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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). -
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. -
Adaptation of species
During recent centuries, human activities have dramatically changed the habitats of wild animals, plants and micro-organisms. Ecologists at NIOO are interested in how species can adapt to these rapid changes, for example through (micro)evolution. The ability of organisms to do this has a major impact on biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems. -
Impact of nutrients
Nutrient availability in natural ecosystems has increased due to anthropogenic activities like spill-over from agricultural ecosystems. In the Netherlands, this has led to the acidification of natural areas for example. At NIOO, we aim to understand the impact of nutrients on natural systems in more detail, to help to bring back the balance. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
Marker Wadden
The Marker Wadden is a newly constructed archipelago in lake Markermeer, which aims to improve the lake’s degrading food web by stimulating primary productivity. The archipelago consists of five islands that add a currently missing habitat type to the lake: shallow, sheltered waters with high nutrient availability and gradual land-water transitions. -
NIOO Theme Climate change
We are in the midst of a climate crisis. Our climate system is undergoing a dramatic number of changes, many of which can be attributed to anthropogenic influences, including greenhouse gas emission-induced changes to global surface temperatures, precipitation, glacier mass loss, sea levels, salt intrusion, and ocean heat content. -
Carbon storage in nature
Carbon storage is a hot item. Almost literally, as it is closely linked to climate warming. NIOO researchers discover more and more about the role of the living soil within our planet's carbon cycle. That role is: very influential, invaluable and essential for a sustainable climate policy.