Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

You are here: Home

Search results

RSS Subscribe to an always-updated RSS feed.

4419 items matching your search terms.
Filter the results.
Item type



































New items since



Sort by relevance · date (newest first) · alphabetically
Article Reference Lanice conchilega structures carbon flows in soft-bottom intertidal areas
Biogenic reefs constructed by the tube-building ecosystem engineer Lanice conchilega (Terrebilidae, Polychaeta) have profound structuring impacts on the benthic environment in that they alter the biogeochemical and physical properties of the sediment. This study provides new insights into the functioning and effects on food webs of L. conchilega reefs in intertidal sediments using linear inverse models to quantify the carbon flows in the food webs in the presence and absence of the tubeworm. The inverse food web models were based on an empirical dataset from 2 study sites, which provided biomass and stable isotope data, and information on general physiological constraints from the literature. Results of the model showed that the carbon input into reef food webs (mean ± SE; 191 ± 50 mmol C m−2 d−1) is ca. 40 times higher compared to bare sand areas (5 ± 2 mmol C m−2 d−1) and is mainly derived from organic matter (OM) in the water column. Most of the OM input towards these reefs is consumed by suspension-feeding macrofauna, particularly L. conchilega; however, the worm is not an important source of carbon for other macrofaunal organisms. The ratio of OM input to primary production indicates that the OM needs to be produced in an area at least 15 times larger than the reef area, demonstrating significant OM ‘focussing’ within the reef food web. The reef structures created by L. conchilega act as a trap for OM, resulting in an overall higher macrofaunal biomass and much more diverse food webs than in the absence of the tubeworm.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Troff document Effect of short-term hypoxia on the feeding activity of abundant nematode genera from an intertidal mudflat
The effect of short-term hypoxia (6 days) on the feeding activity of abundant nematode genera was investigated by means of a tracer experiment. Nematodes were sampled from the Paulina intertidal flat in the Westerschelde estuary (south-west Netherlands) and incubated with 13C pre-labelled diatoms at the sediment-water interface in oxic and hypoxic treatments. In general, specific uptake and uptake of carbon per unit of nematode carbon were low in all studied genera, which indicated that the added diatoms represented a limited food source for the investigated nematode genera. Results from such a low uptake are difficult to interpret; however, there was no significant decrease in feeding activity of all dominant nematodes in the hypoxic treatments. The low carbon uptake might be related to low access of nematodes and their low feeding preference to the added diatoms in the experimental cores.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Présence du frelon asiatique Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 en région de Bruxelles-Capitale, bilan de sa progression en Belgique et sa découverte au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference First record of Cantharocnemis (Cantharoplatys) fairmairei Lameere, 1902 in Mozambique (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Inbook Reference Trictenotomidae. Catalogue of species
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference A dietary perspective of cat-human interactions in two medieval harbors in Iran and Oman revealed through stable isotope analysis
Cats are hypercarnivorous, opportunistic animals that have adjusted to anthropogenic environments since the Neolithic period. Through humans, either by direct feeding and/or scavenging on food scraps, the diet of cats has been enriched with animals that they cannot kill themselves (e.g., large mammals, fish). Here, we conducted carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis to reconstruct the diet of medieval cats and investigate cat-human interactions in two medieval harbor sites (Qalhât, Oman and Siraf, Iran). The analysis included 28 cat individuals and 100 associated marine and terrestrial faunal samples pertaining to > 30 taxa. The isotopic results indicate a high marine protein-based diet for the cats from Qalhât and a mixed marine-terrestrial (C4) diet for the cats from Siraf. Cats at these sites most likely scavenged on both human food scraps and refuse related to fishing activities, with differences in the two sites most likely associated with the availability of marine resources and/or the living conditions of the cats. By shedding light on the dietary habits of cats from two medieval harbors in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, this study illustrates the potential of stable isotope analysis in reconstructing human-cat interactions in the past.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Oviposition of the snake Thelotornis kirtlandii in a parabiotic ant nest
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference The essential role of uncertainty and limited foresight in energy modelling Version 1
When making techno-economic simulations to evaluate new climate mitigation technologies, a main challenge is to include uncertainty. The added level of complexity often causes uncertainties to be simplified or ignored in calculations, and not addressed in final public communications. This leads to inaccurate policy and investment decisions because probability is an essential aspect of assessing future scenarios. One specific source of uncertainty is the limitation of information available about the future, which is an aspect of everyday life, but simulation-wise a complex issue. It is however essential, because it is inherently tied to understanding semi-optimal decision making. Quite fundamentally, this pleads for stepping away from rather theoretical (partly) deterministic systems, and moving towards realistic limited foresight modelling techniques, such as offered by integrated Monte Carlo calculations.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Fish otoliths from the Early and Middle Miocene of the Penedès (Catalunya, Spain)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Animal exploitation at ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates)
Faunal remains are described from a series of contexts excavated in the coastal site of ed-Dur, dated between the second and fourth century AD. The more than 19,000 identified animal bones allowed a diachronic and spatial analysis. Subsistence relied heavily on domestic animals, in particular sheep and goat, and on fishing. Whereas the exploitation of terrestrial resources seems to have been quite constant throughout the period considered, the aquatic fauna shows changes through time. A shift, possibly linked to overexploitation, is seen both in the proportions of the targeted fish species and in their sizes. The deposition of some of the mammals encountered in burials is also dealt with; dog and ovicaprid can probably be added to the list of mammals used in ritual context in the region. Spatial analysis did not reveal particular concentrations or activity areas. In general the finds fit nicely in the archaeozoological record of the wider region.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017