A Cross-Continental Multidisciplinary Network to Prevent the Climatic Extinction of Endangered Latin American Wildlife
(IAP-RP-AMR25005)

Principal investigators: Agustín Camacho Guerrero and Rubén G. Mateo, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Where species are threatened (Brazil)
We developed an open method, available as a preprint (Camacho et al., 2026, EarthArXiv. It flags populations that will face climates beyond their species' known historical limits during 2011–2040. It then ranks each locality by the value at stake, the urgency of action and the certainty of the threat. We applied it to verified records of Brazilian snakes and produced national maps of climatically threatened populations. These maps went to ICMBio/RAN, Brazil's reptile and amphibian conservation centre, as a pilot for prioritising herpetofauna conservation. They can now be viewed in an interactive geoportal at vulneraweb.com

Where to restore (Ecuador)
For mainland Ecuador, we modeled the distributions of 199 native tree species under climate change. This identified potential climate refugia and gaps in protected-area coverage. A restoration priority index combines current and future habitat suitability with ecosystem services. It identified 33 species that remain high priorities for restoration under both climate scenarios. A geoportal (https://www.geosabina.com/) is being developed to help practitioners choose suitable native species.

Building the network
In November 2025 we held the Connect-Wild Open Workshop at the University of São Paulo. It brought together eight researchers from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Spain, working on stress physiology, ecological interactions, genomics, museomics, modelling and in situ conservation. The project was also presented at the IAP symposium at Harvard University in June 2026. Joint fieldwork with Brazilian researchers took place in August–September 2026. Collaborations are under way with ICMBio, the Colombian Herpetological Society, and Brazilian researchers at USP, and the platforms have supported the training of internship and Erasmus students.


More information:
https://vulneraweb.com/


Read more:
» SABINA and Connect-Wild
» VULNERAWEB and Connect-Wild