Research summaries

Rachel Nichols: Forming and managing a Farmer Cluster for improved farmland biodiversity in Europe

Shortlisted for the Chico Mendes Prize About the research Overview Farmer Clusters are groups of neighbouring farmers that come together to select their own biodiversity targets in a “bottom-up” approach and therefore offer an amazing opportunity to tackle agricultural biodiversity declines across the landscape. They allow farmers to take control of the conservation initiatives on their land, each tailored to their specific goals, and work … Continue reading Rachel Nichols: Forming and managing a Farmer Cluster for improved farmland biodiversity in Europe

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Careers, Grasslands, Research summaries

Hudson Fontenele: Consequences of seven consecutive annual dry-season fires to the unburned Cerrado grass layer

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview Our paper explores the community, population, and functional aspects of tropical savanna grasses in response to an extreme, prolonged fire regime of seven consecutive annual dry season fires. We were interested in understanding how the repeated fires would affect community composition, species persistence, population turnover, functional composition and structure, and ecosystem functioning. So, we used permanent … Continue reading Hudson Fontenele: Consequences of seven consecutive annual dry-season fires to the unburned Cerrado grass layer

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Agriculture, Careers, Research summaries

Luuk Croijmans: Herbivore prevalence poorly predicts yield in diverse cropping systems

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview Our study was part of my PhD thesis. I tried to understand how increasing diversity within cropping systems changes trophic interactions and crop damage, together with my knowledgeable promotors, Erik Poelman and Dirk van Apeldoorn; an analytical behemoth, Daan Mertens; and two diligent MSc thesis students, Yufei Jia and Nelson Ríos Hernández. Sustainable alternatives to pesticide … Continue reading Luuk Croijmans: Herbivore prevalence poorly predicts yield in diverse cropping systems

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Research summaries

Munib Khanyari – Finding the ghosts: Snow leopard density and distribution in the multi-use region of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize About the research Overview Jammu and Kashmir has been an extremely understudied area, especially its high elevation. Over 2 years of political instability has made this task even more challenging. In this paper, we wanted to first understand where snow leopards are found in Jammu and Kashmir. Following this large-scale survey, we then wanted to understand the status and … Continue reading Munib Khanyari – Finding the ghosts: Snow leopard density and distribution in the multi-use region of Jammu and Kashmir, India

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Research summaries

Juliano Zardetto: Widespread negative effects of Leucaena leucocephala (white-popinac) invasion on regenerating areas of the Atlantic Forest

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize About the research Overview Our research provides evidence on the severe impacts caused by a widespread invasive species in Brazil: Leucaena leucocephala (white-popinac). We reinforce the urgency of avoiding the use of white-popinac in restoration projects and agroforestry, and focusing on early detection and management in recently invaded areas. Against some common sense, we found that white-popinac invasions can … Continue reading Juliano Zardetto: Widespread negative effects of Leucaena leucocephala (white-popinac) invasion on regenerating areas of the Atlantic Forest

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Careers, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Taylor Craft: Remote sensing and GPS tracking reveal temporal shifts in habitat use in nonbreeding Black-tailed Godwits

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview For decades, research has focused on the breeding grounds of migratory shorebirds in Northwest Europe. Yet much of their annual cycle is elsewhere along the East Atlantic Flyway, particularly in West Africa. Using tracking data from black-tailed godwits alongside field data from a key nonbreeding site, the Senegal Delta, we examined how different habitats support godwits … Continue reading Taylor Craft: Remote sensing and GPS tracking reveal temporal shifts in habitat use in nonbreeding Black-tailed Godwits

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Careers, Forests, Research summaries

Lovasoa Rakotozafy: How large native trees and leaf litter promote amphibian diversity in Malagasy agroforests

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview Agricultural expansion is the main driver of forest loss in many tropical regions including Madagascar, leading to increasingly fragmented habitats and forcing many species to persist in human-dominated landscapes. This creates a major challenge: how can we conserve biodiversity while supporting local livelihoods? Agroforestry is widely promoted as a solution to reconcile conservation and agriculture, but … Continue reading Lovasoa Rakotozafy: How large native trees and leaf litter promote amphibian diversity in Malagasy agroforests

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Careers, Research summaries

Emily Warner: Integrated above- and below-ground ecological monitoring for nature-based solutions

Shortlisted for the Georgina Mace Prize About the research Overview Our research produced an ecological monitoring framework for practitioners developing nature-based solutions (NbS) projects. Biodiversity should be at the heart of NbS, underpinning the benefits they provide to humans. Being able to effectively track above- and below-ground biodiversity outcomes of projects is key, but can be an overwhelming task for practitioners, faced with a wide … Continue reading Emily Warner: Integrated above- and below-ground ecological monitoring for nature-based solutions

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Careers, Forests, Research summaries

Skjold Alsted Søndergaard: Year-round grazing as a driver of plant diversity

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview In temperate Europe, open ecosystems are typically managed through mechanical cutting or seasonal grazing, practices the EU subsidizes to the tune of 6 billion euros annually. Despite these massive financial efforts, protected grasslands are still losing species. My shortlisted paper, based on field data collected during my Master’s and realized during my PhD at Aarhus University, … Continue reading Skjold Alsted Søndergaard: Year-round grazing as a driver of plant diversity

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Careers, Coastal and marine, Research summaries

Abigail Keller: Managing a marine invasive species in a changing world

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview When should an environmental manager stop resisting change and accept a new ecological trajectory? This question will become a hallmark of natural resource management under global climate change, particularly for a marine invasive species like the European green crab. While this crab species can drive profound ecological change, it can quickly recolonize after removal, leaving many … Continue reading Abigail Keller: Managing a marine invasive species in a changing world

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