New research shows how natural patterns in coastal meadows redistribute salt stress, helping vegetation remain productive under increasingly saline conditions. Such a mechanism can enhance the resilience of ecosystems to climate-related stress.

Research in Leiden shows that flowering birch trees can substantially increase the amount of airborne pollen in their immediate surroundings, even though this pollen can also travel over long distances. Much less birch pollen was measured 25 metres from the trees than closer to them. We therefore recommend avoiding planting large numbers of highly allergenic trees, such as birches, together.

The FlySafe Operational Service provides near real-time information and forecast on large scale bird movement in the air space of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium based on weather radars. The service can help predict bird migration and improve flight safety by reducing the number of collisions between birds and aircraft.

During extreme heatwaves, soil bacteria that produce and resist antibiotics switch into survival mode, temporarily reducing the number of resistance genes. At the same time, heat and drought are causing significant damage to soils and ecosystems, especially in cold, wet regions such as the Netherlands. This is evident from a large-scale European study by UvA's Franciska de Vries and colleagues.

Jeroen Helmer has created a new illustration of the sphagnum moss ecosystem, especially for the conference ‘Power to the Peatlands’. This illustration is available free of charge to participants and to anyone wishing to raise awareness of the crucial importance of restoring peatlands.

Which oysters are released matters when restoring European flat oyster reefs. To preserve genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding, the origin and relatedness of the oysters should be considered for each restoration area. This is the conclusion of a new PhD project.

PhD research shows that sharks and rays are present in operational wind farms in the North Sea and that power cables do not form a barrier. Exposure to the electromagnetic fields does, however, affect behaviour and growth. Whether prolonged contact with electromagnetic fields affects behaviour, reproduction or survival remains uncertain.

A new species of antlion from South India has been named after Mónica Guimarães Cruz, collection manager at Naturalis. The type specimen is, in fact, part of the Naturalis insect collection, which she manages. This gesture is not only a tribute, but also highlights the importance of natural history collections.

There's black gold to be found on Dutch beaches: ancient fossils. But determining what you have found is no easy task. Researchers from Naturalis and other institutions have trained artificial intelligence to recognize fossils. Sometimes AI even outperforms professional experts, if the photos are good enough.

The DNA of Asian elephants tells a concerning story. Although all four subspecies are under pressure, there are considerable differences in their genetic health. The Sri Lankan elephant appears to have a relatively large amount of genetic diversity. Especially for the Bornean elephant, inbreeding is lurking.

Mixed teams of scientists and citizens, including Leiden evolution biologist Menno Schilthuizen, have discovered two new snail species in northwestern Montenegro. The discovery underscores the region's importance for hidden biodiversity and the need for conservation.

People with hay fever may be exposed to much more allergenic pollen in one street than just a few streets away. Research in Leiden shows that pollen levels in urban air vary considerably at a local scale. Plants in public spaces are the main source of allergenic pollen in the areas investigated. By carefully designing public green spaces, municipalities can reduce exposure to allergenic pollen.

For shorebirds such as sanderlings, food availability is determined not only by the abundance of prey, but also by the precise locations and periods during which prey are available. Research by Emma Penning and others shows that mobile prey, such as shrimps and shore crabs, occur predictably in specific parts of intertidal mudflats throughout the season, contributing to better foraging success.

Most sidewalks are paved with square grey concrete slabs. If you look closely at older paving stones, you will often spot pale grey circular patches, about the size of the base of a soft drink can. These are lichens, living organisms that grow only a few millimetres each year. Scientists in the Netherlands have now measured exactly how fast they grow.

In marine environments, sponges tend to eat other organisms to get their nutrients, but they can also use photosynthesis, in collaboration with microbes. This phenomenon can help with the productivity – the amount of energy and food produced – in tropical coral reefs, and perhaps also in other ecosystems where sponges are common.

A landmark alliance of DNA experts across Europe signals the start of an unprecedented effort to build a continent-wide system that applies genomics for protecting European biodiversity. DNA barcoding and genome sequencing offer – together with taxonomic expertise and advanced data systems – new possibilities for understanding and protecting nature.

Scientists have discovered a new widow spider species in the Andes in South America. Latrodectus lucacha is a variant of the infamous black widow. The researchers described the habitat of the 'medically relevant' species by analyzing thousands of photos uploaded to iNaturalist by nature enthusiasts.

A new analysis of hundreds of thousands of surveyed plots of land reveals that plant diversity is declining in many areas, particularly forests. Grasslands, on the other hand, are recovering. The study also shows that protecting existing nature reserves and looking merely at surface area of protected areas alone is not sufficient. More is needed to achieve the UN biodiversity goals for 2030.

Few people realise how important peatlands are for biodiversity and climate. The youth collective RE-PEAT aims to change that. During their Young People Old Peat symposium, artists, scientists and activists explored new ways to reconnect people with peat landscapes. Wageningen University & Research collaborates with RE-PEAT to study how creative approaches can strengthen connections with nature.

For more than twenty years, researchers at the University of Amsterdam, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and KNMI have used radar to track bird movement in one of Europe’s busiest airspaces. Their work improves aviation safety, nature conservation and wind‑farm planning, and will be highlighted at the 5th International Radar Aeroecology Conference being held this week in Amsterdam.

Coral reefs are important ecosystems. They have encountered a lot of hardships across their existence on Earth and are facing significant threats again today. Mike Hynes discovered that the past of coral reefs can tell us a lot about their own future.

Lesser black-backed gulls from the colony at the Dutch island Neeltje Jans appear to avoid the wind farm off the Zeeland coast. NIOZ ecologist Rosemarie Kentie and her colleagues suspected the gulls were attracted by fishing boats outside the windfarm, and their bycatch thrown overboard. This was not the case: during weekends, when there is little fishing, the birds rarely visit the wind farm.

Dutch and Antillean researchers are joining forces to improve our understanding of nature on Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. A new project combines centuries old natural history collections with high tech image recognition and DNA barcoding.

On 20 March, the symposium 'Evidence-based Rewilding' took place in Wageningen. This symposium focused on the results achieved with rewilding projects over the past thirty-five years. National and international speakers from science and practice explained how to collect solid evidence for rewilding and demonstrate its impact.

The fall armyworm – the caterpillar of a moth species – can only be sustainably controlled with solutions tailored to regional differences. That is the conclusion of biologist Renée van Schaijk in her doctoral research. Her research explores how, in East and West Africa, the sex pheromones of the fall armyworm moth can be used to properly time biological control.

New research shows that by simply counting the diversity of flowers, we can estimate how rich a grassland is in species of plants, insects and spiders. The flower richness of grasslands can be surveyed rapidly and it can indicate biodiversity patterns across the growing season, at all levels of land-use intensity.

Some ghost nets continue to harm marine ecosystems, while others can provide valuable habitat for (protected) marine species. New research by Wageningen University & Research shows that removing ghost nets is therefore not always the most ecologically responsible option.

A large share of the Dutch government’s financial schemes unintentionally contributes to biodiversity loss. This is the conclusion of a broad analysis of subsidies and tax incentives across five ministries. The study was carried out by Wageningen Social & Economic Research, CE Delft and Naturalis Biodiversity Center, and provides the overview the Netherlands needs to meet international commitment.

By recording biodiversity in the park by means of a one-day 'bioblitz', researchers are building a baseline for urban nature in Amsterdam. ARTIS Zoo is an urban green area, providing space to many wild species, in the middle of the city. Multiple parties are working together to eventually increase biodiversity in the Amsterdam canals.

Currently, some 40,000 bar-tailed godwits are eating large quantities of mud shrimps in Balgzand, near Den Helder. This beautiful spectacle can be seen from the dike until about May 20. It has not previously been established that these birds eat so many mud shrimps in spring – their diet consists mainly of worms. NIOZ and BirdEyes are lifting the veil on research that will be published shortly.

On April 30, a large team of researchers from NIOZ, the UvA, the RUG, and NIOO, among others, boarded the research vessel Anna Weber-van Bosse to collect data for the PHYVIR study. The PHYVIR project investigates the influence of viruses on marine phytoplankton and ecosystems. This data is needed to refine our climate models.

In a new study, researchers from the University of Amsterdam Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics try to explain why prey get away so often. Not only the physical performance of predator and prey seems to play a role in this, but also their reaction speeds.

Bewick’s swans are migrating less and less far to the southwest in winter. On average, they spend the winter 118 kilometres closer to their breeding grounds for every 1 degree Celsius increase in winter temperature.

Illegal plant trade is often associated with images of tropical hardwood. But closer to home, European edible orchids are also threatened by unbridled harvest and sale of underground tubers, known as 'salep'. A new study shows that this market, concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean, is expanding to new species and areas, with disastrous consequences for vulnerable orchid populations.

Reef sharks are observed less frequently on Caribbean reefs with high levels of diving activity and coastal development. This is shown by research published on 5 April in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Even recreational activities, often considered low-impact, are associated with fewer sharks. Reef sharks are important for healthy reefs, they help in balancing the ecosystem.

In 2025, volunteers from Naturalis Biodiversity Center and members of the Dutch Entomological Society discovered a species of praying mantis on Aruba. It turned out to be a previously undescribed species. The praying mantis was named Brunneria xerophila or Aruban praying mantis.

Despite widespread concern about declines in insects globally, a dire shortage of data on species numbers over time means it will be impossible to assess our progress towards biodiversity goals – and to implement effective conservation action.

With eDNA metabarcoding, researchers read DNA traces from soil, water, or even air as if they were barcodes. This allows them to discover which plants are or were present, even when they are invisible to the naked eye. It is a powerful technique that reveals biodiversity in remarkable detail and helps protect it.

Beavers could play a significant role in Europe’s climate mitigation efforts, by transforming suitable river corridors into long term carbon stores. Beavers are able to engineer riverbeds into promising ways to prevent carbon dioxide release into the air, according to a new international study.

There are no places in the ocean completely untouched by human chemical impacts. A global analysis of more than 2,300 seawater samples, from more than 20 field studies around the globe, indicates that human-made chemicals make up a significant portion of organic matter in coastal oceans. The study, in which two NIOZ scientists were involved, was published on 16 March in Nature Geosciences.

Coral reefs are selectively fished empty with no evidence left behind. Recent research on the international trade shows which popular aquarium species are in danger, that cultivation is increasing, and that the majority of wild-caught corals come from Australia. More monitoring and transitioning from fishing to cultivation is necessary to better protect the biodiversity of coral reefs.

Dune restoration is becoming increasingly important due to rising sea levels and stronger storms. Paul Berghuis and colleagues from NIOZ and Utrecht University showed in the dunes of Texel that dune grass patches “cooperate” to capture sand, even when they are still meters apart. Their crucial discovery for efficient dune restoration was published on March 19 in Nature Communications.

Birds play a larger role in the dispersal of wild cotton than previously thought. A study published in the journal Oikos shows that they collect cotton fibres as nesting material and can move seeds over distances of more than a kilometre.

Birds that live and breed in vegetated coastal areas shape their own surroundings. This was discovered by earth scientist Floris van Rees. "Plant species that retain sand better benefit from the presence of bird excrement, which in turn is beneficial for dune formation." This is particularly important now that sea level rise and coastal erosion are putting pressure on their habitats.

Baobabs are among the most iconic trees on Earth. They store water in their bottle-shaped trunks during the raining season. This allows them to survive long periods of drought. Many baobab species are threatened with extinction because of habitat destruction. An international research team investigated genetic diversity and reproduction and recently published the results in Annals of Botany.

On the 29th of January, the webinar ‘Improving biodiversity with best practices and tools for area-oriented collaboration throughout the supply chain’ was organised by the Dutch Deltaplan for Biodiversity Restoration and LIFE IP All4Biodiversity. More than 120 interested people attended the webinar. Read more about the highlighted topics and watch recordings of the several sessions.

How young animals interact with their siblings during their first months of life determines their social skills later on. This is shown by experimental research on the tropical freshwater fish Neolamprologus pulcher, published in PNAS. Not only does the number of siblings matter, but whether they can interact freely with one another does too.

New study charts how digital technologies, DNA, and coordinated governance can transform biodiversity observation across Europe and support global conservation goals. The Biodiversity Observation Network (BON), proposed by several organisations, has the potential to become a global model.

The identity of the invasive Argent moth, earlier identified as Argyresthia reticulata or Argyresthia freyella is established as being Argyresthia sabinae from Japan and China. This emphasizes an important point about DNA-barcodes and morphology for species identification.

Forests and nature play an important role in achieving climate targets. But how much can forest management measures contribute to CO₂ uptake? New factsheets provide key figures to help estimate this contribution. A valuable tool for forest managers, policymakers and advisers working on climate-smart forest and nature management.