Georgina Mace: Putting the science in conservation
Heineken Prize-winner Georgina Mace was the guest of honour at a symposium on nature conservation in Wageningen.(read more)
23-09-2016
23-09-2016
Flying with Bewick's swans in Russia
A unique expedition has begun in Russia. Over the next ten weeks, Sacha Dench from the British Wildfowl & Wetland Trust will be tracking the annual migration of Bewick's swans. By paramotor.(read more)
20-09-2016
20-09-2016
Usutu virus found in Dutch blackbirds
NIOO's Centre for Avian Migration and Demography and other Dutch research organisations report that the Usutu virus has been found in great grey owls and blackbirds in the Netherlands.(read more)
16-09-2016
16-09-2016
Poop = Gold on National Icon shortlist
NIOO's Poop = Gold project has been shortlisted for the 2016 National Icons. The Dutch government will announce next month which three innovative projects are granted National Icon-status.(read more)
07-09-2016
07-09-2016
Martijn Bezemer's Leiden perspectives
NIOO researcher Martijn Bezemer (Terrestrial Ecology) has just been named Professor in Ecology of plant-microbe-insect interactions at Leiden University. His appointment will open the door to further collaborations, believes Bezemer. Martijn Bezemer (Terrestrial Ecology) It's not so much about the 'Professor' part of his new title, stresses Martijn Bezemer , even though that will allow him to act...(read more)
05-09-2016
05-09-2016
Citizen Science: it's still science
More and more amateurs help out with research projects in their spare time: a win-win situation?(read more)
02-09-2016
02-09-2016
Predicting plant-soil feedbacks from plant traits
In nature, plants cannot grow without soil biota such as fungi and bacteria. Successful plants are able to harness positive, growth-promoting soil organisms while avoiding the negative effects of others. Which plant traits can predict these interactions, or the success of a plant? Researchers and...(read more)
Published 24-08-2016
Swans in Dutch zoo test high-tech migration tracking system
NIOO will launch a major research project this autumn aimed at tracking the migration routes of Bewick's swans. The high-tech transmitters that will be used for the project were successfully tested at Burgers' Zoo in Arnhem this week. The tracking collars are manufactured on 3D-printers. They have advanced features, including solar cells and GPS. Any contact with water is recorded and the...(read more)
05-08-2016
05-08-2016
Models for CO2 loss from soil are insufficient
Earth is getting warmer, causing an increased level of CO 2 release from soil, leading to an even faster warming. This self-reinforcing process is well known among climate researchers, who use it in their calculations to know how much greenhouse gas we are allowed to emit. There is only one problem, says Tom Crowther , who supervised a review study that appeared online 27 July in Nature Climate...(read more)
27-07-2016
27-07-2016
Veni for Alena Gsell
Parasites are exceedingly common in nature; nevertheless, they are rarely included in food-web research. But now that Alena Gsell has been awarded an NWO VENI grant, this may change! Alena will study how parasites influence competition between free-living species, and how predation and diversity of potential hosts affect the spread of disease. She will be using long-term data and laboratory...(read more)
18-07-2016
18-07-2016
Soil inoculation works!
‘Donated’ soil creatures help to restore nature Restoring nature, for instance on former farmland? That works a lot faster, more precise, and less disruptive via soil inoculation. Take a bit of healthy soil from a natural area close by and restore the desired type of nature within a couple of years...(read more)
Published 11-07-2016
NIOO at Delfsail: news from the 'poop' deck
How did the Netherlands Institute of Ecology end up at Delfsail 2016, one of the biggest events for historic tall ships in the Netherlands?(read more)
08-07-2016
08-07-2016
Marcel Visser: long-term research is "essential"
In the July issue of Nature , NIOO's head of Animal Ecology, Marcel Visser, argues the case for long-term research. It's of "essential" importance if scientists are to ask new questions about complex subjects such as climate change. Marcel Visser (NIOO-KNAW) Visser's plea is in response to an article published in the same issue of Nature about the unequal rates at which recurring seasonal events...(read more)
01-07-2016
01-07-2016
Nocturnal light makes birds change their behaviour
Songbirds change their behaviour and timing when nestboxes are exposed to artificial light at night. "They become light sleepers, literally and metaphorically", says Maaike de Jong (NIOO-KNAW). She successfully defended her thesis on the effects of different colours of light at Wageningen...(read more)
Published 21-06-2016
The soil and its immune system: Jos Raaijmakers in Science
There are similarities between the body's immune system and the way in which healthy soils suppress diseases, writes NIOO's head of Microbial Ecology, Jos Raaijmakers, in Science . But does that mean we'll be able to 'vaccinate' the soil in the same way we do people ? Jos Raaijmakers, NIOO-KNAW In their 'Perspectives' piece for Science , Jos Raaijmakers and his co-author Mark Mazzola give an...(read more)
17-06-2016
17-06-2016
'Citizen scientists' needed for lakewater campaign
Is there a temperature difference between a Turkish lake and an Irish lake? Do leaves break down faster in a lake in Serbia or in Sweden? And are Italian lakes the cleanest in the whole of Europe? Laura Seelen (AKWA) preparing to carry out a tea bag test Aquatic Knowledge Centre Wageningen (AKWA) is launching a new campaign this summer, together with ten scientists and ten citizens from around...(read more)
10-06-2016
10-06-2016
Utrecht students expand tea bag challenge
Thirteen biology students from Utrecht University have been busy around the NIOO-building for the past two months, submerging and retrieving more than 1000 tea bags. The experiment was part of their course in Aquatic Ecology. Utrecht students at work in the NIOO 'Wadi' (photograph: Ed Wien ) Developed in 2013 by researchers from Utrecht University, NIOO and the University of Iceland, the Tea Bag...(read more)
06-06-2016
06-06-2016
Predicting the impact of climate change on population size
How can we tell if climate change affects the population dynamics of a species as well as its behaviour? An international team led by NIOO-researcher Martijn van de Pol presents a novel approach.(read more)
Published 02-06-2016
Redefining Nature: Koert van Mensvoort
It's time to redefine the relationship between nature and technology, said artist, philosopher and technologist Koert van Mensvoort in his seminar at NIOO.(read more)
31-05-2016
31-05-2016
First overview of global soil biodiversity published
The soil is teeming with life, much of it unknown or neglected. For the first time, information has been brought together in one place about how soils form, where different soil types are found and what organisms you'll find living in them. Wim van der Putten (NIOO) is one of the editors of the first-ever Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas. "There is very little dialogue between the soil science...(read more)
27-05-2016
27-05-2016
