TMB - Tropical and Mediterranean Biodiversity

The primary objective of our group is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and promote science-based ecosystem management. Our aim is to curb the loss of biodiversity and advocate for sustainable practices in ecosystem management.

Bats and birds are speciose groups with very diverse ecologies, playing crucial roles in ecosystems. Most of our research focuses on the ecology of these two groups or uses them as models to address ecosystem and landscape-level questions.

We study the impact of large-scale changes in African and South American rainforests on biodiversity, mostly through habitat degradation and fragmentation. In Mediterranean oak woodlands and grasslands, we investigate how anthropogenic elements (livestock, tree rows, roads, power lines) impact animal species and communities. We aim to develop improved management strategies to address these impacts.

Simultaneously, we are researching services provided by wild animals, such as seed dispersal, pest suppression and landscape engineering, with the goal of enhancing ecosystems’ resilience to environmental change and social aspects of conservation. We expect to translate this knowledge into guidelines and practices promoting biodiversity conservation, agro-ecology and the sustainable use of resources.

Finally, we are researching methods to enhance the efficiency of biodiversity monitoring, a major current challenge in conservation ecology, utilising automatic acoustic monitoring.

We collaborate with many national and international research and conservation organisations, such as Univ Salford, Univ Autónoma de Madrid, Instituto para a Biodiversidade e Áreas Protegidas (Guinea-Bissau), and BirdLife International. Most researchers and PhD students are active in outreach and science communication through conferences, guided tours, bioblitz activities, and environmental NGOs.