Centre for Ecological Research
Institute of Ecology and Botany
"Lendület" Landscape and Conservation Ecology
News - 2023
Publication: Tomáš’s paper has been published in Insect Conservation and Diversity with the title: “Effect of landscape structure depends on habitat type in shaping spider communities of a natural mosaic of Eurasian forest-steppe”. We showed that habitat type plays a more important role in shaping spider diversity of natural forest-steppe patches than landscape structure. March 2023.
Publication: Riho's co-authered article has been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology with the title: "Afforestation and abandonment of semi-natural grasslands lead to biodiversity loss and a decline in ecosystem services and functions". We showed that both grassland degradation due to abandonment, as well as grassland afforestation, have significant negative impacts on biodiversity, on the supply of multiple important ecosystem services and on the ecosystem multifunctionality. March 2023.
PhD defense and institute visit: Péter participated in the successful PhD defense of Frederik Gerits as external reviewer at the Gent University, Budapest, Belgium, and gave a seminar talk at Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO). March 2023.
Institute visit: Péter visited the Agricultural Landscape Research Institute (ZALF) in Müncheberg, Germany, where he gave a seminar talk, and got to know the patchCROP project. March 2023.
Event: We celebrated the World Pollinator Day this year too, on the 10th of March, by highlighting the importance of pollinator protection to primary school children and showing how to build self-made bee hotels at the National Botanic Garden. March 2023.
Project meetings: Our group became part of the Sustainable Development and Technologies National Programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for studying sustanaible cities, which discussed with colleagues from the centre in Erdőtarcsa. Besides, we organized a meeting with collaboration partners in our Frontline project in Debrecen to show first results on our village studies, and discuss the new surveys in city parks. February-March 2023.
Award and conference: Dávid received the junior degree of Gusztáv Szelényi Memorial Medal and gave a presentation at the 69th Plant Protection Science Days conference in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Congratulations! February 2023.
Publication: Robi and Niki co-authored an article in the Journal of Insect Conservation with the title “Heather (Calluna vulgaris) supports spider diversity of oligotrophic peat bogs”. Our study shows that microhabitat heterogeneity increase spider diversity in the endangered peat bogs of the Carpathians. February 2023.
Publication: Robi co-authored an article in Scientific Reports with the title “Agricultural spider decline: long-term trends under constant management conditions”. This long-term study revealed the severe decline of spider abundances in alfalfa fields and their margins. February 2023.
Publication: Robi’s co-authored paper has been published in Basic and Applied Ecology with the title: “Can rare arable plants benefit biological pest control potential of cereal aphids in croplands?” We showed that rare arable plant cover can reduce the total number of aphids in agricultural fields. January 2023.
Publication: Péter co-authored a letter in PNAS with the title "Testing the potential benefits of small fields for biocontrol needs a landscape perspective". January 2023.
