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.

The great tit has revealed its genetic code, offering new insight into how species adapt to a changing planet. Initial findings suggest that epigenetics – what’s on rather than what’s in the gene – may have played a key role in the evolution of the ability to learn. And not just that of birds...

Woodlice have for the first time been dethroned as the most spotted soil animals in Dutch gardens. The third edition of the nationwide Soil Animal Days saw arachnoids seize the top spot, with earthworms a close second. A probable explanation for the shift is the extremely wet weather at the onset of autumn. Fortunately, that didn't stop some 600 enthousiasts from counting the soil animals in their gardens.

What soil creatures are living right under our feet? Find out in your own backyard on 4 October - or in your local park, on your green roof or even your balcony (!) - as the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) organises the first-ever 'Soil Animal Day', together with the Centre for Soil Ecology (CSE).

British enthusiasm for feeding birds may have caused UK great tits to have evolved longer beaks than their European counterparts, according to new research. The findings, published in Science, identify for the first time the genetic differences between UK and Dutch great tits which researchers were then able to link to longer beaks.

The sold-out science festival for children 'Expeditie NEXT' took over the historic Dutch city of Franeker earlier this month.

Nearly 1000 'citizen scientists' sent in their observations this year on Soil Animal Days 2019. And a surprisingly high number of people tried to do something in return for the vital services these soil creatures provide for us.

The 4th edition of the Dutch Soil Animal Days saw 856 'citizen scientists' comb through more than 200 gardens and parks to find some 7500 soil creatures.

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

24/09/2021 The seventh edition of the annual Soil Animal Days has been launched from NIOO's green roof. The theme this year is the double lives of soil animals, above- and/or belowground. There's another important duality as well: many soil animals are in decline. For them, it may soon be do or die.