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Transnational and integrated long-term marine exploitation strategies
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Advances in high-resolution paleoclimate reconstructions using growth experiments, age modelling and clumped isotope analyses
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Archeobotanische resten van verversactiviteiten en textielbewerking uit laatmiddeleeuwse waterlopen, recente vondsten uit Brussel en Mechelen (Br. & Antw.)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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The Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA): a taxonomic backbone for global biodiversity databases
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Koen Martens works at the Royal Belgian Institute of natural Sciences (Brussels, Belgium). He is guest professor at the UGent and visiting professor at the State University of Maringá (Brazil). His research interests are in aquatic ecology and evolutionary biology. He is editor in chief of Hydrobiologia since 2003. Freshwater covers less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, but 10% of all animals occur only in freshwaters, a discrepancy known as the “paradox of freshwater”. Several global data repositories (such as GBIF) document extant freshwater biodiversity, but require reliable taxonomic backbones. Currently, FADA (created by Koen in 2005) groups more than 125 thousand species and 11 thousand genera of freshwater animals. However, taxonomy is a living scientific discipline, where new taxa are being described and existing taxa are being placed in new taxonomic positions. infraFADA, a three-year BELSPO project, will develop FADA into a research infrastructure that serves as taxonomic backbone for a variety of global biodiversity databases.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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infraFADA: Upgrading the taxonomic backbone of global freshwater animal biodiversity research infrastructures
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The current Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) comprises an extensive set of global taxa lists for freshwater animal groups. At present, more than 125 thousand described freshwater animal species in more than 11 thousand genera have been documented. However, taxonomy is a living scientific discipline, where new taxa are continuously being described, and existing taxa are being placed in new taxonomic positions. Therefore, after a period of relative inactivity, the BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy) project “infraFADA” (2023-2026) re-establishes the global FADA consortium of taxonomic experts, so that all taxa lists will be brought up to date, both technically and in terms of content. infraFADA will develop a living, updated, and global FADA database, fully in open access and according to the FAIR principles. The infraFADA database is intended for use and consultation by the scientific freshwater community, as well as for interested stakeholders, for example, freshwater ecosystem managers, biodiversity conservationists, and others. Most importantly, FADA will also serve as a taxonomic backbone for other global biodiversity data infrastructures, such as the Catalogue of Life (CoL), the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the Freshwater Information Platform (FIP), and others. As such, FADA will provide a digital and living heritage of freshwater data, building bridges between science and society and helping to sustainably maintain freshwater resources.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Environmental factors and UV exposure affect gene activity in the putative ancient asexual ostracod Darwinula stevensoni
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The non-marine ostracod Darwinula stevensoni (Ostracoda, Crustaceae) is one of the last remaining examples of an ancient asexual (Schön et al. 2009) and has probably abandoned sexual reproduction approximately 20 million years ago (Straub 1952). In spite of the limited genetic diversity of D. stevensoni, its cosmopolitan distribution in different aquatic habitats indicate that this species can survive asexually in the long-term, possibly because it developed a general purpose genotype (Van Doninck et al. 2002). To unravel the genetic background of this general purpose genotype, we have studied gene activity of D. stevensoni via the RNA sequencing of transcriptomes. The transcriptome is the collection of all active genes which have been transcribed from DNA to RNA under certain conditions. Statistically comparing the genetic composition of transcriptomes allows us to identify differences in active (or expressed) genes, which inform on host adaptations to specific conditions. We characterised transcriptomes of D. stevensoni from natural populations in Spain, England and Belgium. To summarize results in our multi-gene approach, the “gene ontology” (GO) classification system was used which divides genes across groups (“terms”) in accordance to the biological function, molecular pathway or cellular component they affect. Of the 5013 terms which were assessed regarding biological function, 49 were found to have significantly different gene expression between the three different populations. However, none of these terms could be directly linked to temperature-related functions, suggesting that differences in gene expression between natural D. stevensoni populations are more complex and do not only reflect adaptation to varying temperature ranges. Living D. stevensoni individuals from the Belgian population were also exposed to UV-radiation in the lab. In this experiment, we expected to find an increased activity of genes being related to the repair and preservation of DNA countering the effects of UV-radiation. Of the same 5013 analysed gene terms, only 9 showed a significant change in gene expression in response to UV-radiation. None of these gene term had known repair functions, potentially highlighting again more complex gene expression patterns in D. stevensoni than initially expected. More analyses are currently ongoing to unravel the functionality of the activated genes in more detail. We are also planning an experimental set up to directly study gene expression differences of D. stevensoni under different temperatures.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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infraFADA: Upgrading the taxonomic backbone of global freshwater animal biodiversity research infrastructures
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The current Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) comprises an extensive set of global taxa lists for freshwater animal groups. At present, more than 125 thousand described freshwater animal species in more than 11 thousand genera have been documented. However, taxonomy is a living scientific discipline, where new taxa are continuously being described, and existing taxa are being placed in new taxonomic positions. Therefore, after a period of relative inactivity, the BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy) project “infraFADA” (2023-2026) re-establishes the global FADA consortium of taxonomic experts, so that all taxa lists will be brought up to date, both technically and in terms of content. infraFADA will develop a living, updated, and global FADA database, fully in open access and according to the FAIR principles. The infraFADA database is intended for use and consultation by the scientific freshwater community, as well as for interested stakeholders, for example, freshwater ecosystem managers, biodiversity conservationists, and others. Most importantly, FADA will also serve as a taxonomic backbone for other global biodiversity data infrastructures, such as the Catalogue of Life (CoL), the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the Freshwater Information Platform (FIP), and others. As such, FADA will provide a digital and living heritage of freshwater data, building bridges between science and society and helping to sustainably maintain freshwater resources.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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High-resolution description of insular and fjordic benthic food webs along the West Antarctic Peninsula
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The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is one of the most rapidly warming region on Earth. In this context, it is crucial to improve our understanding of the consequences of future changes in the local biotic and abiotic environments on marine ecosystem functioning. Here, we focused on food web structure of shallow-water benthic communities. In February 2023, the TANGO1 expedition, using a sailboat, brought nine Belgian scientists to the WAP. To assess the importance of environmental changes on local food web dynamics, five benthic communities were investigated, focusing on macroalgae forests (n=2) and sedimentary soft bottoms (n=3). These stations were distributed between two contrasted environments, Dodman Island (Grandidier Channel, 66°S) & Blaiklock Island (Bigourdan Fjord, 67.5°S). These two locations differed markedly in terms of sea-ice cover, and in terms of general hydrography (small island exposed to the Grandidier Channel’s currents VS fjord system surrounded by active glaciers). At each station, basal food sources (i.e. sediment-associated POM, water-column POM, macroalgae, microphytobenthos) as well as benthic invertebrates (435 individuals, 64 morphospecies) were sampled quantitatively to assess their biomass, and for later stable isotope analysis. Using stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur, and Bayesian tools, we aim to formally represent the communities in isotopic space, and to compare their topologies along the environmental gradient studied. These representations will then be used to test whether differences in food web structure reflect general community characteristics, such as the higher biomass of organisms measured in macroalgae forests, which also display the greatest species diversity.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Detection of invasive and alien land planarians as threats to agriculture and ecosystem stability
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Alien land planarians are considered potential threats to European agriculture and ecosystem stability. Severe impact of alien land planarian species in Europe but also worldwide was reported including depletion of local and native soil invertebrates and possible detrimental changes at the ecosystem level. Given the increasing number of studies reporting non-native and potentially invasive species of geoplanid planarians, further action in first response related to worldwide plant trade is called for. To date, the only flatworm on the list of “Invasive Alien Species of European Union Concern” is the New Zealand flatworm Arthurdendyus triangulatus. To help authorities detect and prevent introduction of the New Zealand flatworm, we designed an experiment in order to develop a species-specific barcoding protocol to check possible contamination by A. triangulatus of containerised flowerpots, identified as the most probable source of its co-introduction to non-native region. Based on our results, specific behavior of A. triangulatus staying restricted to the surface and upper layer of the flowerpot determines accessibility of DNA in the soil. Therefore, water-based eDNA methodology combined with a newly established qPCR protocol is preferred as it provides a sensitive approach for detection of A. triangulatus in the flowerpots. Further testing is needed to determine sensitivity of the persistence of eDNA following the flatworm’s removal, to estimate the risk of false positives. The newly designed barcoding protocols provide species-specific diagnosis of one invasive and three non-native land planarians currently being assessed for their invasion risks. However, the species-specificity of the developed barcoding protocols might need to be re-evaluated in case of introduction of new planarian species, and in view of apparent misidentifications regarding published genetic resources. Instead, general protocols requiring genetic sequence analyses would offer a more robust approach to assess species diversity of introduced and potentially invasive land planarians.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Parasitic monogenean flatworms as tags for invasive aquatic vertebrates in africa, using mitochondrial markers and historical collections
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Reasons why introduced alien species are major risks to biodiversity include parasite co-introduction and lateral transfer to local hosts, but this parasitological impact is understudied. The origins and identities of introduced organisms are often unknown, including those of their parasite fauna. Recent species monitoring only provides partial answers for want of baseline data: especially in the Global South and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, where native parasite biodiversity is poorly known. We studied introduced vertebrates (cichlids, sardines, frogs) in Central and Southern African inland waters, and parasitic flatworms (monogeneans) infecting them. Given their obligate one-host lifestyle, these parasites are thought to be more easily co-introduced with their hosts, and to be used as “tags” for the origin and introduction pathway of host populations. Parasites were isolated from hosts sampled from historical collections and in recent fieldwork. Monogenean parasites were morphologically identified to species level, and characterised using nuclear and mitochondrial markers. Using historical fish collections to reconstruct pre-introduction baselines for cichlid parasite communities, we distinguished between native and co-introduced parasite species, and detected parasite transmission to native cichlids. Monogeneans helped identify origins and introduction pathways of invasive sardines. For the notoriously invasive Nile tilapia and African clawed frog, these parasites provided a higher resolution than host genetics. This a proof-of-concept of biodiversity infrastructure and parasites as information sources for invasion biology. Nevertheless, a review of the state-of-the-art of parasitological research on Nile tilapia, an invasive f ish of global economic and ecological importance, shows that work on its parasites mostly overlooks their indicator potential. We recommend more scientific consideration to the parasites of invasive species, using a more integrative approach than is currently often taken.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
