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Biodiversity and Conservation OnlineFirst articles

Projected impact of climate change on the future distribution of Larrea species in southern South America

  • Original Research

Climate change is causing vegetation shifts worldwide, affecting species distributions and altering natural ecosystems. Understanding the impact of future climate projections on plant habitats is crucial for sustainable biodiversity, effective …

Enhancing resilience for sustainable cities: a review of threats to urban trees

  • Review Paper

Urban trees provide essential provisioning, regulating, and cultural services, such as carbon sequestration, air and water quality regulation, and pest and disease control. However, unregulated urbanization increases the vulnerability of these …

Forest habitat loss diminishes the landscape connectivity in a biodiversity hotspot

  • Original Research

Forests in biodiversity hotspots are crucial habitats for a variety of animal and plant species. Nevertheless, anthropogenic factors have destroyed these valuable habitats at unprecedented levels. Consequently, there is a growing consensus on the …

The role of seasonal migration in predicting amphibian population persistence across fragmented tropical landscapes: an individual-based model

  • Original Research

Anthropogenic habitat disturbances often create discontinuity between the multiple classes of natural habitats that many species need to complete their life cycles. This process, termed habitat split, is common across Neotropical landscapes and …

Effective conservation and management of giraffe require adopting recent advances of their taxonomy

  • Review Paper

The taxonomy of giraffe (Giraffa spp.) has a long and complex history, with scientists debating merits of various classification schemes. Currently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recognises giraffe as a single …

Developing an integrated framework to manage deforestation associated with tobacco farming in Zimbabwe: a systematic review

  • Review Paper

Tobacco industry is the mainstay of Zimbabwe’s economy although it is associated with detrimental environmental impacts. Tobacco faming is expanding whilst the climate is changing thereby intensifying deforestation of already depleted forests in …

Effect of forest loss and fragmentation per se on arboreal and ground mammals of the Lacandon rainforest, Mexico

  • Open Access
  • Original Research

Understanding the effects of forest loss and fragmentation per se (independent of forest loss) on wildlife is urgently needed to design biodiversity-friendly landscape scenarios, particularly for forest-specialist species, such as many ground and …

Local food plant diversity and cultural significance in the Atlantic Forest: a comprehensive ethnobiological synthesis for a humanly disturbed but mega-diverse region

  • Review Paper

Current food systems face critical challenges, including biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and failure to meet global nutritional needs. Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) are vital in addressing these issues through …

Impacts of base learners selection of heterogeneous ensemble for habitat suitability modeling

  • Original Research

Conserving species’ habitats is crucial for biodiversity conservation, as restoring them to their original state becomes challenging once they are destroyed. In this context, Species Distribution Models (SDMs), also known as Habitat Suitability …

Current state of plant conservation translocations across Europe: motivations, challenges and outcomes

  • Review Paper

Plant translocation is a conservation technique increasingly used around the world. In Europe, numerous unpublished initiatives have resulted in scattered information in grey literature that is difficult to access. This represents a major obstacle …

Diel activity of insectivorous bats in response to land-use change in São Tomé Island, Gulf of Guinea

  • Original Research

Land-use change poses a significant threat to biodiversity, particularly in insular ecosystems where species exhibit higher levels of specialisation. Despite the importance of tropical islands for biodiversity conservation, the impacts of land-use …

Local weather interacts with human disturbances to shape the behaviour of boreal caribou across a large climate gradient

  • Commentary

Climate change, a growing threat to global biodiversity, is expected to interact with other drivers of decline of species at risk. Although its long-term effects are uncertain, climate change is influencing the behaviour, distribution, and …

Conserving saproxylic flagship species by complementing 150 years of natural history with citizen science data—the case of the stag beetles (Lucanidae, Coleoptera) of Portugal

  • Open Access
  • Original Research

The use of flagship species in conservation, such as the European Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus), can positively affect the conservation of other taxonomic or functionally related species. This is especially true for taxonomic groups where the …

Aquatic ecosystem indices, linking ecosystem health to human health risks

  • Open Access
  • Review Paper

The good functioning of aquatic ecosystems is essential for providing diverse ecosystem services that benefit humans. The degradation of ecosystem health due to continuous stressors, such as climate change or water pollution, is leading to an …

Changes in bird occupancy and its association with functional traits under long-term context of urbanization and suburbanization in a metropolis

  • Original Research

Urbanization is one of the key factors contributing to biodiversity decline. The urban–rural gradient is commonly used to understand the impact of urbanization on bird communities. However, there is limited long-term research on community changes …

More than garden plants: extending the conversation of urban gardens as an important refuge for Australian birds

  • Open Access
  • Review Paper

Inadequacies in public protected area networks dictates that private land will play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity in the coming decades. Household gardens are a key example of private lands that can serve as refuges for …

MaxEnt modeling for habitat suitability assessment of threatened Dipterocarpus species in the Indian East Himalayas

  • Original Research

The Dipterocarpus forests of the Indian East Himalayas are essential for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, and carbon sink management. However, anthropogenic activities and global climate change have posed significant threats to …

First large-scale assessment of snow leopard population in China using existing data from multiple organizations

  • Original Research

Abundance estimation of large carnivores is essential for their effective conservation planning, yet estimating population size is challenging due to their elusive and wide-ranging nature. China is estimated to encompass 60% of the snow leopard …

Non-native vegetation encroachment drives trophic turnover in island nematodes

  • Open Access
  • Original Research

Nematodes are important components of terrestrial ecosystems. There is currently limited understanding of how soil nematode communities are altered by non-native vegetation encroachment. The spatial turnover of nematode communities was studied on …

Biotic homogenization and functional restructuring of bee communities in northern France: implications for conservation priorities

  • Original Research

Anthropic-related pollinator decline is a major challenge. To ensure that we characterize the underlying ecological processes and implement appropriate conservation measures, it is important to consider multiple dimensions of diversity. Here, we …