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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). -
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. -
Stairway to Impact Award for Kamiel Spoelstra
Kamiel Spoelstra is this year's winner of the Stairway to Impact Award. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded him the prize for his contribution towards the acquisition and propagation of knowledge about the impact of artificial light on flora and fauna. -
Sperm biology and evolution (thesis/internship projects)
Sperm are critical to successful fertilisation in sexually reproducing animals. The function of sperm – to find and fertilise ova – is universal throughout the animal kingdom, yet the sperm cell is the most morphologically diverse cell type known. -
Light on Nature
We produce more and more light at night. Virtually everybody in Europe or the US lives in a light polluted place: all areas where artificial light always exceeds the light of the moon and the stars. These areas expand with about two percent per year, while already light polluted areas become even brighter at night. -
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. -
Light Pollution
Illumination of forest edges leads to a decrease in moth numbers and changes in the behaviour and success of bigger day as well as night-active animals in the long run. What did we find out at NIOO and what can we do with these results? -
National Science Agenda: how do we keep our biological clocks healthy?
27/11/2020 Dutch researchers joining forces in the BioClock consortium - including NIOO's Kamiel Spoelstra - have won 9.7 million euros to keep our biological clocks healthy. -
Red light has no effect on bat activity
Artificial light at night can have a disruptive effect on bats, but not if the light is red. Switching to red light may therefore limit or prevent habitat loss for rare, light-shy bat species. The latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B publishes results from five years of pioneering research led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). -
Nocturnal light makes birds change their behaviour
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...