Publication: Teja and Péter wrote an invited letter in PNAS with the title "Agriculture, urbanization, climate, and forest change drive bird declines". Here we support the results of the analyses of Rigal et al. for urgently needed changes in the European agricultural policy, with more emphasis on biodiversity-friendly and sustainable measures when balancing socioeconomic and ecological goods. May 2023. 

Symposium: Péter gave a talk about conservation biological control at the Agroecology Symposium for the memory of Gusztáv Szelényi, at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. May 2023. 

Publication: Kata’s paper has been published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution with the title: “Connectivity and fragment size drive plant dispersal and persistence traits in forest steppe fragments”. We showed that both fragment size and landscape-scale connectivity were important in shaping the trait composition of the vegetation related to local persistence and propagule dispersal, and these processes could be supported by the preservation of large fragments, increase of habitat connectivity combined with targeted management of exotic species. May 2023.

Event: Edina, Viktor, Niki, and Gabi participated in an interactive exhibition booth at the Garden on the Cube event in the National Botanical Garden in Vácrátót, Hungary, where they simulated the impact of invasive flowering plants on pollinator communities through scientific games. May 2023. 

Earth Day Event: Kata and Edina co-organised the Earth Day programme on 22 April at the National Botanical Garden in Vácrátót, where they demonstrated the close relationship between pollinators and flowers through interactive games and also built insect hotels. April 2023. 

Conference organisation: Péter co-organized a special session about "Frontlines of Urban Conservation and Restoration" in the frame of Academia Europaea Budapest Knowledge Hub at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 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.