Projects
The contribution of neophyte species to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning KU Leuven
The rapid and accelerating global environmental changes are driving ecosystems to alternative states at unprecedented rates. Many plant species are confronted with three choices: adapt, migrate or go extinct. Since the latter is highly undesirable and the former two cannot keep up with the rate of change, assisted migration has been proposed as a potential – but still highly controversial – solution. This doctoral thesis aims to look further ...
Measuring bee health within biodiversity gradients of plant-pollinator networks Ghent University
Towards compassionate conservation in the EU: aligning EU’s biodiversity laws with animal welfare Ghent University
Despite the emergence of Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union that stipulates that since animals are sentient beings, when formulating and implementing the EU’s policy, both the Union and the Member States shall pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals, EU’s animal welfare policy is still approached very separately which undermines integration and thus downplays the very key rationale of Article 13. ...
Unravelling rapid evolution: genomic characterisation of threatened biodiversity in Wallace's Dream Ponds. University of Antwerp
Flower mixtures as a win-win for biodiversity and tree growers HOGENT
Biological invasion of the non-indigenous blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 and its symbionts in a « One Health » context in Moroccan coastal environments: effects on native biodiversity, associated marine diseases, and risks for human health Hasselt University
Sabbatical Olivier Honnay: Reconciling biodiversity conservation with food production in sub-Sahara Africa: which role for sustainable intensification of agriculture? KU Leuven
The interpretation of the sabbatical period comprises three activities: 1) Writing a literature review on existing evidence for the effectiveness of sustainable intensification of agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for preserving natural ecosystems, and for the occurrence of rebound effects (` Jevons' paradox). If possible, this review will take the form of a quantitative meta-analysis. If too little data is available in the ...
Assessment of the macroinvertebrate biodiversity on green roofs. Hasselt University
Mitigating an amphibian pandemic by embedding biodiversity conservation in contaminant exposed agricultural landscapes. Ghent University
Urgent measures are necessary to mitigate the impact of the fungal amphibian skin disease chytridiomycosis, which is emblematic for global disease driven loss of biodiversity. Here we aim at steering chytrid epidemiology towards a state of host-pathogen co-existence instead of epidemics by exploiting micropredator community dynamics in a context of aquatic eutrophication and contamination.