Centre for Ecological Research

Institute of Ecology and Botany 

"Lendület" Landscape and Conservation Ecology

News - 2024

Publication: Edina's co-authored article has been published in the Journal of Insect Conservation with the title: "The effects of plant invasion, floral resources and soil characteristics on ground-nesting bees". We showed that plant invasion negatively affects foraging and some nesting characteristics of ground-nesting bees. July 2024.

Meeting: Kata represented the Kiskun eLTER site at the IRISCC (Integrated Research Infrastructure Services for Climate Change Risks) project kickoff in Helsinki, which aims to harmonize and customize European research infrastructure services for climate change risk assessments, with Kiskun eLTER providing transnational access to relevant services and data. July 2024.

Conference: Part of our group participated at the 7th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) in Bologna. We organised two symposia and presented eight talks, and enjoyed meeting friends and colleagues, and the scenic city. July 2024. 

Publication: Our paper with Kitti as first author has been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology with the title of "Supportive effect of uncut refuge strips on grassland arthropods may depends on the amount and width of strips". Our findings provide evidence that uncut refuge strips can harbour diverse and abundant arthropod assemblages in hay meadows and mitigate the adverse effects of uniformly executed mowing on arthropods. June 2024. 

Fieldwork: This year’s field work in solar parks has started. Kállai Márton, the official photographer of CER visited us and took some nice photos. June 2024. 

Publication: Péter co-authored a book chapter  published in the Routledge book of "Handbook of Insect Conservation" with the title: "Agroecological farming for insect conservation". We reviewed the benefits of agroecological farming to insects and their ecosystem services, and highlighted future directions. June 2024. 

Publication: Riho's co-authored article has been published in the Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment with the title: "Linking farming practices and landscape elements to nest predation of an iconic farmland wader". We showed that lapwing hatching success was significantly lower in organic when compared to conventionally managed fields and this was mainly caused by increased nest predation. June 2024. 

Defense: Christine has successfully defended her PhD at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna with the title “Effects of local and landscape factors on pest insects and their natural antagonists in perennial agroecosystems” Congratulations! June 2024. 

Photo: Tomas, our young postdoc, observed and photographed an albino robin right in front of our institute building called the Castle. May 2024.

Publication: Teja's paper has been published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution with the title of "Mixing on- and off-field measures for biodiversity conservation". Here, we argued that a mix of on- and off-field measures is needed, overcoming the false dichotomy of the land sharing-sparing debate. May 2024. 

Publication: Péter’s co-authored editorial paper has been published in Journal of Applied Ecology: “Beyond yield and toward sustainability: Using applied ecology to support biodiversity conservation and food production". Ecological research and robust science will play a vital role in supporting more sustainable food production, where we think that Journal of Applied Ecology plays a key a role. April 2024.

Defense:Tomas successfully defended his PhD in Medel University in Brno, with the title “Local and landscape factors affecting the biodiversity of spiders in temperate and deciduous forest and forest-steppe ecosystems” Congratulations! April 2024


Publication: Maxime, our former guest, has published a paper in  Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment with Péter as a co-author: “Pollination deficits and their relation with insect pollinator visitation are cultivar-dependent in an entomophilous crop”. Our results suggest opportunities to use certain cultivars that are less dependent on insect-mediated pollination in landscapes and regions where pollination services have been compromised. April 2024. 

Call for papers: Péter and Kata, together with András Báldi and Moses Azong Cho as guest editors, organize a collection of papers in Landscape Ecology with the title "Effects of agricultural landscapes on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and yield". We welcome submissions. April 2024. 

Publication: Péter’s co-authored paper has been published in Science: “Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture”. We found that applying multiple diversification strategies creates more positive outcomes than individual management strategies alone. April 2024. 

Visiting scientist: Corrado Alessandrini has spent half a year in our group and was accommodated in the National Botanical Garden. He gave a report about his experiences and researches. We are happy that you visited us. April 2024. 

Guest scientist: We welcome Mattia Brambilla, guest scientist, Péter and Dávid's collaborating colleague, from University of Milan, Italy. We visited the Showcase vineyards, enjoyed birding and vine tasting together with his PhD students, Emanuela Granata, and Corrado. He also gave a talk about "Birds among grapes" at our institutional seminar. March 2024. 

Event: We celebrated World Pollinator Day again this year by highlighting the importance of pollinator protection to families and showing which solitary bees can nest in the bee hotels, at the National Botanic Garden. March 2024. 

Publication: Riho's co-authored article has been published in the Agronomy for Sustainable Development with the title: "The effectiveness of intercropping and agri-environmental schemes on ecosystem service of biological pest control: a meta-analysis". We showed that intercropping reduced herbivore and boosted predators and parasitoids abundance significantly, while agri-environment schemes successfully increased predators but not herbivores. February 2024. 

Carnival: Many of our group members participated in the carnival of the Centre for Ecological Research in Vácrátót, where all colleagues from the three institutes meet, dress up, dance and spend a nice night together. February 2024. 

Publication: Riho's co-authored article has been published in the Global Ecology and Conservation with the title: "Home ranges and hatching success of threatened Eurasian curlew in north-eastern Europe relates to habitat type: Natural vs. agricultural landscapes". We showed that breeding success is higher for curlews breeding in bogs than in grasslands. February 2024. 

Publication: Our paper with Riho's first authorship has been published in Journal of Environmental Management with the title: "Quantifying potential trade-offs and win-wins between arthropod diversity and yield on cropland under agri-environment schemes – A meta-analysis". We found higher species richness and abundace of arthropods in agri-environment scheme subsidised fields compared to control ones, but for the cost of lower yields, which was less compromised in out-of-production schemes, such as flower strips. February 2024. 

Conference: Our Institute at the Centre for Ecological Research organized the XIV. conference on Actual Flora and Vegetation Research in the Carpathian Basin in Gödöllő, where Kata gave a talk about the plant diversity in villages in semi-natural and agricultural landscapes based on our Frontline project research. February 2024. 

Meeting: Our group has visited the Plant Protection Institute of the Centre for Agricultural Research in Budapest, where we presented five agroecological talks in the frame of a joint mini-conference. January 2024. 

Publication: Péter’s co-authored paper has been published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences: “Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis”. We found that carabid assemblages in agricultural landscapes are driven by the complex interplay of crop types, adjacent non-crop habitats and further landscape parameters with great potential for targeted agroecological management. January 2024. 


Talk: Kitti gave an introductory talk about her previous and actual works at the 'Plant-animal interactions and environmental change' lab led by Chuan-Kai Ho, at Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University. January 2024.