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Suzanne McGowan appointed Professor of Aquatic Ecosystem Dynamics
Meet the new Special Professor of Aquatic Ecosystem Dynamics: Suzanne McGowan. As of 2024 she is appointed at Utrecht University. Her chair offers a unique combination between the university's faculties of Science and Geosciences. McGowan integrates this with her main affiliation as the Head of Aquatic Ecology at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). As a professor, she aims to uncover how water ecosystems have been functioning, and how the major changes on our planet affect this. -
Restoring and rewilding ecosystems
It is a topical issue and has long been a research interest of NIOO: how do you restore nature? For example, former farmland can be made more suitable for nature again, and areas connected to each other. This approach could also help to mitigate the consequences of climate change. Furthermore, a growing amount of knowledge about rewilding has become available in recent years. It has become clear that, in the long run, rewilding yields strong ecosystems with more biodiversity. -
Seasonal timing
Species can adapt over the course of time. As the lives of species are altered by climate change, a different seasonal timing could make them adapt to an early spring, for example. How does this work, and what are the limits to such adaptations? -
Dealing with bluegreen algae
Worldwide, excessive nutrient loads in lakes and reservoirs have led to the rapid increase of harmful cyanobacteria. Blooms of these algae block the use of surface water for drinking, irrigation and recreation. Climate change is expected to further increase the frequency, duration, and magnitude of cyanobacterial blooms. Aquatic ecologists from NIOO are busy gaining more detailed insights into cyanobacterial blooms across scales, in future climates and in respect to toxicity. -
Is agroforestry the answer for rainforest restoration?
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. -
‘Insects need our help in a warming world, now’
‘If no action is taken to better understand and reduce the impact of climate change on insects, we will drastically limit our chances of a sustainable future with healthy ecosystems.’ This warning in a very topical paper in Ecological Monographs comes from 70 scientists from 19 countries around the world. But, they also provide ways to help insects in a warming world complete with management strategies. -
Rewilding-professor Liesbeth Bakker: "Let nature surprise you"
Let nature have its way and it will surprise you, NIOO-researcher Liesbeth Bakker said at her inauguration in Wageningen on 30 September as Europe's first professor of Rewilding Ecology. -
Awakening sleeping antibiotics with ERC Advanced grant
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. -
Common insecticide linked to extreme decline in freshwater insects
Thiacloprid, a widely-used pesticide, can cause a large-scale decline in freshwater insects. This was discovered by a team of researchers from Leiden University, including current NIOO-director Geert de Snoo. -
Starting this month: ten years of special attention for restoring ecosystems worldwide
05/06/2021 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?