Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Ypresian (early Eocene) stratigraphy of the Suvlu-Kaya reference section in the Bakhchisaray area (Crimea).
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Investigating the Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT) in the context of gill parasite diversification
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Diving into Diversity: The Complex Evolutionary History and Species Richness of the ‘sawfin barbs’ from Lake Edward and Adjacent Systems
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Un cheval du Bruxelles médiéval, souffrant d'un trouble de la colonne vertébrale
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A raven (Corvus corax) from medieval Brussels with pathologies: was it truly free as a bird?
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Anthisnes/Anthisnes : alimentation d’origine animale et coq de combat, l’apport des restes fauniques du Moyen Âge et de l’Epoque moderne
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Huy - Saint-Victor: utilisation des animaux sur un site d’habitat et d’artisanat du Haut Moyen Âge
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Les prélèvements des restes bioarchéologiques: manuel de terrain
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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.
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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.
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Solving the missing pieces of the gharial puzzle: new phylogenetic framework combining morphological, molecular, and biostratigraphic data to unravel the evolution of long-snouted crocodylians.
- Among the extant crocodylians are two species with long, narrow snouts: Gavialis gangeticus,the Indian gharial and Tomistoma schlegelii, the "false" gharial. These enigmatic species are considered by the IUCN red list as critically endangered and vulnerable, respectively. However, despite this, knowledge of their evolutionary history is lacking. Extensive debate has surrounded the gharials for over four decades and remains unsolved today: the so-called gharial problem. Whereas molecular studies consistently indicate that these two species are sister taxa, morphological studies of both living and fossil taxa find that they belong to distantly related lineages. Moreover, molecular clock estimates indicate a shallow divergence time of 18-31 million years ago. This entirely contradicts the rich fossil record of gharials: in contrast to the modern gharials, these fossil taxa comprise a huge diversity and suggest that tomistomines and gavialines have diverged from each other at least 70 million years ago, prior to the K/Pg mass extinction. European museums, and especially the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, comprise rich collections containing many of the oldest fossil gavialoids, crucial to solving the gharial problem. Nevertheless, few modern morphological studies have been performed on these specimens, and their stratigraphic age is often poorly constrained. Therefore, in a new project we will use a multidisciplinary approach to study these specimens, combining morphological study and biostratigraphic analyses using dinoflagellate cysts. Moreover, we will revise the classical methods used by paleontologists to study fossil crocodylians, devising a new phylogenetic framework that makes use of both morphological, molecular, and biostratigraphic data. Here, we will present some of the first preliminary results of this project.
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Les services écosystémiques dans la Réserve de Biosphère de la Pendjari.
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Environnement / Les services écosystémiques au cœur d’un atelier à Natitingou
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Mention of CEBioS videos in Glo.be, 2018
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Mention of expo wildlife European Paliament in BESNET
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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)
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First record of Cantharocnemis (Cantharoplatys) fairmairei Lameere, 1902 in Mozambique (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)
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Trictenotomidae. Catalogue of species
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Evaluation post implantation de l’impact du parc éolien de Leuze-en-Hainaut sur une colonie nidificatrice de Vanneau huppé Vanellus vanellus
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Renforcement de la population de Tétras lyre en Belgique : Rapport de l’opération de translocation 2022 de 35 Tétras lyres suédois dans la Réserve Naturelle des Hautes Fagnes Rapport final 2022.
