Facilitating the search for new antibiotics: that's what Gilles van Wezel aims to do by looking at similarities in the DNA of antibiotic-producing bacteria.

27/02/2021 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.

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 University on Friday. The most surprising effect she's found? Some birds are forced to become more monogamous...

Ever wonder what makes soil, soil? And could soil from the Amazon rainforest really be the same as soil from your garden? Researchers from the University of Manchester and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) are using DNA sequencing to unlock the secrets of the world’s soils, and analyse ecological patterns and microbial communities on a global scale.

The latest UN Environment Frontiers Report has been launched in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The conversion of Amazon rainforest for agriculture has led to deforestation and soil degradation. Agroforestry has been suggested as a sustainable alternative, but NIOO's Eiko Kuramae says its impact on the soil needs to be more fully considered.