirely within the cave environment, and four stygobitic species, which have specially evolved to live in the cave’s groundwater.
Four of the authors of the paper.
The discovery of such a variety of species highlights the cave as a critical biodiversity hotspot, not only in Morocco but for the African continent as a whole. One alarming aspect of this discovery is the large number of species that still need to be thoroughly studied or described.
Dysdera caeca, a cave spider
Only about 34.6% of the species in Aziza Cave have been formally identified and described by scientists. Further research could lead to the identification and description of many new species. The fauna found in Aziza Cave includes a wide variety of life forms, with the richest groups being beetles (Coleoptera), spiders (Araneae), springtails (Entomobryomorpha), and woodlice (Isopoda). Some have evolved remarkable adaptations to their lightless, nutrient-scarce environment, such as reduced pigmentation, elongated appendages, and heightened sensory capabilities that help them navigate and survive in this extreme habitat.
Long-tailed bat Rhinopoma hardwickei.
Despite these discoveries, much of Aziza Cave remains unexplored. Large portions of this karstic system have yet to be surveyed, and researchers believe that the biodiversity uncovered so far is just the beginning. The cave’s unexplored depths likely hold many more secrets, including potentially new species that have yet to be seen by human eyes. This prospect has sparked great interest among speleologists and conservationists, who see Aziza Cave as an important research site for studying subterranean ecosystems.
Magnezia gardei, a cave isopod.
The biodiversity of Aziza Cave is something to celebrate, but it also sheds light on the significant conservation challenges that subterranean habitats in Morocco and across North Africa are facing. Caves are delicate ecosystems that are highly sensitive to changes in their environment. Human activities such as pollution, mining, deforestation, and unsustainable tourism pose severe threats to these ecosystems and the species that depend on them. Once these habitats are damaged or destroyed, it is often impossible to restore them, and the species that inhabit them may face extinction.
Graffiti on the cave walls.
Human-induced impacts have already begun to take their toll in Aziza Cave. Visitors can disrupt the delicate balance of the cave’s ecosystem, change water quality, or introduce pollutants and alien species. These pressures underscore the urgent need for conservation measures to protect this unique environment and its inhabitants. By highlighting the importance of Aziza Cave and similar habitats, the researchers hope to encourage further exploration and study of Africa’s subterranean ecosystems and develop effective conservation strategies to protect them. By protecting these fragile ecosystems and supporting scientific exploration, we can ensure that the incredible biodiversity of Aziza Cave and other subterranean habitats continues to thrive.
Research article:
Moutaouakil S, Souza-Silva M, Oliveira LF, Ghamizi M, Ferreira RL (2024) A cave with remarkably high subterranean diversity in Africa and its significance for biodiversity conservation. Subterranean Biology 50: 1-28. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.50.113919
