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Article Reference FIRST RECORD OF FIVE ANT SPECIES (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) FROM RWANDA
Ant studies conducted in Rwanda have reported a total of 105 ant species. However, this is an underestimation of the total ant richness since Rwanda is in a region rich in biodiversity. To fill the gaps, ants have been sampled in planted forests, coffee plantations, and different other land use types since 2017. Specimens have been collected using pitfall traps and hand collection, digitized, and identified to subfamily, genus, and species level. Results indicated that five ant species were found in Rwanda for the first time. These are Camponotus acvapimensis, Camponotus schoutedeni, Camponotus sericeus, Odontomachus assiniensis and Tetramorium sericeiventre. Specimens are deposited at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science and the Rwanda Ant Collection. We recommend more ant studies focussing on their mode of living. This will result in more ant species newly recorded in the country and possibly new to science.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference The Role of Belgian Airborne Sniffer Measurements in the MARPOL Annex VI Enforcement Chain
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference High-Latitude Dinosaur Nesting Strategies during the Latest Cretaceous in North-Eastern Russia
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference International maritime regulation decreases sulfur dioxide but increases nitrogen oxide emissions in the North and Baltic Sea.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Troff document Current progress in developing a MARPOL Annex VI enforcement strategy in the Bonn Agreement through remote measurements.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Assessment of the Effect of International Maritime Regulations on Air Quality in the Southern North Sea.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Monitoring of high biomass Phaeocystis globosa blooms in the Southern North Sea by in situ and future spaceborne hyperspectral radiometry
Phaeocystis globosa (P. globosa hereafter) is a phytoplankton species which commonly blooms at high biomass in April–May in the Southern North Sea and forms undesirable foam which accumulates on the beaches. Monitoring of this species is required by EU directives. Measurement of phytoplankton species composition has historically been made by pigment or microscopic analysis of water samples, which is spatially sparse and temporally infrequent e.g. weekly/monthly. In-water instruments such as flow cytometers can provide very high frequency data but at high acquisition and maintenance cost. Automated in situ above water radiometry has the potential to provide very high frequency data at single locations but requires very careful design of processing algorithms in turbid waters with high non-algal absorption. Spaceborne radiometry could provide both very good spatial coverage and moderate/high frequency of data, e.g. daily/weekly, but accurate determination of phytoplankton species composition is considerably more difficult in turbid waters than in open ocean waters. Prior studies based on a limited number of shipborne reflectance measurements suggested feasibility of P. globosa detection in turbid waters from hyperspectral radiometry. The availability of a new autonomous above water hyperspectral radiometer system has enabled further refinement and intensive testing of these techniques. From a time-series of 4356 water reflectance spectra measured near Ostend harbour in Belgian coastal waters from 2020/04/01 to 2020/08/18, two existing algorithms for P. globosa detection were successfully applied. Results show a high biomass P. globosa bloom occurring in late-April/early-May as found every year in water sample analyses for Belgian coastal waters. The high temporal resolution of the radiometric data allows to capture the evolution of the bloom at time scales sufficiently short (hourly and daily) compared to growth/decay and tidal processes. The challenges of extending the methods to future spaceborne instruments are also tested by simulating the impact of errors in sensor inter-band calibration, atmospheric correction and radiometric noise. Results show that because of their spectral coherence, atmospheric correction errors impact only slightly P. globosa detection whereas inaccuracy in inter-band calibration and radiometric noise are much more problematic as they affect each spectral band independently. Because radiometric noise should be reduced in the new generation of hyperspectral sensors and can always be reduced by spatial binning, the inter-band relative calibration uncertainty appears to be the main challenge for spaceborne mission design. Indeed, it was demonstrated that inter-band calibration error should be 0.25\% and ideally 0.1\% at top of the atmosphere highlighting the need for particular attention to inter-band calibration in sensor design and post processing treatments including vicarious calibration.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference Assessing the influences of bee’s (Hymnoptera: Apidae) floral preference on cashew (Anacardiacae) agronomics performances in Côte d’Ivoire.
This study aimed to assess the influence of bees’ floral preference on cashew agronomics performances in Côte d’Ivoire. Therefore, a sampling design with a total of 40 cashew trees preferred by bees and 40 trees that were not preferred by bees was established in 4 main producing regions. In addition, bees’ foragers and agronomics performances of trees were sampled. As results, a total of 46 bee’ species with a foraging activity of 4±0.32 visits per minute were observed. Apis mellifera (60% of visits, with 2.27±0.17 of visitors per minute) followed by Meliponula bocandei (23% of visits with 0.91±0.18 of visits per minute) contributes significantly to the reproduction of cashew trees, compare to the 44 other bees’ species (17% of visits; with an activity of 0.69±0.03 of visitors per minute). The preferred trees recorded 40.54±0.57 kg of nuts per tree, with 18.39±0.48 fruits per inflorescence, including 37.12±0.4% of useful kernel per raw nut (yield ratio of 65.45±0.66 pound of useful kernel). Conversely, the non-preferred trees obtained 5.24±0.44kg of nuts per tree, with 1.7±0.21 fruits per inflorescence, including 28.69±0.65% of useful kernel per raw nut (50.6±1.15 pound of useful kernel). Hence, the foraging preference of these two Apidae significantly increased the fruiting rate (83.7±0.01%), the yields (87.08±0.0%), and the kernel rate (22.68±1.76%) in raw cashew nuts. Based in these results, we suggest the foraging preference of Apis mellifera as good indicator of high-yielding cashew plants. Moreover, we suggests combination of apicultural and meliponicultrual in cashew farming to boost the yields and farmers livelihoods.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference Publishing data to support the fight against human vector-borne diseases
Vector-borne diseases are responsible for more than 17% of human cases of infectious diseases. In most situations, effective control of debilitating and deadly vector-bone diseases (VBDs), such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika and Chagas requires up-to-date, robust and comprehensive information on the presence, diversity, ecology, bionomics and geographic spread of the organisms that carry and transmit the infectious agents. Huge gaps exist in the information related to these vectors, creating an essential need for campaigns to mobilise and share data. The publication of data papers is an effective tool for overcoming this challenge. These peer-reviewed articles provide scholarly credit for researchers whose vital work of assembling and publishing well-described, properly-formatted datasets often fails to receive appropriate recognition. To address this, GigaScience’s sister journal GigaByte partnered with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to publish a series of data papers, with support from the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Here we outline the initial results of this targeted approach to sharing data and describe its importance for controlling VBDs and improving public health.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference The ants of the Galápagos Islands (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): a historical overview, checklist, and identification key
The Galápagos ant fauna has long been understudied, with the last taxonomic summary being published almost a century ago. Here, a comprehensive and updated overview of the known ant species of the Galápagos Islands is provided with updated species distributions. The list is based on an extensive review of literature, the identification of more than 382,000 specimens deposited in different entomological collections, and recent expeditions to the islands. The ant fauna is composed of five subfamilies (Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae), 22 genera, 50 species, and 25 subspecies, although three species (Crematogaster crinosa Mayr, 1862, Camponotus senex (Smith, 1858), and Solenopsis saevissima (Smith, 1855)) are considered dubious records. Finally, an illustrated identification key of the species found in the archipelago is presented.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023