Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Building a 4D Voxel-Based Decision Support System for a Sustainable Management of Marine Geological Resources
- For sustainable management of marine geological resources, a geological knowledge base is being built for the Belgian and southern Netherlands part of the North Sea. Voxel models of the subsurface are used for predictions on sand and gravel quantities and qualities, to ensure long-term resource use. The voxels are filled with geological data from boreholes and seismic lines, but other information can be added also. The geology provides boundary conditions needed to run environmental impact models that calculate resource depletion and regeneration under various scenarios of aggregate extraction. Such analyses are important in monitoring progress towards good environmental status, as outlined in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. By including uncertainty, data products can be generated with confidence limits, which is critical for assessing the significance of changes in the habitat or in any other resource-relevant parameter. All of the information is integrated into a cross-domain, multi-criteria decision support system optimised for user-friendliness and online visualisation.
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Cryptic diversity and ecosystem functioning: a complex tale of differential effects on decomposition
- Marine ecosystems are experiencing accelerating population and species loss. Some ecosystem functions are decreasing and there is growing interest in the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The role of cryptic (morphologically identical but genetically distinct) species in this biodiversity-ecosystem functioning link is unclear and has not yet been formally tested. We tested if there is a differential effect of four cryptic species of the bacterivorous nematode Litoditis marina on the decomposition process of macroalgae. Bacterivorous nematodes can stimulate or slow down bacterial activity and modify the bacterial assemblage composition. Moreover, we tested if interspecific interactions among the four cryptic species influence the decomposition process. A laboratory experiment with both mono- and multispecific nematode cultures was conducted, and loss of organic matter and the activity of two key extracellular enzymes for the degradation of phytodetritus were assessed. L. marina mainly influenced qualitative aspects of the decomposition process rather than its overall rate: an effect of the nematodes on the enzymatic activities became manifest, although no clear nematode effect on bulk organic matter weight loss was found. We also demonstrated that species-specific effects on the decomposition process existed. Combining the four cryptic species resulted in high competition, with one dominant species, but without complete exclusion of other species. These interspecific interactions translated into different effects on the decomposition process. The species-specific differences indicated that each cryptic species may play an important and distinct role in ecosystem functioning. Functional differences may result in coexistence among very similar species.
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Active dispersal is differentially affected by inter- and intraspecific competition in closely related nematode species (vol 124, pg 561, 2016)
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Speciation genomics of cichlids (Ophthalmotilapia) from Lake Tanganyika
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Pinpointing behavioral responses during mating using differential gene expression in the female brain of cichlid fish
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Bostryx hennahi (Gray, 1828) the largest Chilean bulimulid (Mollusca: Pulmonata) rediscovered among Tillandsia communities in northern Chile
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The land Mollusca of Saint Kitts and Nevis (Lesser Antilles), with description of a new species
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Synopsis of Central Andean Orthalicoid land snails (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora), excluding Bulimulidae
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A new species of Bothriembryon (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Bothriembryontidae) from southeasternmost Western Australia
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Combining mitochondrial DNA and morphological data to delineate four new millipede species and provisional assignment to the genus Apeuthes Hoffman & Keeton (Diplopoda : Spirobolida : Pachybolidae : Trigoniulinae)
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Les tombes tardo-romaines dans le bassin moyen de la Meuse au travers des découvertes du Tienne del Baticulle à Nismes
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MEMO: Monitoring of exotic mosquitoes in Belgium
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Eating eggplants as a cucurbit feeder: Dietary shifts affect the gut microbiome of the melon fly Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Diptera, Tephritidae)
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Fouille préventive sur la colline de Chèvremont (Chaudfontaine). Premiers jalons d’une redé- couverte de l’abbaye fortifiée du Premier Moyen Âge
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The palaeoecological conditions of the tidal channel network of the Zwin region (Flanders, Belgium)
- The northeastern coastal plain of Belgium was a well-developed region during the late medieval period when Bruges and a series of smaller harbours became connected to the North Sea via the Zwin tidal channel. Yet, ecological data related to the evolution of the regional environment of the former Zwin region are still lacking. Diatoms, pollen, and macrobotanical remains have been studied for the first time from two cores drilled in the surroundings of the lost harbour of Hoeke. The sediments in both cores were deposited in four successive tidal channel systems spanning the pre-Roman to late medieval periods. Marine tychoplanktonic and planktonic diatoms were dominant and confirmed the presence of open marine tidal channels, while marine epipsammic diatoms were specific to channel deposits (systems 1 and 4) and marine epipelic diatoms characterised channel and accretion deposits (systems 2 and 3). The sediments of the late medieval Zwin main channel and tributary (system 4) are both characterised by marine tychoplanktonic and epipsammic species. The palynomorphs were typical of marine tidal deposits and (reworked) peat, while macroremains pointed to freshwater plants growing in the vicinity. The palynomorphs (system 4) suggest a more open landscape associated with the extensive reclamation and embankment of the Zwin region. Diatoms in the superjacent tidal deposits indicate that the late medieval Zwin silted up rapidly. Keywords : Late Holocene, palynology, diatom analysis, tidal channel system, medieval harbour
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Les Iguanodons de Bernissart: des fossiles et des hommes
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Jurassic dinosaurs of Eastern Transbaikalia : prospecting, discovery, research
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Temperature dissimilarity drives flower–visitor interaction turnover across elevation in the Mexican Transition Zone
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Large old tropical trees as pools of biodiversity: the Life On Trees program
- The aim of the Life On Trees (LOT) program is to generate baseline knowledge about the number of eukaryotic species a single large aged tropical tree can host and to understand how these communities of organisms are assembled. The program is conducted in the Amazon and Andes biodiversity hotspots. Our first project, LOT-Amazon 2022, was performed on a spectacular Dussia tree (Fabaceae), which was 50 m high and 45 m wide. The sampling was carried out by professional climbers, guided by experts of the different eukaryotic groups studied (plants, fungi, animals, protists). To better understand the contribution of different tree components (bark, leaves, fruits, flowers, living and dead wood) to overall tree biodiversity, we assigned observations into communities based on height zone or microhabitat and will examine similarities and nestedness in the composition of these communities. The first results show that a single tree can host a tremendous diversity (e.g., 42 orchids, 28 ferns, and more than 200 bryophytes, 180 lichen species identified, which are world records considering the 400m elevation). This confirms that large old tropical trees are important pools of biodiversity probably in relation with the variety of local microhabitats and tree age. Funding: Fonds de Dotation Biotope pour la Nature Web and/or Twitter account: www.lifeontrees.org
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An investigation of changing river courses during the Holocene in the Lower Khuzestan plain (SW Iran): a contribution to archaeological and historical studies
