Centre for Ecological Research

Institute of Ecology and Botany 

"Lendület" Landscape and Conservation Ecology

News - 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.