DNA collections are a valuable type of Natural Science collection, enabling the validation of past research, serving as a source for new genomic studies and supporting ex situ conservation. The DiSSCo Flanders DNA collection working group, aiming to advance and "unlock" their DNA collections, identified the need for: 1) actively sharing best practices regarding the management of DNA collections; and 2) providing guidance on how to bring theory into practice. By combining best practice examples from within the working group with available literature and brainstorming ideas, the working group co-created two outputs, referred to as: the "Challenges" and the "Key". The Challenges are a list of obstacles to DNA collection management, which shape the structure of the linked Key and can also be used to spark discussion amongst stakeholders. The Key is a tool that guides users through the maturation process of their DNA collection in a standardised way. It stimulates holistic growth, breaks down the needed work into manageable steps and helps to decide priorities during the process. Furthermore, the Key facilitates communication with both internal stakeholders and external DNA collection managers. The Key distinguishes itself from other self-assessment tools in several ways: it includes (re)investigation of the collection’s purpose and context; it is specialised for DNA collections; it delivers concrete goals linked to relevant information and shared experience; and it is inclusive, targeting all Natural Science DNA collections, regardless of their context or size.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Fish movements have long intrigued ecologists due to their complexity and far-reaching implications on survival, reproduction, and population dynamics. Advancements in tracking technologies, including emerging electronic and remote sensors and information derived from molecular, chemical, and isotopic markers naturally recorded in fish tissues, have propelled our understanding of where, when, and why individuals and populations move. Such tangible information on the direction, frequency, and timing of fish movements is key to supporting management, informing policy, and underpinning positive conservation outcomes. In this chapter, we aim to highlight the diversity of movement and migration strategies in fish, providing a blueprint of movement types at different spatial and temporal scales, as well as key methodologies and emerging approaches for studying fish movements. The goal is to broaden our understanding of how and why fish move, illustrated by representative and well-established case studies ranging from hourly or daily time steps, such as vertical migrations, to ontogenetic movements linking different life-history stages, all the way to transoceanic movements and diadromous migrations.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
As disease regulation is a key ecosystem service, it is crucial that we better understand the role that restoring landscapes can play in reducing disease risks. Ongoing One Health studies suggest that declining biodiversity and increasing zoonotic pathogen spill-over risk are linked. Restoration processes normally aim at increasing species diversity, wherefore it is assumed that pathogens will be diluted in restored ecosystems, hence reducing the risk of zoonotic spillover. Nonetheless, the developing species composition during restorative processes will impact dilution-amplification effects. To estimate the threshold beyond which a restored ecosystem can be considered to have reached the pathogen dilution phase, it is crucial to characterise the communities of hosts, and the prevalence of pathogens, at the different stages of recovery of an ecosystem. Using interdisciplinary methods, this project has the dual aim of examining the amplification-dilution of zoonotic pathogens in a mangrove forest of the western Peninsular Malaysia, and to estimate the frequency and duration of exposure of local communities to this hazard, so as to best mitigate the risk of zoonotic pathogen spillover.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
