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Article Reference A fossil heron from the early Oligocene of Belgium : the earliest temporary well-constrained record of the Ardeidae
We describe the earliest temporally well-constrained fossil that can be assigned to the Ardeidae (herons), from the lowermost Oligocene (32.0–33.0 million years ago) of Belgium. The specimen, a partial tarsometatarsus, belongs to a small species and is described as Proardea? deschutteri n. sp. It exhibits the characteristic tarsometatarsus morphology found in extant heron species, but a confident assignment to one of the ardeid subclades is not possible and even the assignment of the new fossil species to the crown group (the clade including the extant species) cannot be established. The fossil indicates a divergence of herons from their sister taxon by at least the earliest Oligocene, and current paleontological data suggest that herons arrived in Europe shortly after a major faunal turnover at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. We consider that dispersal is the likely reason for the sudden appearance of herons in the earliest Oligocene of Europe but it is uncertain from where exactly this took place, with Asia and Africa being among the candidate areas.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference A general purpose genotype in an ancient asexual
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A generalized physics-based correction for adjacency effects
Atmospheric scattering occurs over a horizontal scale of several kilometers. This results in influence from neighboring surface features on the signal recorded over a given position, reducing contrast and the accuracy of quantitative retrievals of surface reflectance from satellite imagery. This atmospheric blurring, or adjacency effect, must be accounted for when both contrast in surface reflectance and magnitude of atmospheric scattering are significant. Taking into account the adjacency effect is of particular importance for aquatic remote sensing of inland and coastal waters due to the high contrast between water and different land cover types, as well as the small spatial scale of most inland water bodies. In this paper, we present a physics-based processor to retrieve surface reflectance over all surface types, regardless of the subscene composition and sensor waveband configuration. The processor is implemented in the free and open source ACOLITE software and is composed of two modules: (1) TSDSF for the estimation of aerosol properties and (2) RAdCor for the retrieval of surface reflectance. We demonstrate the performance of the TSDSF $+$ RAdCor processor for the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 and the Multispectral Instrument (MSI) onboard Sentinel-2A and 2B over a set of small ($\lt1\;\rm km^2$) inland waters in Belgium, and compare the performance with other common processors for these sensors, including C2RCC, POLYMER, Sen2Cor, iCOR, ACOLITE/DSF, and LaSRC. For clear sky matchups, the relative deviation againstin situ data in the visible wavebands ranged between 6% and 18% for OLI, and between 14% and 31% for MSI, except for the MSI waveband centered at 443 nm where the relative deviation was 70%. In the near-infrared wavebands, the relative deviation varied from 70% to 150%, with the exception of the MSI waveband centered at 704 nm, for which the performance was 17%. Overall, the new processor outperformed the other evaluated processors in the visible range, with the exception of the MSI waveband centered at 443 nm, and was outperformed by C2RCC and POLYMER in the near-infrared wavebands. Recommendations on how to use TSDSF and RAdCor in ACOLITE are provided.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference A geological collection and methodology for tracing provenance of Palaeolithic colouring materials.
Although prehistoric sites frequently contain numerous fragments and traces of many different kinds of colouring matter, intensive study of this type of archaeological remains began only recently. Such studies, aimed at determining how raw materials formed and changed over time, and how they were transported by the groups of humans who used them, are extremely valuable as they reveal shared strategies, that is, cultural traditions and the spaces in which they developed. The scope of this paper focusses on the description of the main geological contexts in which ferruginous colouring materials form and are found. In the framework of a collective research program called Pigmentothèque (iron- and manganese-rich rocks and minerals library), geological surveys are conducted taking into consideration the geological settings in which colouring materials are present and using a common record and sampling methodology which is followed by petrophysical, mineralogical and chemical analyses based on a shared procedure and vocabulary. In order to go beyond descriptions based solely on colour and chemical composition, we describe the great variety of iron-rich materials that can be used to obtain colouring matter. This diversity in the formation and evolution of iron-rich materials must be taken into account when trying to understand past humans’ choices of raw materials, their provenance and the anthropogenic and natural modifications they have undergone. We also describe criteria for recognising cohesive remains of colouring matter during archaeological excavations, so these artefacts can take their place alongside other mineral resources in helping improve our understanding of past societies.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference A geological context for the Réideschbaach Fossil Fauna
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Book Reference A Geuide to Beetles of Borneo
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)
Article Reference A GIS-based methodology for creating 3D geological models in sedimentary environment: application to the subcrop of Brussels
In order to meet the requirements established by the European Directive (2006/118/EC) on the groundwater protection, the Geological Survey of Belgium (GSB) has started a new Geographic Information System (GIS) project called Hydrobrux. The aim is to create a thorough three-dimensional geological model of the subcrop of Brussels. The latter will be used to produce a hydrogeological model of the Brussels Formation aquifer composed of sands and covering 126 km2 in the eastern part of the Brussels-Capital Region and subsequent deeper aquifers (Palaeocene and Upper Cretaceous). The GIS 3D model is built by superposition of interpolated surfaces, which represent the top surface of each modelled geological layers. Eleven top surfaces are generated independently and are based on the interpolation of 5169 points. This high density of information is provided by 2426 boreholes, water wells, outcrops, cone penetration tests (CPT) and other sources of stratigraphic data that were collected and structured in a relational database under Microsoft Access. The data were exported to ArcGIS for the geostatistics (2D mapping) and validation parts and subsequently to ArcScene for the construction and the visualisation of the 3D model.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A glance into the complexity of small species of Terebridae from Florida
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference A global database for metacommunity ecology: integrating species, traits, environment and space
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference A global meta-analysis on the drivers of salt marsh planting success and implications for ecosystem services
Planting has been widely adopted to battle the loss of salt marshes and to establish living shorelines. However, the drivers of success in salt marsh planting and their ecological effects are poorly understood at the global scale. Here, we assemble a global database, encompassing 22,074 observations reported in 210 studies, to examine the drivers and impacts of salt marsh planting. We show that, on average, 53% of plantings survived globally, and plant survival and growth can be enhanced by careful design of sites, species selection, and novel planted technologies. Planting enhances shoreline protection, primary productivity, soil carbon storage, biodiversity conservation and fishery production (effect sizes = 0.61, 1.55, 0.21, 0.10 and 1.01, respectively), compared with degraded wetlands. However, the ecosystem services of planted marshes, except for shoreline protection, have not yet fully recovered compared with natural wetlands (effect size = −0.25, 95% CI −0.29, −0.22). Fortunately, the levels of most ecological functions related to climate change mitigation and biodiversity increase with plantation age when compared with natural wetlands, and achieve equivalence to natural wetlands after 5–25 years. Overall, our results suggest that salt marsh planting could be used as a strategy to enhance shoreline protection, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024