Increasing conflicts and social insecurity are expected to accelerate biodiversity decline and escalate illegal wildlife killing. Sahara‐Sahel megafauna has experienced recent continuous decline due to unsustainable hunting pressure. Here, we provide the best available data on distribution and population trends of threatened, large vertebrates, to illustrate how escalating regional conflict (565% growth since 2011) is hastening population decline in areas that were formerly refugia for megafauna. Without conservation action, the unique and iconic biodiversity of Earth's largest desert will be forever lost. We recommend: (1) establishing strong commitments for change in global attitude toward nature; (2) engraining a culture of environmental responsibility among all stakeholders; (3) fostering environmental awareness to drive societal change; (4) reinforcing regional security and firearms control; and (5) implementing local research and wildlife monitoring schemes. We identify relevant international partners needed to tackle these challenges and to make strong policy change for biodiversity conservation and regional stability.

Aim: Identification of priority conservation areas and evaluation of coverage of the current protected areas are urgently needed to halt the biodiversity loss. Identifying regions combining similar environmental traits (climate regions) and species assemblages (biogroups) is needed for conserving the biodiversity patterns and processes. We identify climate regions and biogroups and map species diversity across the Sahara‐Sahel, a large geographical area that exhibits wide environmental heterogeneity and multiple species groups with distinct biogeographical affinities, and evaluate the coverage level of current network of protected areas for biodiversity conservation.Location: Sahara‐Sahel, Africa.Methods: We use spatially explicit climate data with the principal component analysis and model‐based clustering techniques to identify climate regions. We use distributions of 1147 terrestrial vertebrates (and of 125 Sahara‐Sahel endemics) and apply distance clustering methods to identify biogroups for both species groups. We apply reserve selection algorithms targeting 17% of species distribution, climate regions and biogroups to identify priority areas and gap analysis to assess their representation within the current protected areas.Results: Seven climate regions were identified, mostly arranged as latitudinal belts. Concentrations of high species richness were found in the Sahel, but the central Sahara gathers most endemic and threatened species. Ten biogroups (five for endemics) were identified. A wide range of biogroups tend to overlap in specific climate regions. Identified priority areas are inadequately represented in protected areas, and six new top conservation areas are needed to achieve conservation targets.Main conclusions: Biodiversity distribution in Sahara‐Sahel is spatially structured and apparently related to environmental variation. Although the majority of priority conservation areas are located outside the areas of intense human activities, many cross multiple political borders and require internationally coordinated efforts for implementation and management. Optimized biodiversity conservation solutions at regional scale are needed. Our work contradicts the general idea that deserts are uniform areas and provide options for the conservation of endangered species.

Bees are important actors in terrestrial ecosystems and are recognised for their prominent role as pollinators. In the Iberian Peninsula, approximately 1,100 bee species are known, with nearly 100 of these species being endemic to the Peninsula. A reference collection of DNA barcodes, based on morphologically identified bee specimens, representing 514 Iberian species, was constructed. The "InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: DNA Barcodes of Iberian bees" dataset contains records of 1,059 sequenced specimens. The species of this dataset correspond to about 47% of Iberian bee species diversity and 21% of endemic species diversity. For peninsular Portugal only, the corresponding coverage is 71% and 50%. Specimens were collected between 2014 and 2022 and are deposited in the research collection of Thomas Wood (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, The Netherlands), in the FLOWer Lab collection at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), in the Andreia Penado collection at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP) (Portugal) and in the InBIO Barcoding Initiative (IBI) reference collection (Vairão, Portugal). Of the 514 species sequenced, 75 species from five different families are new additions to the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) and 112 new BINs were added. Whilst the majority of species were assigned to a single BIN (94.9%), 27 nominal species were assigned to multiple BINs. Although the placement into multiple BINs may simply reflect genetic diversity and variation, it likely also represents currently unrecognised species-level diversity across diverse taxa, such as Amegilla albigena Lepeletier, 1841, Andrena russula Lepeletier, 1841, Lasioglossum leucozonium (Schrank, 1781), Nomada femoralis Morawitz, 1869 and Sphecodes alternatus Smith, 1853. Further species pairs of Colletes, Hylaeus and Nomada were placed into the same BINs, emphasising the need for integrative taxonomy within Iberia and across the Mediterranean Basin more broadly. These data substantially contribute to our understanding of bee genetic diversity and DNA barcodes in Iberia and provide an important baseline for ongoing taxonomic revisions in the West Palaearctic biogeographical region.

Research on terrestrial carnivore ecology frequently relies on scat identification and analysis. However, species assignment is commonly based on scat morphology. Potential errors in scat identification are rarely accounted for and might contribute to substantial bias of the final results. Using molecular methods, we evaluate the accuracy of species identification based on morphological characteristics of mammalian mesocarnivore scats collected in two areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Our results revealed that error rates in species assignment of scats based on morphology were highly variable, ranging from 14%, for putative red fox Vulpes vulpes samples, to 88%, for putative wildcats Felis silvestris. The developed models revealed that putative species, season, study area and target species abundance are among the factors involved in identification accuracy. However, the low variability explained suggests that unaccounted factors also had significant effects on accuracy rates. The error rates in scat species assignment constitute a potential source of bias in ecological studies, with serious consequences for the management of threatened species, as unrealistic estimates of status and distribution are prone to occur. Our results suggest that scat identification accuracy rates are circumstance‐specific and therefore should not be transferred or extrapolated. We suggest that scat‐based studies should implement measures (molecular or others) that allow researchers to determine their own circumstance‐specific error rates in scat identification, which should be incorporated in subsequent analyses, ensuring reliable ecological inferences.

Hemp fibers derived from Cannabis sativa L. have experienced a resurgence in popularity over the past few decades, establishing themselves as one of the most sought-after fibers. This article delves into the intricacies of the hemp production chain, offering a comprehensive understanding from field to fiber. Key aspects covered include the botany of hemp, cultivation requirements, the impact of various factors on plant growth, the harvesting process, different methods of fiber extraction, fibers properties, and suitable spinning processes. Recent studies of hemp’s Life Cycle Assessment are explored, shedding light on how it compares to other sustainable crops and providing insights into the true sustainability of hemp, substantiated by numerical data. The article also addresses challenges encountered throughout the hemp production chain and speculates on future directions that may unfold in the coming years. The overall goal of this study is to provide a knowledge base encompassing every facet of hemp fiber production. It elucidates how different technological approaches and the technical properties of fibers play pivotal roles in determining their ultimate applications. By offering a comprehensive overview, this article contributes to the broader understanding of hemp as a valuable and sustainable resource in the textile industry.