Projects
Functional-ecological study of the combined effects of predator- and pesticide stress on aquatic insects: from gen to community. KU Leuven
The central objective of this project is to evaluate to what extent biomarkers can be used to predict pollutant effects at the community level, with special attention for the interaction with predator stress and competition. Focus will be on studying the pesticide endosulfan, worldwide one of the most commonly used insecticides. Model organisms will be three aquatic insect groups: midge larvae (Chironomidae), water boatmen (Corixidae) and ...
Functional-ecological study of the combined effects of predator- and pesticide stress on aquatic insects: from gen to community. University of Antwerp
The central objective of this project is to evaluate to what extent biomarkers can be used to predict pollutant effects at the community level, with special attention for the interaction with predator stress and competition. Focus will be on studying the pesticide endosulfan, worldwide one of the most commonly used insecticides. Model organisms will be three aquatic insect groups: midge larvae (Chironomidae), water boatmen (Corixidae) and ...
Tracking the biological control on Si mobilisation in upland ecosystems. University of Antwerp
It is well known that anthropogenic land use changes have strongly influenced the occurrence of biota and soil formation over the last millennia. Land use changes can have a strong effect on the export of carbon, nitrogen and weathering products. The poor knowledge of the biological component in silica biogeochemistry challenges our ability to predict the effects of these land use changes on the silicacycle. Current models for silica export to ...
Effect of nutrient limitation (phosphorus limitation) on the floristic diversity in an undisturbed wetland. University of Antwerp
Several factors determine the realized species pool in a wet meadow system. Hydrology partly influences the plant-available nutrients, directly by controlling the supply through ground and flooding water,¿ and indirectly by the groundwater level, controlling the soil moisture content and thus the redox potentiaal which determines the available nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) forms.The amount of available nutrients is also determined by the ...
Thermal adaptation and its interplay with biotoc interactions across a latitude gradient. KU Leuven
In this project, we plan to study the ability of populations to persist locally under global warming, taking into account not only thermal adaptation but also key biotic interactions that may (directly or indirectly) covary with temperature. We will follow an encompassing approach integrating ecology and evolutionary biology with a special focus on biotic interactions and how plastic and genetic phenotypic responses to a temperature increase ...