Finding Ocean Health in a sea of data
Ever wondered how the Ocean Health Index gets data for its global assessment of the entire ocean? There's more to it than you'd guess! And Marine Regions is part of the answer!
Identifying African bushmeat for sale in Brussels using DNA
Bushmeat is often defined as the meat derived from wild animals, including terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, harvested for subsistence or trade, most often illegally. It is a freely accessible source of food that can be captured rather than bred and often represents both the...
Assessing the state of the oceans
The second World Ocean Assessment – WOA II – is a global exercise by hundreds of marine scientists to evaluate trends and identify knowledge gaps in the world ocean. Two chapters of WOA II have made use of several components of the LifeWatch Species Information Backbone.
Observing plankton to understand ocean health
Increasing human activities are putting the ocean under stress, threatening the ecological health of marine ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Since plankton are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and are short-lived, they can be used as early warning systems for the...
Tracking the fish trails
Understanding the importance of estuarine and coastal areas for the migration of fish and recovery of populations requires tracking a fish’s movement. For this purpose, Pieterjan Verhelst analyses the tracks of tagged Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and European eel (Anguilla anguilla), detected on the...
DNA-based species validation of exotic mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) in Belgium
In the framework of the MEMO project, a monitoring program was set up at 23 localities where exotic mosquito species (EMS) that may act as disease vectors can get introduced in Belgium. The early detection of EMS, before populations become established, is of paramount importance to prevent local...
Tracking plastics using fish tags
Acoustic telemetry proves to be a valid method to follow up the pathway of marked ‘daily use’ plastic items in rivers, in a more detailed manner than ever before. The idea of using acoustic telemetry to track plastic items came to mind, during a fish monitoring campaign organized by the Research...
Mapping the marine migration of an IUCN endangered species
The spawning grounds of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) have been a mystery for centuries and with the declining population, making it a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List, it is important to unravel this mythical place and the migration routes leading to it. Understanding...
