How can species literacy in the Netherlands be explained and improved?

How can we quantify the density of species within a community through environmental DNA concentrations?

Do understudied animals contain hidden species?

In his dissertation Michiel Hooykaas outlines the results of six empirical research projects focused at biodiversity awareness in the Netherlands, specifically people’s knowledge about animals.

This thesis describes the genetic and prokaryotic diversity of giant barrel sponges.

As a non-invasive genetic method, eDNA based approaches have become an important component of ecologists' and environmental managers' toolkits for biomonitoring in conservation and an increasingly important source of ecological knowledge.

Promotor: E. Gittenberger, Co-promotor: B.W. Hoeksema

Which traits did change due to the invasion process of plants and how do these traits contribute to the invasiveness of such species. What is the role of carbohydrate accumulation? What is the function of carbohydrate accumulation in plants? Is genetic variation depleted in invasive species under se…

What impact does a mid-season wildfire have on grassland invertebrates?

Does a mid-season fire impact invertebrate populations?

In the last couple of decades an ‘animal turn’ has taken place in the social sciences. This has led to a call to study social issues by including non-human animal perspectives. This Collaborative Research Group thinks it's high time that African Studies joins the chorus of minds that try to contribute…

Promotor: Prof.dr. E. Smets, Dr. M. Stech

Development of Natural Resource for New Medicines

What is the effect of light at night on plant phenology and physiology, and how does this affect plant interactions with other species?

My PhD thesis investigates the ecological significance of resistance against drought-induced air bubble formation inside the water conduits of plants (embolism), and the plasticity and functional aspects of stem anatomical traits in woody and herbaceous species.

Himalayan environments have changed and continue to change as a result of how people interpret, source, and use them. Scholarly investigation of the induced transformations, whether in deforestation, dam construction, or glacial melt, highlights how man is shaping the world in the Anthropocene.

Promotores: J.A.van Veen, P.L.G.Klinkhamer. Co-promotor: E.E.Kuramae

The disappearance and reappearance of species of plants in the Netherlands is a normal phenomenon. In the period from 1981-2000 the number of plants to have disappeared was considerably lower than previously, whereas the number of species rediscovered is much higher. Climate change may be the cause.

Does the presence of Ring-necked parakeets negatively influence feeding and feeding behaviour of native bird species on artificial bird feeders and if so, what are possible solutions?

In this thesis, I study 1) metabolic alterations in tuberculosis related to wasting syndrome in human patients as well as in rodent and fish animal models. 2) effects of the mutation of the leptin gene on cachexia and diabetes in rodent and zebrafish animal models.

Vocal learning is a trait shared by songbirds and humans. It is also a trait that is restricted by the brain rather than by a species' vocal apparatus. In this dissertation, functional MRI is employed in both species in order to explore potential common neural mechanisms underlying the ability to develop…

Unravelling networks of human mobility and exchange of goods and ideas from a pre-colonial, pan-Caribbean perspective

Promotor: P.G.L. Klinkhamer, Co-Promotores: K. Vrieling, P.P.J. Mulder

Describe and identify what dosimetry parameters are of importance to interpret dose-response relationships (eg., mortality, sub-lethal, growth or reproduction inhabitation, DNA damage and reactive oxygen species, etc. ) for metal-based nanoparticles? How to develop quantitative models that enable to…

An international team including Peter van Bodegom shows how trait variability can be incorporated in Essential Biodiversity Variables to allow monitoring how organisms respond to global change. They published their results in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The community & communication workgroup serves as an umbrella that – in addition to its own activities – works with all three workgroups on the community and communication related aspects of their activities

What tools can be applied to measure the output, outcome and impact of science communication efficiently and effectively?

Promotor: Prof.dr. P.G.L Klinkhamer

Paleobotanist Menno Booi discovered that 250 previously described fossil tree species are objectively not distinguishable; they belong to only one single species.

The Liveable Planet programme will serve as a hub for the wide range of relevant research carried out within Leiden University and welcomes interaction with colleagues interested in contributing to the initiative within as well as outside of Leiden University.

The soil ecosystem consists of the largest reservoir of biodiversity on Earth.

The present investigation aims at exploring whether the instruction provided at secondary schools in the capital meets the requirements of Communicative Language Teaching and whether the aims of improving learners’ communicative proficiency are met.

Promotores: W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg, G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: M.G. Vijver

How does invasive hybridization affect threatened native species?

What the Sex Lives of Bugs, Birds, and Beasts Tell Us About Evolution, Biodiversity, and Ourselves, Menno Schilthuizen reports from the front lines of evolutionary biology, on a quest to make sense of the origins, workings and evolution of our and other species’ reproductive selves.

For the first time research has been done on species literacy in the Netherlands. Children in primary schools know about 1 in 3 native animal species. Publication in Biological Conservation.

Do offshore windfarms affect the local biodiversity of the pelagic fish community and are fish deterred or attracted by sounds?

Clustered Neighbourhood Settlements of the Central Anatolian Neolithic ca. 8500-5500 Cal. BC

Can trees adapt to (climate) change? Which trees are more or less capable of doing so, and why? A group of researchers from all over the world set to work on these questions. Professor of Environmental Biology Peter van Bodegom helped to classify the functional traits of tree species. These are for…

It is important for students to meet alumni of the program, to see what jobs they have.

‘In a hole under water there lived a hobbit’: a new species of shrimp named after Bilbo Baggings. Biology student Werner de Gier described this newly discovered species during his bachelor internship at Naturalis Biodiversity Center.

When biology student Mike Groenhof was making a phylogenetic tree of fifty shrimp species for his internship, one specimen turned out to be an undescribed species. The animal was collected by Naturalis scientist 18 years ago, and had been under the radar ever since.

Jan Melissen, Senior Fellow International Relations and Diplomacy at ISGA, researched the topic of consular diplomacy in a digital age. Specifically: the communicative challenge.

Researchers from Biomon have used DNA-techniques to find 40 different species of fish in the river Dommel. This technique is capable of detecting more species than conventional methods of measuring.

Promotor: J.A. van Veen, Co-promotor: E.E. Kuramae

In his groundbreaking Imagined Communities, first published in 1983, Benedict Anderson argued that members of a community experience a

A plant that takes metal from the ground all by itself: a natural way to mine or to clean the soil. PhD student Roderick Bouman (Hortus Botanicus Leiden) described a new plant species from Sabah, Borneo, which can be used to extract nickel. In an open access article in Botanical studies, he and the…