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Inbook Reference Belgian cave entrance and rock-shelter sequences as palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data recorders: the example of the Walou cave multi-proxy study
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Inproceedings Reference Belgian fossil shells as fortune tellers? Unique climate archives yet hardly tapped into
Shells are powerful climate archives - they add growth increments on timescales as short as sub-daily, and often live for decades, some even more than 100 years. With the aid of isotope and trace-elemental geochemistry, the effects of climate change on temperature, seasonality and extreme weather can be read from them. Belgium is one of the few countries blessed with extensive records of exquisitely preserved fossil shells dating to the Pliocene, a geologic period dating from 5.3 to 2.6 million year ago. Critically, the Pliocene is the youngest geologic time during which CO2 levels were >400 ppm and mean annual temperatures comparable to those to be reached by the end of this century, following Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) 2-4.5 of the IPCC. It therefore presents an ideal near-future analogue. Rich collections of well-preserved Belgian Pliocene shells are in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), and more material is collected from temporary outcrops like building sites in and around Antwerp with the aid of citizen-scientists. In recent years, RBINS collaborated with national (VUB, KULeuven) and international (VU Amsterdam, Naturalis, UDerby) researchers to start tapping into these exquisite climate archives, unraveling previously unknown details on Belgian past climate, predicting amplified seasonality in Europe in a warmer world, and investigating the potential of fossil shells to document heat waves and storms. The poster will highlight some of this recent collaborative work, and, why the RBINS, through its collections, fieldwork and expertise can play a pivotal role in climate research in Belgium.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Inproceedings Reference Belgian Network for DNA Barcoding
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Belgian paleontological heritage: time for action?
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Belgium is the best place to define the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Inproceedings Reference Belgium on the lookout for exotic mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae).
Based on the current spread of exotic mosquito species (EMS) in Europe, the number of interceptions in Belgium and suitability models developed for Aedes albopictus (Skuse) in Europe, EMS are likely to establish and spread in Belgium. A prerequisite for their control is their early detection. Therefore, the Belgian federal authorities and the federated entities funded a 3-year active monitoring project (MEMO) (July 2017–June 2020). The aims are early detection of EMS in Belgium, quantifying locally established EMS populations, evaluating the EMS import risk at possible points of entry (PoE), expand reference collections and make recommendations for a future, long-term, cost-effective EMS monitoring plan in Belgium. Monitoring activities are implemented at 23 PoE using adult trapping with CO2 and lure traps, egg sampling with oviposition traps and larval sampling with dipping nets. DNA barcoding is used to validate morphological identifications and to expand the DNA reference database. Specimens are also added to the morphological reference collection at Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Since July 2017, four EMS were intercepted. The colonised area of Ae. koreicus (Edwards) in Belgium increased from 7 to 113 km2. Aedes japonicus (Theobald) was detected again in southern Belgium, from where it was thought to be eliminated. This species has now also been collected on the border with Germany. Anopheles pharoensis (Theobald) entered Belgium via cargo transport. Aedes albopictus was intercepted at four PoE. To conclude, EMS are effectively entering and spreading in Belgium and appropriate control management strategies on the national level are urgently required.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Benthic Food Webs in Antarctica ~ Would you care for some more (micro)algae ?
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is experiencing rapid warming, which will impact ecosystem processes, particularly sympagic algae dynamics. As these ice-associated microalgae are a vital food source for primary consumers, this disruption is likely to cascade through the communities via trophic interactions. To study these effects, we sampled benthic communities along the WAP in February 2023, focusing on macroalgae forests (n=2) and soft bottoms (n=3) at Dodman Island and Blaiklock Island. Basal resources and benthic invertebrates (n=410, 49 morphospecies) were collected for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis to explore differences in food webs structure between macroalgae forests and soft bottoms, addressing three questions: 1) Are sympagic algae more crucial as basal resources in one of the two habitats? 2) Is there a difference in trophic diversity between macroalgae forests and soft bottoms? 3) How does the vertical food web structure differ between the two habitats? In soft bottoms communities, consumers’ stable isotopes ratios showed a switch toward higher δ¹³C values, typical of sympagic algae in Antarctica. This may suggest a higher vulnerability of WAP soft bottoms communities to alterations of sympagic algae dynamics. Trophic diversity was generally higher in communities with a wider range of basal resources. However, significant local-scale variations in trophic diversity surpassed habitat-related differences, limiting conclusions about habitat influence on trophic diversity. Finally, soft bottoms consumers tended to occupy a higher trophic position than those in macroalgae forests, resulting in a higher mean trophic position at the community scale. This could reflect a diet shift by generalist invertebrates—common in Antarctica—towards increased consumption of more degraded organic matter or necrophagy in habitats with fewer basal resources. Overall, these results underscore the complexity of trophic dynamics in Antarctica, where both local variability and large-scale environmental changes influence food web structure and community resilience to climate change.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Inproceedings Reference Benthic foraminiferal and isotopic patterns during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (Aktulagay section, Kazakhstan)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Benthic foraminiferal and isotopic patterns during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (Aktulagay section, Kazakhstan).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Incollection Reference Benthic foraminiferal and isotopic patterns during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (Aktulagay section, Kazakhstan).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications