Urban environments are ever expanding and differ markedly from natural and rural ecosystems. Cities are good test cases for the adaptive capacity of plants and animals in a rapidly changing world.

Through association with beneficial bacteria and fungi, plants can express increased growth via improved nutrient uptake, disease resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance. Such microbe-mediated plant traits could be important for ecological adaptation and crop improvement, but natural or artificial selection can only shape these traits if genetic variation exists

Billions of microorganisms live and die in the soil beneath our feet, affecting soil carbon storage and its release to the atmosphere. This project investigates how viruses drive bacterial death and the fate of bacterial remains, to better understand how soil can contribute to maintaining a healthy climate.

Beneficial soil microbes can enhance plant nutrition and plant defense.

Inoculation of plants or soil with consortia of beneficial soil organisms is a increasing practiced to boost plant nutrition and defense in sustainable agriculture and horticulture, thereby reducing the need for high input of fertilizers and pesticides.

Due to its favourable location, the Netherlands harbours at times large numbers of migratory birds, and bears an international responsibility to accommodate them.

The aim of this research project is to investigate how management of agricultural soils can be modified to profit from beneficial soil fungi in terms of increased carbon sequestration and enhanced crop yield.

Vertebrate herbivores and nutrient deposition have a strong impact on the biodiversity and functioning of grasslands worldwide. Both factors have been changing rapidly over the last decades due to exctinction of herbivores, restoration of herbivore communities (e.g., rewilding) and enhanced nutrient inputs in natural grasslands via agriculture and fossil fuel combustion. In a global network of experiments we quantify how these changse impact on plant, soil and insect biodiversity, the cycling of nutrients and other functions in grassland ecosystems (https://nutnet.org/). At the NIOO, we coordinate the Dutch NutNet site, which is situated on the Veluwe.

A key challenge for sustainable intensification of agriculture is to produce increasing amounts of food for a growing world population, with minimal loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In order to facilitate ecological intensification of agriculture, the underlying principles need to be understood and validated in farmers’ fields

Bewick’s swans breed on the Russian tundra and the European population winters in the North Sea countries.