It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Large parts of the tropics overlooked in environmental research
Environmental research in the tropics is heavily skewed, according to a comprehensive study led from Umeå University. Humid lowland forest ecosystems receive a disproportionate amount of attention, while colder and drier regions that are more affected by climate change are severely underrepresented.
“Current research patterns risk giving a misleading picture about how tropical ecosystems function. This can lead to policy recommendations that fail to take into account the environments that are most vulnerable, or that take lessons learned from one system and mistakenly apply them to other systems,” says Daniel Metcalfe, lead author of the study and professor at Umeå University.
The researchers analysed 2,738 published studies conducted in natural terrestrial tropical environments across all scientific disciplines. By mapping both field sampling locations and how often different studies are cited, they were able to reveal strong geographic and ecological patterns in the research. The results are published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
Climate-vulnerable ecosystems
The study shows that just five ecoregions—all located in moist broadleaf forests—account for 22 percent of all citations, despite representing only 3 percent of the total tropical land area. In contrast, drier regions with low tree cover make up 57 percent of the tropical region but stand for only 20 percent of total citations.
Many of the regions that receive the least research attention—such as mountain regions, deserts and grasslands—are also among those facing the most severe climate change impacts. This means that policy decisions affecting them may be based on incomplete or misleading science.
Imbalance in research
By clearly showing where research effort and scientific attention are lacking, the study provides a basis for guiding future research investments more strategically.
“To ensure effective environmental policy worldwide, research needs to better reflect the full range of tropical ecosystems. This is both a scientific necessity and a matter of fairness,” says Daniel Metcalfe. “Similar imbalances are likely to exist beyond the tropics. Understanding where research is lacking in other regions, such as Europe’s temperate and boreal ecosystems, could help shape future research agendas.”
Colder and drier regions in the tropics receive less attention in research, but are often harder hit by climate change.
Some tropical regions are very understudied, such as the montane grasslands in the Peruvian Andes. This risks creating a misleading picture in research and leading to poor policy decisions.
What will the climate of a given region be like in 20, 30 or 50 years? Climate analogues provide a robust methodological framework to address this question by identifying regions whose current climate matches the future climate of another area. For the first time, a research team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has applied this approach to vineyards, in collaboration with Agroscope. Through a dedicated mobile application, winegrowers – but not only – can visualise the expected impacts of climate change on their vineyards by identifying regions that already experience comparable climatic conditions. This research, published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, is a key tool for anticipating and adapting viticultural practices in the context of climate change.
Drought, hail, emerging pathogens and earlier bud break: the effects of global warming are already being felt in vineyards. But how will these phenomena evolve over the coming decades, and what challenges will they pose for viticulture? To address these questions, a research team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with Agroscope, applied the concept of climate analogues to vineyards. The objective was to develop a mobile application capable of identifying, for any given vineyard in Europe, regions whose current climate corresponds to the climatic conditions that vineyard is expected to experience in 20, 30 or 50 years.
To develop this tool, the researchers drew on several existing databases, including those from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), which brings together the results of numerous high-spatial-resolution regional climate models covering Europe until the end of the 21st century. Vineyard locations were extracted from the Corine Land Cover database. Overall, the application encompasses 57 wine-growing regions and more than 20,000 individual vineyard plots, with climate projections extending to 2090.
Accurate bioclimatic indicators
“We modelled the temporal evolution of six key bioclimatic indices, taking into account both vine development and pathogen-related risks, such as the number of frost days, extreme heat events and the mildew index. Microclimatic variability was fully integrated into the analysis. The application also allows users to select one or more specific indicators,” explains Héloïse Allaman, PhD student in the Department of Applied Physics at the Faculty of Science and in the Institute of Environmental Sciences (ISE) at UNIGE, and lead author of the study.
“Temperature-related indices primarily drive north–south and altitudinal shifts in climate analogues, whereas pathogen-related indices, which incorporate humidity and precipitation, tend to produce east–west shifts. These contrasting effects highlight the importance of integrating all relevant indices in order to accurately identify climate analogues,”explains Stéphane Goyette, senior research scientist and lecturer in the Department of Applied Physics at the Faculty of Science and in the Institute of Environmental Sciences (ISE) at UNIGE, and co-author of the study. ‘‘Taking into account indicators of diseases and pests makes projections more accurate, as it considers phytosanitary factors that affect vines and not just the climate,’’ adds Pierre-Henri Dubuis, a research associate at Agroscope.
Inevitable Adaptations
For example, what conditions will vineyards in Dardagny, Canton of Geneva, face by 2070? According to the mobile app, these conditions will be similar to those currently observed in Saint-Matré, in southwestern France, around 100 kilometres from Toulouse. This information allows Geneva winegrowers to anticipate the impact of climate change by studying the practices employed in their future climate “twin”.
"Overall, the study reveals a shift in viticultural suitability – the ability of a region to sustainably produce high-quality grapes – towards northern Europe and areas that are on average 650 metres higher than today. However, the predicted increase in humidity in most of these new regions could compromise the long-term sustainability of viticulture by intensifying disease pressure. The wine industry will therefore have to anticipate major geographical changes and adapt its practices by the end of the century," says Jérôme Kasparian, professor in the Department of Applied Physics at the Faculty of Science and director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences (ISE) at UNIGE, who led the study.
The “Climate Analogues – Vineyards” app is available free of charge and can be downloaded from the official iOS and Android stores.
Future viability of European vineyards using bioclimatic climate analogues Author links open overlay panel
Behind and Beyond the Brain Symposium brings together researchers to discuss end-of-life experiences
The most prominent international researchers in neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy in a deep reflection on one of the most universal and challenging phenomena of the human condition
“End-of-life experiences” is the theme of the 2026 edition of the “Behind and Beyond the Brain” Symposium, promoted by the Bial Foundation, which will take place from April 8 to 11 at Casa do Médico, in Porto, and for which registrations are now open.
This 15th edition brings together some of the most prominent international researchers in neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy for a deep reflection on one of the most universal and challenging phenomena of the human condition.
The symposium aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between different approaches — scientific, philosophical, and cultural — to explore what is scientifically known about the biological processes that occur when life ends, how different cultures interpret death, and whether the experience of death can alter our understanding of reality.
Axel Cleeremans (Brussels, BE), psychologist and president of the organising committee, states that “the goal of the symposium is not so much to bring new data to the community, but rather to promote the exchange of ideas in an open-minded and creative format. Certainly, one of the core aspects of the debates will be focused on the tension between strictly scientific approaches to death and more spiritual approaches, which often leave open the possibility of continued existence after death”.
Opening
The Symposium will open on April 8th with an evening lecture by the eminent neuroscientist Christof Koch (Seattle, US), who will appeal to extraordinary experiences such as near-death experiences to question physicalism - the perspective that consciousness can be fully reduced to material particles and their interactions. Contra such views, Koch defends idealism and panpsychism, both of which he describes as compatible with naturalism and the scientific method.
First Session
The first session, dedicated to “End-of-life processes”, will take place on the morning of April 9th. Moderated by Helané Wahbeh (Novato, US), it is dedicated to approaching the many processes that take place as death nears, and will feature lectures by Michael Rera (Paris, FR), Daniel Kondziella (Copenhagen, DK) and Marjorie Woollacott (Eugene, US). Rera will focus on the biology of dying. Kondziella will explore the evolutionary origin of near-death experiences. Woollacott’s lecture will be dedicated to the striking phenomenon of terminal lucidity. The session will close with a keynote lecture by Michael Nahm (Freiburg, DE), who will overview the unusual phenomena associated with end-of-life experiences.
Second Session
The second session, titled “End-of-life moments”, taking place on the morning of April 10th, is focused on near-death experiences (NDEs). Moderated by Etzel Cardeña (Lund, SE), it will open with a lecture by Janice Holden (Denton, US), who will focus on how to approach the anomalous experiences reported by NDE experiencers. Charlotte Martial (Liège, BE) will follow up by offering a neuroscientific perspective on NDEs. Bárbara Gomes (Coimbra, PT) will ask what matters most to people in their last moments of life. Finally, the keynote lecture by Jim Tucker (Charlottesville, US) will examine intriguing reports of past-life memories by children and ask how we should think about them.
Third Session
The third session, taking place on the morning of April 11th, is focused on “End-of-life beliefs and impacts” and will be moderated by Veena Kumari (London, UK). It aims to document how the cultural context in which death takes place shapes its experience. Mira Menzfeld (Zurich, CH) will develop an ethnographic approach to the perception and experience of death across cultures. Allan Kellehear (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) will show how an anthropological approach to the experience of death can help understand the conditions in which dying can be sufficiently meaningful. Marieta Pehlivanova (Charlottesville, US) will overview the impacts of NDEs and support needs of experiencers. The morning will close with a keynote lecture by Fanny Charrasse (Brussels, BE), who will focus on the shamanic and psychological accounts of the near-death experiences reported by people undergoing Ayahuasca rituals.
Blitz oral session
In addition to organising its biannual symposium, the Bial Foundation also supports fundamental research relevant to the study of the mind. On the afternoon of April 9th, the recipients of Bial Foundation grants will have an opportunity to present their work in a blitz oral session during which they will give a 2-minute overview of their research poster, exhibited throughout the symposium. This exciting session will be moderated by Mário Simões (Lisbon, PT).
Workshops
The symposium will further be greatly enhanced by an outstanding set of four participatory workshops taking place in parallel on the afternoon of April 10th. In Workshop 1, Rainer Goebel (Maastricht, NL) and Stefan Schmidt (Freiburg, DE) will interact with guest Yesche Regel (Bonn, DE) around how the Buddhist tradition conceives of death and how its practices help people prepare for it. Workshop 2, moderated by Chris Roe (Northampton, UK), will feature Etzel Cardeña and Marieta Pehlivanova, who will offer an in depth-exploration of near-death experiences. Workshop 3, steered by Rui Costa (Seattle, US) and featuring Julia Verne (London, UK), will be dedicated to the personal and societal dimensions of palliative care. Finally, Workshop 4, moderated by Miguel Castelo-Branco (Coimbra, PT), will see Bárbara Gomes offer an intimate, interactive session during which participants will be able to (anonymously) share what they value most of the end of life and compare their choices with those of other cultures.
Final roundtable
The symposium will conclude on the afternoon of April 11th with a final roundtable moderated by Axel Cleeremans (Brussels, BE) and featuring Etzel Cardeña, Janice Holden, Christof Koch, Charlotte Martial and Marieta Pehlivanova. This final event will be an opportunity to further reflect upon and share the core findings from the symposium, and to offer a final opportunity for the audience to interact with representative speakers.
With its 15th Symposium, the Bial Foundation hopes to engage speakers and the audience around a deep, interdisciplinary reflection about what is undoubtedly one of the core experiences of human life: the realisation that it will end.
The 15th Symposium will be held exclusively in person. Registrations are now open and can be submitted here.
Caption
The symposium aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue between different approaches - scientific, philosophical, and cultural - to explore end-of-life experiences.
