Boots in the bog

Posted on June 28, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

Far in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of Friesland and Drenthe, lies an endless sea of moor-grass, heather, and rushes – spread out across one of the last active raised bogs in the country: the Fochteloerveen.

Throwback pictures of our first fieldwork trip to Fochteloerveen two months ago, when summer was still far away

A raised bog is something truly special. Formed over thousands of years, it’s a living landscape built entirely from rainwater and sphagnum moss. Layer by layer, the mosses grow, die, and decay, creating a domed blanket of peat that rises above the surrounding land. These bogs are wet, acidic, and nutrient-poor, yet support a unique and fragile web of life. Carnivorous sundews, rare dragonflies, and strange fungi find their niche here. And underneath it all, the peat holds centuries of carbon, making these bogs some of the most effective natural carbon stores on Earth.

EcoFracNet vegetation monitoring in an sea of rushes, with not much else in sight

We visited this remarkable place in spring to set up a new EcoFracNet study site, focusing on biodiversity and ecosystem variation across a fine-scale moisture gradient, from boot-deep mud to dry sandy ridges dotted with pines. This is one more piece in our ongoing effort to cover all major Dutch habitat types with EcoFracNet. But there’s another reason this site deserves a closer look.

The area hosts forest understory that feels like it has remained undisturbed and untouched for a truly long time, slowly growing into beautiful perfection

To protect its rare biodiversity, park managers Natuurmonumenten and Staatsbosbeheer are continuously refining their management. Most recently, they’ve expanded the role of large grazers in the landscape, with a striking herd of Exmoor Ponies now roaming the area. These shifting grazing dynamics are likely to reshape local patterns of heterogeneity – and with them, the scales at which biodiversity varies. That’s exactly what EcoFracNet is built to study: teasing apart the spatial fingerprints of ecological variation, from the patch to the landscape level.

The brave and kind Exmoor ponies keep vegetation short where needed

We’re also looking below the surface. Together with colleagues from the group, we’re analyzing belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, to explore whether patterns beneath our feet mirror those we see aboveground, or tell a different story entirely.

That’s all we’ve got for now. Our students are digging into the data (as they did into the mud), and we’re looking forward to seeing what they uncover. In the meantime, this post is really just a nod to this uniquely strange and beautiful landscape that so captivates you when roaming through it.

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EcoFracNet at the farm

Posted on June 21, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

Our EcoFracNet project aims to uncover patterns of biodiversity across all kinds of landscapes — including those where biodiversity isn’t necessary a priority, like agricultural areas.

Even these landscapes can host a surprising variety of life: along field edges, in fallow patches, or even hidden within the rows of monocultures. By monitoring that plant biodiversity in exactly the same way as we do in forests, grasslands, or peatlands, we can put it into context. How much does it contribute? At what scales does it vary? And ultimately – what role does it play, and could it play, in the biodiversity of the future?

Given the central role agriculture plays in our landscapes, that perspective is essential – guiding us from understanding what’s there now to exploring how we can best make use of this space for biodiversity.

A sea of winter wheat – a monoculture for sure. But how does its diversity compare with those in the understory of our Dutch forests? And what’s still hiding out in the field edges or quickly colonizing the space after the harvest? We’ll find out!

We’ll explore these questions at De Rusthoeve, an experimental farm in Zeeland, the Netherlands. With its long history of working with scientists and sensors, it’s an ideal place to study biodiversity and environmental heterogeneity in an agricultural setting, without feeling too much like a bother to the general functioning of the farm!

Giant hogweed dominating the view in a field of poppies elsewhere in Zeeland

Last week, under a perfectly blue Zeeland sky, I visited the farm for the first time. Looking forward to returning soon and getting everything set up!

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An army of scientists

Posted on June 17, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

This year, I had the joy (and challenge) of teaching Ecology to first-year biology students at Utrecht University for the very first time. Nearly 400 students, fresh into their academic journey, dipping their toes into the fascinating, complex, and urgently important world of ecological research.

We wanted that first encounter to be more than just theory. We wanted it to be memorable, meaningful, and fun – a hands-on experience that brings global challenges close to home.

So, we launched a campus-wide Bioblitz.
A biodiversity sweep search through the Utrecht Science Park, designed to kill a whole bunch of birds with one stone – and it worked better than we imagined.

Utrecht Science Park is much more than aulas and research labs. One of my favourite spots: the little protected area of ‘De Driehoek’

Here’s why we think it was awesome:

Real fieldwork, real biodiversity
Students headed outdoors, explored patches of green around their classrooms, and surveyed the life blooming right under their noses. They were encouraged to contribute observations throughout May (much appreciated by the aspiring ecologists), with one full day of fieldwork required for everyone. No escape for that one day – even the future microbiologists were sent outside. The result? Over 1000 species of plants, animals, and fungi identified. An eye-opener, we hope, to the wildness still hiding on the doorstep.

A whopping 1148 species on our campus, as found by our 400 students and other enthusiastic campus dwellers.

Ecology made personal
By investigating biodiversity on their own campus, students saw up close why conservation matters – and how much there still is to discover and protect. From birds and beetles to mushrooms and mosses, the Science Park proved a microcosm of ecological diversity.

Oystercatcher on the bike path – the kind of surprises that can make one very enthusiastic about ecology!

Linking science to action
Students also learned about the efforts already underway to conserve and restore biodiversity on campus – complex work, considering the competing pressures of research labs, student housing, and other infrastructure. We explored the messy realities of conservation in the real world: how it’s often under-prioritized, but still possible and worth fighting for. And perhaps even better: they could contribute to those conservation efforts. Thanks to all of them, we could scan the campus much more thoroughly, including corners where the usual ‘Bioblitzers’ wouldn’t go.

Theory meets the real world
A key course goal was helping students see how ecological theory underpins what we observe in nature. With the data from the Bioblitz, we discussed concepts like alpha, beta, and gamma diversity, and asked students to look for real examples of species interactions – predation, facilitation, mutualism, commensalism – right here on campus. We even tied this to the theories of conservation science, such as ecological corridor design linking green areas north, east, and south of the Science Park.

All in all, this Bioblitz turned out to be a brilliant all-in-one: fieldwork, biodiversity awareness, ecological insight, and local conservation impact, and an army of 400 scientists helping to gather data. Importantly as well: a perfect way to get that many students to do something meaningful, without having to spend a lot of resources on it.

Next year, we’re levelling up.
We plan to expand to soil biodiversity, moths, and aquatic life for those students who like a challenge. Stay tuned. Or better: join us with your own Bioblitz!

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We just love hearing the sound of nature

Posted on June 17, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

In a region like Flanders – dense, busy, and full of human activities of all shapes and sizes – the problem of noise pollution is increasingly recognized. We often think of that noise as something we can measure in decibels. But what if we’ve been asking the wrong question all along? Its impact on our health and well-being might actually have less to do with how much sound there is, and much more with what we hear.

That’s where the concept of the soundscape comes in: the landscape of sounds that surrounds us. It’s not just about volume. It’s about character, texture, and context. And so we wondered – what makes a soundscape feel peaceful? What makes it feel overwhelming? Instead of guessing, we asked the people themselves.

Image: De Morgen

At the start of De Oorzaak, our citizen science project on environmental noise, we launched a simple yet remarkably powerful questionnaire. We had the idea to invite people to step outside, take a little walk, listen carefully, and tell us what they heard and how that made them feel. It was a modest little survey, but the response was anything but: 4,465 people from across Flanders joined in, giving us a rich tapestry of sound experiences from all across the region.

And their answers spoke volumes.

We gathered responses from soundwalkers from all across Flanders

In a new paper just published in Science of the Total Environment, led by Timothy Van Renterghem from UGhent, we present a first glimpse into that highly interesting dataset. What we looked at was the overwhelmingly strong role of natural sounds on the quality of the soundscape. And this was truly ‘make or break’: natural sounds — like birdsong, rustling leaves, or the whisper of the wind — significantly improved the quality of the soundscape. Even when traffic noise was present, hearing natural sounds alongside it made the experience notably more pleasant for our respondents.

Impact of the amount of natural sounds one hears (from blue = nothing to red = a lot on the soundscape experience, showing a clear shift from annoying and chaotic to vibrant, pleasant and calm

In the questionnaire, we deliberately left the definition of “natural sound” open to interpretation. And people responded with familiar favorites: birds, wind, trees. An earlier master thesis already showed that birds come first. If those aren’t there — for example in a highly urbanized area — the sound of wind takes over that soothing role. These aren’t just pleasant to hear — earlier studies have shown they reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance focus.

So, natural sounds aren’t just nice — they’re essential. They make life in noisy environments more livable and can help mask the negative effects of anthropogenic noises.

Examples of local land use around a measurement point, with either a high share of low greenery, high greenery, agricultural land and non-green surfaces. More green space in an area of 500 m around you results in a higher reporting of natural sounds. And more natural sounds results in a strongly improved soundscape experience.

Interestingly, we also found that it’s not just the trees or green space right next to you that matter. Green infrastructure within a 500-meter radius — including farmland and more distant vegetation — played a stronger role than greenery within just 125 meters. This suggests that it helps to have a ‘reservoir’ of natural sounds nearby. Birdsong, for example, travels far and shapes the sonic backdrop in a large area.

What surprised me most, though, was how consistent these finding were. Whether someone was in the city or the countryside, as soon as they reported hearing natural sounds, they also rated their environment as calmer, more enjoyable, and less disturbing. As such, our study adds important weight to the proven importance of nature to act as a mitigator of the negative impacts of sound. And this, the ecologist in me might say rather smugly, adds yet another critical ecosystem service to the long list of things that nature does for us, within and around our cities.

The probability of experiencing high pleasantness (y-axis) in your soundscape increased with the presence of natural sounds in it (x-axis). Of course, soundscapes were rated more pleasant when traffic noise was low (blue) than when it was high (red), but in all cases natural sounds resulted in an improvement.

And that, it turns out, really matters.

Reference:

Van Renterghem et al. (2025) Effectively hearing natural sounds is a robust contributor to positive outdoor sound perception in the everyday living environment. STOTEN

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969725014500

Posted in Belgium, Science | 1 Comment

Non-native plants along mountain trails

Posted on June 2, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

We had been studying the role of mountain roads as drivers of non-native plant invasions in mountains all the way back till 2007. Heck, we just published a first manuscript on the decadal dynamics in those (Iseli et al. 2024)! Hiking through the worlds’ beautiful mountains, however, we soon started to wonder: do the same principles hold up along trails as well?

Already back in 2007, we started studying how mountain roads act as highways for non-native plants to invade pristine alpine ecosystems. Heck, we just published a first manuscript on the decadal dynamics in those (Iseli et al. 2025)! Hiking through our beloved mountains all over the world, however, a new question soon emerged:

What about trails?

Trails, like roads, are linear disturbances. They connect valleys with remote mountaintops, they carry humans (and their gear, boots, and seed-laden socks), and they alter local conditions in ways that could favor non-native species – opening up vegetation, increasing nutrient availability, and creating new microhabitats.

But trails are very clearly not roads – I don’t have to tell you that! The disturbance is softer. The infrastructure is minimal – often no gravel, no salt, no foreign materials. Hikers often wander off trail. There’s less edge, less management, and often fewer people. So, we suspected the same mechanisms would play out, but at a lower intensity. Fewer non-natives, lower cover, and smaller contrasts between trail edges and adjacent vegetation.

And so, an idea was born: take the MIREN road survey protocol and adapt it for trails.

Trails as linear disturbances in the mountains – hikers as vectors for non-native seeds

In 2016, without any dedicated funding – just shared enthusiasm and a love for mountains – we began surveying trails worldwide. Today, thanks to a remarkable effort relentlessly led by Agustina Barros and Eduardo Fuentes Lillo, we’ve surveyed 55 trails across 9 regions, and the first results are now published in Global Ecology and Biogeography.

So, what did we find?

At the global scale, climate (especially temperature) explained most of the variation in non-native plant richness. Biotic factors – like the diversity of native vegetation – best predicted presence and cover. Human-related factors (trail use intensity, grazing, distance to the trail) also played a role, but less consistently.

Importantly, the patterns were strikingly similar to those we’ve seen along roads:

  • Fewer non-natives at higher elevations and latitudes
  • Fewer non-natives farther from the trail edge
Trends in non-native richness as a function of climate (top) and native biotic interactions (bottom), showcasing also the subtle but significant differences with distance to the trail (different lines).

This supports the idea of a “double filter” for non-native plants:

  1. Climate limits which species can survive as you go higher and colder.
  2. Distance from disturbance limits where they can establish, as native communities become more resilient, and propagule availability lower.

As expected, however, the impact of trails was indeed less intense than that of roads!

Especially at high elevations, trails are often barely distinguishable from the surrounding vegetation, resulting in smaller differences in non-native communities as well. Combined with a harsh climate and often substantially reduced human presence, in many sites – for example here in northern Sweden – the number of non-natives is simply close to zero.

What’s also fascinating is that the same few non-native species – often hardy European forbs like Taraxacum officinale, Trifolium repens, and Rumex acetosella – pop up again and again, regardless of continent. These generalist species are good at exploiting disturbed habitats and are likely part of the global alpine invasion front.

Taraxacum officinale – the common dandelion – flowering at the top of a steep mountain trail in the Chilean Andes

So, should we worry?

Most of the non-native species we observed are not yet invasive. And we certainly recognize the many benefits of trails – for people, for recreation, and even for biodiversity in some contexts.

Trails can have positive effects on biodiversity as well! This trail in northern Sweden highlights how this may work, through the creation of microtopographical variation and variable levels of disturbance, they create a myriad of available niches.

But education matters. Encouraging hikers to stay on marked trails, limiting the expansion of trail networks, and raising awareness about their role in shaping ecosystems can help reduce further spread. Most of all, we need to focus on prevention – especially since the coldest, highest-elevation areas still remain relatively free of non-native species.

And while we may not stop every seed from catching a ride up the trail, this work shows we can still limit where it lands, and whether it takes root.

Reference: Barros et al. (2025). Beyond the Trail—Understanding Non-Native Plant Invasions in Mountain Ecosystems. Global Ecology and Biogeography. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.70060

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SoilTemp is now MEB!

Posted on May 31, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

Over the past six years, I’ve poured my heart into SoilTemp. What started as a vision for a global soil temperature database quickly grew into something much more: a living, breathing community of researchers passionate about microclimate ecology.

From the beginning, we dreamed of SoilTemp as more than a dataset. It was meant to be a hub – a place where scientists from around the world could come together, share data, collaborate on methods, and push the field of global microclimate ecology forward.

We’ve come a long way. Together, we’ve consolidated methodological advances (think De Frenne et al.), launched workshops and conferences (the MEB-conference series!), and created a vibrant series of subgroups tackling diverse topics from cold-climate regions to peatlands. And recently, we’ve felt the shift – this is no longer just a project or a database. It’s a full-fledged network.

So today – as we shared by email to the whole network already before – I’m beyond excited to share a major milestone in this journey: SoilTemp is now MEB – the Microclimate Ecology & Biogeography network.

Our new logo!

This new name is more than just a name. It’s mostly a broader vision and a renewed commitment to collaboration, inclusivity, and openness. After months of discussion and feedback, we’ve redesigned the network to give people more ways to engage, contribute, and connect – wherever you are in your microclimate journey.

What’s new?

The ‘mycorrhizal mycelium’ of our new MEB-network, with all its branches that together support the ecosystem that is the global microclimate community

– A new name: MEB – Microclimate Ecology & Biogeography

We have long grown beyond soil temperature. MEB captures the full range of what we now study together: microclimate across ecosystems, across scales, and around the globe.

– A new database identity: MDB – the Microclimate Database

Our database is evolving too. MDB reflects the diversity of in-situ microclimate measurements we now host – from air to soil, from forests to tundra. We’re always welcoming new contributors. If you’ve got data, we’d love to include it!

– A fully integrated conference series

The MEB Conference series – always already explicitly part of SoilTemp – is now officially part of the network! After a fantastic launch in Antwerp (2022) and an exciting follow-up in Helsinki (2024), we’re thrilled to welcome you all at the next edition in Montpellier (1–5 June 2026). These events are about more than just presentations – they’re where we take the pulse of global microclimate research, and foster new collaborations.

– A new website: www.meb-network.com

Explore our new digital home for updates on the database, network activities, and upcoming events. You’ll also find our new visual identity here – inspired by the MEB conference series. Still some work to do to get all microclimate information in the same place, but we’ll continue updating it!

– New contact info

You can now reach us at MEB-network@outlook.com. Don’t worry – the old SoilTemp email is still monitored during the transition.

How to join?

And then, very importantly: we have created many more ways in which anyone from the community can get involved! One of the core values of MEB is openness. We want this to be a network for the community, by the community. Here’s how you can now get involved (in addition to submitting data to the database, that is):

  • Annual online general assembly – your chance to connect, share feedback, and help steer the network. If you’re in our mailing list, you’ll automatically receive the invite for this
  • MEB Scientific Committee – open to everyone who wants to get more deeply involved into strategic planning, scientific priorities and moving the field forward scientifically.
  • MDB Database Committee – help shape the future of our data infrastructure. This committee aims to be a balanced set of representative data contributors from all continents, as well as data users – who see most clearly what the database needs.
  • Tools & workshops – we’re building a resource hub with guidelines, webinars, and online workshops (coming in late 2025).
  • Topical subgroups – passionate about a specific environment or region? Join or start a subgroup! Current active ones include:
    1. Arctic/Antarctic & Above Treeline (AAAT)
    2. Drylands
    3. Peatlands

Want to start something new? Let us know – we’re here to support you.

More info and signup for any of these: Organisation – MEB Network

Looking ahead

We’re planning our first MEB celebratory general assembly for later this year – an open, online gathering for everyone in the network. It’ll be a chance to reflect, plan, and celebrate all we’ve built together. We hope to see many of you there!

To all of you who’ve contributed data, ideas, time, or support: thank you. This network exists because of you – and it’s only just getting started.

Let’s keep building the future of microclimate research. Together.

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