2025-08-12 13:00 - The Romans are Coming!
2025-08-21 12:00 - Museum Marvellous Medicine
Postdoctoral Research Associate: Producing wood at least cost to the planet (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral research associate to join the group of Professor Andrew Balmford in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge.
The successful candidate will lead research examining how to meet rising timber demands while protecting biodiversity, carbon storage, and ecosystem services from landscape to global scales. The PDRA will be responsible for collating and analyzing global field datasets from contrasting timber production systems in order to identify which landscape-level combinations of systems best balance biodiversity, carbon, and yield outcomes. They will also help coordinate and implement future field campaigns to fill key field data gaps.
Additionally, the successful candidate will be responsible for advancing cutting-edge methods for quantifying global extinction risks and climate impacts embedded within international wood trade networks, enabling robust attribution of environmental impacts from harvest to consumption. These will be used to generate data-driven insights into the environmental footprints of key wood industry actors, the potential effectiveness of policy interventions at multiple scales, and the comparative impacts of wood-related demand- and supply-side interventions.
As part of these efforts, the successful candidate will be expected to engage with other stakeholders to develop business-science alliances and initiatives for improving the environmental impacts of wood production over broad spatial scales.
Required Skills and Qualifications:
- PhD in a forestry- or conservation-related discipline.
- Strong background in field survey design, statistical sampling and analysis of large, multi-taxa biodiversity datasets.
- Expertise in landscape-level biodiversity and production analyses using R, QGIS, Google Earth Engine.
- Extensive fieldwork experience, including managing data collection within multiple forestry systems.
- Ability to communicate research findings clearly in oral and written formats to collaborators and to work collaboratively with scientific, industry and government stakeholders.
- Strong organisational and time management skills.
Desirable skills and knowledge
- Postdoctoral research in quantitative science related to forestry or conservation.
- Experience in forest conservation across tropical and temperate biomes.
The postholder will be based in the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge and will be expected to work on site at least three days per week.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for one year with a possibility of extension subject to project status and funding.
Flexible working requests will be considered.
We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our University.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.
Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117
Please quote reference PF46869 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
2025-08-20 17:30 - Hidden Cambridge: The Unusual, The Quirky, and the Downright Bizarre! A Walking Tour
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in cellular biophysics in the group of Prof. Ewa Paluch. The Paluch lab studies cellular morphogenesis combining cell and molecular biology, quantitative imaging and biophysical approaches to investigate cell shape changes in cultured cells and in vivo. Current projects in the lab include investigating the regulation of the mechanical properties of the cellular actin cortex, the biomechanics of cell division, and the coupling between cell shape and mechanics and state / fate during cellular transitions.
The successful candidate will conduct fundamental research aimed at understanding the nanoscale regulation of contractile tension in the actomyosin cortex. The aim of the project is to 1) develop new tools to quantitively characterise actin and myosin organisation at the cortex, and 2) investigate how actin-myosin nanoscale organisation changes during the cortical tension increase associated with mitotic entry.
You should hold a PhD (or about to be awarded a PhD) in Cell Biology, Cell Biophysics, or a related field and have extensive experience with cell and molecular biology, quantitative imaging and image analysis. Experience investigating cellular actin organisation will be considered an advantage.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.
Further information on the lab: https://www.pdn.cam.ac.uk/directory/ewa-paluch and https://paluchlab.uk
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 30 April 2028 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
To apply for this post, please submit a CV and a motivation letter detailing why you want to be part of this project and how this post will be a good stepping-stone for your career. We also need the contact details for two people who can provide a professional reference.
The closing date for applications is 19th August 2025.
Please quote reference PM46837 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Assistant/Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a 6-month Research Assistant/Research Associate position to join an international team in the Department of Genetics in central Cambridge. The project is led by Dr Ben Steventon and is aimed towards understanding how multi-tissue interactions time the development of the early central nervous system. The role will involve performing tissue ablation experiments in the early chick embryo, following by gene expression studies and live imaging.
We are looking for a highly motivated and well-organised person, with a first degree in biological or biomedical sciences and experience in molecular biology.
The project will involve learning and applying cutting-edge live imaging techniques including the quantification of tissue flow and tracking dynamic cell behaviours. Experience in the ex ovo culture and manipulation of the chick embryo is required, along with experience in the generation and analysis of single cell RNAseq datasets. It is also essential that the candidate can demonstrate a high level of organisational ability with experience in data collection and database management. The work will be embedded in a dynamic research group that utilizes a range of biological systems to tackle fundamental problems of early embryonic development.
Specific experience required:
- Experimental embryology of the chick embryo: ES and New Culture, tissue ablation, tissue grafting
- Imaging: Confocal microscopy and spinning disk microscopy
- Single cell RNAseq analysis
A PhD in Developmental Biology is essential for this role. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, updated to Postdoctoral Research Associate level once their PhD has been awarded. Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 6 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
For informal enquiries about the role please contact Dr Ben Stevention bjs57@cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference PC46833 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a Grade 7 Post-Doctoral Research Associate position to join an international team in the Department of Genetics in central Cambridge. The project is led by Dr Ben Steventon and is aimed towards understanding the interplay of ECM, multi-tissue morphogenesis and gene expression during the development of the vertebral column. The project will involve experiments tracking tissue level morphometric changes, cell movements in 3D and ECM remodelling.
We are looking for a highly motivated and well-organised person, with a PhD in Developmental Biology.
Specific experience required:
- Working with early development of zebrafish or chick embryos
- Advanced imaging technologies including confocal and light-sheet microscopy
- Experience with a broad range of light imaging modalities, including but not limited to: confocal, light-sheet and spinning disk microscopy
- Methods to quantify tissue shape changes during development
- Experience researching the role of ECM in the control of tissue morphogenesis
For further details on our research, please visit steventonlab.wordpress.com
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 18 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
For informal enquiries about the role please contact Dr Ben Steventon bjs57@cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference PC46826 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
£100m to invest in University of Cambridge spinouts
The post £100m to invest in University of Cambridge spinouts appeared first on Cambridge Enterprise.
Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term)
We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join an exciting Leverhulme Trust-funded project entitled "Into the minds of magpies: cognition, development, and comparative perspectives", based at the University of Cambridge with Prof Nicola Clayton FRS. This is a fixed-term post with funds available for 3 years. The work will be carried out at the University of Cambridge Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, located in Madingley village.
Whilst the mental abilities of corvids (the crow family) appear to rival those of the great apes, research with perhaps the UK's most ostentatious and culturally significant corvid species, the magpie (Pica pica), has remained scarce. Despite that magpies are often considered to be cunning and display seemingly 'intelligent' behaviours, the extent of their cognitive abilities remains unknown. This project will address this research gap by systematically assessing the mental capabilities and cognitive development of magpies.
Although freedom and flexibility will be given to the PDRA to tailor the experiments to their own interests and skills, this project has three general overarching and overlapping objectives: 1) To investigate the cognitive capabilities of magpies as a species, using well-established experimental paradigms employed across comparative psychology; 2) To assess how their cognition varies from hatching to adulthood, providing insights into the development of cognition in magpies and corvids in general; and 3) To position magpies within the corvid cognition research body and the broader framework of comparative cognition, shedding light on how various ecological and social pressures may shape cognition.
The PDRA will be primarily responsible for collecting and hand-rearing wild Eurasian magpies, and for designing and planning the experimental procedures, building the experimental apparatus, conducting the experiments, analysing the data, and producing the manuscripts for publication (as first author), as well as disseminating the results of the project at various conferences. Assistance will be given throughout by members of the Cambridge Comparative Cognition Research group (as well as external collaborators) and so will also provide the PDRA with opportunities for mentorship and leadership.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.
Applications are welcome from internal candidates who would like to apply for the role on the basis of a secondment from their current role in the University.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
The applicant must hold a PhD in psychology, animal behaviour, or another related field and must show experience with having worked with animals, ideally birds (and preferentially corvids). The applicant must have significant experience in animal cognition/experimental psychology research (including a relevant publication track record) and must demonstrate their ability to independently conduct and lead the research in order to successfully meet the project objectives. See the Further Particulars document for more details.
Informal queries regarding this post may be sent to Prof Nicola Clayton FRS (nsc22@cam.ac.uk).
If you have queries about the application process please contact Megan Norkett (hr-team@psychol.cam.ac.uk).
Please quote reference PJ46816 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
New treatment could reduce brain damage from stroke
The post New treatment could reduce brain damage from stroke appeared first on Cambridge Enterprise.
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
We are recruiting for a postdoctoral researcher to be based in the laboratory of Prof. Jim Haseloff at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. The appointee will help develop new approaches to bioproduction in the model liverwort plant Marchantia polymorpha. Work with Marchantia allows streamlined approaches to genome modification, cell dynamics and morphogenetic engineering. The planned work includes use of a collection of synthetic gene elements designed for engineering the Marchantia chloroplast genome, with prototyping in bacterial systems. These allow hyper- expression of proteins in bacteria and transgenic plants. For the latter, we are developing hydroponic systems for large-scale, soil-free propagation of plants, and low-cost downstream processing of plant extracts for purification of recombinant proteins at scale. We are looking for a highly motivated appointee to work in this area. The successful candidate will have a PhD degree and background in plant molecular biology or synthetic biology, including experience with Marchantia polymorpha. Experience with plant culture, DNA manipulation, microscopy, molecular biology and biotechnical aspects of plant growth and production will be advantageous. The full-time, fixed term position is available for 6 months, starting 1st September 2025.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 6 months in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please notice that if you have not received any news from us 1 month after the closing date you should consider that on this occasion your application has not been successful.
Please quote reference PD46809 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Cambridge hosts TERA-Award with Barocal the $1m winner
The post Cambridge hosts TERA-Award with Barocal the $1m winner appeared first on Cambridge Enterprise.
Building Manager (Fixed Term)
The Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit is a leading International Research Institute within the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge. The Unit's overall aims are to carry out pioneering research which leads to improved health.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Building Manager to join the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge. You will play a key role in the smooth operation of the Building Services team across the Unit. The post is integral for maintaining the physical infrastructure, facilities and high-quality support services in order to ensure effective operation of research activities in the Unit.
Your responsibilities will include assisting with the day-to-day operations of buildings and sites, ensuring they remain safe, functional, and fit for purpose. You will carry out property checks to maintain building safety, work alongside contractors, and provide access for both reactive and planned maintenance tasks. As part of a collaborative team, you will help deliver high-quality facilities services that support and contribute to the efficient running of university buildings and sites.
You will be educated to degree level in a relevant subject (or equivalent relevant professional qualification) with experience of building maintenance, managing building related projects and a working knowledge of H&S and Fire Safety legislation. Excellent communication and organisational skills are required together with the ability to organise and develop the building services team to achieve maximum efficiency to support the Unit's research.
Alongside a competitive salary, University staff are eligible for a comprehensive package of benefits and services include discounts on shopping, health care, financial services, and public transport. We also offer defined benefits pension schemes and tax-efficient bicycle, car lease and charity-giving schemes.
Please note we will be reviewing applications on a regular basis. We reserve the right to close the position early once the available position is filled.
Applications are welcome from internal candidates who would like to apply for the role based on a secondment from their current role in the University.
Previous applicants who have been unsuccessful need not apply.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 March 2027 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact hradmin@mrc-tox.cam.ac.uk
Further information about the Toxicology Unit can be found on our website: https://www.mrc-tox.cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference PU46765 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
2025-08-10 15:00 - Chalchitra - Celebrating India through a weekend of talks and discussions
Research Assistant/Associate (Fixed Term)
The Department of Genetics is seeking to appoint a short-term postdoctoral Research Assistant/Associate to start as soon as possible to complete work with Professor Richard Durbin on studies into the genomics of population structure and speciation in the Malawi cichlid genus Labeotropheus.
This post will build on past work in which over 1000 samples of Labeotropheus from multiple species/populations have been collected in Malawi under a joint agreement with the Government of Malawi, with field phenotype data, genomic sequencing data obtained in the UK, and micro-CT scanning data being also collected. Initial analysis suggests recurrent selection of divergent types in multiple locations. The aim of this role is to complete this analysis and prepare a manuscript for submission for publication. The position is available up until the end of 2025.
Where a PhD has yet to be awarded the appointment will initially be made at Research Assistant level (Grade 5) and amended to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon the award of PhD. If a PhD is not held, the appointment will be made at Research Assistant level.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 December 2025 in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
For informal enquiries about the role please contact Professor Richard Durbin rd109@cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference PC46745 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Associate - Moyroud Group (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in the group of Dr Edwige Moyroud at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University. The successful candidate will conduct fundamental research aimed at investigating the mechanisms responsible for cell fate specification and differentiation during petal development using Hibiscus trionum as a model system. The post holder will combine genetic analysis and functional investigations in planta with a range of imaging techniques (including CryoSEM and confocal microscopy) to investigate the mechanisms allowing candidates genes previously identified by the Moyroud lab to specify distinct cell shapes across the petal epidermis. This post requires pro-active and creative candidates who thrive addressing broad and ambitious biological questions, seek to broaden their experimental skills and are enthusiastic about using multidisciplinary approaches to understand how plants can pattern their lateral organs to generate functional surfaces.
Candidates must have, or be close to obtaining, a PhD in either Plant Biology, Development, Molecular & Cell Biology or Genetics. The successful candidate will have advanced knowledge of, or experience in, classical and molecular genetic techniques, assays to investigate gene expression, diverse microscopy techniques (light, SEM/TEM, confocal¿etc), plant transformation and phenotypic analysis at cellular and tissular levels. Experience working with established plant model systems, alongside a willingness and ability to work with an emerging model species, is essential. Previous experience with image analysis, producing and/or analysing next-generation sequencing data (bulk RNAseq or single-nuclei/single-cell RNAseq), and knowledge of the mechanisms governing plant morphogenesis would also be advantageous.
The successful candidate will be fully involved in writing up their research work for presentation and publication and will be encouraged and supported in preparing applications for independent fellowships. The post holder will be required to assist in the supervision of student projects and deliver seminars relating to their research area. We also actively engage in interactive outreach activities with a broad audience and a clear interest in science communication is important. The Moyroud group is looking for a strong team player, keen to work in a highly collaborative set-up and enthusiastic to join a diverse and interdisciplinary team that draws on the different experiences of its members. Continuing to build an inclusive culture that supports, encourages and celebrates diverse voices is essential to us. We are looking for a new team member with strong interpersonal skills, keen to interact with group members, support staff and other researchers at SLCU from different backgrounds.
The Laboratory provides a welcoming and collaborative environment with a strong mentoring culture and offers a wide-range of development opportunities and family-friendly benefits. More about the Sainsbury Laboratory and details of what the University offers to employees can be found at: http://www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/.
Scientific enquiries apart from the formal application should be directed to Dr Edwige Moyroud at edwige.moyroud@slcu.cam.ac.uk. Please ensure that you upload a copy of your full CV including a list of publications, a covering letter highlighting your suitability for the position and contact information of three referees.
Where a PhD has yet to be awarded the appointment will initially be made at Research Assistant level and amended to Research Associate upon the award of PhD.
The post is full time and available from 15 August 2025.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 1 year in the first instance.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
For questions regarding the application process, please email HR@slcu.cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference PT46739 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term)
We are recruiting for a Research Laboratory Technician to support the research work in Dr Ahmed Warsame's lab based at the Crop Science Centre, Plant Science Department.
The Crop Science Centre opened in October 2020 and benefits from the diverse skills and expertise of the University of Cambridge and NIAB, providing an environment for research excellence in crops, with the drive and expertise for scientific translation to address real-world problems. About 70 staff and students are located at the Centre, distributed in between three established research groups and four fellows starting new research programs.
The role holder will report to Dr Ahmed Warsame and will have experience in management, organisation and maintenance of large volumes of materials and/or databases with hands-on expertise in standard molecular biological techniques (PCR, cloning, DNA/RNA extraction). The post demands an ability for systematic, organised working, and sufficient experience to appropriately prioritise tasks. The successful candidate will contribute to overall technical support for the smooth running of research activities across the Warsame group.
The successful candidate will form the nucleus of a new research team working on resilience and nutritional quality of legume crops. The lab technician will support research projects seeking to understand the genetic basis of abiotic stress tolerance and the accumulation of antinutritional factors in the seeds of legume crops.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone who is passionate about solving real-world problems and having an impact on food security and human nutrition.
The new hire will have the ability to work independently once trained, but will also need good communication and interpersonal skills, and be a strong team player, able to integrate with the wider team of laboratory technicians.
This is a Fixed Term full-time position for 2 years, in the first instance.
Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Dr Ahmed Warsame (aow25@cam.ac.uk).
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
If you have not received any response 1 month after the closing date you should consider your application to be unsuccessful.
Please quote reference PD46687 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
2025-08-09 15:00 - Anubhav - Celebrating India through a weekend of talks and discussions
Clearing rainforest for cattle farming is far worse for nature than previously thought, finds landmark bird survey
Researchers have conducted the world’s biggest ever bird survey, recording 971 different species living in forests and cattle pastures across the South American country of Colombia. This represents almost 10% of the world’s birds.
They combined the results, gathered over a decade, with information on each species’ sensitivity to habitat conversion to find that the biodiversity loss caused by clearing rainforest for cattle pasture is on average 60% worse than previously thought.
Until now, understanding the biodiversity impact of land-use change has generally involved small-scale, local surveys. The researchers say that this approach does not represent the larger-scale damage caused to nature.
When forests are converted to pasture, some species win and others lose. Measuring the biodiversity loss at local scale does not capture the larger-scale effect of forest conversion, which is occurring across the ranges of many different species. While the same species usually survive on pastureland, a wide range of other species don’t, so overall biodiversity is more severely reduced at large scale.
The results are published today in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Professor David Edwards in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and Conservation Research Institute, senior author of the report, said: “This is a really surprising result. We found that the biodiversity loss caused by clearing rainforest for pastureland is being massively underestimated.”
He added: “When people want to understand the wider impact of deforestation on biodiversity, they tend to do a local survey and extrapolate the results. But the problem is that tree clearance is occurring at massive spatial scales, across all sorts of different habitats and elevations.
“When we looked the biodiversity impact of deforestation across thirteen different eco-regions in Colombia, we found a 62% greater biodiversity loss than local survey results would indicate.”
The study also showed that at least six different eco-regions – that is, regions containing distinct types of plants and animals - must be considered for an accurate assessment of overall biodiversity impact. This is because the species in different eco-regions have different sensitivities to habitat conversion.
Biodiversity offsetting schemes, which aim to compensate for species losses caused by developments in one place by boosting biodiversity in another, rely on accurate measures of biodiversity.
Trees are also being cleared at huge scales in Colombia and other tropical regions to create growing space for major agricultural crops including rubber, oil palm, sugar cane and coffee.
Edwards said: “The food we eat comes with a much great environmental cost than we thought. We need policy makers to think much more about the larger scale biodiversity impact of deforestation.”
Tropical birdsong recordingsThe team studied Columbia’s birdlife across its diverse landscapes for over seven years, recording the song of hundreds of bird species to help them identify the species present in landscapes across the country, from pasture to mountain forest. In about 80% of cases the birds were heard but not seen, requiring the team to make identifications from the sounds alone.
With information about the birds, including their size and diet, the team could predict which other species were likely to be living in the same regions and how they too would respond to deforestation.
A highly biodiverse countryColombia is home to some of the most beautiful and exotic animal and plant life in the world, with almost one third made up of rainforest.
Particularly biodiverse areas, including the Caqueta moist forests and the Napo moist forests, can have 500-600 different bird species within an area of ten square kilometres – but many of these species have very specific habitat requirements. The study showed that if trees are cleared across their range these species are likely to die out.
Land-use change, particularly in the highly biodiverse tropics, is one of the main causes of the global biodiversity crisis.
This research was funded by the Research Council of Norway and the Natural Environment Research Council.
ReferenceSocolar, J. B. et al: ‘Tropical biodiversity loss from land-use change is severely underestimated by local-scale assessments.’ Nature Ecology and Evolution, July 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02779-4
In the largest ever survey of rainforest birdlife, scientists have discovered that deforestation to create pastureland in Colombia is causing around 60% more damage to biodiversity than previously estimated.
The food we eat comes with a much great environmental cost than we thought. We need policy makers to think much more about the larger scale biodiversity impact of deforestation.David EdwardsDavid EdwardsSavanna hawk is a widespread species that invades formerly forested areas after clearance
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.
Clearing rainforest for cattle farming is far worse for nature than previously thought, finds landmark bird survey
Researchers have conducted the world’s biggest ever bird survey, recording 971 different species living in forests and cattle pastures across the South American country of Colombia. This represents almost 10% of the world’s birds.
They combined the results, gathered over a decade, with information on each species’ sensitivity to habitat conversion to find that the biodiversity loss caused by clearing rainforest for cattle pasture is on average 60% worse than previously thought.
Until now, understanding the biodiversity impact of land-use change has generally involved small-scale, local surveys. The researchers say that this approach does not represent the larger-scale damage caused to nature.
When forests are converted to pasture, some species win and others lose. Measuring the biodiversity loss at local scale does not capture the larger-scale effect of forest conversion, which is occurring across the ranges of many different species. While the same species usually survive on pastureland, a wide range of other species don’t, so overall biodiversity is more severely reduced at large scale.
The results are published today in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Professor David Edwards in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and Conservation Research Institute, senior author of the report, said: “This is a really surprising result. We found that the biodiversity loss caused by clearing rainforest for pastureland is being massively underestimated.”
He added: “When people want to understand the wider impact of deforestation on biodiversity, they tend to do a local survey and extrapolate the results. But the problem is that tree clearance is occurring at massive spatial scales, across all sorts of different habitats and elevations.
“When we looked the biodiversity impact of deforestation across thirteen different eco-regions in Colombia, we found a 62% greater biodiversity loss than local survey results would indicate.”
The study also showed that at least six different eco-regions – that is, regions containing distinct types of plants and animals - must be considered for an accurate assessment of overall biodiversity impact. This is because the species in different eco-regions have different sensitivities to habitat conversion.
Biodiversity offsetting schemes, which aim to compensate for species losses caused by developments in one place by boosting biodiversity in another, rely on accurate measures of biodiversity.
Trees are also being cleared at huge scales in Colombia and other tropical regions to create growing space for major agricultural crops including rubber, oil palm, sugar cane and coffee.
Edwards said: “The food we eat comes with a much great environmental cost than we thought. We need policy makers to think much more about the larger scale biodiversity impact of deforestation.”
Tropical birdsong recordingsThe team studied Columbia’s birdlife across its diverse landscapes for over seven years, recording the song of hundreds of bird species to help them identify the species present in landscapes across the country, from pasture to mountain forest. In about 80% of cases the birds were heard but not seen, requiring the team to make identifications from the sounds alone.
With information about the birds, including their size and diet, the team could predict which other species were likely to be living in the same regions and how they too would respond to deforestation.
A highly biodiverse countryColombia is home to some of the most beautiful and exotic animal and plant life in the world, with almost one third made up of rainforest.
Particularly biodiverse areas, including the Caqueta moist forests and the Napo moist forests, can have 500-600 different bird species within an area of ten square kilometres – but many of these species have very specific habitat requirements. The study showed that if trees are cleared across their range these species are likely to die out.
Land-use change, particularly in the highly biodiverse tropics, is one of the main causes of the global biodiversity crisis.
This research was funded by the Research Council of Norway and the Natural Environment Research Council.
ReferenceSocolar, J. B. et al: ‘Tropical biodiversity loss from land-use change is severely underestimated by local-scale assessments.’ Nature Ecology and Evolution, July 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02779-4
In the largest ever survey of rainforest birdlife, scientists have discovered that deforestation to create pastureland in Colombia is causing around 60% more damage to biodiversity than previously estimated.
The food we eat comes with a much great environmental cost than we thought. We need policy makers to think much more about the larger scale biodiversity impact of deforestation.David EdwardsDavid EdwardsSavanna hawk is a widespread species that invades formerly forested areas after clearance
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.
