Species & Ecosystem Recovery

Basic biodiversity research

• Baseline research and monitoring of focal species and ecosystems
  • Remote sensing
  • Bioacoustics
  • Camera traps
  • LiDAR
• Case studies
• Gap analysis to identify research and monitoring priorities
• Assessments of species status (e.g., IUCN Red List and Green Status)
• Changes in species and ecosystem status through time (historical ecology and paleobiology)

Finding and communicating solutions for species and ecosystem recovery

• Impact evaluation
  • Field experiments (whole-ecosystem manipulation)
  • Counterfactual analysis
• Nature-based solutions
• Human dimensions of recovery
  • Scenarios/trajectories of human development and their implications for biodiversity recovery
  • Translation of research into policy

Nunes, S. F., Powell, K., Griffith, P., Carretero, M. A., Rebelo, R., Cabeza, M., & Rocha, R. (2026). Island-restricted reptiles are more threatened but less studied than their mainland counterparts. Conservation Science and Practice, 8(3), e70184. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70184

Rowley, S., López-Baucells, A., Rocha, R., Bobrowiec, P.E.D. and Meyer, C.F.J. (2024), Secondary forest buffers the effects of fragmentation on aerial insectivorous bat species following 30 years of passive forest restoration. Restor Ecol, 32: e14093. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14093

Órfão, I., Álvarez, S., Ramalhosa, P., González, C., Vieira, C., Almeida, S. et al. (2024). Searching for the critically endangered European eel in oceanic islands: A pioneer study in the freshwater systems of Madeira, Macaronesia. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 34(2), e4106. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.4106

Grace M. Assessing Species Conservation Status: The IUCN Red List and Green Status of Species. In: Maclean N, ed. The Living Planet: The State of the World’s Wildlife. Cambridge University Press; 2023:333-348. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108758826.019

Festa, F., Ancillotto, L., Santini, L., Pacifici, M., Rocha, R., Toshkova, N., Amorim, F., Benítez-López, A., Domer, A., Hamidović, D., Kramer-Schadt, S., Mathews, F., Radchuk, V., Rebelo, H., Ruczynski, I., Solem, E., Tsoar, A., Russo, D. and Razgour, O. (2023), Bat responses to climate change: a systematic review. Biol Rev, 98: 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12893

Martins B, Silva-Rocha I, Mata VA, Gonçalves Y, Rocha R and Rato C (2022) Trophic interactions of an invasive gecko in an endemic-rich oceanic island: Insights using DNA metabarcoding. Front. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.1044230

López-Bosch, D., Rocha, R., López-Baucells, A., Wang, Y., Si, X., Ding, P., Gibson, L. and Palmeirim, A.F. (2022), Passive acoustic monitoring reveals the role of habitat affinity in sensitivity of sub-tropical East Asian bats to fragmentation. Remote Sens Ecol Conserv, 8: 208-221. https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.237