The 3D lab

Light

Posted on January 10, 2018 by lembrechtsjonas

Christmas lights in Mechelen, Belgium

The season of darkness – and tons of artificial little lights to compensate for that – is finally coming to an end again. Here in Belgium, we are again gaining two minutes of daylight every day, on our steady road to spring and summer.

Did you know that the increased competition for light is one of the main reasons biodiversity goes down when a vegetation gets more nutrients? A famous paper in Science (Hautier et al. 2009) once showed this elegantly: they added artificial light sources underneath the vegetation in a grassland and showed how this extra light counteracted the loss of biodiversity through the addition of nutrients.

Normally: more nutrients, more competition for light as competitive plants get bigger, and thus less biodiversity.

Now: more nutrients, light artificially kept high, biodiversity didn’t go down.

Reference:
Hautier et al. (2009). Competition for light causes plant biodiversity loss after eutrophication. Science. 324, 636-638.

Posted in Belgium | Tagged Belgium, Christmas, City, Citytrip, Ecology, Mechelen, Science, Travel, Travel photography, Winter | Leave a comment

Unusually warm

Posted on January 3, 2018 by lembrechtsjonas

2018 has started of relatively stormy, here in Belgium. Water on the quays in Antwerp, and the first ever use of the large controlled flooding areas along the Scheldt, the year does indeed start unusual. In the Netherlands, it was even the first time ever that all five flood barriers have been closed at the same time! (Note that the latter does not imply a particularly strong storm, yet the unusual situation of storm tide conditions in the whole country).

A cold day in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Unusually stormy and warm, perhaps, yet I do not want to talk about that kind of unusually warm winter weather now. I want to introduce you to a different kind of unusually warm: the urban heat island. The what!?-island, you think?

Well, the urban heat island effect describes the fact that cities (the urban environment) are islands of warmer temperatures in the sea of cooler rural area around them. In summer, but especially in winter, city temperatures have been observed to be several degrees higher than those in the rural areas. In the evenings, these differences can even add up to 12 °C.

While it was relatively cold in the city, the countryside surrounding it was even covered in a layer of snow

You might have experienced this already yourself: not only the breathtaking heat of a summer heat wave in the city, but also how your car windows freeze less often when parked in the city center over night, or how cities have less snow, or earlier snowmelt, than the surrounding countryside.

Intriguing, isn’t it? Another case of strong microclimatic variation, like we study in the mountains, yet in a totally different environment. And its effects on species and their distributions might be even bigger! But more on that later, hopefully…

Posted in Netherlands | Tagged Architecture, City, Citytrip, Climate, Landscape photography, Maastricht, Nature, Netherlands, Photography, Travel, Urban ecology | Leave a comment

This was 2017 (2)

Posted on December 23, 2017 by lembrechtsjonas

Here is part 2 of ‘2017 in stories’, our very own end-of-the-year list. Dive with us into what happened on this blog the last twelve months, with this list of the ten most visited posts. Missed part 1? It’s here!

A story of hotspots and stepping stones

Closing a chapter, it’s an amazing feeling. In 2017, we published the second paper on the experimental half of my PhD, a fascinating story on hotspots and stepping stones. Find out how non-native plants manage to beat all the odds at elevations far above their current elevational limits, and how that affects our predictions for the future of our mountains.

Science with doormats

Closing off some chapter, opening up many others, that is what 2017 was all about. We have been trying out some fascinating new things in preparation of our research for the next few years. Science with doormats is one of these experiments. Doormats, you might ask? Yes, indeed, boring, simple, non-sciency doormats, and you might be surprised about their scientific use!

That damn snow again

Our yearly fieldwork-adventures undeniably deserve a prominent spot in this list as well. Enjoy this happy reindeer, and our snowy summer special from right on top of the world!

The Yellowstone experience

Arguably the most important milestone of 2017 brought me to the greater Yellowstone region in Montana. There, we had a fruitfull meeting with the partners of MIREN, our global network of mountain scientists. A lot of talking resulting in an impressive list of fascinating future plans. And all of that in the most mindboggling natural environment.

Throwback december

We end this list with some nostalgia to the warm days of midnight summer in Lapland. To cheer up our hearts on this dark winter days, I made a much-appreciated picture gallery of the best of our summer fieldwork. You can find it here. Beautiful plants, breath-taking views, awesome animals. If you needed a reminder of why I love this job, it’s all there!

And with that, we slowly put 2017 to rest. It was an amazing year, with many accomplishments I am very proud of. But most of all, it was a year of preparations. Preparations for 2018, preparations for the future. Because as from 01/01/2018, the truly big things should start happening. Stay tuned, and cross your fingers that all our hopes and dreams will come true!

Posted in General | Tagged Ecology, Landscape photography, Mountains, Nature photography, PhD, Photography, Scandinavia, Science, Travel photography, Wildlife photography, Yellowstone | Leave a comment

This was 2017 (1)

Posted on December 20, 2017 by lembrechtsjonas

It’s list-season again! Oh yes, the end of the year approaches and everybody bombards you with their best-offs and unforgettables of 2017. Please forgive me that I want to join in on that fun. No better way to summarise what happened on this blog the last twelve months than with a list of the ten most visited posts. Here is part 1 of ‘2017 in stories’.

1) Blinded by a snowball

January kicked off with an intense cold spell. Our hands were freezing off enough to make us remember that US senator who brought a snowball to the parliament. A snowball, yes, to show it isn’t all as bad as it looks with climate change. Let me shortly summarise the story: his argument doesn’t hold.

2) The feel of the south

Little egret in the evening sun

From a memorably cold winter in Belgium to the heavenly warmth of spring in southern France. April brought me a visit to Montpellier, for a conference on Functional Ecology. Besides some eye-opening insights on how organisms interact with their environment, the stay also resulted in a nice picture gallery.

3) Plants do fly

Euphorbia in a sea of poplar fluff

These musings about flying plants are a good example of what came out of that conference. In several presentations at the conference, I heard the statement that plants cannot fly, a fact providing them with huge limitations compared to other organisms. Allow me to explain in this post why I care to disagree.

4) Species on the move

Some more on moving species (for a reason the main topic of my research), after the publication of a critical paper in Science. The authors discuss the impact of species movement – as driven by climate change – on our everyday lives. A true eye-opener, and hopefully in time for some much-needed action all over the world.

5) Hidden treasures on the campus

We end the highlights of the first half of 2017 a bit closer to home. In June, our Global Change Ecology center organised a quest for rare plant species… on the campus grounds. From beautiful orchids to an obscure plant in the car park called hairy ruptureworth, these little treasures on the campus proof that biodiversity can hide anywhere.

Posted in General | Tagged Ecology, Holidays, Landscape photography, Nature, Nature photography, Plant photography, Science, Travel, Travel photography | Leave a comment

Throwback december bis

Posted on December 12, 2017 by lembrechtsjonas

Worth your visit: our new picture gallery on the right of this blog, Sweden and Norway 2017!

Angelica archangelica along mountain road in the northern Scandes, Norway

Another post featuring some of the best pictures from this summers’ field trip, this time from the Norwegian side.

Overlooking the Skjomen valley

With steep mountains, stunning fjords and breath-taking views, the area of northern Norway around Narvik is a fantastic travel destination.

Summer in the Skjomen valley, northern Norway

Just imagine it being the backdrop of your office…

Scandinavia - 19

More pictures in the picture gallery on the right of this blog.

Overlooking the Skjomen fjord

Posted in Norway | Tagged Flowers, Landscape photography, Mountains, Nature, Nature photography, Outdoors, Photography, Plants, Scandinavia, Travel photography | Leave a comment

Throwback December

Posted on December 11, 2017 by lembrechtsjonas

Visit the new picture gallery on the right of this blog: Sweden and Norway 2017!

Oenanthe oenanthe (wheatear), owning the alpine tundra Abisko, Sweden

It’s never too late to remember the summer. With snow currently probably packed high on the Scandinavian mountain tops, and the sun again hidden beneath the horizon for the next few months, it is the perfect moment to look back at those glorious days of the midnight sun.

Husky overlooking lake Torneträsk – Laktatjakka valley

In this post, I’ll let you marvel at some amazing sights from Swedish Lapland, but I also created a little picture gallery on the right of this blog, showcasing the best pictures of our 2017 field season in Scandinavian Lapland. Admire the views and take in the stunning backdrop of mountains that every year temporarily becomes our office, while we all count down the days till a new Arctic midsummer.