Dr. Thilina Surasinghe

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Targets The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets out 23 global targets to be met by 2030 that aim to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

COLLECTION | To coincide with our first anniversary, Nature Reviews Biodiversity has launched a collection of our content relating to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Targets: go.nature.com/4pV2cI1
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The review I wrote while at Colossal is part of this collection: Genome engineering in biodiversity conservation and restoration rdcu.be/e0NyH

Access full text: doi.org/10.3390/biol...

Losing amphibians means losing ecological functions and benefits to people. Conserving them is not niche biology — it’s core to #BiodiversityConservation, #GlobalChangeBiology, #OneHealth 🌍💚.

#Amphibians #Ecology #ConservationScience #EcosystemServices

and contribute directly to biomedical innovation through skin-derived compounds with antimicrobial and therapeutic potential 🧬🧪

They also support human livelihoods via agriculture, ecotourism, and cultural knowledge — yet nearly 40% of species are threatened 🚨📉.

🐸✨ check out our paper:
In this synthesis, we show how amphibians underpin ecosystem functioning (#NutrientCycling, #FoodWebs, #PestControl), act as some of our most sensitive early-warning systems for environmental change (#Bioindicators)...🐸🌍🦤ec🌱

📖 Published!

CISO, a deep learning-based method for species distribution modelling Conditioned on Incomplete Species Observations 🖥️ 🦌 🌍

🔎 Find out more:

Welcome to the Homogenocene? Trajectories of change in global freshwater fish biodiversity during the Anthropocene: evidence from tropical East Asia Abstract. Interactions between climate change and anthropogenic stressors such as poor water quality and habitat degradation have had deleterious consequen

David Dudgeon & Jia Huan Liew (2026) Welcome to the Homogenocene? Trajectories of change in global #freshwater #fish biodiversity during the Anthropocene: evidence from tropical East Asia
🔓 via Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci @royalsocietypublishing.org doi.org/10.1098/rstb... #BioInvasions 🧪🌏🐟

Our project centers around #undergraduateResearch training 🎓🔬 and builds strong international partnerships 🤝🌍 to advance coastal ecological science together.

Cape Verde coastal ecosystem

Sea anemone

Corals

Gastropods

🌍✈️ wrapped a pilot trip to São Vicente, Cape Verde 🇨🇻 to prepare for our NSF-funded IRES project on marine & coastal #biodiversity 🌊🐠🦂🦐🍤🦀
Great meetings with our collaborators at Uni-CV Cabo Verde 🎓 and Biosfera Cabo Verde 🌱 — excited for the fieldwork and collaborations ahead! 🚀🧪

Global loss of mountain vegetated landscapes and its impact on biodiversity conservation - Nature Communications This study reports widespread loss of mountain vegetation worldwide from 2000 to 2020, with ∼89% attributable to human expansion, primarily agriculture. Over half of this loss occurred within protecte...

Widespread #MountainEcosystem loss (2000-2020) is driven by human expansion ( #agriculture approx. 89% and #NaturalDisasters approx 11%)

Over half (approx 56%) occurred in #ProtectedAreas or #biodiversity hotspots, demanding urgent #conservation action 🌍

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Forest age influences freshwater biodiversity in temperate watersheds Forests can affect stream structure and function, but evaluations linking freshwater biodiversity to watershed-scale forest-stand conditions are limit…

Need healthy #FreshwaterHabitat?

A new study confirms #oldgrowth #forests (>75 years) are better for freshwater #invertebrates and #vertebrates than young forests.

Diverse #habitats in older trees support more unique and specialized aquatic species 🌍

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

'What makes PhD students happy? Good supervision. Supervisors who invest in positive mentoring relationships with their PhD candidates also reap the benefits for their own research.' Nature, 23 Oct 2025. I’m amazed this is framed as a revelation — it’s pure common sense. 🧪🌎🌐

Phylogeny of 14 plant, 3 animal, and 2 fungi genera, of fire-dependent species

Iconic examples of fire-dependent (pyrophylous) taxa in the plant (green), animal (red), & fungi (gray) kingdom & their phylogenetic relationship. Tips are genus (& family)

Source: doi.org/10.1093/bios... BioScience
@aibsbiology.bsky.social

🧪🌍🔥🌳🌿🍁🌐 wildfire #ecoevo

Common garter snake

Juvenile milk snake

Redbacked salamander

Fall creators🐍

Common garter snake

Common garter snake

Common garter snake

🍂 Fall fieldwork update: surveying upland amphibians & reptiles near restored wetlands to understand how habitat restoration influences terrestrial habitat use and seasonal movements. 🐸🐍 🌱🦤🌍🐢

Dinner

Beer

And reconnected with @jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social and some old friends

Summit logo

Team presentation

I had the opportunity to attend the NEON convergence Summit 2025 at #CUboulder 🌍📊
This summit brought together scientists working on #macrosystemsEcology, #biodiversity, #continentalScaleBiology using #NEON.
#EnvironmentalDataScience #OpenScience

🌐🌱🧪

Some spots in our restored wetland are full of common reed (Phragmites australis), while others stay mostly invasion-free 🌾🤔.
We are asking: how do water levels 💦 and habitat structure 🌱 shape these invasion patterns?
Understanding this helps guide better wetland restoration and management.
🌍

Measuring phrag invasion

Measuring phrag invasion

Measuring phrag invasion

Measuring phrag invasion

We are studying the spread of common reed (Phragmites australis) in a restored wetland 🌿.
We aim to understand how wetland hydrology 💧 and habitat structure 🪵🌾 influence the degree of invasion.
#InvasiveSpecies #WetlandRestoration #Phragmites #GenerationRestoration
#Wetlands #InvasionEcology

Some spots in our restored wetland are full of common reed (Phragmites australis), while others stay mostly invasion-free 🌾🤔.
We are asking: how do water levels 💦 and habitat structure 🌱 shape these invasion patterns?
Understanding this helps guide better wetland restoration and management.
🌍

Measuring phrag invasion

Measuring phrag invasion

Measuring phrag invasion

Measuring phrag invasion

We are studying the spread of common reed (Phragmites australis) in a restored wetland 🌿.
We aim to understand how wetland hydrology 💧 and habitat structure 🪵🌾 influence the degree of invasion.
#InvasiveSpecies #WetlandRestoration #Phragmites #GenerationRestoration
#Wetlands #InvasionEcology

Working group photo

Esiil2025

a new research project on ecological #TippingPoints 🌱🌍🧪🌐🦤 & regime shifts 🔄 at @cu-esiil.bsky.social Innovation Summit 🏔️.
Looking forward to working with amazing colleagues 🤝 on data-driven approaches 📊 to ecosystem change.

#OpenScience #EnvironmentalDataScience #Biodiversity

developed in collaboration with #ODU #AidData @wm.edu #BridgewaterState
#Biodiversity #RemoteSensing
#GenerationRestoration
#OldDominionUniversity #AidData

Excited to present at #SER2025, the 11th World Conference on #EcologicalRestoration 🌎!

Join me this Thursday, Oct 2 📅 at 5:00 PM in the Quartz Room for Session O.28: Restoration, Biodiversity & Climate.

I will share our remote-sensing–based approach to track #wetland restoration success 🌿🛰️...

North American racer

Spotted salamander

American toad

Students in the field

Back in the field this fall 🍂 with undergrads 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬, monitoring woodland #herps 🐸🦎 around restored wetlands 🌿. We are testing whether wetland restoration helps not upland biota. 🌱🧪🌍
#WetlandRestoration #RestorationEcology #Biodiversity #Amphibians #Reptiles #UndergraduateResearch #GenerationRestoration

Turtle surveys

Turtle surveys

Turtle surveys

Turtle surveys

Year 3 underway on comparing #urban vs #rural #turtle pops with @eren2010.bsky.social at Continental scale
#UndergraduateResearch
🌍🦤🧪🌐🌱🐢

If You're Rare, Should I Care? How Imperfect Detection Changes Relationships Between Biodiversity and Global Change Drivers In this article, we provide a modeling approach that accounts for imperfect detection of species, especially rare ones, in biodiversity studies. Using three case studies across diverse taxa (birds, i...

If You're Rare, Should I Care? How Imperfect Detection Changes Relationships Between Biodiversity and Global Change Drivers 🌎🌐🧪 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Extensive terrestrial biodiversity threats from global hillside urban expansion - Nature Cities Hillside urbanization rises as cities exhaust flat land, threatening sensitive ecosystems. Mapping of 11.65 Mha added since 2000 reveals that 35% of them are in critical areas, fragmenting habitats an...

"35% [of new hillside development] occurring within global biodiversity hotspots, significantly exacerbating habitat fragmentation. This has far-reaching consequences for biodiversity, directly affecting ~70% of globally threatened species."🌍 www.nature.com/articles/s44...

(PDF) A successful home garden model for biodiversity conservation in Sri Lanka PDF | This study examines Sri Lanka’s home gardens as biocultural microcosms, demonstrating how their species composition, adaptive management... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Res...

Access article 👉
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

#SriLanka #Biodiversity #Agroforestry #HomeGardens
🧪🌍🦤