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IMPACT OF ANTS ON THE GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY OF LAMTO SAVANNA PERENNIAL GRASSES (COTE D’IVOIRE)
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Lamto savanna soil known to have low agronomic value paradoxically has one of the highest grasses biomass productions in the world. During recent surveys, ant nest were encountered under some grass tufts and it as suggested that ants are able to influence the availability of resources for these grasses and also other organisms. An interaction is suspected between these savanna grass tufts and their associated ants. Three grasses species Andropogon schirensis, Hyparrhenia diplandra and Loudetia simplex were chosen to inventory ant communities associated with grass tufts and to assess the influence of ant communities on growth and productivity of perennial grasses. Three study sites were chosen and each was subdivided in two experimental plots of 2500 m². By systematic digging out method we were collected 38 ant species under grass tufts. They belong to 19 genera and 7 sub-families. Lamto herbaceous stratum was dominated by Camponotus acvapinensis. Diameter measures of grass tufts base at ground level, have allowed establishing the link between the size of ant nest and grass tufts size. Pearson coefficient r ranged no correlation between the size of ants nest and grass tufts size. The association rate with ants of one of the grasses Hyparrhenia diplandra was greater than for two other grasses studied Andropogon schirensis and Loudetia simplex (54.208 % versus 49.433 %, and 38.496 % respectively). Parameters such as grasses height, diameter (at ground level, and 10 cm above), dry biomass and seeds production were assessed. The results showed that Hyparrhenia diplandra with ant nest recorded the best results of growth and productivity. Association with ants nest is beneficial for the growth and productivity of Lamto perennial grasses.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Investigating urban ant community (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in port cities and in major towns along the border in Côte d’Ivoire: a rapid assessment to detect potential introduced invasive ant species
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Objective: This study aimed at examining ant communities of port and border cities in order to identify introduced and potential invasive ant species and microhabitats likely to contribute to the spread of these ant species. Therefore, the sampling design are linear transects of 200 metres on which ants were collected using tuna baits at 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes in the two port cities of Abidjan and San Pedro, and seven cities that are Man, Touba, Odienne, Ferkéssedougou, Bouna, Bondoukou and Abengourou located near the borders of Côte d’Ivoire. The results showed 83 ant species including 9 potential introduced or invasive ant species. These invasive ants contributed importantly to the ant assemblage in port cities (23.95±2.7 % of total richness and 37±6.1 % of total abundance) and border cities (20.17±4.7 % / 30.6±7 %). In addition two notorious invaders, Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804) (Tropical fire ant) and Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793) (Big-headed ant) were detected during this study. The results also indicated that potential introduced or invasive ant species were mostly detected in microhabitats where human activities are uninterrupted such port zones, markets, domestic streets and residential. Conclusion: In the end, this study has shown that ant communities in port and border cities harbour invasive potential ant species, particularly microhabitats characterized by high human activities such as port areas, markets, domestic streets and residential areas.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Do private coffee standards ‘walk the talk’ in improving socio-economic and environmental sustainability?
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Private sustainability standards cover an increasingly large production area and involve an increasing number of farmers worldwide. They raise expectations among consumers about the economic, ethical and environmental implications of food production and trade; and attract donor funding to certification schemes. The sustainability impact of standards remains unclear as research focuses on either economic or environmental implications. We analyze both the socio-economic and environmental impacts of coffee standards in Uganda and show that these are not in line with expectations created towards consumers. We find that standards improve either productivity and farm incomes or biodiversity and carbon storage but fail to eliminate trade-offs between socioeconomic and environmental outcomes, even when combined in multiple certification. Our analysis is based on a unique combination of economic survey data and ecological field inventory data from a sample of certified and noncertified coffee farms. Our findings are relevant for farmers, food companies, policy-makers, donors and consumers. They imply that combining different standards in multiple certification is counterproductive; that the design of standards could improve to mitigate observed trade-offs between economic and environmental outcomes; and that this requires increased productivity within ecological boundaries, rather than a price premium and added control mechanisms through multiple certification
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Locomotor behavior of Paleocene mammals: Insights from the semicircular canals of the inner ear
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The end-Cretaceous mass extinction triggered the collapse of ecosystems and a drastic turnover in mammalian communities leading to the demise of many ecologically specialized species. While Mesozoic mammals were ecomorphologically diverse, recognizable ecological richness was only truly established in the Eocene. Questions remain about the ecology of the first wave of mammals radiating after the extinction. Here, we use the semicircular canals of the inner ear as a proxy for locomotor behavior. Thirty new inner ear virtual endocasts were generated using high-resolution computed tomography scanning. This sample was supplemented by data from the literature to construct a dataset of 79 fossils spanning the Jurassic to the Eocene alongside 262 extant mammals. Vestibular sensitivity was measured using the radius of curvature against body mass and the residuals of this relationship were analyzed. The petrosal lobule size relative to body mass were compared with the inner ear data as they have a role in maintaining gaze stabilization during motion. Paleocene mammals exhibited smaller canal radius of curvature, compared to Mesozoic, Eocene, and extant taxa. In the early Paleocene, canal radius and associated petrosal lobules were relatively smaller on average compared to other temporal groups, suggesting less ability for fast movements. Our results support previous work on tarsal morphology and locomotor behavioral ancestral state reconstructions suggesting that ground dwelling mammalian species were more common than arboreal taxa during the Paleocene. Ultimately, this may indicate that the collapse of forested environments immediately after extinction led to the preferential survivorship of more terrestrially adapted mammals.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Pisachini planthoppers of Vietnam: new records of Pisacha and a new Goniopsarites species from Central Vietnam (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Nogodinidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Étude ostéologique de deux crémations provenant du site de Postel (Province d'Anvers, âge du Bronze)
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Two cremations dating from the Bronze Age were discovered in the 1950s in a burial mound in Postel in the province of Antwerp. The colour of the skeletal remains indicates a homogeneous cremation with a temperature of at least 800°C. The most ancient individual (dated to phase I of the construction of the burial mound) is the most complete: about ¾ of its remains, which belong to all anatomical categories, were transferred from the pyre to the grave. The osteological study reveals that it was probably an adult male who was at least 25 years of age. The second subject is more recent (dated to Phase III) and is thought to have been an individual of undetermined sex, under 20 years old. The smaller quantity of remains and the absence of some anatomical categories, including fragile and small bones, that this was a deliberate sorting made by the cremation officiant. This type of selection has already been seen in other Belgian sites dating from the Bronze Age and later.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Spinnen en loopkevers ingezameld tijdens een korte bodemvalbemonstering te Doeveren (Zedelgem‐Oostkamp)
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Spiders and carabid beetles were collected with pitfall traps during a short sampling campaign in the spring of 2017 (from 24/05 to 11/07) in the nature reserve Doeveren at Zedelgem‐Oostkamp. 49 species of spiders and 34 species of carabid beetles were found. We here discuss some particular species of both arthropod groups that are mentioned as threatened on the Red list for Flanders. We comment the management and heathland restoration measures of the last years and its impact on both faunas
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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De spinnenfauna van enkele rode dopheidegebieden nabij Brugge: Deel 4, drie jaar bemonsteringen in het Natuurreservaat Zevenkerken in 2014-2015-2016
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103 species of spiders were collected during 3 years continuous sampling with pitfall traps of 2 heathland patches in Nature Reserve Zevenkerken south-west of Bruges. Several rare and interesting species were discovered and discussed. Besides a large amount of species characteristic for forest and shrubs also an important part of the spider fauna in these heathlands consist of species characteristic for dry, oligotrophic grasslands. Also some species of heathland and dunes were found. 12 species are mentioned as threatened on the Red list of spiders of Flanders. Six species are catalogued as endangered, six as vulnerable. Restoration of heathland in Zevenkerken and Bruges in general in the context of spider and insect-friendly management are discussed.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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De spinnenfauna van enkele Rode dopheidegebieden nabij Brugge: Deel 2: Bemonsteringen in Provinciedomein Tillegembos in 2015-2016
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105 species of spiders were collected during a year-round sampling with pitfall traps of 3 heathland patches in Provinciedomein Tillegembos south of Bruges. Several rare and interesting species were discovered and discussed. An important part of the spider fauna in these heathlands consists of species characteristic for dry, oligotrophic grasslands. Also some species of heathland and dunes were found. 13 species are mentioned as threatened on the Red list of spiders of Flanders. Five species are catalogued as endangered, Seven species as vulnerable and one species is catalogued as critically endangered on that list: Thyreosthenius biovatus. Restoration of heathlands near Bruges in the context of spider- and insect-friendly management are discussed.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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De spinnenfauna van enkele heidegebieden nabij Brugge. Deel 1: bemonsteringen 2014-2015
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131 species of spiders were collected during a year-round sampling with pitfall traps of 8 heathland patches west of Bruges. One species, Ozyptila westringi, was recorded for the first time in Belgium, 20 species are mentioned as threatened on the Red list of spiders of Flanders and one species is catalogued as critically endangered on that list: Pirata uliginosus. An important part of the spider fauna in these heathlands consist of species characteristic for heathland, dunes and dry, oligotrophic grasslands. Notwithstanding these heathlands are embedded in a matrix of forest, we observed that the number of forest species was rather low. Management and restoration of heathlands near Bruges are discussed.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018