Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Aliens in Europe
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The use of DNA barcoding to improve the taxonomy of Afrotropical hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae)
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A first, local DNA barcode reference database of the forensically important flies (Diptera) of the island of La Reunion
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Solving crimes: a forensic rove beetles (Staphylinidae) barcode database for Belgium
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DNA barcoding of ants from the Galapagos Archipelago: searching endemic and introduced species
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Modelling Interactions between Three Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) Systems in Brussels (Belgium)
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Five adjacent Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) systems in Cenozoic and Paleozoic aquifers in Brussels: numerical simulation of their possible interactions
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Mutlidisciplinary approach to assess the Cambrian geothermal potential in Brussels region with a focus on public buildings (Geocamb project)
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Geothermal Energy potential in Wallonia
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Les résultats de DGE-ROLLOUT
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Geophysical investigations to evaluate the potential of DGE in Wallonia
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First results of the GeoCOND2022 seismic reflection campaign in central Wallonia
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The research project GEOCAMB: main highlights
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Projet INTERREG NWE DGE-ROLLOUT: Quels apports pour le développement de la géothermie dans les Hauts-de-France ?
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Studying interactions of five adjacent Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) systems in Cenozoic and Palaeozoic aquifers in Brussels (Belgium)
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Geocamb final report (Brain Be 2.0 project)
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Life on every stone: Characterizing benthic communities from scour protection layers of offshore wind farms in the southern North Sea
- The scour protection layer (SPL) is a layer of large stones placed around man-made structures in the marine environment, preventing sediment scouring while also providing new hard substrate and potentially increasing the structural complexity of the original environment. This fosters development of diverse benthic communities, supporting high abundance of organisms. Future SPLs are therefore a potential tool for the ecological enhancement of degrading marine habitats following the principles of nature-inclusive design. Yet, factors that shape the benthic communities on SPLs are poorly understood. Here, we analysed existing data from SPLs from offshore wind farms and a gas platform in the southern North Sea to determine how SPL characteristics affect the biofouling community structure. We combined this analysis with an in-situ experiment testing for the effects of habitat complexity on SPL communities. Our results demonstrate that abundant and diverse communities are present on all SPLs. On a regional scale, communities are mainly affected by depth and location. Increasing habitat complexity has significant and positive effects on species richness yet was non-significant for biomass and abundance of the biofouling community. If applied thoughtfully, nature-inclusive design of the SPL habitat, including manipulation of the physical complexity of the structure, can effectively promote biodiversity.
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Indicators for ecological carrying capacity of bivalve and seaweed aquaculture
- Within the framework of Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture (EAA), ecological carrying capacity (ECC) is a key concept that helps to determine the upper limit of production without compromising ecosystem functioning. The implementation of ECC is complex as ECC differs between type of farms and location and standardised methods should be developed for management. There is therefore a clear need for operational indicators. The objectives of this paper were: (1) to carry out a systematic literature review on shellfish and seaweed aquaculture-environment interactions to list the most used environmental indicators, (2) to classify the indicators according to the effects they measure (i.e., benthic, water quality, food web interactions, cultured organism health, resource use) and the scale at which they are applied, and (3) to assess their potential based on four indicator criteria categories: sensitivity, accuracy and precision, feasibility and utility, and ecosystem-level scalability. Overall, indicators describing benthic effects were the most highly cited and scored. Indicators identified for bivalve and seaweed culture were discussed and compared to previous work on salmon aquaculture indicators to highlight similarities and differences across trophic levels. In addition, questions related to the challenges of ECC indicators implementation were presented to a panel of experts. The scoring and consultation provided the source of discussion on environmental management consistent with EAA.
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Diversity and evolution of African Grass Rats (Muridae: Arvicanthis)—From radiation in East Africa to repeated colonization of northwestern and southeastern savannas
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Molecular taxonomy of Crocidura species (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) in a key biogeographical region for African shrews, Nigeria
