ABSTRACT Aim This study investigates a poorly known component of coral reefs, the cryptobiome, species that live hidden within the reef matrix, essential for reef functioning and productivity. It focuses on patterns of diversity and rarity of sessile cryptobenthic communities across Mascarene islands, and across shallow and mesophotic habitats (in deep low‐light conditions). It aims to: (i) assess community uniqueness and local extinction risks for conservation, (ii) evaluate taxonomic overlap between mesophotic and shallow communities to explore mesophotic habitats as refugia for degrading shallow reefs. Location Reunion and Rodrigues islands, Mascarene Archipelago, south‐west Indian Ocean. Method Forty‐four Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) were deployed on outer reef slopes at Reunion (~11 m and ~51 m depths) and at Rodrigues (~11 m depth). Seven hundred four ARMS plate photographs were analysed using a point counting method, and 138 morphospecies (MSP) were distinguished. Analyses included alpha, beta and gamma diversity, rarity and taxonomic overlap. Results Sessile cryptobenthic communities from Rodrigues and mesophotic habitats were characterized by unique MSP compositions, higher spatial heterogeneity and elevated rarity indices. A strong species turnover was observed between shallow and mesophotic habitats and taxonomic overlap assessment revealed that two‐thirds of the MSP were habitat‐exclusive, while only one‐quarter were common and shared across habitats. Main Conclusions We highlight the uniqueness and rarity of sessile cryptobenthic communities in mesophotic habitats and in shallow habitats on the southwest coast of Reunion and in Rodrigues, and the need to consider broad geographical coverage in conservation strategies to account for their spatial heterogeneity and uniqueness. The low proportion of shallow‐water MSP found in deeper habitats argues against the deep reef refugia hypothesis for sessile cryptobenthic communities in Reunion. Each habitat holds a distinct conservation value that should be recognized independently.
ABSTRACT Aim Evaluate how future environmental conditions may reshape plant distributions to identify conservation priorities in a rapidly changing environment, thereby informing effective conservation planning and mitigating the consequences of plant decline for biodiversity, species interactions and ecosystem functioning. Location Europe, with particular emphasis on the Iberian Peninsula. Methods We modelled short‐term suitable habitats for rare plant species and their widespread congeners under future climate change scenarios (2041–2060). We used species distribution modelling (SDM) to project future habitat suitability for 22 pairs of congeneric species from 17 plant families, under two climate scenarios, evaluating the overall responses of rare versus widespread taxa. Using SDM, we estimated the future suitable area for each taxon by assessing potential habitat loss, habitat expansion into new areas and stable habitat, as well as the loss of currently occupied areas projected to become environmentally unsuitable under future climate scenarios. Results Our findings show that rare species are expected to lose more suitable habitat than they gain and to experience greater overall habitat loss than their widespread counterparts. However, responses varied among congeneric species pairs: 41% of rare species were projected to expand their suitable habitat, while 36% of widespread species were projected to undergo habitat contraction. Main Conclusions This study provides a practical tool to support proactive conservation planning, including the identification of priority areas for protection, population monitoring, and assisted colonisation. It also shows that currently widespread species may become vulnerable in the near future, reinforcing the need for dynamic, forward‐looking conservation strategies in which SDM projections are interpreted alongside evidence on species' reproductive biology, dispersal capacity and genetic diversity.
ABSTRACT Aim Understanding the spatial patterns and drivers of biodiversity is foundational to ecology and biogeography and crucial for effective conservation. Given the critical ecological role of freshwater fishes, large‐scale studies examining the multiple dimensions of their beta diversity are urgently needed. Location The United States. Methods We analysed the beta diversity of 786 freshwater fish species across 1873 watersheds in the US by integrating their distribution, functional traits and phylogeny. Taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic beta diversity were deconstructed into nestedness and turnover components. Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) models then quantified the partial dependency of contemporary, historical climate and geographical environmental factors on each dimension. Results Our findings revealed that the geographical distribution patterns of the three dimensions of beta diversity, including their nestedness and turnover components, exhibited substantial congruence across the US freshwater fish communities. Taxonomic beta diversity (average 0.43 ± 0.13) was primarily driven by turnover (0.25 ± 0.13), whereas nestedness contributed more strongly to functional beta diversity (0.34 ± 0.16; total beta diversity = 0.52 ± 0.19) and phylogenetic beta diversity (0.17 ± 0.09; total beta diversity = 0.30 ± 0.11). Contemporary precipitation and climate anomalies played significant roles in shaping beta diversity. Late Quaternary glacial–interglacial climate‐change velocity, elevation, runoff and geographical distance emerged as the primary explanatory variables for the beta diversity patterns. Main Conclusions This study examines the dominant patterns and drivers of multidimensional beta diversity in US freshwater fishes. Functional beta diversity exceeded taxonomic and phylogenetic dimensions. Taxonomic diversity was driven mainly by species turnover, while functional and phylogenetic diversity were dominated by nestedness, with all three showing significant spatial correlations. These patterns were primarily shaped by Late Quaternary climate‐change velocity, elevation, runoff and geographic distance. We recommend prioritising conservation in central and western US watersheds with strategies tailored to turnover‐ and nestedness‐dominated regions.
Aim: To identify hotspots and conservation priorities of biodiversity based on winter-informed species distribution models for cold-adapted mammals and birds, and their taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional richness. Location: The United States of America. Methods: We modeled species distributions for cold-adapted birds and mammals at 3-km resolutions from eBird and GBIF, respectively, and mapped taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity patterns. We then identified conservation priorities for multiple facets of biodiversity in accordance with the CBD '30 x 30' target, accounting for land acquisition costs. Results: We found that montane regions are critical for all three facets of cold-adapted biodiversity. However, controlling for species richness identified additional regions hosting high taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity. The current protected area network across the United States represented winter bird and mammal biodiversity in similar proportion to the amount of land set aside for strict biodiversity conservation (similar to 9%-11%) suggesting spatial biases in the placement of protected areas have inadvertently contributed to the conservation of cold-adapted taxa. Nevertheless, we found a similar to 20% shortfall for the current protected area network in meeting globally established CBD '30 x 30' targets for the protection of winter biodiversity, but our prioritization provided key regions where additional protected areas could help achieve stated goals. Main Conclusions Montane regions across the United States harbour the greatest taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional richness for cold-adapted birds and mammals, illustrating the importance of mountains for climate change refugia. Accounting for species richness in estimates of phylogenetic and functional diversity illustrates additional conservation priorities in regions supporting boreal forest remnants (i.e., Upper Great Lakes) and temperate grasslands (i.e., Great Plains), but hotspots were conditional on taxa. Given their inherent vulnerability to modern climate change, prioritizing the conservation of cold-adapted species is critical for protection biodiversity in a rapidly warming world.
Aim Invasive species are among the most important drivers of native species declines, and cause serious economic and ecological costs. Globally, Europe is a hotspot for freshwater non-native species, especially among macroinvertebrates and fish, and inland navigation is thought to be a major driver of their spread. However, the degree to which different aspects of navigation (i.e., ship traffic vs. infrastructures) contribute to non-native species spread, establishment and distribution has not yet been quantified. Our study set out to determine the role that navigation plays in the distribution of Western European freshwater established non-native species, and which aspects of navigation are most responsible. Additionally, we aimed to identify the spatial scale at which these navigation pressures operate, and what ecological characteristics may influence species' response to navigation.Location Europe.Methods We extracted data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to identify occurrences of established non-native species in Europe from the past 30 years. Using over 500,000 occurrences, we mapped the coverage of over 250 established non-native species and paired this with pan-European data on inland ship traffic, navigation infrastructure and environmental data.Results We found that the greatest predictor of non-native species richness and occurrences was the presence of a shipping canal in the subcatchment. This held true for both fish and macroinvertebrates at fine and large spatial scales. Temperature was also an important predictor of non-native species distribution. We found these positive associations to be strongest for generalist fish species, molluscs and crustaceans.Main Conclusions Freshwater navigation, especially canals, is an important vector for non-native species establishment, and highlights the need for frequent monitoring and mitigation. Given that increased temperatures are associated with establishment success, climate change may also play an increased role in non-native species dispersal.
Aims Understanding broad-scale ecological responses to global change is essential for investigating and conserving biodiversity. Sea turtles, with their ancient evolutionary history and global distribution, serve as an ideal model for understanding these ecological responses. Facing complex threats from climate change and biotic interactions, their nesting suitability patterns remain incompletely evaluated.Location Global coastlines.Methods We compiled a comprehensive dataset on global sea turtle nesting occurrences and associated predator distributions to predict sea turtle nesting suitability using predator-constrained modelling. Next, we conducted geospatial analyses to identify conservation priorities for nesting habitats at species-specific, continental and national scales.Results Climate and vegetation cover were primary drivers of interspecific variation in nesting suitability, while predation pressure strongly influenced spatial nesting patterns. Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) and Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) were identified as the most vulnerable species in the future, with an average loss of suitable nesting habitat of 13.97% and 15.31%, respectively. Key countries requiring high conservation attention include Australia, the USA, Madagascar, Greece, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil and India.Main Conclusions Sea turtle nesting habitats are increasingly threatened by the combined impacts of climate change and predation. Our study highlights the urgent need for a multifaceted conservation framework-integrating species-specific protections, regional management and national cooperation-to preserve critical nesting refugia, thereby supporting global biodiversity target 3 under the Post-2020 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (30% habitat protection by 2030).
Aim Strictly protected areas exhibit lower levels of disturbance to habitats and species and are central to biodiversity conservation. Yet only 4% of the EU's land is currently placed under strict protection, far below the 10% target set by the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. This study examines the potential of roadless areas to contribute to closing this protection gap.Location European Union terrestrial land.Methods Roadless areas, defined as land patches larger than 1 km2 located at least 1 km from paved roads and railways, were mapped using data from OpenStreetMap. We quantified their extent and combined them with climate, soil, and topographic layers to capture abiotic environmental gradients. We then assigned an inclusion priority for strict protection to the identified roadless areas by quantifying their contribution to environmental representativeness relative to the current network of strictly protected areas.Results We found that 12% of EU land remains roadless, of which only 19% is already under strict protection. If all roadless areas were integrated into the network, strict protection would increase to 13% of EU land, while representation of abiotic environmental space would rise from 79% to 94%. However, many roadless areas have limited extent and overlap with conditions already represented in protected areas.Main Conclusions Roadless areas represent a critical yet underused opportunity to strengthen the EU's strict protection network by improving both coverage and environmental representativeness. Nonetheless, they cannot alone deliver biodiversity targets due to patchiness and redundancy. Meeting the EU's commitments will require a balanced strategy that complements roadless area protection with ecological restoration, cross-level governance coordination, and prioritization of areas based on other biodiversity features.
Aim Restoring predator populations can generate cascading effects on their prey by reshaping ecosystem food webs, yet its consequences for prey community organization and multi-trophic dynamics remain poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate how native predator recovery shapes prey biodiversity, assembly processes, and trophic dependencies, and to identify the ecological mechanisms linking predator restoration to conservation outcomes.Location Huishui River, a tributary of the Yangtze River Basin in China, which is subject to the national basin-wide "10-year fishing ban" policy that has substantially increased native predatory fish populations.Methods We analysed a multi-year time series of stream fish and aquatic insect communities sampled from 2021 to 2025. alpha- and beta-diversity were quantified taxonomically, functionally, and phylogenetically. Community assembly was assessed using null models, and multi-trophic interactions were inferred via spatial dependency network modelling incorporating predator incidence and prey body size.Results Predator recovery enhanced aquatic insect diversity at local and regional scales, increasing alpha-diversity and promoting greater spatial turnover among sites. These patterns indicated predator-mediated competitive release, whereby predatory fish may preferentially target abundant and competitively dominant prey, allowing coexistence of more functionally dissimilar and evolutionarily distant taxa. High predation pressure may have drastically reduced overall prey abundance and community size, thereby weakening deterministic assembly signals, increasing demographic stochasticity, and potentially counteracting priority effects at local scales-processes likely contributing to greater spatial heterogeneity among stream sites. Multi-trophic modelling revealed that fish trophic influence on insect communities intensified with predator incidence and was strongly structured by prey body size.Main Conclusions Rebuilding predator populations can restructure prey biodiversity and trophic networks in ways that enhance ecological heterogeneity and potentially strengthen ecosystem resilience. Our findings highlight top-down pathways through which predator restoration impacts community assembly and cross-trophic interactions, offering new insights relevant to conservation biogeography, freshwater restoration, and biodiversity management under global change.
ABSTRACT Aim Our research aimed to assess the beta diversity of Chironomidae (Diptera) and faunal connections across springs, streams, and rivers within the Skadar Lake basin, a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot, using DNA barcoding. Location Skadar Lake basin—a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. Methods We analysed mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences from larvae collected at 56 sites, employing Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) as proxies for species. Results Our analysis revealed high overall diversity (224 BINs) along high site heterogeneity and a large proportion of rare BINs. Nearly two‐thirds of BINs were represented by fewer than four specimens, and 84% occurred at three or fewer sites. We observed extremely low faunal overlap between ecosystems, with only nine BINs shared among springs, streams, and rivers. Springs had the highest richness (169 BINs) and exceptional uniqueness, hosting 126 exclusive BINs (ca. 56%). No significant large‐scale geographical or altitudinal diversity gradients were detected, suggesting local factors override broader patterns. Main Conclusions The major conclusion is that hydrogeological isolation within the karst landscape profoundly shapes chironomid diversity, creating unique and isolated spring communities. These distinct, often rare assemblages indicate that chironomids are a sensitive indicator of habitat fragmentation and the vulnerability of these unique Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems to environmental change and localised impacts.
Aim Quantifying the extent to which a species can tolerate urban environments is crucial for prioritising conservation efforts. By using a large citizen science dataset, we analysed the species-specific urban tolerance of Orthoptera and examined how urban tolerance relates to Red List category, population status and population trends.Location Germany.Time Period 2008-2024.Major Taxa Studied Orthoptera (Ensifera and Caelifera).Methods We used citizen science observations of Orthoptera from iNaturalist and observation.org and estimated the imperviousness for each observation in a 500 m buffer around each site as a proxy for urban tolerance. We then calculated an urban tolerance index for each species by subtracting the overall mean of imperviousness of all Orthoptera observations from the mean value of all observations of a given species.Results Our final dataset comprised 178,327 Orthoptera observations, allowing us to quantify urban tolerance for 63 species across Germany. The majority of species (73%) exhibited negative urban tolerance scores-particularly among habitat specialists. Species classified as near threatened, vulnerable, or endangered, as well as those with declining population trends, had the lowest tolerance scores. In contrast, species with high urban tolerance were disproportionately thermophilic, synanthropic, range-expanding, or able to exploit urban habitat analogues. These urban-adapted species were often habitat generalists with high mobility or effective dispersal capacities.Main Conclusions Our findings reveal that urban tolerance among Orthoptera is highly species-specific, with habitat specialists, declining species and those of conservation concern showing the lowest tolerance scores. These groups are therefore most at risk from increasing urbanisation.
Aim To investigate the ecological and evolutionary drivers of morphological variation in grey wolves (Canis lupus) across their global range:Location The entire Holarctic distribution of grey wolves, from Greenland to New Mexico in North America, from Norway to Israel in Eurasia, including several samples from Russia and India.Methods We analysed 227 wolf skulls using high-resolution 3D geometric morphometrics (585 cranial and 96 mandibular landmarks) to assess the influence of continental separation, latitude, prey mass and population history on skull (cranium and mandible) size and shape.Results Skull size was primarily influenced by population identity, increasing with average prey mass and latitude up to roughly 65 degrees, with minimal differences between continents. Skull shape was mainly determined by population identity, with minor contributions from skull size, continent, and latitude; prey mass had no detectable effect. Average crania differed in the length-to-width ratio, shape and relative position of the frontal bones and zygomatic arches. Populations with the most distinct skull shapes included Modern Scandinavian wolves, Arctic wolves (East Greenland and Ellesmere Island), Italy and Coastal Alaska. These disparities are consistent with expected changes associated with long-term isolation, demographic events (e.g., bottlenecks, founder effects), human-driven fragmentation and extirpation of wolves, shifts in prey availability, and possible hybridization.Main Conclusions Morphological variation in wolves is shaped by a combination of ecological pressures, geography and human impacts. Past isolation and human-induced declines have increased divergence, emphasizing the importance of considering ecomorphological patterns when assessing evolutionary resilience and informing conservation planning for large carnivores.
Aim This study aimed to test the effectiveness of a hierarchical, spatially explicit, Bayesian modelling framework combining Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) with Stochastic Partial Differential Equation (SPDE) as an alternative to traditional Species Distribution Models (SDMs), particularly in cases where standard assumptions are violated, such as for small-ranged, data-limited species. Using the critically endangered Gal & aacute;pagos Pink Land Iguana (Conolophus marthae) as a case study, we also aimed to produce spatially explicit predictions to inform conservation strategies for this species.Location The Gal & aacute;pagos Archipelago, Ecuador.Methods We applied the INLA-SPDE model to address spatial autocorrelation in occurrence data, which is common when most observations originate from a limited number of surveys, as frequently happens with isolated, small-ranged species of high conservation priority. The model was used to identify environmental drivers of occurrence and to map both the current and potential distribution of C. marthae. We evaluated the predictive performance of the model through spatial cross-validation.Results The model revealed that trophic resource availability, presence of open areas and terrain roughness are key factors limiting the distribution of C. marthae. Its current range was estimated at approximately 27 km2, while around 330 km2 of suitable areas were identified across three main sites outside its known distribution. The model showed good predictive performance (Cohen's K = 0.68; TSS = 0.70), with consistent predictor effects across model runs.Main Conclusions Our findings demonstrated the utility of the INLA-SPDE approach in modelling distributions of small-ranged species, overcoming limitations of classical SDMs. The results obtained provided the first formal estimate of the range of C. marthae and identified new suitable areas, constituting an essential starting point to evaluate a species translocation, a key conservation strategy outlined in the Conservation and Management Plan for this species.
Aim Urbanisation is a dominant driver of landscape change leading to widespread displacement, degradation and fragmentation of habitat for native species and numerous studies have documented loss of biodiversity in response. However, most studies focus on a small range of taxa (e.g., vertebrates, plants), leaving many other groups poorly studied. Here we focus on a less well-studied system, freshwater ponds, and on multiple taxonomic groups (amphibians, macroinvertebrates, microbes). We ask whether urbanisation effects are evident and whether they vary within and among groups.Location Thirty-two freshwater ponds (median surface area 490 m2) in the northeastern USA (New Haven County, Connecticut).Methods We surveyed amphibians and macroinvertebrates in each pond annually from 2019 to 2024. In 2024, we characterised microbial communities in 17 ponds. At each pond, we estimated 'urbanicity' (PCA of surrounding land cover, night time light levels, road density) and measured pond surface area, water depth, temperature, pH, conductivity, and canopy cover.Results We found mixed evidence for the impacts of urbanisation. Community composition of both amphibians and macroinvertebrates shifted with urbanicity, but there was minimal evidence that richness declined for either group. Most individual taxa had distributions unrelated to urbanicity, except wood frog larval density, which declined. Neither composition nor richness of microbes was associated with urbanicity, while diversity was positively associated. For all taxonomic groups, pH and temperature were the strongest predictors, with canopy cover also important for macroinvertebrates and some amphibians.Main Conclusions Across multiple taxa sampled in dozens of ponds and over several years, we found evidence that urbanicity is associated with community shifts, but generally not declines in richness or abundance. Ponds in developed contexts serve an important role in supporting native biodiversity. Continuing loss of urban ponds may be a greater threat than the conditions within or near them for many species.
Aim: This research investigates the distribution of the non-indigenous calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus marinus Sato, 1913 in Italian coastal waters as retrieved by the data collected in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) programme in the 2015-2023 time window. Location: Italian marine coastal waters, Mediterranean Sea. Taxon: Pseudodiaptom marinus Sato, 1913 (Copepoda, Calanoida). Methods: The occurrence of P. marinus along the Italian coasts was checked in the Italian MSFD database, focusing on Descriptor 1 (D1: marine biodiversity) and Descriptor 2 (D2: non-indigenous species). The temporal and seasonal patterns at a key site (port of Civitavecchia) were also examined. Results: The MSFD records account for a similar to 15% increase in the number of P. marinus occurrences in Italian waters, expanding the documented range of this species. Records were more abundant in ports and coastal sites, and copepodites dominated the observations. In addition, the seasonal analysis at the port of Civitavecchia showed late-summer peaks, indicating recurrent recruitment and establishment. Main Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the ongoing expansion and successful establishment of P. marinus along the Italian coasts and confirm the role of coastal infrastructures as primary introduction pathways. This study highlights the importance of constant monitoring of the coastal areas to assess the introduction and establishment of non-indigenous species, and underlines the pivotal role of broad-scale initiatives like the MSFD to solicit transnational initiatives.
Aim To identify areas with a high concentration of threatened evolutionary history and to evaluate how effectively the current network of protected areas encompasses them, focusing on the global conservation relevance of angiosperms native to a regional biodiversity hotspot.Location The area of study comprises the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, one of the most angiosperm-rich areas within the Mediterranean hotspot. We have studied all native angiosperms (5411 species) using a high resolution (10 & times; 10 km grid) occurrence dataset.Methods We have used the evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE) metric to combine phylogenetic singularity with extinction risk and identify taxa that represent unique evolutionary history under threat. Individual EDGE scores were used to identify regions harbouring higher values of threatened evolutionary history, as well as to delineate areas that optimally preserve angiosperm evolutionary history.Results Our findings reveal that threatened angiosperm evolutionary history is primarily concentrated in mountainous and coastal regions. We identified a set of 22 complementary EDGE zones-areas containing unique and endangered evolutionary lineages-whose protection would secure preserving more than 90% of threatened evolutionary history. While several EDGE zones overlap with existing protected areas, particularly in mountains, others harbouring few but evolutionarily unique and highly threatened taxa remain largely unprotected. This study highlights the value of applying global conservation metrics such as EDGE at regional scales. Our results provide a foundation for integrating evolutionary history into conservation prioritisation in the Iberian Peninsula and offer a replicable framework for implementing the EDGE approach in other biodiversity-rich regions.
ABSTRACT Aim To identify and map Priority Penguin Habitat Areas (PPHAs), defined as marine regions that are environmentally suitable for penguins under present and future climates, in order to inform climate‐smart conservation planning across Southern Hemisphere. Location Marine realms of the Southern Hemisphere. Methods We modelled occurrence data for 12 of the 21 currently recognised penguin species using a Bayesian joint species distribution framework to estimate present and future suitable habitats under two contrasting climate scenarios (SSP1‐2.6, low forcing; SSP5‐8.5, high forcing). We quantified species‐level expansions and contractions in suitable habitat, then integrated these projections into a systematic conservation planning optimisation framework to delineate present and future PPHAs and to assess their spatial overlap with existing (implemented and proposed) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Results Most species (King, Southern Rockhopper, Macaroni, Snares, Chinstrap, Gentoo, Yellow‐eyed and Magellanic penguins) are projected to gain environmentally suitable habitat, whereas Emperor, Fiordland, Little and Adélie penguins show marked contractions and, in some scenarios, complete loss of optimal conditions. Consistent with a homogenization of habitat suitability for the expanding species, PPHAs increase in extent and cluster in established sub‐Antarctic and temperate hotspots. Despite this expansion, current MPA coverage of PPHAs is low and is projected to decline further under both climate scenarios. Main Conclusions Climate‐driven shifts in penguin habitats will alter the spatial configuration and protection needs of PPHAs across the Southern Hemisphere. Our approach provides a transferable blueprint to align conservation priorities with expected climate trajectories, enabling proactive MPA design and coordinated transboundary actions to safeguard PPHAs before they are irreversibly lost.
Global biodiversity is undergoing a rapid decline, underscoring the urgent need for effective conservation strategies. Though biodiversity conservation takes many forms, approaches that incorporate genomic data into decision‐making are necessary for many taxa. Genetic data play a critical role in informing conservation planning and decision‐making. However, the world's most biodiverse and vulnerable areas also have the fewest resources available for generating genetic data for biodiversity protection. Genomic tools remain insufficiently incorporated into conservation programs across the Global South. In contrast to the Global North, countries in the Global South face significant constraints in funding, technical expertise, and research collaborations, leading to a marked underrepresentation of their species in genomic databases. This disparity limits the effectiveness of conservation actions in these regions. Strengthening financial support, fostering equitable collaborations, and investing in capacity‐building are essential to enhance the integration of genomics into conservation efforts in the Global South.
Aim: Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are widely used in conservation planning, invasive species management and global change assessments. Their reliability depends on both presence and absence data, yet biodiversity databases are dominated by presence records, while true absences are rarely collected and geographically restricted. We introduce a framework that integrates large language models (LLMs) to sample ecologically realistic pseudo-absences under the constraints of dendritic river networks. Innovation: We present the Language-Grounded Multivariate Pseudo-Absence Sampling (LGMPAS) framework, which converts environmental predictor profiles into natural-language eco-narratives that an LLM uses to score and rank pre-filtered candidate locations drawn exclusively from the river network and restricted to unlabelled sites. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) further anchors eco-narratives in published ecological knowledge. We tested LGMPAS on two ecologically contrasting crayfish species in the Danube basin, the widespread invasive Faxonius limosus and the narrowly endemic Austropotamobius bihariensis, validating outputs against independent field-collected true-absence data using Random Forest predictive performance, spatial overlap of high-suitability areas and predictor-space distances. LLM-derived pseudo-absences closely reproduced true-absence model outputs and consistently outperformed random sampling across both species. Main Conclusions: LGMPAS demonstrates that LLMs can reliably sample pseudo-absences that reproduce the ecological signal of true-absence data, even under complex freshwater network constraints. By reducing dependence on costly absence surveys in contexts where true-absence data are unavailable or spatially restricted, and by avoiding the biases inherent to random sampling, the framework strengthens the robustness of SDMs for conservation applications. Its reproducibility and adaptability across taxa and ecosystems offer particular value for biodiversity monitoring, invasive species management and conservation planning under global change.
Introduction and Aim: Spatiotemporal and taxonomic sampling bias in biodiversity occurrence data poses critical challenges for robust ecological inference, species distribution models (SDMs), and conservation planning. Despite the exponential growth in global biodiversity records over recent decades, these biases persist. This study converts raw occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) into global, publicly available, taxon-stratified, and temporally resolved sampling-effort rasters using a reproducible workflow, providing transparent and standardised measures of observation count and species richness to support bias-aware ecological analyses. Main Variables Included: Two complementary raster variables: observation count and species richness, each provided across major taxonomic groups and their descendant levels (e.g., classes, orders, families). Time Coverage: Annual and cumulative rasters span 1980-2025. Spatial Coverage; Global; four spatial resolutions (similar to 1, 5, 10, and 20 km). Taxa: Nine major taxonomic groups: Amphibia, Arachnida, Aves (birds), Fungi, Insecta, Mammalia, Mollusca, Reptilia, and Tracheophyta (vascular plants), with descendant-level outputs. Applications: Based on similar to 3 billion records for > 730,000 species, this study provides annual and cumulative global rasters quantifying observation count and species richness at four resolutions, stratified by nine taxonomic groups and their descendants. At 1 km resolution, 95% of records occupy merely 0.33% of Earth's surface (0.93% of land), whilst the remaining data extend across only 1.77% (3.88% of land), leaving approximately 98% (95% of land) unsampled. This extreme concentration persists across all taxonomic groups, underscoring the need for taxon-specific bias correction. Annual data enable exploration of long-term trends in data mobilisation and sampling effort. These rasters enable bias correction in presence-only SDMs, including MaxEnt bias files, target-group backgrounds, and model-based approaches. Beyond SDMs, they can inform macroecological synthesis, biodiversity monitoring, and systematic conservation planning by identifying spatial and temporal knowledge gaps. All data and code are openly available under FAIR principles, promoting transparent and reproducible biodiversity science.
Aim: To understand species population ecology, we need to study how trends of demographic drivers change over time and space, especially so under current rapid climate change. However, knowledge on long-term trends of survival and productivity, especially using multiple species over large spatial scales, is scarce. Here, we examined the long-term trends of adult survival and productivity of European songbirds, their relation to temperature gradients within species' ranges, and different traits across multiple species over large spatial scales. Methods: We used bird ringing data from the European Constant Effort Ringing scheme (CES), with 1.2 million captures of birds. We investigated the long-term trends of adult survival and productivity in relation to temperature gradients within species' ranges. We also tested differences in the long-term trends of demographic measures in relation to species' migratory strategies (long-distance migrants vs. short-distance migrants and residents) and long-term population trends. Results: There was no apparent major change in the long-term trends of either adult survival or productivity, and they did not show differences along the range gradient. Long-term trends of productivity differed between migratory strategies: long-distance migrants showed more negative trends in productivity than short-distance migrants and residents, while survival trends were similar between the two groups. Trends in both adult survival and productivity had equal positive connections with the population trends of songbirds. Main Conclusions: The difference in long-term trends of productivity between migratory strategies highlights the importance of different conservation efforts for long-distance migrants compared to short-distance or resident birds.
