Referencing conservation exclusively in the past is unrealistic, and limits adaptation to present and future ecological functioning.

Conservation in the Anthropocene should embrace complex nature-society interactions, including the role of new biodiversity.

Achieving sustainable futures requires to balance nature protection with economic growth.

The recent resurgence of deforestation in the Cerrado results from misguided policies and environmental negligence.

Lack of environmental and social safeguards is driving the biome toward an irreversible tipping point.

Licenses for vegetation clearance on private lands must carefully evaluate the ownership chain.

Agribusiness plays a key role in strengthening conservation efforts in the Cerrado.

A new economic model prioritizing environmental responsibility and social justice is urgently needed.

Brazil reached 2.8 Mha of native vegetation removal in 2022, the highest rate since 2008.

15.8 Mha of Legal Reserve areas need restoration in Brazil’s private rural properties, over half in the Amazon.

5.46 Mha of forest regrowth occurred in Brazil from 2016 to 2022, 40% in the Amazon and 36% in the Atlantic Forest biome.

Secondary forests in Brazil lack proper legislation to safeguard their carbon mitigation potential in the long-term.

Incentives to environmental payment, law enforcement, and legal framework needed for Brazil's 78 Mha surplus vegetation.

Claiming to save a biome threating another due to imprecise language is unreasonable.

There is a multisector neglect towards the Cerrado when compared to the Amazon.

“Savannization of the Amazon” refers to forest degradation instead of old-growth savanna.

The term “savannization of the Amazon” can forfeit natural savanna conservation.

The term “savannization of the Amazon” should be abandoned.

The Brazilian legislation on native seeds has bottlenecks and gaps that can be addressed based on international best practices.

Seed collection from nature should be discussed and standardized by environmental agencies to ensure it becomes a sustainable practice.

Seed quality is crucial for the success of ecological restoration, but it should not adhere to the standardization required for agricultural cultivars.

The commercialization of species mixtures for restoration, including directly harvested ones, should be facilitated to promote biodiversity.

The implementation of seed transfer zones is highly recommended to guarantee the resilience of restored ecosystems in the long term.

Mesocarnivores select habitats based on the risk perception communicated by larger carnivores' cues.

Manipulating risk signals can create perceptual traps and produce a landscape of fear, supporting mesocarnivore management.

Livestock guarding dogs' whole-body odor, reduce foxes’ visitation rates in scrublands habitats compared to unscented places.

We propose a new complementary management technique, amplifying livestock guarding dog effects.

High-altitude wetlands suitability will be reduced under future climate conditions.

Projected changes in temperature and precipitation will affect future distribution of wetlands.

Greater reductions in wetlands suitability are projected for elevations lower than 4,000 m.

Increases in wetlands suitability are projected for elevations higher than 4,200 m.

POPs concentrations in biological bat tissues in the Myotis in the USA decreased over the years since POPs were banned.

There is a paucity of studies on POPs in Neotropical bats.

Few studies were found on emerging POPs or on POPs recently included in the Stockholm Convention in bats.

Peatland distribution and extent in the Cerrado is yet underestimated.

Peatlands are part of Cerrado valley wetlands and occur with Veredas, wet grassland and riparian swamp forest vegetation.

Although soil carbon data on peatlands is lacking, they may store 13.3% of the Cerrado soil carbon on only 0.7% of its area.

Hydrological studies are needed to quantify the role of peatlands in the Cerrado.

Intensive agriculture, wood plantations and other land uses threaten Cerrado peatlands and other wetlands.

Biodiversity research in Brazil has claimed that the “Caatinga is poorly known”, including for well-known groups like birds.

Even if false, this narrative perpetuates nationwide biases and slows down regional research and conservation agendas.

We show that the Caatinga bird diversity is as well- or better known than most ecosystems in Brazil.

Biodiversity research in the Caatinga should stand as a model for many pressing ecological questions, such as climate change.

Bird species of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil are threatened and declining.

Declines can lead to decreased detectability and fewer observations.

We analyzed bird data from three citizen science platforms for 2000–2022.

The representation of threatened and Near Threatened species decreased through time.

We recommend future species-specific monitoring to fill survey gaps.

Priority conservation areas (PCA) were determined for Andean condors in Colombia.

Less than 30% of the PCA for condors are in protected areas.

Areas with Low, Medium, and High Human Footprint Index require different strategies for prioritization conservation Areas.

We propose an area-based roadmap to optimize Andean condor conservation in the northern Andes of South America.

Less than 1% of the Atlantic Forest spatial surface is well sampled for small rodents.

Most sampling sites are close to roads, urban centers.

Well-sampled sites are in larger fragments, and in landscapes with higher percentage of forest cover.

Knowledge of small mammal occurrence at a large-scale is spatially limited.

Sampling of small rodents in Atlantic Forest should prioritize small remote fragments, representing current common landscape conditions.

More than 182 bird taxa are specialized on the Amazonian floodplain habitats.

A database with more than 80 thousand records updated range maps for floodplain birds.

Analyses over updated range maps revealed 10 areas of endemism and 13 regions.

Amazonian major rivers are segmented into distinct areas of endemism.

Our regionalization represents a new background for further studies and conservation.