Temporal changes in the
IUCN status of European herpetofauna
PI: Dr. Elina Takola
Shifts in the IUCN conservation status of European herpetofauna over time signal underlying ecological pressures and emerging conservation challenges. Quantitatively estimating these changes is essential for identifying species at greatest risk and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation measures over time. Herpetofauna, including amphibians and reptiles, are particularly sensitive to environmental changes, making them valuable bioindicators. By systematically analyzing shifts in IUCN statuses, researchers can uncover trends in extinction risk and link them to potential drivers such as habitat loss, land-use change, and especially climate change. Understanding these associations is crucial for predicting future vulnerabilities and guiding targeted conservation strategies across Europe’s rapidly changing landscapes.
Collaborators
(presented in an alphabetical order of their last name)
Jelka Crnobrnja-IsailovićDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Niš, Višegradska 33, 18000 Niš, Serbia
Isabel Damas Moreira
Department of Behavioural Ecology, Bielefeld University, Germany
Carolin Dittrich
Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chair of Limnology, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth
Department of Conservation and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz-Centre for Ecological Research
Flora Ihlow
Institute for environmental planning, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany
Belinda Kahnt
MLU Halle, General Zoology
Katharina Ruthsatz
Ecology, Evolution, and Development Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Doñana Biological Station, CSIC, Américo Vespucio, Sevilla, Spain
Dragica Šalamon
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Division of Animal Science
Inês Maria Simões Silva
Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) — Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Görlitz, Germany
Melita Vemberger
Senckenberg – Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research, Königsbrücker Landstraße159, D-01109 Dresden, Germany
Anamarija Žagar
National Institute of Biology NIB, Večna pot 121, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Open science & research transparency statement
We commit to conducting this project according to open science principles to maximize transparency, reproducibility, and reuse. Where feasible, we will preregister key research questions and the analysis plan, and we will clearly document and justify any deviations. We will share analysis code, workflows, and documentation using version control (e.g., GitHub/GitLab) and archive a release in a trusted repository (e.g., Zenodo/OSF) with a DOI. Data and metadata (including a data dictionary and provenance notes) will be deposited in an appropriate repository under an open license whenever possible. If data cannot be fully shared due to privacy, sensitive locations, legal constraints, or community/Indigenous data sovereignty, we will provide a transparent explanation, share de-identified or aggregated data when appropriate, and/or enable controlled access. We will support computational reproducibility by providing scripts to regenerate all results and figures and, where feasible, a reproducible computing environment. We will disseminate findings through preprints and open-access publication when possible and will make project outputs findable and reusable by following FAIR principles.