news 2022

Research from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and UC Louvain warns of the effects of global warming on the fragile ecosystems of one of Africa's largest lakes. A rise of a few degrees in the water temperature can unbalance the ecosystem, with a major impact on local habitats as a result. "For our research, we combined a 3D hydrodynamic model of Lake Tanganyika made using SLIM-3D by Professor Eric Deleersnijder's research group at UC Louvain, with our own VUB expertise on climate modelling," says lead author Kevin Sterckx of VUB's Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering.

Biophysicists from the University of Luxembourg have uncovered how microplankton - key photosynthetic organisms which produce nearly 50% of the oxygen we breathe - adopt a thrifty lifestyle when nutrients turn limiting. They strategically harness internal lipids to regulate swimming properties to maximise their fitness.

Study is first to predict impact of climate change on mangrove distribution in South Africa A team of scientists from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Nelson Mandela University, the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the University of the Western Cape has been able to show for the first time that ocean currents and coastal geomorphology may continue to hold back the spread of mangrove forests along the South African coast, even as global warming creates a more ideal climate for them.

An international team of researchers led by Professor Jozef Vanden Broeck (KU Leuven) discovered why adult male desert locusts in a swarm have a yellow color, in contrast to their brownish, female counterparts. This color difference ensures that male locusts can recognize fertile females during mating in a large swarm and avoid ending up with another male or with an already formed pair.

An international research led the VUB Biology Department examined 21 st century changes in ocean-surface temperature, salinity, and density, across mangrove forests worldwide. The study suggests that changes in surface-ocean density may impact the dispersal patterns of widely distributed mangroves species, and more likely so in the Indo-West Pacific region, the primary hotspot of mangrove diversity.

Thursday, May 19, 2022 — The wood wide web has been a hot topic among biologists in recent years. Trees and plants are interconnected and not only share information, they also support each other by passing on signals or food. They do this by means of mycorrhizal fungi that live in symbiosis with the roots.

Not every type of greenery in an urban environment has the same positive effect on people. One large tree with a robust crown has more impact than ten young trees. That is the conclusion of a large-scale study by KU Leuven that was published today in the influential journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

VUB research explores potential of low-cost, low-carbon, flexible living spaces Sustainable building and affordable housing: two concepts that seem mutually exclusive.

Koen de Reus of VUB's Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Comparative Bioacoustics Group at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands: "Failure of a non-human animal to synchronise in an experiment designed to test humans does not mean they are incapable of synchronising. It could also mean that the experiment was not appropriately designed to test a particular species." VUB researcher Koen de Reus is part of an international team exploring the best way to study how animals synchronise behaviours such as moving, vocalising, and breathing.