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From Pioneer to Soil Prophet: 40 years belowground - Farewell symposium Wietse de Boer
On Thursday April 4 we'll have the Farewell Symposium and reception for our long-time colleague Prof. Dr Wietse de Boer (Department of Microbial Ecology at NIOO and Wageningen University). -
Developing digital twins to help understand ecosystems
LTER-LIFE aims to study and predict how global change affects ecosystems. It is one of nine projects that have just won funding for setting up and improving large-scale research infrastructure. -
Spotlight on living soil at COP15 biodiversity conference
The UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal (COP15) is discussing global action to reverse biodiversity loss. Healthy, living soil is of key importance. -
Highlights
A few highlights of the NIOO-KNAW building. -
A living, breathing building
As sustainable as possible, in as many respects as possible: that was the imperative when the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) commissioned a new building. And we have done it! -
History of NIOO-KNAW
NIOO-KNAW was created in 1992 by merging three important ecological research institutes of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Discover our history. -
Farming microbial community for plant probiotic - MicroProFarm
A current challenge for modern agriculture is to meet the food production needs for an increasing global population while improving resource use efficiency and attenuating impacts on human health and environment. In order to maximize reliability and stability in agriculture, optimization of crop management and resource use efficiency have been considered the best approaches for a sustainable increase of crop yields under variable agro-ecological conditions, environments and years. For this purpose, one interesting and sustainable method is the use of natural plant biostimulants, a diverse class of products and microorganisms that enhance plant growth and other plant parameters, such as flowering, fruit set, crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency. In this context, several studies already demonstrated that plant biostimulants can induce morpho-anatomical, biochemical, physiological and molecular plant responses, not only improving crop productivity but also promoting protection against abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity. Among the different biostimulant classes there are protein hydrolysates (PH), mixtures of polypeptides, oligopeptides and aminoacids originated from partially hydrolyzed animal and vegetal tissues. Even though the effect of PH were already observed in diverse crops, the mechanisms and behind their action are still scarcely studied, and their action can vary depending on their origin, characteristics, crop species, cultivars, growing conditions, time and mode of applications, among other parameters. The objective of this project is to evaluate the effect of protein hydrolysates in the growth, nutrient content and microbial communities of crops, if microbes are responsible for these effects, which are the mechanisms and if such effects are long-lasting. -
The world's most spoken language is...Terpene
If you’re small, smells are a good way to stand out. A team of researchers led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) has demonstrated for the first time that two different types of micro-organisms – bacteria and fungi – use fragrances, known as terpenes, to hold conversations. And that’s not all. “We actually believe that terpenes are the most popular chemical medium on our planet to communicate through.” -
Testing early warning signals for crises, in lakes
Wouldn't it be great if we could tell the state of an ecosystem or the like - healthy or heading for a crisis - by keeping track of a few key signals? Thanks to the theory of ‘tipping points’, that’s not unthinkable. Now a team of researchers led by Alena Gsell of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) has tested early warning signals: in lakes. In the Early Edition of PNAS online, they conclude that predicting works...but not yet in all cases. -
Extinction of Pleistocene herbivores induced major vegetation and landscape changes
The extinction of large herbivores such as mammoths could explain massive prehistoric changes in vegetation and landscape structure, with major implications for our understanding of present-day ecosystems. Modern and paleo-ecologists joined forces in an international study led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). The results are being published online by PNAS this week.