Species rich grasslands provide ecosystem services such as floral and faunal diversity, livestock forage, carbon sequestration and water regulation. However, the best combinations of sward diversity and management intensity to achieve the above-mentioned ecosystem services are not fully known. To address …

Zowel de bollentelers, als de biodiversiteit en de bodemgesteldheid van hun akkers in de bollenstreek staan onder druk. Dit komt door de toenemende regeldruk van de wetgeving en van het Europees landbouwbeleid. De laatste jaren zijn er steeds meer onderzoeken naar het toepassen van strokenteelt in de …

This thesis is a literature review on the impact of global warming on the great whale pump in Europe. Global warming is known to have an effect on different ecosystems around the world. However, what is largely unknown is the impact of global warming on marine systems and specifically large whales that …

Gedurende de laatste twee eeuwen hebben antropogene veranderingen zoals ontbossing en afname van prooidieren gezorgd voor de afname van grote apex predatoren over de hele wereld. Een voorbeeld hiervan is de wolf (Canis lupus). Wolven populaties werden kleiner en meer verspreid mede door jacht door de …

The massive die-off of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum in 1983–1984 is one the main reasons for low coral recruitment and little coral recovery in the Caribbean. As the natural recovery of D. antillarum is slow to non-existent, multiple restoration studies have been attempted. There are currently three …

Door de intensivering van de landbouw zijn veel kruidenrijke lineaire landschapselementen verdwenen. Deze structuurverandering heeft tot grootschalig biodiversiteitsverlies geleid in het agrarisch gebied. In de toekomst wordt verwacht dat de landbouwproductie nog verder zal stijgen. Deze stijgende productie …

From the very beginnings of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, water management has been a topic of prime importance. This subject has taken even greater priority in recent times due to climate change and the consequent erratic weather and sea-level rise. The measures taken to ensure water safety have been …

Canalisation of the Liesbeek River has resulted in a deterioration of its ecosystem. In order to stop the deterioration of the Liesbeek River. The Rosebank village green area of the Liesbeek River is being rehabilitated. However, it is not known how the hydrology and morphology of the Liesbeek River …

Modernisation and intensification of the agricultural land in Europe has led to habitat fragmentation. Due to habitat fragmentation, wild plant populations became small and isolated. Plant populations need to be reinforced to prevent inbreeding depression and raising them ex situ is a generally considered …

Predation risk is a major driver of the distribution of prey animals, which typically show strong responses to cues for predator presence. An unresolved question is whether naïve individuals respond to mimicked cues, and whether such cues can be used to deter prey. We investigated whether playback of …