Evaluating solar potential and hydro-photovoltaic hybrid system prospects in a Brazilian hydropower reservoir

Rural women in developing countries often face significant barriers to employment, income generation, and access to productive resources. In Iran, medicinal plants (MPs) cultivation offers a sustainable pathway toward economic empowerment and livelihood resilience. This study develops and prioritizes strategies to enhance the livelihood sustainability of rural women through MPs cultivation using an integrated SWOT (Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats)–Fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process)–TOWS (Threats– Opportunities – Weaknesses– Strengths) model. Data collected from experts in agricultural and rural development sectors were analyzed to evaluate internal and external strategic factors. The strategic space analysis revealed that internal strengths (0.473) outweighed weaknesses (0.128), while external opportunities (0.325) surpassed threats (0.092), indicating that the favorable strategic space (O + S = 0.798) dominated the risky space (T + W = 0.220). Twelve strategies were formulated and prioritized, among which two emerged as most critical: (1) economic empowerment of rural women through home-based MPs processing enterprises and (2) promotion of greenhouse-based cultivation as a sustainable alternative to wild harvesting. The findings highlight the importance of leveraging indigenous knowledge, improving branding and packaging, and strengthening institutional support to achieve sustainable rural livelihoods. The proposed hybrid framework provides a replicable analytical tool for policymakers to design context-specific interventions linking women's empowerment, biodiversity conservation, and rural economic sustainability.

Urbanization in recent decades has led to changes in the structure of communities and ecosystem functions, including pollination and seed dispersal. Many plants rely on biotic vectors for these stages of their reproduction, while many animals depend on the plant resources acquired through these interactions. However, how these interactions overlap in urban environments is not well known. Here, we built multi-layered bird-plant networks characterizing resource use (nectarivory/frugivory) and ecosystem functions (pollination/seed dispersal) from an urban community in Brazil, asking whether biodiversity conservation can be optimized by considering multiple interactions simultaneously. The multilayer networks involving 86 bird and 108 plant species showed low modularity, indicating weak partitioning of interactions. Nevertheless, bird families showed specific associations across modules, indicating some preferences in resource use. Nevertheless, native and non-native plants were broadly distributed across modules, illustrating how the latter are embedded in urban ecological networks. Few species stood out as important contributors to multilayer network structure, including both native and non-native tree species. We find that no plant simultaneously provided both flower and fruit resources in equal importance, even with considerable overlap in the interaction layers. Our study illustrates the use of a recently developed network approach that can be applied to assess multiple interaction types simultaneously. This approach may be useful in finding species that contribute to multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously, or as in our case, show that although some overlap exists, different plant species are needed to fulfil distinct needs for bird species to promote biodiversity-friendly cities.

Cryopreservation of Aurelia aurita larvae, a new model for understanding cryobiology in high-water content marine species.

Identity is a fundamental concept in social psychology; however, its application in conservation education has been limited. This study examines the impact of naturalist identity on biodiversity conservation behaviors, focusing on both direct and indirect pathways mediated by a sense of obligation. Using a mixed-methods approach, we developed and validated a 10-item Naturalist Identity Scale (NIS) using a total of 824 valid responses from naturalists and college students, demonstrating strong psychometric properties and cross-group comparability. Results from 198 naturalists revealed that naturalist identity significantly predicts biodiversity-related actions, with a sense of obligation partially mediating this relationship. Consequently, the study provides a reliable scale for measuring naturalist identity and suggests that a stronger naturalist identity is associated with a higher frequency of biodiversity actions. Our findings emphasize the importance of identity in fostering conservation behaviors and offer practical insights for environmental education strategies.

Exploring the impact of human activities on habitat quality to support sustainable zoning management in transboundary basins: Evidence from the Lancang–Mekong River Basin

Understanding public conservation willingness is crucial for mitigating the global decline in avian diversity. Secondary school students, as key future actors and stakeholders in biodiversity conservation, represent a critical demographic, but their conservation willingness toward avian species remains largely underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted a questionnaire survey in 64 secondary schools across eight riparian cities along the Yellow River in Henan Province, China. Using the Great Bustard ( Otis tarda )—a national first-class protected species and local conservation flagship—as the focal species, we constructed piecewise structural equation models (SEMs) to identify the key factors influencing students’ conservation willingness. The questionnaire results revealed that although nearly 90% of students supported the Great Bustard conservation, only about 30% understood both its protection class and habitat characteristics, and less than half had relevant nature experience or had participated in local forestry departments’ science communication activities. The piecewise SEM results demonstrated that students’ interest in birds, knowledge level of the Great Bustard, and participation in science communication activities all exerted direct and significant positive influences on their conservation willingness. Furthermore, in addition to its direct effect, science communication engagement also indirectly enhanced conservation willingness by strengthening interest and knowledge, while the effects of grade level and nature experience were exclusively indirect, operating through the same pathways. To improve the effective conservation of the Great Bustard, we recommend that secondary schools strengthen collaborations with universities and nature reserves to enrich students’ nature experience, and that local forestry departments further expand the coverage and depth of science communication activities targeting adolescent groups.

In recent years, major technological advances have significantly improved our ability to assess the distribution and health status of marine habitats and their associated biodiversity. Yet, comprehensive overviews of how these innovations are being applied across public and private sectors remain scarce. One reason for this gap is partly due to still scarce interdisciplinary research and to the rapid pace of technological evolution, which often renders tools quickly obsolete, making it difficult for the scientific community to stay up to date. Also, despite their enormous potential, the high costs of advanced technologies still limit their accessibility and widespread use in marine monitoring. This review addresses these challenges by providing a comprehensive overview of the methodologies currently used to monitor and map marine biodiversity across diverse marine ecosystems, with a focus on technological developments from the last decade (2014-2024). By synthesizing approaches spanning marine robotics, remote sensing, and automated sensing systems, the review highlights both the expanding observational capabilities enabled by these tools and the limitations that hinder their effective operational uptake. By adopting an integrated and application-oriented perspective, this work aims to foster and pave the way for collaboration and knowledge exchange across disciplines and sectors, especially between ecologists, engineers, and stakeholders from private and public sectors, as well as to support the development of accessible, comparable, and actionable technological pathways for marine biodiversity monitoring and conservation.

Identify detailed dynamic processes and driving forces of forest fragmentation based on explainable AI: Taking a global biodiversity priority area as a case

Zoning effects on the community structure of freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates in a Mediterranean National Park (Central Apennine)

Telecoupled landscapes: Spatial effects of external financial inflows on Africa’s biodiversity

Bridging the gaps from core to core: Modeling shared ecological networks for waterbirds across the urban-nature reserve interface

The Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station (EEJI), a protected area in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome, harbors remarkable biodiversity, including diverse bioluminescent species. These organisms, which include beetles, fungi, and dinoflagellates, play essential ecological roles and hold significant potential for conservation-driven ecotourism. This study aimed to document the diversity of bioluminescent species at the EEJI and explore opportunities for sustainable tourism. Field surveys conducted across diverse habitats identified species of bioluminescent beetles, fungi, and dinoflagellates. Lampyridae dominated the beetle diversity, displaying ecological adaptability to forest and coastal environments, respectively. However, threats such as habitat degradation and light pollution pose significant risks. Inspired by models from Mexico and Malaysia, this study proposes sustainable management strategies, including guided night tours, light pollution control, and community-based conservation initiatives. By leveraging the ecological and aesthetic value of bioluminescent species, the EEJI can enhance biodiversity conservation, foster environmental education, and generate sustainable income for local communities.

Modeling policy decisions to mitigate the risk of emerging arboviral diseases under ecological changes in Uganda: Proposing a one Health in all policies approach.

Defined as the controlled breeding and rearing of aquatic organisms, conservation aquaculture has emerged as a strategy to support the management and conservation of natural resources. This study provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the subject, covering articles published between 1990 and 2025. Conservation aquaculture can be classified into three categories. The first, enhance , involves the restocking of populations at risk of extinction and encompasses strategies such as restocking, stock enhancement, and sea ranching. The second, restore , focuses on the recovery of native habitats through the use of cultivated species with key roles in environmental stability. Finally, replace refers to supplementing market demand with cultured organisms, thereby compensating for the removal from wild stocks, reducing fishing pressure, and contributing to the long-term sustainability of natural populations. The findings suggest that conservation aquaculture cannot be regarded as a universal solution to population declines and should be applied cautiously, preferably as a last resort, due to its considerable economic demands and potential ecological risks. Among the strategies evaluated, replace emerges as the most promising approach for mitigating the impacts of extractive fisheries. The development of standardized metrics and operational guidelines is strongly recommended to guide future interventions and improve the effectiveness of aquatic biodiversity conservation. • Conservation outcomes of fish restocking programs are examined • Ecological roles of released species in enhancement initiatives are discussed • Case studies from marine and freshwater systems are reviewed • Ecological risks associated with species releases are highlighted • Monitoring and governance challenges in restocking programs are analyzed

Integrating conservation zoning, land-use and land-cover change, and habitat integrity to support protected area management: Evidence from Golestan National Park, Iran

Bridging policy and practice: Organizational and psychological factors shaping outdoor recreation in Brazilian protected areas

Mythology and machine: harnessing the power of traditional knowledge and artificial intelligence for biodiversity conservation in South West Nigeria

Forests play a key role in biodiversity conservation supporting local livelihoods. These ecosystems face threats from agricultural expansion, forest fires, and unsustainable land use practices. This study focused on assessing woody species diversity, their conservation status, biogeography, and local use values, and established a geospatial database in Dugo Watershed in Tadian, Mountain Province. The goal was to provide baseline data for conservation planning of the watershed. Nineteen plots recorded 81 woody species from 60 genera and 36 families. Dominant species included Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon and Ficus benguetensis Merr. The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index measured 2.84, indicating moderate species diversity in the area. There are 14 species classified as threatened woody species consisting of: three endangered, four near threatened, two other threatened, and five vulnerable. Highpriority species such as endangered Guioa acuminata Radlk. and vulnerable Saurauia bontocensis Merr. are endemic with specific habitat requirements, making them highly sensitive to disturbance. The presence of several endemic species further underscores the watershed’s conservation value. Documented species use range from ecological functions to economic and cultural purposes, indicating strong potential for community-based stewardship. Geographic Information System (GIS) showed the distribution of species to support monitoring and management. The findings emphasize the need for community-based conservation efforts, habitat restoration, and regular monitoring to strengthen the watershed’s biodiversity and ecological resilience.

Precise airborne pollen forecasting is essential for mitigating exposure risks in individuals with pollen-related respiratory diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma and for supporting timely public health warning. Moreover, long-term accurate pollen forecasts could also support biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functions, and public-health protection. We developed an ensemble forecasting model for airborne grass (Poaceae) pollen concentrations in three climatically distinct European cities: Augsburg (Germany, transitional temperate-continental), Córdoba (Spain, dry Mediterranean), and Thessaloniki (Greece, humid Mediterranean). Pollen data (2018-2024) from Hirst-type volumetric traps were combined with meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity, precipitation). The 2024 pollen data were used for validation. Of 61 candidates, seven representative model families (Regularized Linear Regression, Extreme Gradient Boosting, Neural Network Autoregression [NNETAR], Random Forest, Support Vector Regression, Prophet-XGBoost hybrid, and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average [ARIMA]) were selected for the ensemble. Model weights were assigned according to predictive performance. The ensemble achieved R2 values of 0.66 in Augsburg, 0.62 in Córdoba and 0.84 in Thessaloniki, with NNETAR and/or ARIMA contributing most strongly during the pollen season. Lagged pollen concentrations and previous-day temperature emerged as key predictors. When incorporating data from an automatic pollen monitor (BAA500, Helmut Hund GmbH) in Augsburg, the model achieved higher predictive performance (R2=0.89). Our findings demonstrate that ensemble-based pollen forecasting may generalize across contrasting bioclimatic regions, while remaining sensitive to local ecological and climatic controls. This framework provides a foundation for more powerful (real-time) forecasting systems aimed primarily at improving daily allergy risk management, while potentially offering complementary insights into longer-term vegetation dynamics under climate variability.