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Understanding practices and awareness of recreational anglers regarding invasive alien species to support the development of biosecurity campaigns
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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The INTERREG NWE DGE-ROLLOUT project: What are the contributions to the development of geothermal energy in Hauts-de-France?
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In Northwestern Europe, the Dinantian limestone formation, could be a promising geothermal reservoir from 1 kilometer deep for heat production in densely populated regions. In the 1970s and 1980s, scientific drilling in Belgium encountered hot water at high flow rates in this layer, turning these wells into productive geothermal sources for district heating (e.g., Saint-Ghislain, Douvrain, and Ghlin). However, similar wells in France (Jeumont and Condé-sur-l'Escaut) were not productive enough for economic viability due to the heterogeneous nature of the Dinantian reservoir, influenced by the region’s complex geological history.To enhance understanding of this formation, an interdisciplinary study was conducted under the INTERREG NWE DGE-Rollout project. This study involved creating a cross-border map of the Dinantian structure and building a lithological chart to represent variations across the region, including Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The formation is mainly composed of carbonate rocks but also contains significant heterogeneities, such as sedimentary breccias within the middle Visean (Livian), identified as a geothermal reservoir in Belgium's Mons region.Seismic surveys and petrophysical analyses were conducted across Belgium, France, and Germany. Results showed five main facies in the Dinantian: limestone, dolomite, anhydrite, sandstone, and clay. The Epinoy 1 well, for instance, revealed low porosity in dolomitic facies, while Jeumont 1 showed higher porosity levels in dolomitic intervals. Seismic data reprocessing further identified key geothermal targets, with dolomitic zones offering better reservoir properties in the north and east.Temperature data from wells in the region are scarce, though the Epinoy 1 well shows a normal geothermal gradient of 30°C/km. Favorable areas for geothermal development were identified based on energy demand and geothermal resource availability. The largest zone is located between Douai and Valenciennes, with significant heat demand and an existing district heating network. Another zone, around Maubeuge, also holds potential despite deeper Dinantian depths.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Infancy and Death in Medieval Wallonia (Belgium): Some Burial and Biological Aspects
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This study investigates infant burials (foetal to 3 years old) in early medieval Wallonia (seventh–twelfth centuries AD) through archaeothanatological analysis of two recently excavated urban religious sites: Liège (Notre-Dame-aux-Fonts) and Mons (Rampe Sainte-Waudru). Twenty-four individuals were examined for grave location, architecture, burial arrangement, age, and palaeopathology. Infants typically received careful funerary treatment, often in wooden or soft containers, mirroring that of older individuals. Occasional double burials with adults raise questions about familial and community relationships. Individuals aged 1–3 years are overrepresented, though incomplete excavations limit demographic interpretation. Biological status – age or health – did not appear to influence burial care; only two showed pathology, one possibly from birth trauma. The integration of these burials in key religious centres reflects infants’ recognised social value within community. Findings enhance understanding of early medieval attitudes towards childhood and call for further study of the social and biological determinants of infant burial practices.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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A European monsoon-like climate in a warmhouse world
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The middle Eocene warmhouse period (45 million years ago) featured atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations equivalent to those projected under high future emission scenarios. Seasonal- to weather timescale climate reconstructions from this period can provide critical insight into the impact of Anthropogenic warming on intra-annual variability in temperature and precipitation. Here, we combine daily-scale reconstructions of the evolution of temperature and the water cycle in western Europe based on stable oxygen and clumped isotope analyses on the fastest-growing gastropod known in the fossil record: Campanile giganteum. Our dataset shows that the middle Eocene of western Europe featured monsoon-like conditions, with seawater temperatures of ˊ24 °C during mild and wet winters, 30 °C during hot and dry spring and autumn seasons, and ˊ28 °C during warm and comparatively wet summers. Coupled climate model simulations using the Community Earth System Model indicate these seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation were driven by shifting atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes over Western Europe, with winds from different directions bringing distinct waters to the region and minimal wind during spring reducing cooling through diminished latent heat flux. Our results highlight that Europe may experience wetter summers with more frequent extreme rainfall events under future high emissions scenarios.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Making sense of variation in sclerochronological stable isotope profiles of mollusks and fish otoliths from the early Eocene southern North Sea Basin
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Stable isotope sclerochemistry of biogenic carbonate is frequently used for the reconstruction of paleotemperature and seasonality. Yet, few studies have compared intra-and inter-taxon isotope variability and variation within a single depositional environment. We measured seasonal changes in δ18O and δ13C compositions in multiple specimens of two carditid bivalve species, a turritelline gastropod species, and two species of otoliths from demersal fish, from two early Eocene (latest Ypresian, 49.2 Ma) coquinas in the inner neritic Aalter Formation, located in the Belgian part of the southern North Sea Basin (paleolatitude ∼41°N). Results demonstrate considerable variation among taxa in the mean, amplitude, and skewness of δ18O and δ13C values from sequentially sampled growth series. We attribute this variation to factors including differences in seasonal growth over ontogeny, mixing of depositional settings by sediment transport, differences between sedentary and mobile organisms, and differences in longevity of the taxa in question. Growth cessation during winters in turritellines and fishes in particular lead to an incomplete representation of the seasonal cycle in their growth increments, in comparison to carditid bivalves. Ophidiid fish otolith isotope records appear to reflect environmental conditions over a wider range of habitats and environments, and we infer this is due to a combination of sedimentary transport, as these are small structures, and postmortem transport by free-swimming predatory fish. Our study highlights the potential variability encompassed by taxa in the shallow marine realm even when they are found in the same deposits. While this has significant implications for seasonality reconstructions based on conventional isotope profiles, we show that careful study of the ecology and ontogeny of multiple taxa and specimens within a death assemblage can reveal sources of variation and yield a close approximation of conditions in the setting of interest.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Modelling migratory waterfowl stopover habitat while accounting for ephemeral environmental conditions
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1.Migratory species depend on ephemeral environmental conditions; thus, species distribution modelling (SDM) must incorporate phenological changes along migratory routes. Our overarching goal was to model habitats for three waterfowl species migrating through Eurasian grasslands (red-breasted goose [Branta ruficollis], taiga bean goose [Anser fabalis fabalis] and Bewick's swan [Cygnus columbianus bewickii]) while accounting for ephemeral environmental conditions. Our objectives were (a) to develop a workflow of mapping ephemeral environmental conditions, (b) model habitats for the three species and (c) evaluate the protection status of habitats in natural and agricultural landscapes. We expected water availability, particularly ephemeral spring waterbodies, to strongly influence these species' distributions. 2. We utilized MODIS data for phenological synchronization of Landsat images to create species-and season-specific metrics and land cover maps. We used Landsat-derived environmental variables, elevation and bird GPS locations in Maxent SDM. We compared locations of modelled habitats, protected areas and Ramsar sites. 3. Our land cover maps had an overall accuracy of 0.92–0.95 and captured ephemeral water extent during these species' migrations. All models had AUC scores of 0.89–0.94; distance to water, land cover and elevation were the most important variables. Modelled habitats were distributed unevenly and occurred in both natural and agricultural landscapes; 40%–76% fell within croplands. Although most croplands provide a rich food supply, their value as waterfowl habitat critically depended on water availability. Approximately 22% of potential habitat in the natural landscape, but only 3% in croplands, had some level of protection.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Temporal Changes to Migratory Fuel Load in Migratory Birds Across Europe
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Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity, and migratory animals are particularly vulnerable, due partly to their reliance upon good resource availability across a network of sites at specific times. Migrants perform vital ecosystem functions, transferring significant resources across large spatial scales, but the impacts of climate change on the ability of individuals to complete these journeys are poorly studied. Collecting the large-scale and long-term data on the condition of individuals during migration to address this is challenging, but in migratory birds, we have a model system for which a large network of ringers (banders) collect individual data on body size and mass, enabling variation in body condition to be tracked. We used long-term ringing data on 33 Afro–Palearctic migratory bird species at 286 sites across Europe to demonstrate a large-scale decrease in migratory fuel loads during autumn over the last 40 years, but not in spring. Declines were strongest across southern Europe and linked to rising temperatures. The timing of autumn fuelling has also shifted, occurring earlier at northern sites and later at southern sites. These relationships varied depending on diet and breeding cycle length. Obligate insectivores were more constrained by temperature in the timing and magnitude of fuelling than frugivores. Species with short breeding cycles departed later at southern sites in warmer years, likely reflecting an extended breeding season. Altogether, these latitudinally varying findings suggest a trade-off between maximising productivity or maximising adult survival as climate drives changing constraints on breeding season length and resource availability. Similar climate-induced trade-offs may be happening in other migratory taxa with the potential to influence population trends.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Reducing sand mining’s growing toll on mareine biodiversity
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
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Vertical dynamics of suspended particulate matter and chlorophyll-a in a well-mixed coastal turbid system
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
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Spatio‑temporal variation in particulate and dissolved organic matter dynamics in the southern North Sea
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
