Biodiversity and Conservation

1. Assessing the conservation value of secondary forests and reforestation is important for conservation planning. Butterflies are widely used as indicators, and fruit-feeding butterflies are often used in biodiversity assessments in tropical landscapes. 2. We examined fruit-feeding butterfly diversity, abundance, and community composition across a primary forest, a secondary forest, and a plantation forest in northern Vietnam. We sampled butterflies nearly monthly during one year using baited traps. 3. Primary and secondary forest supported higher species richness than plantation forest. Moreover, while secondary forest had mainly a subset of species found in primary forest, the plantation forest had a distinct butterfly fauna. 4. Butterfly abundance and community composition varied across months, without showing a clear seasonal pattern. 5. Our results suggest that secondary and plantation forests do not fully replace primary forests, but they contribute meaningfully to butterfly conservation in human-modified tropical landscapes.

The accelerated loss of biodiversity in sub-Saharan Africa threatens the functioning of tropical ecosystems. In Cote dIvoire, the Comoe National Park (PNCOMOE), a Sudano-Guinean savannah, and the Tai National Park (PNTAI), a dense rainforest, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are home to fauna assemblages of global importance, whose long-term resilience remains insufficiently quantified. This study assesses and compares, over a decade (2014-2025), the functional stability of vertebrate communities in these two contrasting ecosystems, using nine metrics covering resistance, invariance, persistence, interspecific synchrony, Tilmans stability, Jacobian resilience and a Composite Stability Index (CSI). Abundance data for 107 vertebrate species were collected via foot transects at PNTAI and aerial surveys at PNCOMOE. The stability metrics were calculated using the R package estar, integrated with an alpha diversity analysis (Shannon H', species richness S, Pielous evenness J') and a Jacobian spectral analysis within a multidimensional ecological assessment. PNTAI (0.708) exhibits significantly higher alpha diversity (H' = 2.82; S = 55.7 taxa) and community resilience 4.6 times higher than in the PNCOMOE (0.153). Its interspecific asynchrony index (0.504) reveals a strong portfolio effect, absent in the PNCOMOE (0.232). In contrast, PNCOMOE exhibits higher temporal invariance (0.382 versus 0.116) and Tilman stability (0.276 versus 0.152), reflecting more predictable dynamics. The overall ICS favours the PNTAI (0.484) and (0.370). The Jacobian analysis detects local instability in both parks (Re({lambda}max) = 5.58 at the PNTAI; 3.73 at the PNCOMOE). The two parks exhibit distinct yet complementary stability architectures: PNTAI relies on dynamic stability based on resilience and interspecific compensation, whilst PNCOMOE demonstrates conservative stability through temporal regularity. The absence of calculable resilience at PNCOMOE suggests a potential crossing of a functional degradation threshold, arguing for urgent restoration interventions and differentiated conservation strategies, tailored to the resilience mechanisms specific to each ecosystem.

Understanding the spatial patterns of biodiversity and their environmental determinants is fundamental to ecology and conservation, particularly in mountainous transitional zones where species assemblages can shift rapidly. Amphibians, as highly sensitive organisms, are excellent indicators of environmental change, yet quantitative assessments of their diversity in the Huangshan Mountains-a biodiversity hotspot at the junction of the Palaearctic and Oriental realms in southern Anhui, China-remain limited. We conducted systematic line-transect surveys across 200 grids (5 km x 5 km) during the spring and autumn of 2023 and 2024, recording a total of 10,342 individuals belonging to 23 species, 20 genera, 9 families, and 2 orders. Three species (Fejervarya multistriata, Microhyla fissipes, and Bufo gargarizans) were identified as dominant, and two nationally protected species (Hoplobatrachus chinensis and Andrias davidianus) were detected. Inter-annual alpha diversity did not differ significantly, but pronounced seasonal variation was observed, with spring supporting higher Shannon-Wiener and Pielou evenness than autumn in both years. Using generalized additive models and model averaging, we found that annual precipitation and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were consistently the strongest positive predictors of Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson dominance, and species richness, while species richness also declined significantly with increasing human footprint. Total beta diversity (Soerensen dissimilarity) was very high (0.981) and overwhelmingly driven by species turnover (97.86%) rather than nestedness. Partial Mantel tests and distance-based redundancy analysis further revealed that environmental distances-particularly annual precipitation-significantly shaped overall beta diversity and its turnover component after accounting for geographic distance. These results highlight the predominant role of climatic and vegetation gradients in structuring amphibian assemblages in this subtropical mountainous region, providing baseline data to inform local conservation strategies.

Understanding how scientific effort is distributed is essential for evaluating the evidence available to guide species conservation. We assessed the temporal, thematic, methodological, and spatial organization of jaguar (Panthera onca) research across the species range. Using 1,028 bibliographic records, we applied a metadata-based scope filter, defining a primary analytical corpus of 857 articles and an inclusive sensitivity corpus of 989. We analyzed publication growth from 1946-2024, author-keyword networks, high-specificity research-domain and methodological indicators, article-based spatial concentration across nine regions, and anthropogenic context using the Human Impact Index. Publication output increased strongly and nonlinearly, with the negative-binomial generalized additive model explaining 96% of deviance. Population and abundance, human-wildlife conflict and coexistence, and movement and connectivity were the most frequent research domains, whereas camera trapping was the most frequent methodological approach. Spatial analyses included 237 georeferenced terrestrial articles. Research was strongly concentrated in the Pantanal, Mesoamerica, and Atlantic Forest, but was underrepresented relative to range area in the Andes and Choco-Darien, Amazon, and Guiana Shield. These patterns were stable to the broader scope definition. Research concentration showed no strong association with region-wide anthropogenic pressure, although studies within several extensive regions tended to occur in more human-influenced portions than the regional average. Jaguar research therefore shows substantial growth and partial alignment with applied conservation challenges but remains geographically uneven. Expanding representative research in underrepresented regions, while maintaining work in threatened landscapes, would strengthen the evidence base for range-wide conservation planning and improve coordination among countries, institutions, and regional research traditions.

Urban and rural woodlands have become important habitats for wildlife, providing opportunities for ecological and ethological adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Due to limited tree resources in anthropogenic woodlands, different species are often forced to interact more closely, and one possible outcome of such interactions is hybridisation. Recent studies have shown that hybrids between the uncommon Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and the often common Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) are relatively widespread, yet rare, in sympatric populations (Bakai et al. 2026). To understand the factors determining their occurrence in rural and urban landscapes, we conducted an intensive survey across Europe. We examined the effects of environmental factors, particularly woodland characteristics, as well as the co-occurrence of hybrids with the parental species and European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) (hereafter Starling). Spatial analyses revealed that the parental species generally have allotopic distributions, with Syrian Woodpeckers (hereafter SW) being more common in scattered woodlands in both rural and urban landscapes, while Great Spotted Woodpeckers (hereafter GW) are more commonly associated with denser woodlands and forests. Although in some areas the two species can co-occur, which provides opportunities for interspecific hybridisation, hybrid offspring showed no clear preference for any particular woodland type. However, they tended to occur in proximity to one of the parental species, usually the species that was locally rarer. Starlings were not identified as a factor influencing hybrid distribution. These results suggest that hybrids have a relatively broad ecological tolerance, potentially facilitated by heterosis. These findings contribute to our understanding of the factors influencing interspecific hybridisation and may have implications for the management of urban and rural woodlands to preserve habitats for the SW, an uncommon and strictly protected species in the west of the European Union.

Due to the sparse and uneven availability of genomic resources, it remains challenging to appraise genomic attributes for species of conservation concern. While long-read sequencing enables assessment of genetic diversity at unprecedented scale, accessing high-quality tissues remains a challenge for non-model species. Here, we explore an alternative sampling strategy for tissues where "gold-standard" cryopreservation is infeasible. Focusing on the Australian scincid lizard Cryptoblepharus pulcher, we compare DNA obtained from various ethanol-preserved tissue types and DNA extraction kits, and ask whether high-molecular weight DNA can still be retrieved. PacBio HiFi sequencing of the most promising sample yielded a highly contiguous reference-level assembly, validating this approach in vertebrates, specifically lizards. After scaffolding the assembly to chromosome-level, we then used a comparative approach to shed light on the evolution and demise of C. egeriae, a closely related, now Extinct-in-the-Wild species. Surprisingly, despite being a wide-spread continental analogue with a similar ecology, C. pulcher has lower genetic diversity and long-term historical population size than C. egeriae, an island endemic. However, C. pulcher also shows fewer runs-of-homozygosity, supporting prior reports that C. egeriae experienced recent inbreeding. Together, these findings demonstrate that a practical and cost-effective preservation strategy can still yield high-quality genomic resources in vertebrates, as well as valuable insights that are relevant in an age of biodiversity decline.

Globalization is redistributing species worldwide, yet whether the traits and origins of non-native fauna have changed through time remains unclear. We combined global first-record data for non-native species from 1800-2019 with harmonized information on body size, diet, habitat use, native range characteristics, and climatic niche characteristics for 1,910 non-native mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and freshwater fishes. Across most groups, species recorded earlier originated disproportionately from higher latitudes, occupied broader native ranges, and had wider thermal niches. More recent first records increasingly involve species from warmer, lower-latitude regions with smaller and more restricted native distributions. Body size also declined through time in several groups, whereas shifts in diet and habitat use were more taxon-specific. Temporal changes in introduction pathways partly explained these patterns: declines in deliberate release and production-related pathways, together with increases in pet and ornamental pathways, were associated with shifts toward smaller-bodied, lower-latitude, and more range-restricted species. These results indicate that the functional and biogeographic composition of non-native vertebrates has been progressively reshaped over the past two centuries, weakening the historical dominance of widespread temperate species and increasingly incorporating tropical and range-restricted fauna into global redistribution. Anticipating future biological invasions will therefore require attention not only to the number of species being transported, but also to how the characteristics and pathways of transported species are changing through time.

Over the past two decades, significant population recoveries of tigers and leopards have driven a substantial rise in human-carnivore conflict across South Asia. Sustaining the long-term conservation of both species demands effective, adaptive conflict management. However, existing research is largely confined to isolated landscapes or protected areas, hindering the identification of spatial conflict drivers across broader, heterogeneous regions. To address this gap, this study compiled 4,457 human leopard conflict (HLC) and 2,563 human tiger conflict (HTC) records spanning 2000 to 2024 across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal. We evaluated conflict locations against 33 landscape, anthropogenic, climatic, topographic, and hydrological predictors across three spatial scales using binomial generalized linear regression models and three alternative background sampling methods. Model performance peaked at the largest spatial scale for both species and remained consistent across sampling strategies. HTC correlated positively with forest fragmentation and proximity to human settlements, but decreased with higher overall anthropogenic disturbance. Conversely, HLC concentrated in highly productive, high-precipitation, human-modified landscapes. These contrasting spatial patterns highlight distinct ecological responses to habitat modification and carry unique conservation implications. Ultimately, this study underscores the need to integrate carnivore abundance, wild prey densities, and socioeconomic factors to achieve a holistic understanding of conflict dynamics.

Social wasps (family: Vespidae) are increasingly concerning invaders and have been subject to increased detections and a growing number of invasive populations in the last few decades. As established invasive populations are challenging to eradicate, preventing introductions and prioritizing early interventions are the most cost-effective management solutions to mitigate these effects. A current challenge to this approach is that species distribution data is limited for many social wasp species, hindering our ability to accurately predict novel habitats with high suitability. To address this gap, we used MAXENT to create species distribution models (SDM) for 299 species of social vespid. We identified existing invasive populations of social wasps and incorporated their current invasive ranges to improve the transferability of our models in predicting habitat suitability in new environments. Current range sizes and habitat suitability varied widely among species and genera. We identified new species of high invasive concern, particularly in the genus Vespa. We also identified previously unrecognized regions that may be at high risk of future invasion primarily in Central Africa and the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Combining current and suitable ranges, we calculated an "Invasion Risk Score" to compare the relative likelihood of each species establishing a new invasive population based upon habitat suitability. To assess invasion risk in the future, we projected habitat suitability under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) climate change scenarios. Under all scenarios, species faced significant changes in habitat suitability for current native ranges. Habitat suitability generally shrank and shifted towards the poles, leaving equatorial species at highest risk of habitat loss. Notably, Vespa was the only genus whose suitable habitat expanded under these climate scenarios. Our framework demonstrates how multi-species SDMs can be applied to risk management of invasive populations.

Ecosystem engineers hold potential to modify the environment and resource availability. The recovery of the Eurasian beaver reintroduces both a novel trophic component, as herbivore and prey, and an ecological driver that alters landscape of resources and risks. Together, the species comeback may trigger cascading effects on the ecosystem and shape relationships among megafauna, with contrasting effects on different trophic groups. We studied 30 beaver sites and paired reference sites in forests across Poland to assess how beaver presence affects habitat use and interactions among ungulates, large carnivores and mesocarnivores. With the same species composition and species richness, the number of detections of animals was lower at beaver sites, whereas detection duration was longer there. Structural equation modelling showed that beaver affects mammal community via a combination of direct and indirect pathways. The species presence had a positive direct effect on large carnivores, partly offsetting the negative indirect pathway mediated through reduced ungulate presence. These effects extended indirectly further to mesocarnivores, detection of which was positively related with increasing number of detections of ungulates and large carnivores. Beaver effects on habitat were spatially structured: canopy openness and deadwood abundance declined with increasing distance to water. Ungulates showed spatially diversified response at beaver sites, with the number of detections increasing away from the water, whereas large carnivores were detected most frequently near the water. Ungulates also changed seasonally their behaviour along water-land gradient, indicating a trade-off between resource acquisition and perceived predation risk. Our results show that beaver engineering reorganizes ecosystem through spatial and temporal changes in habitat use, behaviour and trophic interactions among large and medium-sized mammals. Beaver recovery may therefore restore ecological complexity by generating fine-scale mosaics of resources and risk that propagate across multiple trophic levels.

Biological invasions by feral swine are among the most important drivers of ecological change worldwide, yet invasion dynamics remain poorly documented in tropical South America. In Brazil, the recent spread of wild boar and wild boar-domestic pig hybrids (javaporcos) overlaps with long-established populations of free-ranging feral pigs (porco-monteiro) in the Pantanal, creating a unique scenario of dual invasive lineages of Sus scrofa. We reconstructed the spatiotemporal invasion process of feral swine (S. scrofa) across the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil, using historical occurrence records, captive-breeding data, landscape variables, detection frequencies, and occupancy estimates from 2007 to 2017. The invasion expanded from 29 municipalities (36.7% of the state) in 2007 to all 79 municipalities by 2017. During this period, at least 247 breeding facilities were identified across 59 municipalities, including numerous informal and clandestine operations involving wild boar and hybrids (javaporcos). Municipalities with the largest numbers of breeding facilities and reproductive stocks consistently coincided with areas of highest invasion intensity, indicating that propagule pressure from captive populations strongly influenced feral swine expansion. By 2017, invasive populations occupied approximately 3.2 million hectares (8.85% of the state territory), with the greatest occupancy concentrated in agricultural landscapes dominated by soybean, maize, sorghum, and sugarcane production. Detection frequency and occupied area were positively associated with croplands, exposed soil fields, and water-associated habitats, suggesting that agricultural mosaics linked by riparian corridors facilitate invasion and persistence. Conservative population estimates ranged from 11,850 to 47,400 individuals statewide, although carrying-capacity scenarios suggested populations could exceed 500,000 animals under favorable conditions. Detection patterns involving native peccaries (Tayassu pecari and Pecari tajacu) indicated differential coexistence responses to invasive swine, with collared peccaries apparently more sensitive to heavily invaded landscapes. Our findings demonstrate that feral swine expansion in central South America was driven by the interaction of anthropogenic propagule pressure, permissive governance, and highly suitable agricultural environments, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated monitoring, regulation of captive breeding, and large-scale adaptive control programs.

BACKGROUND: The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is among the world's worst invasive species. In the Donana Biological Reserve (Spain), it is associated with human structures that provide the mild, moist conditions it needs within the hot, dry scrubland. We evaluated a habitat-modification treatment, predicting that removing this suitable habitat would eradicate the invader locally. Over an 18-year period, we monitored ant communities at a treated and an untreated site, at different distances from the human structures, before and after treatment, and analysed how temperature and worker numbers affected encounters at baits between the Argentine ant and native ants. RESULTS: Distance to the human structures shaped ant communities at both sites, but only the treated site changed after treatment. There, the Argentine ant decreased close to the human structure and almost disappeared farther from it, whereas the endemic Cataglyphis tartessica and C. floricola recovered, especially close to the structure. At baits, the outcome of encounters depended mainly on how temperature changes favoured each species relative to its maximum activity temperature: Cataglyphis spp. displaced the Argentine ant in the morning, as temperature increased, and the Argentine ant recovered the baits in the late afternoon. Numerical advantage favoured only the Argentine ant. CONCLUSION: Habitat modification reduced the Argentine ant and allowed endemic ants to recover, but did not eradicate the invader, which persisted at low abundance 13 years after treatment. In protected areas, habitat management should be combined with eradication, monitoring and prevention of spread.

The Peruvian Andes, and especially its slopes towards the Amazonian Basin are well-known biodiversity hotspots for plants and animals, which represent the visible part of biodiversity. However, not much is known about microeukaryotic diversity, despite the significant role protists play in the ecosystem. Based on a molecular survey of the diversity of Arcellinida (a group of amoebae well known for its environmental sensitivity and restricted geographical distributions), we estimated its diversity along an elevation gradient spanning more than 3000 meters. Surprisingly, Neotropical forest Arcellinida were less abundant and diverse than in most other extratropical biomes; nevertheless, communities differed strongly in their taxonomic composition as compared with forests in higher latitudes. Notably, sequences related to Trigonopyxis were most abundant, whereas this group occurs only marginally in extratropical settings. Elevation influenced beta diversity, showing different assembly processes occurring at different elevation belts. Canopy cover positively influenced both phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity, showing the importance of above and below ground integration in tropical forests.

In northern boreal Europe, the Last Glaciation Maximum resulted in a tabula rasa of earthworm species, post-glacial recolonisation of few peregrine species. Boreal forests represent 11.5% of the Earth's land area, and their cold winters represent the harshest season for earthworms. These biotopes are subject to substantial global changes, notably climate change and land use intensification, which might impact earthworm populations. Yet, no study measuring temporal changes in earthworm population or diversity is known in this biotope. Here, we sampled earthworm communities in two northern and two southern areas in Finland forests. In total, 21 sites were surveyed in 2015 and resurveyed 10 years later in 2025-2026. We aimed at understanding how earthworm diversity and populations changed in the last 10 years, comparing community and species-specific diversity metrics. In ten years, although not significant, earthworm abundance declined (-20%), whereas richness increased (+13%). The cold-tolerant Dendrobaena octaedra decreased, being the only one with a significant change. Temporal community and species dynamics followed a south-north gradient. Southern sites showed a decrease in abundance and D. octaedra populations, with an increase in abundance and occupancy of more heat-tolerant species. Northern sites showed an increase in abundance uniquely due to an increase in D. octaedra populations, but no other species were found there. These changes can be linked to climate changes leading to less rigorous winters in both south and north of Finland, and more rigorous summers in the south, potentially interacting with intense forest management, but could also be attributed to a still ongoing post-glacial recolonisation. These results call for more long-term sampling of earthworm communities in these fragile and rapidly changing environments.

Extensive deforestation and disturbance have reshaped forest landscapes in West Africa, including areas surrounding Tai National Park, the largest remaining block of Upper Guinean rainforest. Although many degraded areas are currently undergoing regeneration, the capacity of these secondary forests to recover their biodiversity attributes remains insufficiently assessed within this park. This study quantifies the multidimensional restoration of biodiversity across 125 secondary forest plots and 15 primary forest plots representing 14,731 inventoried individuals in four sectors of the park. Using a Bayesian modelling framework, we estimate recovery trajectories of Shannon diversity, floristic composition, functional traits (wood density, leaf mass per area, seed mass), and conservation-relevant species. The different biodiversity attributes recovered at contrasting rates. Diversity was restored more rapidly ({lambda} = 0.06) than floristic composition ({lambda} = 0.03), and these recovery varied according to environmental variables. Among these, the presence of remnant trees showed the highest median on diversity (0.53 {+/-} 0.61) and floristic composition (0.37 {+/-} 0.17), promoting the rapid recovery of both attributes, followed by prior land use, particularly cocoa farming which also positively influenced the recovery of alpha diversity ({lambda} = 0.03) and floristic composition ({lambda} = 0.02). Regarding functional traits, they displayed contrasting dynamics: specific leaf area and seed mass recovered rapidly along successional gradients, whereas wood density followed a more gradual recovery trajectory. From a conservation perspective, although the proportion of IUCN Red List species remained stable along the successional gradient, old-growth indicator species were significantly more abundant in primary forests. To ensure the long-term conservation of biodiversity, protecting both primary and regenerating forests is essential to preserve the ecological resilience of this park.

1. This study analyzed 21 years (2000-2025) of butterfly count data from Central Alberta, integrated with intensive 5-year (2021-2025) high-resolution intra-seasonal sampling. 2. Long-term macro-scale analysis revealed a significant decline in Shannon Diversity, a change that remained obscured when relying solely on traditional metrics of species richness and evenness. 3. This diversity decline was primarily driven by the severe, long-term collapse of the native Common Ringlet (Coenonympha tullia). 4. Four other dominant species--Cabbage White (Pieris rapae), Clouded Sulphur (Colias eriphyle), European Skipper (Thymelicus lineola), and Common Wood Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)--maintained long-term population stability, though their abundances were significantly constrained by extreme winter minimum temperatures and rapid spring warming. 5. High-resolution intra-seasonal analysis (2021-2025) demonstrated that community indices and species-specific abundances were strongly limited by daily weather, particularly wind velocity and temperature. 6. These findings illustrate that while traditional metrics like richness and evenness are fundamental to community ecology, they provide incomplete insights when applied in isolation; they are most effective when utilized as part of a complementary, multi-scalar framework. 7. This study highlights the necessity of coupling multi-decadal historical datasets with high-frequency, fine-scale sampling to accurately identify the mechanisms of community turnover that simpler metrics may overlook. 8. The results underscore the critical importance of standardized citizen science monitoring in quantifying environmental impacts and establishing conservation priorities for terrestrial insect groups.

The number of species introduced outside of their historical ranges by human activity continues to rise. A subset of these species establishes, form self-sustaining populations, and some (invasive alien species) go on to cause substantial harm to biodiversity and ecosystems. Preventing new invasive alien species from establishing is the key focus of interventions, because post-establishment management is costly and often fails. However, it remains unclear how effective multilateral efforts have been in curbing the rise. Here we show that the emergence of new invasive alien species across countries is slowing, and trends are similarly negative across geographically diverse countries. Using data and modelling advances, we find a 35% reduction in the establishment of new invasive alien species over a policy-relevant 50-year time frame. The findings directly inform the assessment of progress for the invasive alien species target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and provide a global baseline for monitoring rates of invasive alien species establishment. Furthermore, the slowdown suggests that policy and investment over recent decades to prevent invasive alien species from entering and establishing in countries have had a positive effect.

Climate change will alter habitat suitability for plant communities in mountain ecosystems of the Western Himalaya. There will be contrasting magnitudes and spatial configurations of these changes for different plant species, and it is an important question how to translate these contrasts into effective climate-proof multi-species conservation planning. This study assessed current habitat associations and projected changes in suitable habitat for two contrasting species, Meconopsis aculeata and Rhododendron campanulatum, in Himachal Pradesh, India. Field surveys and spatially filtered occurrence records were combined with MaxEnt modelling using 10 non-collinear environmental predictors. Habitat suitability was projected to 2050 and 2070 under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways; SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 using HadGEM3-GC31-LL. Field observations showed contrasting habitat associations, with M. aculeata occurring mainly in open alpine herbaceous communities and R. campanulatum in subalpine woody communities. Elevation was an important predictor for both species while climatic predictors contributed differently to their relative importance and response patterns. Future projections indicated reductions in suitable habitat of approximately 25% for M. aculeata and 27-28% for R. campanulatum. Habitat-change maps showed heterogeneous patterns of loss, gain and persistence rather than uniform contraction, and centroid displacement remained small (7.7-8.5 km). We performed proximity analyses to show which currently suitable areas are most close to areas of future gain, in order to support the design of climate-proof protected areas. We discuss how interspecific differences in response are relevant to multi-species conservation planning that considers the spatial relationship between current high-suitability areas and the gain, loss and redistribution of future suitable habitat.

1. Global restoration targets, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the European Union's Nature Restoration Regulation, call for extending restoration beyond protected area boundaries to reconnect isolated ecosystems, yet implementing these landscape-scale interventions forces trade-offs between biophysical effectiveness and social feasibility. 2. In the Grenoble region of the French Alps, we used a gradient analysis of 12 ecosystem services across protected area interfaces to design and compare two restoration scenarios. Both were built from the same set of co-selected interventions but differed only in their spatial allocation: a 'Technical' scenario targeting areas of low ecosystem service continuity around protected areas, and a 'Participatory' scenario co-designed with local stakeholders. 3. Both scenarios physically modified about 14.5% of the landscape, mostly through a forest-based adaptation strategy, yet their effects reached up to more than 60% of the territory for the most connectivity-dependent services, showing that benefits propagate well beyond the area directly modified. 4. The two scenarios diverged mainly in how they treated agricultural land. The Technical scenario reduced abrupt drops in ecosystem service provision at the protected area edge nearly twice as often as the Participatory one (46% versus 26% of the sharp declines it addressed), and at six locations removed them entirely. However, it concentrated over 99% of its non-forest effort in agricultural diversification, such as diversifying crops and adding hedgerows, the action stakeholders ranked hardest to implement, whereas the Participatory scenario favoured more feasible actions such as river restoration, which met less resistance but missed several critical discontinuities in ecosystem service supply. 5. These contrasts show that biophysical potential and social feasibility can pull restoration in different directions, and that the more effective spatial configuration is not necessarily the more implementable one. 6. Closing the implementation gap for nature-based solutions depended less on expanding the area restored than on where interventions were placed. Gradient-based diagnostics appear most useful not as fixed prescriptions but as tools to steer existing sectoral funding in agriculture, urban planning and forestry toward high-impact locations, an approach transferable to other regions working to reconnect protected areas with their surrounding landscapes as coupled social-ecological systems.

The Community Conservation Index (CCI) developed by Chadd and Extence (2004) has been widely used to assess the conservation value of freshwater macroinvertebrate assemblages by integrating species rarity and community richness into a single metric. However, the original conservation scoring system was based largely on historical rarity designations and regional distribution data that no longer reflect current conservation assessments or recording coverage. This paper presents a comprehensive revision of the Conservation Scores underpinning the CCI. Species scores were updated using the latest IUCN-compliant Red List assessments for British freshwater invertebrates. For taxa classified as Least Concern, Data Deficient, or lacking a recent conservation assessment, scores were derived from national occurrence data across Great Britain for the period 1995-2024 using hectad occupancy. In addition, all non-native species were assigned a conservation score of zero to ensure they do not contribute positively to site conservation value. The revised dataset includes 1,680 taxa, compared with 1,117 in the original index, with 755 taxa receiving Conservation Scores for the first time. Thirty non-native taxa were assigned a score of zero. Among previously scored taxa, 165 received higher scores, 576 received lower scores, and 184 remained unchanged. The predominance of score reductions reflects improved knowledge of species distributions and the replacement of historical rarity classifications with contemporary assessments based on conservation status and national frequency of taxon occupancy. The revised CCI maintains the original strengths of combining rarity and richness while improving transparency, consistency and ecological relevance. By incorporating current Red List assessments, Great Britain-wide distribution data and revised treatment of non-native species, the updated index provides a more robust and nationally representative measure of freshwater macroinvertebrate conservation value. It offers an enhanced tool for biodiversity assessment, conservation prioritisation, site designation and environmental decision-making across freshwater ecosystems in Great Britain.