Decomposition is an ecosystem process, mainly important in the carbon and nitrogen cycles. When looking at what drives decomposition, there are three major drivers. These are plant litter quality, microbes and soil animals (detritivores). A large problem in understanding the decomposition process is …

Fungal contaminations cause problems in different industries worldwide. One of these is the production of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) which are used as biological pesticides. How these contaminations occur is often unclear. Because the production and formulation process is done partly in the open …

The main research question of this project was:Which of the four chosen algae is the most suitable for the rearing of Artemia, and ultimately Diadema antillarum larvae, at Van Hall Larenstein University of applied sciences? This question led to several sub questions which could in turn be operationalized …

Azorean waters have long been known to be inhabited by a vast number of cetacean species, representing a hotspot for marine wildlife within the North Atlantic. Various ecological factors are related to the complex habitat requirements of marine species such as water temperature, physiography and presence …

This report contains a restoration plan for degraded lands near the village of Kalamos on Kalamos island. The island is one of the Ionian islands off the west coast of Greece. There used to be deciduous evergreen forests that have now been reduced to small groves or individual trees. To restore this …

Designers of the Anthropocene era have to work with and for nature in order to reintroduce its beauty and functionality into our everyday life. As humans, we are colonising every single spot on earth. According to the United Nations, 55% of the human population is currently living in cities and by 2050 …

The experimental fishing method of pulse trawling was initially developed to decrease fuel consumption rates of flatfish fisheries in the North Sea targeting common sole (Solea solea). By replacing tickler chains with electrodes, the targeted fish is immobilised until it enters the net by using electrical …

Rijkswaterstaat has an effort-obligation and result-obligation to take measures to achieve the goals of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) at the Eastern Scheldt and Lake Grevelingen. The WFD aims to achieve and protect a sufficient ecological and chemical status of inland surface waters, transitional …

The native fish populations in New Zealand have proven to be declining. There are various reasons for this change in population size, one of the biggest being structures that form barriers to migration. This shows the need for fish passage options that are better adjusted to these ‘weaker’ swimmers and …

The coral reef ecosystem provides important services such as tourism revenue, food, pharmaceutical products and coastal defence. Coral reefs are under a severe amount of threats such as pollution, overfishing and climate change. These threats result in a decrease of coral reefs and so a decrease in three- …