Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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THE FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE HARBOUR PORPOISE Phocoena phocoena L. IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
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IEA Wind White Paper on A Risk-Based Approach for Addressing Wind and Wildlife Interactions Using Ecosystem-Based Management Values
- Acceptance of wind energy development worldwide is challenged by stakeholders’ concerns about potential effects on the environment, specifically on wildlife such as birds, bats, and (for offshore wind) marine animals, and the habitats that support them. Other issues of concern to communities near wind energy developments include social and economic impacts, as well as impacts on cultural and social values such as aesthetics, historical sites, and recreational and tourism.Lack of a systematic, widely accepted, and balanced approach for measuring the potential damage to wildlife, habitats, and communities continues to leave wind developers, regulators, and other stakeholders in an uncertain position. This uncertainty may lead to regulatory requirements for studies and monitoring programs that do not necessarily contribute to improved environmental protection. Regulatory requirements and data collection efforts around wind farms during construction, operation, and other project phases need to be more consistently linked to the actual risk posed to a range of animals and habitats. One such approach to accomplishing this linkage is risk-based management(RBM), which may provide value-added as a decision support system.This paper explores the use of ecological RBM in wind energy development for land-based and offshore wind installations. The application of risk as a development and management tool is addressed, including multiple aspects of project risk, many of which are driven by or associated with ecological risk. The nature of how risk is taken into account in consenting/permitting wind projects on land and at sea are reviewed, and a series of risk management tools and approaches surveyed. This paper also explores the adaptation of ecosystem-based management to wind energy development through a series of case studies, and sets forth a framework and best management practices for applying risk-based principles to wind energy. Theanalysis and review of RBM approaches presented in this paper mayprovide helpful insights for improved siting and consenting/permitting processes for regulators and their advisors, particularly in nations where wind energy is still in the early development stages on land and at sea. Wind project developers may benefit from understanding how regulators may approach consenting/permitting. Policy-makers may gain valuable insights into how wind farm development might be managed in future. Researchers and consultants may benefit from the concepts and suggestions that will improve access to insightful monitoring data from wind farmsand will help to directfuture data collection efforts.
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MODIRISK: Mosquito vectors of disease, collection, monitoring and longitudinal data from Belgium
- The MODIRISK project studied mosquito biodiversity and monitored and predicted biodiversity changes, to actively prepare to address issues of biodiversity change, especially invasive species and new pathogen risks. This work is essential given continuing global changes that may create suitable conditions for invasive species spread and the (re-)emergence of vector-borne diseases in Europe. Key strengths of MODIRISK, in the context of sustainable development, were the links between biodiversity and health and the environment, and its contribution to the development of tools for describing the spatial distribution of mosquito biodiversity. MODIRISK addressed key topics of the global Diversitas initiative, which was a main driver of the Belspo ‘Science for a Sustainable Development’ research program. Three different MODIRISK datasets were published in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): the Collection dataset (the Culicidae collection of the Museum of Natural History in Brussels); the Inventory dataset (data from the MODIRISK inventory effort); and the Longitudinal dataset (experiment data used for risk assessments.
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Assessing the influences of bee’s (Hymnoptera: Apidae) floral preference on cashew (Anacardiacae) agronomics performances in Côte d’Ivoire.
- This study aimed to assess the influence of bees’ floral preference on cashew agronomics performances in Côte d’Ivoire. Therefore, a sampling design with a total of 40 cashew trees preferred by bees and 40 trees that were not preferred by bees was established in 4 main producing regions. In addition, bees’ foragers and agronomics performances of trees were sampled. As results, a total of 46 bee’ species with a foraging activity of 4±0.32 visits per minute were observed. Apis mellifera (60% of visits, with 2.27±0.17 of visitors per minute) followed by Meliponula bocandei (23% of visits with 0.91±0.18 of visits per minute) contributes significantly to the reproduction of cashew trees, compare to the 44 other bees’ species (17% of visits; with an activity of 0.69±0.03 of visitors per minute). The preferred trees recorded 40.54±0.57 kg of nuts per tree, with 18.39±0.48 fruits per inflorescence, including 37.12±0.4% of useful kernel per raw nut (yield ratio of 65.45±0.66 pound of useful kernel). Conversely, the non-preferred trees obtained 5.24±0.44kg of nuts per tree, with 1.7±0.21 fruits per inflorescence, including 28.69±0.65% of useful kernel per raw nut (50.6±1.15 pound of useful kernel). Hence, the foraging preference of these two Apidae significantly increased the fruiting rate (83.7±0.01%), the yields (87.08±0.0%), and the kernel rate (22.68±1.76%) in raw cashew nuts. Based in these results, we suggest the foraging preference of Apis mellifera as good indicator of high-yielding cashew plants. Moreover, we suggests combination of apicultural and meliponicultrual in cashew farming to boost the yields and farmers livelihoods.
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From a long-distance threat to the invasion front: a review of the invasive Aedes mosquito species in Belgium between 2007 and 2020
- Invasive mosquito species (IMS) and their associated mosquito-borne diseases are emerging in Europe. In Belgium, the first detection of Aedes albopictus (Skuse 1894) occurred in 2000 and of Aedes japonicus japonicus (Theobald 1901) in 2002. Early detection and control of these IMS at points of entry (PoEs) are of paramount importance to slow down any possible establishment. This article reviews the introductions and establishments recorded of three IMS in Belgium based on published (2007–2014) and unpublished (2015–2020) data collected during several surveil- lance projects. In total, 52 PoEs were monitored at least once for the presence of IMS between 2007 and 2020. These included used tyre and lucky bamboo import companies, airports, ports, parking lots along highways, shelters for imported cutting plants, wholesale markets, industrial areas, recycling areas, cemeteries and an allotment garden at the country border with colonised areas. In general, monitoring was performed between April and November. Mos- quitoes were captured with adult and oviposition traps as well as by larval sampling. Aedes albopictus was detected at ten PoEs, Ae. japonicus at three PoEs and Aedes koreicus (Edwards 1917) at two PoEs. The latter two species have established overwintering populations. The percentage of PoEs positive for Ae. albopictus increased significantly over years. Aedes albopictus is currently entering Belgium through lucky bamboo and used tyre trade and passive ground transport, while Ae. japonicus through used tyre trade and probably passive ground transport. In Belgium, the import through passive ground transport was first recorded in 2018 and its importance seems to be growing. Belgium is currently at the invasion front of Ae. albopictus and Ae. japonicus. The surveillance and control management actions at well-known PoEs associated to long-distance introductions are more straightforward than at less-defined PoEs associ- ated with short-distance introductions from colonised areas. These latter PoEs represent a new challenge for IMS management in Belgium in the coming years. Aedes albopictus is expected to become established in Belgium in the coming years, hence increasing the likelihood of local arbovirus transmission. The implementation of a sustainable, structured and long-term IMS management programme, integrating active and passive entomological surveillance, vector control and Public Health surveillance is therefore pivotal.
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Yaquinacetus meadi, a new latest Oligocene–early Miocene dolphin (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Squaloziphiidae, fam. nov.) from the Nye Mudstone (Oregon, U.S.A.)
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The influence of balanced and imbalanced resource supply on biodiversity - functioning relationship across ecosystems
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Vlees en vis op het menu van de frontsoldaat (’14-’18)
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Book review of Ussishkin, D. - Biblical lachish. a tale of Construction, destruction, excavation and Restoration
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Book review: Macdonald, B. - The southern Transjordan Edomite plateau and the Dead Sea rift valley. The bronze age to the islamic period (3800/3700 bc-ad1917)
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Espaces verts comme une alternative de conservation de la biodiversité en villes: le cas des fourmis (Hyménoptère: Formicidae) dans le district d'Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)
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Revision of the Erybrachidae XIV. The Australian genera Olonia Stäl, 1862 and Stalobrachysz gen. nov. (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha)
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The RESPONSE project: Reactive transport modelling of point source contamination in soils and groundwater
- Point source contaminations origin from historic or current activities and occur in a variety of forms, extents and contaminants involved (e.g. landfills, industrial facilities, storage tanks, disposal of hazardous waste). Point source contaminations may pose risks to human health and the environment; it is therefore important to develop/improve current methodologies to assess the migration potential of contaminants in groundwater. Groundwater quality monitoring around contaminated sites is typically done by sampling piezometers. Modelling approaches can help to predict the spatial and temporal evolution of contamination plumes, design remediation strategies and assess health and environmental risks. Reactive transport models can potentially improve the prediction of contaminant routes, as they explicitly account for changing geochemical environments and chemical reactions during transport. In spite of recent advances, real-world applications remain scarce as these require large numbers of site-specific parameters. The aim of the RESPONSE project is to improve the use of reactive transport models that simulate the fate of inorganic and organic contaminants in soils and groundwater. More specifically, this project aims to (1) identify the minimum amount of site-specific parameters needed to predict reactive transport of inorganic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals) and (2) improve/simplify the modelling of transport of xenobiotic organic contaminants (XOC, e.g. hydrocarbons and pesticides). The transport of XOCs is particularly complex to model due to the effects and zonation of microbial activity at the plume fringe in polluted aquifers. The RESPONSE project focusses on typical groundwater pollution problems encountered around old municipal landfill sites and cemeteries. Municipal landfills can still release hazardous pollutants such as heavy metals and XOCs, even if they are covered by fresh ground layers after abandonment. Cemeteries can be considered a special case of landfill, releasing various compounds to the environment such as arsenic, mercury, bacteria, viruses and herbicides. Both location types are potential point sources for mixed groundwater pollution, typically including high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), heavy metals and XOCs. The methodology in this project involves both experimental and modelling aspects. During the first screening stage, groundwater samples were collected from shallow piezometers at fifteen contaminated sites across Belgium (municipal landfills and cemeteries). Also, an improved reactive transport model is built based on HYDRUS1D-MODFLOW-PHREEQC to explicitly account for the dynamic behaviour of chemical conditions at the soil-ground water interface. Next, based on laboratory analyses, three case-study sites will be selected for further modelling and testing.
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The RESPONSE project: Reactive transport modelling of point source contamination in soils and groundwater
- Point source contaminations origin from historic or current activities and occur in a variety of forms, extents and contaminants involved (e.g. landfills, industrial facilities, storage tanks, disposal of hazardous waste). Point source contaminations may pose risks to human health and the environment; it is therefore important to develop/improve current methodologies to assess the migration potential of contaminants in groundwater. Groundwater quality monitoring around contaminated sites is typically done by sampling piezometers. Modelling approaches can help to predict the spatial and temporal evolution of contamination plumes, design remediation strategies and assess health and environmental risks. Reactive transport models can potentially improve the prediction of contaminant routes, as they explicitly account for changing geochemical environments and chemical reactions during transport. In spite of recent advances, real-world applications remain scarce as these require large numbers of site-specific parameters. The aim of the RESPONSE project is to improve the use of reactive transport models that simulate the fate of inorganic and organic contaminants in soils and groundwater. More specifically, this project aims to (1) identify the minimum amount of site-specific parameters needed to predict reactive transport of inorganic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals) and (2) improve/simplify the modelling of transport of xenobiotic organic contaminants (XOC, e.g. hydrocarbons and pesticides). The transport of XOCs is particularly complex to model due to the effects and zonation of microbial activity at the plume fringe in polluted aquifers. The RESPONSE project focusses on typical groundwater pollution problems encountered around old municipal landfill sites and cemeteries. Municipal landfills can still release hazardous pollutants such as heavy metals and XOCs, even if they are covered by fresh ground layers after abandonment. Cemeteries can be considered a special case of landfill, releasing various compounds to the environment such as arsenic, mercury, bacteria, viruses and herbicides. Both location types are potential point sources for mixed groundwater pollution, typically including high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), heavy metals and XOCs. The methodology in this project involves both experimental and modelling aspects. During the first screening stage, groundwater samples have been collected from shallow piezometers at fifteen contaminated sites (municipal landfills and cemeteries) across Belgium. Also, an improved reactive transport model is built based on HYDRUS1D-MODFLOW-PHREEQC to explicitly account for the dynamic behaviour of chemical conditions at the soil-ground water interface. Next, based on laboratory analyses, three case-study sites will be selected for further modelling and testing.
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The GEPATAR project: GEotechnical and Patrimonial Archives Toolbox for ARchitectural conservation in Belgium
- Belgium is well-known for its diverse collection of built heritage, visited every year by millions of people. Because of its cultural and economic importance, conservation is a priority at both federal and regional levels. Monuments may suffer from structural instabilities related to industrial and urban development, such as groundwater extraction, mining and excavation activities. Adequate protection and preservation requires an integrated analysis of environmental, architectural and historical parameters. The aim of the GEPATAR project is to create an online interactive geo-information tool that integrates information about Belgian heritage buildings and the occurrence of ground movements. The toolbox will allow the user to view and be informed about buildings potentially at risk due to differential ground movements and thus help improving the management of built patrimony. Countrywide deformation maps spanning nearly 25 years were produced by applying advanced multi-temporal InSAR techniques to time-series of SAR data. We used StaMPS (Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers; Hooper et al. 2012) to process ERS-1/2 and Envisat archive data and MSBAS (Multidimensional Small Baseline Subsets; Samsonov & d’Oreye 2012) to combine both ascending and descending tracks of Sentinel-1. High-resolution deformation maps of selected urban centres were obtained by processing VHR SAR data (TerraSAR-X and CosmoSkyMed). Within the GEPATAR toolbox, the country-scale deformation maps are integrated with other geo-data layers such as geology, land-use and the location of the built heritage; feature-based data fusion techniques and decision rules based on geomechanical expertise are combined to create ground movement risk maps. At the local scale the fusion process is more complicated due to the inclusion of non-spatial datasets, such as photographic and historical surveys, architectural and geotechnical data; at this scale decision rules are provided by engineering and architectural expertise. The output risk maps will be regularly updated with the availability of new SAR acquisitions. Some selected case-studies will be investigated at high resolution by means of on-site monitoring techniques as well as stability analysis to evaluate the applied approaches.
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The GEPATAR project: GEotechnical and Patrimonial Archives Toolbox for ARchitectural conservation in Belgium
- Belgium is well-known for its diverse collection of built heritage, visited every year by millions of people. Because of its cultural and economic importance, conservation is a priority at both federal and regional levels. Monuments may suffer from structural instabilities related to industrial and urban development, such as groundwater extraction, mining and excavation activities. Adequate protection and preservation requires an integrated analysis of environmental, architectural and historical parameters. The aim of the GEPATAR project is to create an online interactive geo-information tool that integrates information about Belgian heritage buildings and the occurrence of ground movements. The toolbox will allow the user to view and be informed about buildings potentially at risk due to differential ground movements and thus help improving the management of built patrimony. Countrywide deformation maps spanning nearly 25 years were produced by applying advanced multi-temporal InSAR techniques to time-series of SAR data. We used StaMPS (Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers; Hooper et al. 2012) to process ERS-1/2 and Envisat archive data and MSBAS (Multidimensional Small Baseline Subsets; Samsonov & d’Oreye 2012) to combine both ascending and descending tracks of Sentinel-1. High-resolution deformation maps of selected urban centres were obtained by processing VHR SAR data (TerraSAR-X and CosmoSkyMed). Within the GEPATAR toolbox, the country-scale deformation maps are integrated with other geo-data layers such as geology, land-use and the location of the built heritage; feature-based data fusion techniques and decision rules based on geomechanical expertise are combined to create ground movement risk maps. At the local scale the fusion process is more complicated due to the inclusion of non-spatial datasets, such as photographic and historical surveys, architectural and geotechnical data; at this scale decision rules are provided by engineering and architectural expertise. The output risk maps will be regularly updated with the availability of new SAR acquisitions. Some selected case-studies will be investigated at high resolution by means of on-site monitoring techniques as well as stability analysis to evaluate the applied approaches.
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Atlas des Halictidae de France (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)
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Contribution à la connaissance des Halictinae d'Espagne, avec un atlas des espèces de la Péninsule Ibérique (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Halictidae)
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Addition to the checklist of IUCN European wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)
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A comparative analysis of organic and conventional agriculture’s impact on aquatic macro-invertebrates and ostracods.
