Stephanie Schelfhout
@stephschelfhout.bsky.social
Applied ecologist at @fornalab.bsky.social (UGent) 💚 Grasslandnerd 💚 Into ecological restoration of species-rich grasslands 💚 biodiverse agricultural landscapes 💚 Jungle gardens 🪱 Digging for earthworms www.anekoworm.com 💚 science communication
New paper out 😊 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Plant species richness is key for restoring grassland butterfly assemblages
The results indicate that successful restoration of grassland vegetation and butterflies is strongly linked. To fully restore target butterfly assemblages, future grassland restoration should aim to ....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Bordeaux, France, has now recorded more days above 40°C in 2026 alone than during the entire 105-year period from 1920 (when observations began) to 2025. This is deeply shocking.
REVIEW Global Bias‐Aware Synthesis of Meta‐Analyses Reveals Agroforestry's Potential for Improving Soil Health 🔗 buff.ly/aMNke1F
1/ The world's songbirds sing in just 8 basic sounds. And where a bird lives decides which ones it uses. My first PhD paper is out now in @science.org (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aee6239) Here is what we found:
JNM is creatief bezig tijdens het zomercongres om biodiversiteit in het nieuws te krijgen. Nice!! vrtnws.be/p.8eXRXnpjG
Natuurvereniging voor jongeren vraagt met gemaskerd bal in Gooik aandacht voor insecten: "Ook onze stem laten horen" | VRT NWS Nieuws
In Gooik (Pajottegem) heeft de Jeugdbond voor Natuur en Milieu (JNM) een gemaskerd bal gehouden om meer aandacht te vragen voor insecten. JNM wil op een ludieke manier aankaarten dat het met veel inse...
vrtnws.be
@vrtnws.be delivered meer diepgang bij de Europese branden in relatie met landuse change en de klimaatcrisis. Dank! vrtnws.be/p.oL1wkORqq
Als 96 procent van natuurbranden door mensen ontstaat, welke rol speelt klimaatverandering dan écht? | VRT NWS Nieuws
De klimaatverstoring, brandstichting, nalatigheid, de manier waarop we onze natuur beheren en zelfs plattelandsvlucht: het zit allemaal in de cocktail die leidde tot de hevige natuurbranden in Frankri...
vrtnws.be
Firefighters in Oregon, Spain, and now France (?!) are battling wildfires big enough to generate pyrocumulonimbus clouds. These fire storms are treacherous on the ground. But scientists are concerned about the *planetary* consequences of injecting so much smoke into the upper atmosphere...🌍🔥🧵
Hittegolven en klimaataanpak: « Ja, il ben boos over politici » vrtnws.be/p.M9Xa4daGp
Met alweer een hete week, slaat Belgische klimaatwetenschapper Jean-Pascal van Ypersele hartenkreet: "Ja, ik ben woedend" | VRT NWS Nieuws
Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, misschien wel de meest vooraanstaande klimaatwetenschapper van ons land, laakt het volgens hem ontoereikende klimaatbeleid. Dat heeft er mee toe geleid dat er in België deze ...
vrtnws.be
#Onderzoek | Maatregelen die koolstof vastleggen, versterken vaak ook de biodiversiteit: www.wur.nl/nl/nieuws/he... 💧WUR onderzocht 10 beheermaatregelen in landbouw en natuur. Vooral herstel van veengebieden, kwelders en schorren en voorkomen van ontbossing biedt kansen voor klimaat en natuur
Herstel van veengebieden en kwelders biedt dubbele winst voor klimaat en natuur
WUR-onderzoek laat zien dat herstel van veengebieden, kwelders en schorren zowel koolstof vastlegt als biodiversiteit versterkt.
wur.nl
Wildfires in Europe so far this summer have led to Spain's deadliest in decades, with temperature anomalies peaking around +9°C in France and Germany and a high of 45.1°C in southern Spain. But how is the UK 'fire wave' after its first 'megafire' that burnt for four days in Dava Moor in May? 1/n
🌱 It's #nationalmeadowsday. So what exactly is a floodplain meadow anyway? 👇 Visit our website to find out more about this unique habitat: tinyurl.com/fs3t4ksb #floodplainmeadows #biodiversity #naturalfloodmanagement #sustainableagriculture #meadows #wildflowers
#WalesNatureWeek Floodplain meadows are rare in Wales, but new research from @antonyfjrth.bsky.social shows they were more widespread in the past. Read more here: Investigation of the historic extent of floodplain meadows in three Welsh catchments: Dee, Usk, and Teifi: tinyurl.com/muhpu9yz
Europe's worst heatwave so far, in terms of heat stress measures and temperatures - brought to you by fossil fuels. New @wwattribution.bsky.social study showing how such deadly heat became possible in only a few decades. www.worldweatherattribution.org/fossil-fuel-...
23°C separates Brussels city centre (≈47°C land surface temp) from the nearby Sonian Forest (≈24.5°C). The urban heat island effect. 🌡️🧪https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/observatory/publications-data/analysis-data/population-characteristics-in-areas-exposed-to-the-urban-heat-island-effect
Handen af van de natuur. De Europese Commissie kijkt op dit moment opnieuw naar de belangrijkste natuurwetten van Europa. Juist nu is het belangrijk om te laten zien dat burgers sterke natuurbescherming steunen. Teken en deel de Hands Off Nature-petitie: handsoffnature.eu#take-action
Hands Off Nature – Defend Europe’s Forests, Rivers & Wildlife
Stop the dismantling of European environmental protections. Stand up for forests, wildlife, clean air, and safe water - our nature depends on it.
handsoffnature.eu
VACATURE voor Wondergrond project 📣 We zoeken iemand die eerst als jobstudent aan de slag kan en daarna bijkomend als wetenschappelijk medewerker! Zie alle info 👇. Solliciteren kan tot 26 juni via email naar stephanie.schelfhout@ugent.be @stephschelfhout.bsky.social
"Subsidies gericht op natuurbeheer en natuurherstel werken positief, terwijl veel overige subsidies en belastingkortingen een gemengd of zelfs negatief effect hebben op biodiversiteit" "grotere landbouwsubsidies met gemengde of overwegend negatieve impact op biodiversiteit" vilt.be/nl/nieuws/ne...
Nederlands onderzoek: veel subsidies hebben negatief ef
Een groot deel van de Nederlandse subsidies en fiscale voordelen zet onbedoeld extra druk op de biodiversiteit. Dat blijkt uit een analyse van Wageningen Social & Eco
vilt.be
We are looking for a researcher with a PhD in plant/soil ecology, plant-soil interactions, or related. With your expertise you will collect field samples and analyse long-term data sets to understand plant and soil community responses to global changes. Apply by 14 June: nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...
Postdoc: Above-belowground interactions in grasslands under global change
Grasslands are under increased pressure of global changes, with nutrient enrichment and changes in vertebrate grazer communities being among the most prominent. Although impacts of global changes on p...
nioo.knaw.nl
📄Out now 📄: 90-year trends in Switzerland show declines in butterfly and saproxylic beetle richness around the mid-20th century, linked to agricultural mechanisation. Some groups have recovered in recent decades, especially warm-adapted species. Specialised and cold-adapted species remained low.🦋🪲
"Me: Which ordination method should ecologists use? ChatGPT: gestures broadly at the minefield"
Super scary to know that PFAS is threatening even Fair Isle, without having a direct polluting source there. Just sea foam and wind/rain inputs. 😖🤯 “there are no pristine parts of our environment any more, anywhere. We have contaminated just about everywhere” what are we doing???
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo agoIt has the highest levels of toxic Pfas in drinking water in Scotland. But how did this remote island become awash with forever chemicals?
pieterdefrenne.bsky.social @karen-depauw.bsky.social Out in International Journal of Biometeorology!
Can we use drones to meausure below-canopy forest microclimate? 🌳 Our study suggests that thermal cameras on drones show potential for predicting forest microclimate, particularly when derived from multiple flights across a growing season @lipingwei.bsky.social 📃: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Relationships between canopy surface temperature measured from drones and below-canopy forest microclimate in a tree diversity experiment - International Journal of Biometeorology
International Journal of Biometeorology - Understanding forest microclimate is critical for predicting forest ecosystem responses to climate change. Yet its fine-scale variability–driven by...
link.springer.com
More shrubs in the mountains?! 😮 Why would this be a problem for the local biodiversity? Shrubs are tall and can form dense canopies, eventually outcompeting many of the smaller alpine flowers. 📃by Thomas Vanneste onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Widespread Shrubification on European Mountain Summits
Based on vegetation resurveys from 572 plots of 1 m2 located on mountain summits spread across Europe's major mountain ranges, shrubification was calculated as the change in shrub cover between 2001 ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
📢New paper out by Isabelle van der Zanden & Lieke Moereels et al: Food forests support different — and often more — soil life than croplands & grasslands. Especially more organisms sensitive to disturbance or drought like fungi, woodlice & harvestmen. 🍄🪲🪱 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00125-w
Planting food forests can increase soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes of Northwest Europe - npj Biodiversity
npj Biodiversity - Planting food forests can increase soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes of Northwest Europe
doi.org
Superleuk weekend op @nerdland.be festival achter de rug. ANEKO regenwormenwerkgroep en Spinicornis pissebeddenwerkgroep hostten de Bodemdiersafari. Tijdens snikhete dagen brachten we tientallen mensen met de wonderlijke bodemdiertjes in contact. #scicom #verwondering #biodiversiteit #kriebelbeesten
