Fabio Berzaghi

Current research

Animals, biogeochemical cycles, & climate

Animals, from zooplankton to elephants, are an integral part of ecosystems and help maintain ecosystems' health and functioning by influencing the transfer of nutrients and energy on land and in the sea. Animals can affect biogeochemical cycles including carbon, green house gas fluxes, and ultimately climate. In my research I explore the global importance of animals and try to quantify and value the ecosystem services that they produce. In my EU H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie project "MegaBiCycle", I have studied the global role of terrestrial herbivores and produced a financial valuation of wild animal carbon services.
REMAP - Global model of mammals populations

REMAP (REproducing MAmmal Populations) is a global model simulating the population dynamics and biomass of all terrestrial mammalian herbivores. Currently REMAP includes up to 37 Herbivore Functional Types, which are groups of species with similar diet, digestive system, and body mass. REMAP can be coupled with global vegetation models to study the ecology and functional role of mammals in ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles; a description of REMAP can be found in our publication in which we use REMAP to estimate the global biomass of mammalian herbivores.
OceanICU: global importance of the biological carbon pump

OceanICU is a Horizon Europe project aiming to understand the role of the ocean in the global carbon cycle. I am participating in OceanICU by studying the spatial distribution of the carbon services provided by the biological carbon pump, from plankton to whales, with the goal of quantifying and valuing these services to help decision making that involve managing natural resources, conservation, national economies, and climate finance. I work at the intersection of climate policy, finance, and ecology to assess the tradeoffs that humanity faces when managing and conserving natural resources.

News and press coverage

February 2024: we have published two articles on the global biomass of mammals in Functional Ecology which we show that small mammals represent the largest remaining biomass pool and in PNAS that recent estimates of global mammals biomass likely results in gross underestimations of biomass and its uncertainty.
The debate is open...
Decemeber 12 2023: Join as at COP28 Virtual Ocean Pavilion where colleagues and I will discuss how do complex & socially controversial policy issues challenge scientific advice and decision-making and which new ways of knowledge production do we need to support decision making. This is part of OceanICU.
2023: Our article On how large herbivores, including elephants, help increase carbon stocks in tropical forest caught the attention of global media and was featured in news across the world including the BBC Future Planet series and Le Figaro in France. I've also spoken about our research on BBC World Service radio and the French national radio France Inter
July 2022: Our article Value wild animals’ carbon services to fill the biodiversity financing gap was featured on the cover of Nature Climate Change. We describe a new framework to value the carbon services of wild animals to achieve the win-win of mitigating climate change, reducing biodiversity loss, and financing local communities to be nature caretakers.
June 2022: Our article on Financing conservation by valuing carbon services produced by wild animals was published in PNAS. We estimate that if African forest elephants were protected, their carbon services would be worth $20.8 billion within the next 10 years, that is enough to finance conservation and improve socio-economic conditions of local communities.
April 2022: BBC Future published an article on the importance of forest elephants and African rainforests in mitigating climate change and the valuation of carbon services provided by elephants that could help finance conservation.

See older news

September 2020: Through a collaboration with financial economists, including the International Monetary Fund, we evaluated the carbon service provided by forest elephants. "Each elephant provides a service worth up to 1.75 million USD!. The IMF also produced a podcast featuring myself and IMF assistant director Ralph Chami . We are now developing a pilot conservation project in central Africa so that elephant services can be used to finance their protection and conservation and for the benefit of local communities.

December 2019: Our opinion paper on how to include trait variability in vegetation models was published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution "Towards a New Generation of Trait-Flexible Vegetation Models" . Thanks to all the colleagues from PROFOUND who participated in this work!

August 2019 and press coverage: Nature Geoscience published our paper on the effect of forest elephants on the carbon cycling of African tropical forests . The paper received worldwide press coverage including The New York Times , The Conversation , The Independent , and several news outlets in countries such as India, Russia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and was even featured in The Poetry of Science .

May 2019: I was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship which will allow me to spend two years at the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE) in France working on my "MegaBiCycle" project on the role of megafauna on biogeochemical cycles and climate! My supervisor will be Philippe Ciais

Press coverage: The Independent and Atlas Obscura covered our recent publication regarding the conservation of birds in East Africa.

September 2018: Article and blog post. Our article on bird conservation in the Albertine rift was published in The Condor, and I was invited by the American Ornithological Society to write a piece for their blog, cowrote with John Bates.

April 2018: Seed masting working group at the University of Milan. The TG-20 had its final meeting to set the ground for future collaborations on masting research to follow up on our article on how to model masting.

March 2018: I joined the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE) in Paris, France for a postdoc position. I was awarded a CEA-Eurotalents fellowship part of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Programme. At LSCE I will work with Philippe Ciais to study the role of large herbivores in biogeochemical cycles.

Publications - CV

2024

Berzaghi F, Zhu D, Alroy J, Ciais P Trait-based mechanistic approach highlights global patterns and losses of herbivore biomass functional diversity. Functional Ecology. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14512

Santini L, Berzaghi F, Benitez-Lopez A. Total population reports are ill-suited for global biomass estimation of wild animals. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2308958121

2023

Schmitz OJ, Sylvén M, Atwood TB, Bakker ES, Berzaghi F, Brodie JF, Cromsigt JP, Davies AB, Leroux SJ, Schepers FJ, Smith FA, Stark S, Svenning J-C, Tilker A, Ylänne H. Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions. Nature Climate Change. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01631-6

Berzaghi F, Bretagnolle F, Durand-Bessart C, Blake S. Megaherbivores modify forest structure and increase carbon stocks through multiple pathways. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/eprint/JR3NTBQGPW9CCTD5J9RI/full

2022

Chami R, Cosimano T, Fullenkamp C, Berzaghi F, Español-Jiménez S, Marcondes M, Palazzo J. The Value of Nature to Our Health and Economic Well-Being: A Framework with Application to Elephants and Whales. In L. Paganetto (Ed.), Economic Challenges for Europe After the Pandemic (pp. 117–162). Springer International Publishing.. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10302-5_7

Berzaghi F, Cosimano T, Fullenkamp C, Scanlon J, Fon TE, Tunga Robson M, Forbang JL, Chami R. Value wild animals’ carbon services to fill the biodiversity financing gap. Nature Climate Change. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01407-4

Berzaghi F, Chami R, Cosimano T, Fullenkamp C. Financing conservation by valuing carbon services produced by wild animals. PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2120426119

2021

Yang H, Ciais P, Chave J, Huang Y, Ballantyne A, Yu K,

Berzaghi F, Wigneron JP. Coarse woody debris are buffering mortality-induced carbon losses to the atmosphere in tropical forests. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd58a

2020

Berzaghi F, Wright IJ, Kramer K, Oddou-Muratorio S, Bohn FJ, Reyer CPO, Sabate S, Sanders T, Hartig F. Towards a New Generation of Trait-Flexible Vegetation Models. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.11.006

2019

Berzaghi F, Longo M, Ciais P, Blake S, Bretagnolle F, Vieira S, Scaranello M, Scarascia-Mugnozza G, Doughty CE. Carbon stocks in Central African forests enhanced by elephant disturbance. Nature Geoscience. doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0395-6

2018

Berzaghi F, Engel J, Plumptre A, Mugabec M, Kujirakwinjad D, Ayebarec S, Bates J. Comparative niche modeling of two Laniarius bush-shrikes and the conservation of mid-elevation Afromontane forests of the Albertine Rift. The Condor: Ornithological Applications. doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-18-28.1

Berzaghi F, Verbeeck H, Nielsen MR, Doughty CE, Bretagnolle F, Marchetti M, Scarascia-Mugnozza G. Assessing the role of megafauna in tropical forest ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles - the potential of vegetation models. Ecography. doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03309

Vacchiano G, Ascoli D, Berzaghi F, Lucas-Borja ME, Caignard T, Collalti A, Mairota P, Palaghianu C, Reyer C, Sanders T, Schermer E, Wohlgemuth T, Hacket-Pain A. Reproducing reproduction: How to simulate mast seeding in forest models. Ecological modeling, 376, 40-53. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.03.004

2017

Andersen JH, Berzaghi F, Christensen T, Geertz Hansen O, Mosbech A, Stock A, Zinglersen K, Wisz M. Potential for cumulative effects of human stressors on fish, sea birds and marine mammals in Arctic waters. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 184, 202-206. doi:dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2016.10.047

2014

Wisz M, Andersen JH, Berzaghi F(eds), Christensen T, Clausen DS, Johansen KL, Geertz-Hansen O, Hedeholm R, Nymand, Zinglersen KB. A catalogue of available data describing ecosystem components and human stressors in the sea west of Greenland. Working Document for Nordic Council of Ministers, 38 pp.

Short Bio

I hold a PhD in Ecology, main topic "modelling plant-animal interactions in tropical forests". Before becoming interested in Ecology, I completed a Master's degree in Computer Science and, among others things, worked on educational and commercial videogames. Thanks to my diverse background and mix of skills I have worked across ecosystems and taxa, from African elephants to Greenland fishes, and had the opportunity to experience life and cultures in countries around the world. I also enjoy teaching and science outreach activities.

Animals, biogeochemical cycles, & climate

REMAP - Global model of mammals populations

OceanICU: global importance of the biological carbon pump