In early June, more than 24 biodiversity and ecology researchers from across Latin America met in Bogotá, Colombia, for a three-day workshop on modelling the potential impacts of solar radiation modification (SRM) on regional ecosystems.
Biodiversity around the world is impacted by several human factors, including habitat loss, land-use changes and climate change. Researchers are modelling the impacts of these changes, but the potential influence of SRM has not yet been studied.
Degrees-funded researchers in Mexico are developing risk metrics to evaluate whether SRM deployment would be more beneficial or detrimental to biodiversity, particularly in critical hotspots such as Amazonia or the Andes. But to ensure their conclusions are well informed and useful across Latin America, they wanted to bring together biodiversity experts across the region.
INECOL, the event was the second in a workshop series led by Dr Julian Velasco’s team at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) alongside Mexico’s Institute of Ecology (INECOL), and the Humboldt Institute. The series is funded by the Degrees Initiative’s new Opportunity Grants: awards of up to £3,500 designed to fund flexible, spontaneous activities that fall outside a researcher’s primary budget.
Evaluating risks in an uncertain climate
Because SRM is still a new concept for many in the biodiversity community, Julian Velasco opened the workshop with an overview of the scientific fundamentals. Constantino Salazar then addressed the socio-political context, noting that Latin American scientists need to understand SRM so they can inform future decisions rather than risking being left out of research and conversations taking place elsewhere.
Salazar introduced the group to the ‘risk-risk’ framework, which weighs the potential impacts of SRM against the known dangers of unmitigated global warming. He emphasised that for research to be impactful, it must be tailored to the needs of regional policymakers.
“This workshop has enabled us to start thinking about how to develop new approaches to ecological modeling to assess the potential risks of SRM in one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet.”
Addressing data gaps and the practicalities of modelling
The second day focused on the specific data resources and technical skills needed to model SRM impacts across Latin America. Constantino and Julian shared what they had learned from working within the wider global Degrees community and highlighted areas where they felt existing research falls short. The participants discussed how to improve methods to generate more accurate analyses of how SRM might affect local ecosystems, particularly in the Amazon.
Prof. Octavio Rojas Soto from INECOL expanded on these technical themes by presenting his research on species niches and their adaptation to climate variability. His work challenges conventional assumptions in biodiversity research, prompting a discussion on fresh approaches to modelling climate impacts. This focus on ecological dynamics carried into the final sessions, where participants also explored different epidemiology models to analyse the impacts of climate change.
The workshop concluded with a planning session for future collaborations, and the group discussed the development of a paper outlining SRM and biodiversity research needs and priorities for Colombia.
“This workshop is a tangible example of our opportunity grants in action. By funding face-to-face collaboration outside the usual publishing cycle, we are helping Latin American experts build regional networks to foster South-South collaborations. It was great to see firsthand how this support is helping expert voices from climate-vulnerable regions to lead the global conversation on SRM.”
