Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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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.
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Evaluation du risque sur le Goéland cendré (Larus canus) posé par l’implantation d’éoliennes dans le parc d’activité économique de Ghlin-Baudour Nord
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Support to the Black Grouse population reinforcement in Belgium: Report on the 2020 restocking operation of the last Belgian breeding population of Black Grouse in the Hautes Fagnes Nature Reserve, within the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) Natural Park
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Renforcement de la population de Tétras lyre en Belgique. Rapport du suivi de la population fagnarde de l’année 2021
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Fifty years of spring censuses in black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) in the High Fens (Belgium): did the rabies vaccination has a negative impact on a fox prey population?
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Evaluation de la pertinence d’un programme de réintroduction de la Cigogne blanche à Han-sur-Lesse.
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Support to the Black Grouse population reinforcement in Belgium: Report on the 2020 restocking operation of the last Belgian breeding population of Black Grouse in the Hautes Fagnes Nature Reserve, within the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) Natural Park
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Renforcement de la population de Tétras lyre en Belgique Rapport du suivi de la population fagnarde de l’année 2020 Rapport final
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Rapport de l’opération de translocation 2019 de 25 Tétras lyres suédois dans la Réserve Naturelle des Hautes Fagnes et suivis de la population fagnarde.
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Aide au renforcement de la population de Tétras lyre en Belgique.
