Biodiversity Research Program

BRI’s Biodiversity Research Program designs standardized field protocols and conducts multi-taxon biodiversity surveys, often across remote and logistically complex landscapes, to characterize wildlife distribution, diversity, and occupancy. The program builds and applies custom data collection tools and analysis pipelines to process biological data and produce peer-reviewed research and technical reports. Much of this work documents and monitors IUCN-listed threatened and endangered species, and underpins baseline and monitoring surveys for carbon and biodiversity credit certification (Verra VCS and CCB).

Program Lead: Mael Glon, Ph.D.

Capabilities

Development of standardized, replicable field protocols for multi-taxon biodiversity surveys (vegetation, invertebrates, birds, mammals) that can be adapted to different regions and ecosystems.

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Coordination of remote, complex field campaigns, partnering with local museums, universities, nonprofits, and communities for specimen identification and processing (e.g., Livingstone Museum, National Museums of Kenya, Copperbelt University).

Develops custom data collection tools built for field conditions, including Esri Survey123 forms developed specifically for rapid point count entry, plus FieldMaps and QuickCapture for georeferenced observations.
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Quantitative ecological analysis, including diversity metrics, multivariate community analyses, and occupancy modeling to characterize species distributions and detection probability.

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Documentation and monitoring of IUCN-listed threatened and endangered species and High Conservation Value areas, supporting Verra VCS/CCB certification requirements..

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Featured Project

Mafisa Lweti Livestock Grazing Project

Staff from the Biodiversity Research Program recently completed field surveys and a comprehensive report establishing the biodiversity baseline for the Mafisa Lweti Livestock Grazing Project, a nearly 2 million-hectare rangeland restoration and soil carbon initiative in Western Province, Zambia, led by Mafisa (a Zambian nonprofit) in partnership with BRI. Conducted between November 2025 and March 2026, the surveys documented rich plant, bird, and invertebrate communities, including 8 avian and 3 mammal IUCN-listed trigger species. The findings support the project’s pursuit of Verra VCS registration and CCB Gold Level certification.

Projects and Products

Mafisa Lweti Livestock Grazing Project – Biodiversity Baseline Survey Report: Establishes the biodiversity baseline for a nearly 2 million-hectare rangeland restoration and soil carbon project in Western Zambia, documenting plant, bird, invertebrate, and mammal communities and IUCN-listed trigger species ahead of 40 years of planned monitoring.

  • Glon, M., Krochuk, B., Brereton, R., Dodgin, S., Frankina, B., Fuller, N., Getz, M., Guilbert, J., Kaluwe, M., McEntee, J., Peterson, M. & Tillotson, S. 2026. Mafisa Lweti Livestock Grazing Project – Biodiversity Baseline Survey Report. BRI Science Communications 2026-17. 89+ pp.

Western Zambia Habitat Types: Characterizes habitat types across Western Zambia using a two-tier system, four broad habitat categories subdivided into specific vegetation types, providing a standardized classification framework for biodiversity surveys.

 

Baseline Biodiversity Surveys: Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project: Establishes a biodiversity monitoring baseline across five community conservancies in Northern Kenya, supporting a project validated and verified at the CCB Gold Level for its focus on biodiversity and species of conservation concern.

  • Glon, M., Krochuk, B., Dodgin, S., Frankina, B., Guilbert, J., Jenkins, E., McEntee, J., Peterson, M., Rissing, M., Tillotson, S. & Wethington, M. 2025. Baseline Biodiversity Surveys: Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Project. BRI Science Communications 2025-18. 86 pp.

Protocol for Conducting Baseline Biodiversity Surveys in Western Province, Zambia: Lays out comprehensive, project-tailored field protocols across all focal taxa, including methods, materials, and applications (e.g., Esri survey tools), for baseline biodiversity data collection in Western Zambia.

Protocol for Conducting Biodiversity Surveys: Native Northern Rangelands Trust Surveys: Lays out comprehensive, project-tailored field protocols across all focal taxa, including methods, materials, and applications, for biodiversity surveys at Northern Rangelands Trust conservancies.

  • Glon, M., Brereton, R., Burton, M., Jenkins, E. & Krochuk, B. 2025. Protocol for Conducting Biodiversity Surveys: Native Northern Rangelands Trust Surveys. BRI Science Communications 2025-14. Biodiversity Research Institute, Portland, Maine.

Biodiversity: The Global Response to a Trifecta of Planetary Crises: A BRI science communications flyer summarizing the institute’s integrated work across mercury, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

Mercury in the Global Environment: Impacts to Biodiversity: To inform policy efforts and advance public awareness, an international group of scientists collaborated on producing 18 peer-reviewed papers that describe the impacts of mercury on the environment and key biota—information vital for evaluating the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. These papers, published in two parts, are collected in a Special Issue of Ecotoxicology entitled Assessing Global Environmental Mercury Exposure in Biota and Potential Impacts on Biodiversity. This publication, Mercury in the Global Environment: Impacts to Biodiversity?, highlights the major findings of those studies and collaborative efforts.


Biodiversity Program Staff

News and Publications

Recent Publications

  • Tillotson, S., Glon, M., Imakando, M., & Meattey, D. 2026. Comparison of baited pitfall traps for capturing dung beetles in Western Province, Zambia. In prep.
  • Glon, M., Chibesa, M., diBiccari, L., Krochuk, B., Regan, K. & Evers, D. 2026. Baseline Assessment of Avifaunal Diversity, Habitat Associations, and Detection Probabilities in Western Province, Zambia. Under review at Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology.
  • Jenkins, E., Glon, M., Gulka, J., Tillotson, S., Tear, T., Evers, D., Meattey, D., Persico, C., Burton, M., Ritchie, M., Kasaine, W., Kikardi, J., Chibesa, M., Kaluwe, M. & Soka, G. 2026. An Integrated Field Protocol for Multi-Taxon Biodiversity Surveys in African Rangeland Ecosystems. In press at Current Protocols.