New NIOO department head Suzanne McGowan: "Water networks are the world’s waste disposal system"
New head of Aquatic Ecology Suzanne McGowan comes to NIOO in October with a passion for lakes, wide experience working across disciplines and a research and teaching record that includes Malaysia and Greenland. She shares her ideas about the future of the field, and the challenges facing water networks as "world’s waste disposal system". But first we asked her where her interest in things aquatic...(read more)
30-06-2021
30-06-2021
Starting this month: ten years of special attention for restoring ecosystems worldwide
The United Nations has launched its 'Decade on Ecosystem Restoration': a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems around the world. But what does it actually take for ecosystems to be restored, and how can ecological research contribute? We'll be exploring these questions with a number of NIOO-researchers. The first is soil biodiversity expert Wim van der Putten. NIOO soil...(read more)
05-06-2021
05-06-2021
Kay Moisan wins Hugo de Vries Award
Kay Moisan has won the 2020 Hugo de Vries Award, for her PhD thesis on odours released by soil fungi and their effects on plants. The annual prize is awarded to the best thesis of the past twelve months in botany-related sciences in the Netherlands. Kay Moisan In her PhD thesis, Kay Moisan demonstrates that not only do plants perceive odours from soil microbes, they can also actively respond to...(read more)
16-04-2021
16-04-2021
The earlier birds pair, the better they fare
The breeding season may seem worlds away amidst the recent winter cold, but a research team led by Antica Culina has found that the earlier in the year great tits meet their 'spouse', the more likely they are to breed successfully. Tha t’s no guarantee for a lasting relationship, though. Pairs that meet early are just as likely to ‘divorce’ as pairs that meet with less time to go before the...(read more)
16-02-2021
16-02-2021
Symposium success reveals huge potential of rewilding
With over 2000 participants, the enormous interest in last week’s Rewilding Symposium shows that rewilding is being increasingly embraced as a progressive approach to conservation. As the connection between rewilding science and practice develops, the impact of rewilding will continue to scale up and inspire others to become involved. Rewilding boasts increasing appeal as a progressive...(read more)
09-12-2020
09-12-2020
National Science Agenda: how do we keep our biological clocks healthy?
The 24-hour society in which we now live has a disruptive effect on biological clocks. Consequences include an increased risk of health problems - both mental and physical - and a worldwide threat to biodiversity. Dutch researchers joining forces in the BioClock consortium, together with a wide range of societal partners, have just won 9.7 million euros in funding under the Dutch Research Council...(read more)
04-12-2020
04-12-2020
Saving your data together helps birds and bird research
It hasn’t been more than a year and a half since the international researchers’ network SPI-Birds started officially. Together they collect, secure and use long-term breeding population data of 1.5 million individually recognisable birds… and counting. Big questions in ecology and evolution can be...(read more)
20-11-2020
Rewilding symposium on 3 December
This online symposium is on the occasion of Liesbeth Bakker's appointment as Europe's first Rewilding professor earlier this year , and was originally due to take place in April. What exactly is rewilding, how does it work, where can it be done and what does it deliver? During this one-of-a-kind online event, highly-regarded rewilding scientists and experts from Rewilding Europe will address...(read more)
18-11-2020
18-11-2020
Small but deadly: research on the importance of viruses in soil
What role do viruses play in the soil's ecosystem? How many bacteria do they kill, and what is the resulting impact on the carbon cycle? That is exactly what NIOO researcher Kyle Mason-Jones is going to investigate. This week he received news about an important grant for young scientists, worth three years of research. The clear spots point out the locations where a bacterial virus or 'phage' has...(read more)
06-11-2020
06-11-2020
Deep drilling in Europe's oldest lake sparks new evolutionary insights
Drilling in Lake Ohrid feels like travelling back in time. The 1.4-million-year-old lake on the border between Albania and North Macedonia is Europe's oldest. Data from sediment cores suggest that the older and more stable an ecosystem is, the longer-lived its species and the more stable its species communities. Behind the microscope (source: Aleksandra Cvetkoska) What determines species...(read more)
05-11-2020
05-11-2020
Plant roots grow towards soil fungi
Plant roots not only release odours themselves, but also appear to react to odours released by beneficial and harmful fungi in the soil. They do this by actively growing towards the fungi, or ignoring them. In her PhD research at NIOO, Kay Moisan found that this 'sense of smell' has a positive effect on the eventual health of the plant, and that exposing plants to the right fungi could help...(read more)
16-10-2020
16-10-2020
What are the effects of aircraft on birds in the Dutch Wadden Sea?
The Wadden Sea is of great importance to shorebirds, with millions of birds overwintering or fuelling for migration in the area each year. But they also face disturbances from natural and anthropogenic sources, including raptors, walkers, cyclists, boats and aircraft. A new, three-year study takes a detailed look at the effects of aircraft on the shorebirds in the Wadden Sea. Impact of aircraft...(read more)
07-10-2020
07-10-2020
Centre of Excellence launched at Naturalis Biodiversity Gala
Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden has marked its 200th anniversary with a festive Biodiversity Gala, attended by King Willem Alexander. At the Gala, NIOO-director Geert de Snoo presented the Centre of Excellence for Netherlands Biodiversity Research: a joint venture that brings together four leading Dutch knowledge institutes. The new Centre of Excellence comprises NIOO, Naturalis, the...(read more)
02-10-2020
02-10-2020
Arctic migratory birds project wins Netherlands Polar Programme funding
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded funding to four projects in the Netherlands Polar Programme. The winning applications include 'Arctic migratory birds over the edge?', main applicant: NIOO's Bart Nolet. Netherlands Polar Programme 'Arctic migratory birds over the edge?' was submitted by a consortium of experienced researchers that includes not just NIOO but KNMI, NIOZ, University of...(read more)
28-08-2020
28-08-2020
Project ICARUS to spot starlings from space
After almost two decades of preparations, a special antenna on board the International Space Station will soon start tracking individual animals from space. This autumn already, NIOO’s Centre for Avian Migration will redo a classic experiment on starlings using the new technology. ICARUS website The project's official name is ICARUS: International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space. It's...(read more)
24-08-2020
24-08-2020
High time to open up ecological research
Share the code and data behind the research: it’s easy, but will have a major positive impact on progress and trust in science. That is the clear message from a new paper in PLOS Biology. An international team of ecologists found that currently, only about a quarter of the scientific papers in...(read more)
29-07-2020
Learning to recover biodiversity in three 'living labs'
What actually works when it comes to protecting plants and animals, and increasing natural diversity in the Dutch countryside? Researchers are joining forces with businesses and societal organisations in three 'living labs' to find out. Funding from the Dutch Research Agenda and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is available. NIOO is to lead one of the labs, and carry out soil...(read more)
24-07-2020
24-07-2020
Nationwide approach to boosting knowledge of biodiversity in the Netherlands
To boost knowledge about biodiversity in the Netherlands, a nationwide approach to scientific research is required. To make such an approach possible, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ-NWO) and...(read more)
10-07-2020
Open Science prize for Antica Culina's SPI-Birds project
In a special online session, Antica Culina from NIOO's department of Animal Ecology has received an award for using Open Science to make research more accessible. The Open Science Use Case Awards are part of the National Open Science Festival, which has had to be rescheduled because of the corona situation. A call for use cases was published earlier this year, inviting researchers and PhD...(read more)
03-07-2020
03-07-2020
Where have the swans gone?
Nearly 13 kilometres per year: that is the rate at which the wintering area of Bewick's swans has shifted east over the past 50 years. It's a discovery with consequences for the conservation of this migratory species, writes a team of researchers led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-...(read more)
12-06-2020
