Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Chronology, dynamics and impact on vegetation of human activities in French mountains areas: a synthesis for the Alps, Pyrenees, Massif Central and Jura mountains
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Chronologies, dynamiques et impact des activités agropastorales dans les milieux montagnards français: une synthèse pour les Alpes, les Pyrénées, le Massif Central et le Jura
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Qualitative reconstruction of past cultural landscape in French middle mountains areas
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Palynological approach of Landscape evolution and human impact in mountainous environment during the Holocene: patterns and chronology of pastoral activities in the Champsaur area (Hautes-Alpes, France) (oral presentation).
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First signals of human impact in pollen diagrams from French Alps
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Contributions to landscape archaeology in the French Mediterranean mountains (southern French Alps)
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Human impact on the vegetation of the Champsaur (Hautes-Alpes, France) through the last 3000 years: pollen analysis of the Faudon lake sequence.
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Palaeoenvironment and chronology of the climatic events in Eurasia during the last 150,000 years.
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Absolute dating (14C and OSL) of the formation of coversand ridges occupied by prehistoric man in NW Belgium
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Changes in surface waters: a malacological analysis of a Late Glacial and early Holocene palaeolake in the Moervaartdepression (Belgium)
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Palaeoenvironments, climate and human activities during the Late Glacial and Holocene in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium): an integrated palaeoecological and sedimentological research
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Understanding pre- and protohistoric settlement and land-use systems in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium) through palaeoenvironment and climate change reconstructions: Pollen and NPP records
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Climatic and anthropogenic palaeoenvironmental variability during 1500 years in the Misten ombrotrophic peat bog (Hautes-Fagnes, East Belgium): contribution of pollen and NPP records
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High-resolution palaeoecological and sedimentological records as a tool for understanding pre- and protohistoric settlement and land-use systems in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium)
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Spatio-temporal natural and anthropogenic environmental variability during the 1500 yrs in an ombrotrophic bog (East Belgium)
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First outdoor record of Crematogaster scutellaris (Olivier, 1792) in Belgium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- We report the first observation of an outdoor nest of the ant species Crematogaster scutellaris (Olivier, 1792) in Belgium. In spring 2022, a nest of this species was discovered at Rood Klooster in Auderghem, Brussels Capital Region. Large and very active trails of workers were detected in a hedge and along the walls of a small building. The nest is probably already present several years and situated in the wooden construction of the building. Interactions with other ant species indicate that this new arrival will not immediately become an invasive problem for the local native ant fauna. We expect that more records of this species might be discovered in the near future in the neighborhood but also elsewhere in Belgium.
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Soil-litter arthropod communities under pasture land use in southern Rwanda
- Land use change caused by human activities is the main driver of biodiversity loss and changes in ecosystem functioning. However, less is known about how the conversion of a natural to pasture land favour the biological diversity of soil-litter arthropods to advance effective conservation plans and management systems. To fill the gap, this study focussed on soil-litter arthropod communities under a pasture land use in southern Rwanda. Data have been collected using pitfall traps and hand collection between April and June 2021. Sampled specimens of soil-litter arthropods have been identified to order and family levels by using dichotomous keys. Further, the species name was given when the identification key was available, while the morphological description was provided in absence of the identification keys. Results indicated a total of 3013 individuals of soil-litter arthropods grouped into 3 classes, 13 orders, 46 families and 87 morpho-species. Coleoptera showed a high number of families, while higher abundance and the number of morpho-species were found for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Higher abundance of sampled soil-litter arthropods is a sign that the studied area offers suitable habitat for soil-litter arthropods. However, less abundance found for some groups of soil-litter arthropods might be influenced by the used sampling techniques which were not appropriate for them. We recommend surveys using multiple sampling techniques to maximize chances of capturing a wide range of soil-litter arthropods.
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Cross-taxon congruence of taxonomic and functional beta diversity facets across spatial and temporal scales
- An intensively debated issue in ecology is whether the variations in the biodiversity patterns of different biological groups are congruent in space and time. In addition, ecologists have recognized the necessity of accounting for both taxonomic and functional facets when analysing spatial and temporal congruence patterns. This study aimed to determine how the cross-taxon congruence of taxonomic and functional beta diversity varies across space and time, using data from four floodplains at a continental scale. Our general hypothesis was that the congruence between aquatic biological groups, either taxonomic or functional, would decrease with the “between-group” functional distance. Also, we examined how congruence patterns varied across spatial and temporal scales by focusing on how the cross-taxon relationships differ among Brazilian floodplains and between dry/wet periods. Our study comprised information on eight biological groups from the four largest Brazilian river-floodplain systems, and cross-taxon congruence was assessed using Procrustes analysis. Our results show how detailed analyses can reveal different patterns of cross-taxon congruence, and partially support the hypothesis that the strength of cross-taxon congruence is negatively related to between-group functional distance.
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Scanning electron microscopy and morphological analysis reveal differences in the otolith morphology of three species of the family Lethrinidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) from Yemen
- Otoliths, or ear-stones, are calcareous components in the static-acoustic organs of teleost fishes with a characteristic morphology. As such, they are widely used in fisheries because of the information stored in them concerning, for example, environment, age, and so forth. Otoliths of three lethrinid species Lethrinus borbonicus (Valenciennes, 1830), L. lentjan (Lacepède, 1802), and L. mahsena (Forsskål, 1775) were collected from fish caught along the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Images taken with a scanning electron microscope were used to determine their characteristics. Twenty-two characters were defined to describe the shapes of the otoliths. Eleven measurements of distance between selected features were used for a linear regression and multivariate analysis to characterize the species by their otoliths. The results illustrate ontogenetic changes for different age groups based on the recorded shapes. All three species show a linear relationship between the total length and the morphometric measurements. A linear discriminant analysis shows marked differences between the otoliths of the three species and emphasizes the importance of the measured variables. Otoliths of L. lentjan and L. borbinicus are more similar to each other and differ from those of L. mahsena. A comparison with previously published otoliths of the species studied from other areas confirms an intraspecific uniformity across larger geographic distances, making the characters useful for diagnostic purposes.
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New or rare Madagascar tiger beetles - 26. A new species of the genus Pogonostoma Klug from northwestern Madagascar and a revised key to the Pogonostoma (P.) srnkai species-group (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae).
- A new species of the genus Pogonostoma Klug, 1835, P. (Pogonostoma) mahimborondrense Moravec & Wiesner sp. nov. is described as new to science from the Mahimborondro protected area in Northern Highlands, northwestern Madagascar. By its unique complex of diagnostic characters, the new species is incomparable to any other species within the genus. It is placed here into the Pogonostoma (P.) srnkai species-group (in the concept presented in the monograph of the genus by Moravec 2007). A revised key to species of the species-group is presented in order to supplement the key in the monograph. Habitus and diagnostic characters of the new species are illustrated in colour photographs. Maps and photos of the occurrence of the new species in Mahimborondro are also presented.
