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Deriving pre-eutrophic conditions from an ensemble model approach for the North-West European seas
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2023/articlereference.vanleeuwenetal.2023.frontiers
No publisherPDF availableOpen AccessImpact Factor2024/03/28 10:39:34 GMT+1Article ReferenceOn the relative role of abiotic and biotic controls on channel network development: insights from scaled tidal flume experiments
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/Hautekiet-2024-ESD
Tidal marshes provide highly valued ecosystem services, which depend on variations in the geometric properties of the tidal channel networks dissecting marsh landscapes. The development and evolution of channel network properties are controlled by abiotic (dynamic flow-landform feedback) and biotic processes (e.g., vegetation-flow-landform feedback). However, the relative role of biotic and abiotic processes, and under which condition one or the other is more dominant, remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the impact of spatio-temporal plant colonization patterns on tidal channel network development through flume experiments. Four scaled experiments mimicking tidal landscape development were conducted in a tidal flume facility: two control experiments without vegetation, a third experiment with hydrochorous vegetation colonization (i.e., seed dispersal via the tidal flow), and a fourth with patchy colonization (i.e., by direct seeding on the sediment bed). Our results show that more dense and efficient channel networks are found in the vegetation experiments, especially in the hydrochorous seeding experiment with slower vegetation colonization. Further, an interdependency between abiotic and biotic controls on channel development can be deduced. Whether biotic factors affect channel network development seems to depend on the force of the hydrodynamic energy and the stage of the system development. Vegetation-flow-landform feedbacks are only dominant in contributing to channel development in places where intermediate hydrodynamic energy levels occur and mainly have an impact during the transition phase from a bare to a vegetated landscape state. Overall, our results suggest a zonal domination of abiotic processes at the seaward side of intertidal basins, while biotic processes dominate system development more towards the landward side.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF available2024/03/26 21:59:21 GMT+1Article ReferenceMangroves as nature-based mitigation for ENSO-driven compound flood risks in a river delta
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/Pelckmans-2024-HESS
Densely populated coastal river deltas are very vulnerable to compound flood risks, coming from both oceanic and riverine sources. Climate change may increase these compound flood risks due to sea level rise and intensifying precipitation events. Here, we investigate to what extent nature-based flood defence strategies, through conservation of mangroves in a tropical river delta, can contribute to mitigate the oceanic and riverine components of compound flood risks. While current knowledge of estuarine compound flood risks is mostly focussed on short-term events such as storm surges (taking one or a few days), longer-term events, such as El Niño events (continuing for several weeks to months) along the Pacific coast of Latin America, are understudied. Here, we present a hydrodynamic modelling study of a large river delta in Ecuador aiming to elucidate the compound effects of El Niño driven oceanic and riverine forcing on extreme high water level propagation through the delta, and in particular, the role of mangroves in reducing the compound high water levels. Our results show that the deltaic high water level anomalies are predominantly driven by the oceanic forcing but that the riverine forcing causes the anomalies to amplify upstream. Furthermore, mangroves in the delta attenuate part of the oceanic contribution to the high water level anomalies, with the attenuating effect increasing in the landward direction, while mangroves have a negligible effect on the riverine component. These findings show that mangrove conservation and restoration programs can contribute to nature-based mitigation, especially the oceanic component of compound flood risks in a tropical river delta.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF available2024/03/26 21:56:09 GMT+1Article ReferenceDrivers of success in salt marshes restoration through planting and implications for ecosystem services
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/Liu-2024-NC
Planting has been widely adopted to battle the loss of salt marshes and to establish living shorelines. However, the drivers of success in salt marsh planting and their ecological benefits are poorly understood at the global scale. Here, we assembled a global database, encompassing 22,074 observations reported in 210 studies, to examine the drivers and impacts of salt marsh planting. We found that, on average, 53% of plantings survived globally, and plant survival and growth can be enhanced by careful design of sites, species selection, and novel planted technologies. Planting enhanced shoreline protection, primary production, soil carbon storage, biodiversity conservation and fishery production (effect sizes = 0.61, 1.55, 0.21, 0.10 and 1.01, respectively), compared with degraded wetlands. However, the ecosystem services of planted marshes, except for shoreline protection, have not yet fully recovered compared with natural wetlands (effect size = -0.25, 95%CIs = -0.29 to -0.22). Fortunately, the levels of most ecological functions related to climate change mitigation and biodiversity increased with plantation age when compared with natural wetlands, and achieved equivalence to natural wetlands after 5-25 years. Overall, our results suggest that salt marsh planting is a promising strategy for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF available2024/03/26 21:50:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceVegetation controls on channel network complexity in coastal wetlands
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/vandeVijsel-2023-NC
Channel networks are key to coastal wetland functioning and resilience under climate change. Vegetation affects sediment and hydrodynamics in many different ways, which calls for a coherent framework to explain how vegetation shapes channel network geometry and functioning. Here, we introduce an idealized model that shows how coastal wetland vegetation creates more complexly branching networks by increasing the ratio of channel incision versus topographic diffusion rates, thereby amplifying the channelization feedback that recursively incises finer-scale side-channels. This complexification trend qualitatively agrees with and provides an explanation for field data presented here as well as in earlier studies. Moreover, our model demonstrates that a stronger biogeomorphic feedback leads to higher and more densely vegetated marsh platforms and more extensive drainage networks. These findings may inspire future field research by raising the hypothesis that vegetation-induced self-organization enhances the storm surge buffering capacity of coastal wetlands and their resilience under sea-level rise.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF available2024/03/26 18:55:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceMangrove ecosystem properties regulate high water levels in a river delta
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/Pelckmans-NHESS-2023
Intertidal wetlands, such as mangroves in the tropics, are increasingly recognized for their role in nature-based mitigation of coastal flood risks. Yet it is still poorly understood how effective they are at attenuating the propagation of extreme sea levels through large (order of 100 km2) estuarine or deltaic systems, with complex geometry formed by networks of branching channels intertwined with mangrove and intertidal flat areas. Here, we present a delta-scale hydrodynamic modelling study, aiming to explicitly account for these complex landforms, for the case of the Guayas delta (Ecuador), the largest estuarine system on the Pacific coast of Latin America. Despite coping with data scarcity, our model accurately reproduces the observed propagation of high water levels during a spring tide. Further, based on a model sensitivity analysis, we show that high water levels are most sensitive to the mangrove platform elevation and degree of channelization but to a much lesser extent to vegetation-induced friction. Mangroves with a lower surface elevation, lower vegetation density, and higher degree of channelization all favour a more efficient flooding of the mangroves and therefore more effectively attenuate the high water levels in the deltaic channels. Our findings indicate that vast areas of channelized mangrove forests, rather than densely vegetated forests, are most effective for nature-based flood risk mitigation in a river delta.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF available2024/03/26 18:55:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceRedescription of three fossil baleen whale skulls from the Miocene of Portugal reveals new cetotheriid phylogenetic insights
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/articlereference.2024-03-15.9291042755
No publisherOpen AccessImpact Factor2024/03/15 10:32:32 GMT+1Article ReferenceBiofluorescence of the Mottled shovel-nosed frog, Hemisus marmoratus: first report for Hemisotidae.
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2023/articlereference.2024-02-29.5566295304
No publisherOpen AccessPDF available2024/03/14 14:26:06 GMT+1Article ReferencePisachini planthoppers of Vietnam: new records of Pisacha and a new Goniopsarites species from Central Vietnam (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Nogodinidae)
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2024/articlereference.2024-03-07.4124983543
No publisherRBINS Collection(s)PDF availableOpen AccessImpact FactorPeer ReviewInternational Redaction Board2024/03/07 10:40:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceSpinnen en loopkevers ingezameld tijdens een korte bodemvalbemonstering te Doeveren (Zedelgem‐Oostkamp)
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2019/articlereference.2024-02-29.3320698515
Spiders and carabid beetles were collected with pitfall traps during a short sampling campaign in the spring of 2017 (from 24/05 to 11/07) in the nature reserve Doeveren at Zedelgem‐Oostkamp. 49 species of spiders and 34 species of carabid beetles were found. We here discuss some particular species of both arthropod groups that are mentioned as threatened on the Red list for Flanders. We comment the management and heathland restoration measures of the last years and its impact on both faunasNo publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF availableRBINS Collection(s)2024/02/29 15:10:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceDe spinnenfauna van enkele rode dopheidegebieden nabij Brugge: Deel 4, drie jaar bemonsteringen in het Natuurreservaat Zevenkerken in 2014-2015-2016
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2019/articlereference.2024-02-29.5155230230
103 species of spiders were collected during 3 years continuous sampling with pitfall traps of 2 heathland patches in Nature Reserve Zevenkerken south-west of Bruges. Several rare and interesting species were discovered and discussed. Besides a large amount of species characteristic for forest and shrubs also an important part of the spider fauna in these heathlands consist of species characteristic for dry, oligotrophic grasslands. Also some species of heathland and dunes were found. 12 species are mentioned as threatened on the Red list of spiders of Flanders. Six species are catalogued as endangered, six as vulnerable. Restoration of heathland in Zevenkerken and Bruges in general in the context of spider and insect-friendly management are discussed.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF availableRBINS Collection(s)2024/02/29 14:55:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceDe spinnenfauna van enkele Rode dopheidegebieden nabij Brugge: Deel 2: Bemonsteringen in Provinciedomein Tillegembos in 2015-2016
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2019/articlereference.2024-02-29.0144438432
105 species of spiders were collected during a year-round sampling with pitfall traps of 3 heathland patches in Provinciedomein Tillegembos south of Bruges. Several rare and interesting species were discovered and discussed. An important part of the spider fauna in these heathlands consists of species characteristic for dry, oligotrophic grasslands. Also some species of heathland and dunes were found. 13 species are mentioned as threatened on the Red list of spiders of Flanders. Five species are catalogued as endangered, Seven species as vulnerable and one species is catalogued as critically endangered on that list: Thyreosthenius biovatus. Restoration of heathlands near Bruges in the context of spider- and insect-friendly management are discussed.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF availableRBINS Collection(s)2024/02/29 14:50:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceDe spinnenfauna van enkele heidegebieden nabij Brugge. Deel 1: bemonsteringen 2014-2015
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2018/articlereference.2024-02-29.3389255356
131 species of spiders were collected during a year-round sampling with pitfall traps of 8 heathland patches west of Bruges. One species, Ozyptila westringi, was recorded for the first time in Belgium, 20 species are mentioned as threatened on the Red list of spiders of Flanders and one species is catalogued as critically endangered on that list: Pirata uliginosus. An important part of the spider fauna in these heathlands consist of species characteristic for heathland, dunes and dry, oligotrophic grasslands. Notwithstanding these heathlands are embedded in a matrix of forest, we observed that the number of forest species was rather low. Management and restoration of heathlands near Bruges are discussed.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF availableRBINS Collection(s)2024/02/29 14:40:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceEerste waarnemingen van de sneeuwvlo Boreus hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1767) voor West-Vlaanderen: een zeldzame soort of een soort die zelden wordt waargenomen? (Mecoptera: Boreidae)
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications/articlereference.2024-02-29.8437358589
During a pitfall sampling in the winter of 2014-2015 in some heathland relicts near Bruges, Boreus hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1767) was recorded at three sites. These are the first records of this species for the Province West Flanders. Formerly, this species was only known in Flanders from large and spacious heathlands and shifting sand dunes. As an adult, Boreus hyemalis is only active during the coldest period of the year, even when soils are covered with snow and ice. Probably this species is more common than so far assumed, but because during winter entomological surveys are very rare, this species has probably been overlooked at several places. We give an up-date of its current observed distribution in Belgium and we discuss the recent observations in the western part of Belgium.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF availableRBINS Collection(s)2024/02/29 13:20:00 GMT+1Article ReferenceMYRMECOPHILOUS LABOULBENIALES (ASCOMYCOTA) IN BELGIUM
https://biblio.naturalsciences.be/library-1/rbins-staff-publications-2016/articlereference.2024-02-29.5437098048
This paper presents the first record of Rickia wasmannii (Laboulbeniales) from Myrmica sabuleti in Belgium. Aspects of prevalence and thallus density of R. wasmannii are discussed, and a description and illustrations are given. Screening of the oldest colony of Lasius neglectus in Belgium (Ghent University Botanic Garden) did not reveal infections with Laboulbenia formicarum.No publisherPeer ReviewOpen AccessPDF available2024/02/29 13:12:32 GMT+1Article Reference