Briefly INTERNATIONAL
Carbon-rich peatlands are dangerously under protected A new study reveals that peatlands, crucial carbon stores covering 3% of the Earth’s surface, are dangerously underprotected, posing a significant risk to the global cli- mate. Peatlands store 600 billion t of car- bon, more than all of the world’s forests combined, but only 17% are within pro- tected areas (compared to 38% of tropical forests and 42% of mangroves). Human ac- tivities are a major threat, with c. 25%of peatlands under pressure from agriculture and resource extraction. When drained or disturbed, peatlands release vast amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to global warming. Conserving and restoring peat- lands is essential to keeping global heating below internationally agreed targets, but most countries do not have comprehensive peatland strategies to support their national climate plans. The new study also highlights that c. 27% of global peatlands are located on Indigenous Peoples’ lands, where they are often well-managed. Strengthening In- digenous land rights is thus a key strategy for improving peatland conservation. Sources: Conservation Letters (2025)
doi.org/g8443f &Wildlife Conservation Society (2025)
peatlands.earth
Overfishing has halved shark and ray populations since 1970 ... An analysis published in Science reveals over- fishing has caused populations of chon- drichthyan fishes (sharks, rays and chimaeras) to decline by.50%since 1970. To determine the consequences, a teamof researchers devel- oped an aquatic Red List Index, which shows the risk of extinction for chondrichthyans has increased by 19%. The study also highlights that overfishing of the largest species in near- shoreand pelagichabitatscould eliminateup to 22% of ecological functions. The wide- spread documented declines are expected to have significant consequences on other spe- cies and aquatic ecosystems, as sharks and rays are important predators and their decline disrupts ocean food webs. Despite the alarm- ing trends, the teamemphasized positive pro- gress regarding the appreciation and conser- vation of sharks and rays, with bright spots of hope for chondrichthyans in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and parts of Europe and South Africa. Sources: Science (2024)
doi.org/pdm9 & Simon Fraser University (2024)
sfu.ca/ sfunews/stories/2024/12/new-study-finds- overfishing-has-halved-shark-and-ray-
populations.html
.. . and high fertilizer use halves pollinator numbers The longest-running ecological experiment has shown that using high levels of com- mon fertilizers on grassland halves pollin- ator numbers and drastically reduces the number of flowers. Bees were most affected, with over nine times more individuals in chemical-free plots compared to plots with the highest levels of fertilizer. Fertilizers create conditions that allow fast-growing grasses to dominate, crowding out other grasses and flowers. It is assumed that having a greater diversity of flowers leads to a greater diversity of pollinators, which often have specialist requirements in terms of the blooms they like to visit. The researchwas carried out in Rothamsted, UK, on strips of grassland called Park Grass, which have been studied since 1856. The average fertilizer use on grassland in the UK is c. 100 kg per ha. The highest amount in the experiment was 144 kg per ha, which resulted in the greatest pollinator declines (of 50% or more). The study illustrates the problem farmers face: to increase flowering plant and pollinator species the land needs to be less fertile, reducing yields. Sources: npj Biodiversity (2025)
doi.org/ g83wjs&The Guardian (2025) theguardian. com/environment/2025/jan/20/uk- agriculture-farming-fertilisers-yields- biodiversity-study-park-grass-pollinators- bees-wildflowers-aoe
Speed reductions for ships could reduce collisions with whales A study has for the first time quantified the risk of whale–ship collisions worldwide for four geographically widespread ocean giants that are threatened by shipping: blue, fin, humpback and sperm whales. Researchers found that global shipping traf- fic overlaps with c. 92% of these species’ ranges, but that only c. 7% of areas at high- est risk of collisions have any measures in place to protect whales from the threat. These measures include speed reductions for ships in waters that overlap with whale migration or feeding areas. Managing only 2.6% of the ocean’s surface in this way would reduce risk at all known collision hot spots. Climate change is predicted to ac- celerate the risk, as melting arctic sea ice will bring ships into novel areas, putting whales at risk as they shift their range northward, tracking preferred sea surface temperatures and food at the edge of the sea ice. Sources: Science (2024)
doi.org/pcfx & British Antarctic Survey (2024)
bas.ac.uk/ media-post/whale-ship-strikes-could-be- reduced-by-making-2-6-of-ocean-surface- safer
Global wildlife trade is an enormous market Over the last 22 years, people in the USA le- gally imported c. 2.85 billion individual an- imals of almost 30,000 species, making the country one of the world’s biggest wildlife importers. Some of these wild animals be- come pets, including reptiles, spiders, clownfish, primates and tigers, and many end up in zoos and aquariums. Thousands of macaques are imported for medical re- search every year, and globally the fashion trade imports c. 1-2 million crocodile skins annually. The taxa with the largest number of imported species are birds—4,985 differ- ent species are imported each year, followed by reptiles, with 3,048 species, led by igua- nas and royal pythons. Captive breeding plays an increasingly dominant role to limit the effect on wild populations, but over half of individuals from most groups (e.g. amphibians or mammals) still come fromthewild, and there is no data on the im- pact of thewildlife trade on most wild popu- lations. Sustainable wildlife trade is possible, but it relies on careful monitoring to balance wild harvest and captive breeding. Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025)
doi.org/g8×7k2 & The Conversation (2025)
phys.org/news/ 2025-01-global-wildlife-enormous-
imports-billions.html
Wind turbines impair bats’ access to water bodies Bats depend on open bodies of water such as small ponds and lakes for foraging and drink- ing. Access to water is particularly important for survival in increasingly hot and dry sum- mers, when female bats are pregnant and rear their young. Research has nowshown that ac- cess to drinking sites ishamperedbywind tur- bines in agricultural landscapes, as many bat species avoid the turbines and nearby water bodies for several kilometres. Using acoustic detectors, a team analysed the spatial behav- iour of bats in three functional guilds: open space foraging bats (that hunt above fields or forest canopies), narrow space foraging bats (thathuntin dense vegetation, e.g. below the forest canopy) and edge space for- aging bats (specialized in foraging in transi- tion zones such as forest edges). The results clearly showed that bats specialized to forage in the open space and in dense vegetation avoided water bodies located near wind turbines. Sources: Biological Conservation (2025) doi. org/pdmm & Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (2025)
izw-berlin.de/en/ press-release/wind-turbines-impair-the- access-of-bats-to-water-bodies-in-
agricultural-landscapes.html
Oryx, 2025, 59(1), 4–9 © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605325000523
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