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The Relation between Migratory Activity of Pipistrellus Bats at Sea and Weather Conditions Offers Possibilities to Reduce Offshore Wind Farm Effects
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Bats undertaking seasonal migration between summer roosts and wintering areas can cross large areas of open sea. Given the known impact of onshore wind turbines on bats, concerns were raised on whether offshore wind farms pose risks to bats. Better comprehension of the phenology and weather conditions of offshore bat migration are considered as research priorities for bat conservation and provide a scientific basis for mitigating the impact of offshore wind turbines on bats. This study investigated the weather conditions linked to the migratory activity of Pipistrellus bats at multiple near- and offshore locations in the Belgian part of the North Sea. We found a positive relationship between migratory activity and ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure and a negative relationship with wind speed. The activity was highest with a wind direction between NE and SE, which may favor offshore migration towards the UK. Further, we found a clear negative relationship between the number of detections and the distance from the coast. At the nearshore survey location, the number of detections was up to 24 times higher compared to the offshore locations. Our results can support mitigation strategies to reduce offshore wind farm effects on bats and offer guidance in the siting process of new offshore wind farms.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021 OA
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Earth science collections of the Centre Grégoire Fournier (Maredsous) with comments on Middle Devonian–Carboniferous brachiopods and trilobites from southern Belgium
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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New linguliformean brachiopods from the lower Tremadocian (Ordovician) of the Brabant Massif, Belgium, with comments on contemporaneous faunas from the Stavelot–Venn Massif.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Tremadocian and Floian (Ordovician) linguliformean brachiopods from the Stavelot–Venn Massif (Avalonia; Belgium and Germany)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Homenaje a Claude Massin (1948‒2021), especialista en pepinos de mar (Tribute to Claude Massin (1948‒2021), specialist in sea cucumbers)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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A classic Late Frasnian chondrichthyan assemblage from southern Belgium
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Samples from the Upper Frasnian (Devonian) of Lompret Quarry and Nismes railway section in Dinant Synclinorium, southern Belgium, yielded several chondrichthyan teeth and scales. The teeth belong to three genera: Phoebodus, Cladodoides and Protacrodus. The comparison with selected Late Frasnian chondrichthyan assemblages from the seas between Laurussia and Gondwana revealed substantial local differences of taxonomic composition due to palaeoenvironmental conditions, such as depth, distance to submarine platforms, oxygenation of water, and possibly also temperature. The assemblage from Belgium, with its high frequency of phoebodonts, is the most similar to that from the Ryauzyak section, South Urals, Russia, and the Horse Spring section, Canning Basin, Australia.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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First record of a proseriate flatworm predating on a rhabdocoel (Platyhelminthes: Proseriata and Rhabdocoela)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Is ‘everything everywhere’? Unprecedented cryptic diversity in the cosmopolitan flatworm Gyratrix hermaphroditus
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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EKLIPSE: engaging knowledge holders and networks for evidence-informed European policy on biodiversity and ecosystem services
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The aim of EKLIPSE is to develop a mechanism to inform European-scale policy on biodiversity and related environmental challenges. This paper considers two fundamental aspects of the decision-support mechanism being developed by EKLIPSE: 1) the engagement of relevant actors from science, policy and society to jointly identify evidence for decision making; and 2) the networking of scientists and other holders of knowledge on biodiversity and other relevant evidence. The mechanism being developed has the potential not only to build communities of knowledge holders but to build informal networks among those with similar interests in evidence, be they those that seek to use evidence or those who are building evidence, or both. EKLIPSE has been successful in linking these people and in contributing to building informal networks of requesters of evidence, and experts of evidence and its synthesis. We have yet to see, however, significant engagement of formal networks of knowledge holders. Future success, however, relies on the continued involvement with and engagement of networks, a high degree of transparency within the processes and a high flexibility of structures to adapt to different requirements that arise with the broad range of requests to and activities of EKLIPSE. key messages EKLIPSE develops a mechanism to inform policy on biodiversity and related environmental challenges. EKLIPSE operates at a European scale, bringing together policy-makers and knowledge holders from both science and society. EKLIPSE promotes the networking of scientists and other holders of knowledge on biodiversity and other relevant evidence.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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In situ incubations with the Gothenburg benthic chamber landers: Applications and quality control
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In situ incubations of sediment with overlying water provide valuable and consistent information about benthic fluxes and processes at the sediment-water interface. In this paper, we describe our experiences and a variety of applications from the last 14 years and 308 deployments with the Gothenburg benthic chamber lander systems. We give examples of how we use sensor measurements for chamber leakage control, in situ chamber volume determination, control of syringe sampling times, sediment resuspension and stirring quality. We present examples of incubation data for in situ measurements of benthic fluxes of oxygen, dissolved inorganic carbon, nutrients, metals and gases made with our chamber landers, as well as manipulative injection experiments to study nitrogen cycling (injections of 15N nitrate), phosphate retention (injections of marl suspension) and targeted sediment resuspension. Our main goal is to demonstrate the possibilities that benthic chamber lander systems offer to measure solute fluxes and study processes at the sediment-water interface. Based on our experience, we recommend procedures to be used in order to obtain high quality data with benthic chamber landers.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021