Luc Janssens de Bisthoven

• PhD
• Institute of Natural Sciences

Climate change and biodiversity loss trigger policies targeting and impacting local communities worldwide. However, research and policy implementation often fail to sufficiently consider community responses and to involve them. We present the results of a collective self-assessment exercise for eight case studies of communications with regard to cl...

Climate change and biodiversity loss trigger policies targeting and impacting local communities worldwide. However, research and policy implementation often fail to sufficiently consider community responses and involve them. We present the results of a collective self-assessment exercise for eight case studies of communications regarding climate ch...

Le rapport de 2020 de « l’évaluation mondiale de la biodiversité et des services écosystémiques » de la Plateforme intergouvernementale scientifique et politique sur la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques (IPBES) indique que la nature et ses contributions aux populations jouent un rôle important non seulement pour la santé de la planète, ma...

Les feux de végétation sont des phénomènes complexes nécessitant un suivi régulier. Pour ceci, dans la Réserve de Biosphère de la Pendjari, la fréquence et l’occurrence des feux actifs ont été analysées sur la base des images du capteur MODIS pour une période de 19 ans. En outre, la perception locale des impacts de la répétition du feu précoce sur...

From 2022 onwards the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity will guide biodiversity conservation actions worldwide, which includes mainstreaming biodiversity into a wide range of activities, sectors and policies. Biodiversity mainstreaming in development cooperation is particularly relevant given th...

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)’ 2020 “Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services” states that nature and its contributions to people play an important role not only for the health of the planet, but also to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It highlighted no...

Climate change and biodiversity loss trigger policies targeting and impacting local communities worldwide. However, research and policy implementation often fail to sufficiently consider community responses and involve them. We present the results of a collective self-assessment exercise for eight case studies of communications regarding climate ch...

A common strategy to counteract global biodiversity loss is sustainable management of protected areas. However, as protection of nature sometimes conflicts with human livelihoods and involves stakeholders with different interests, conservation conflict is globally on the rise. These conflicts can hamper sustainable development, social equity and ef...

Climate change and biodiversity loss trigger policies targeting and impacting local communities worldwide. However, research and policy implementation often fail to sufficiently consider and involve them. Therefore, we present the results of a collective self-assessment exercise for eight case studies of communications regarding climate change or b...

Seldom investigated for its biodiversity, the biomonitoring of Lake Ahémé is expected to increase in future and a prerequisite is the design of an appropriate sampling strategy. Here, we assessed macroinvertebrate assemblages in relation to environmental conditions in Lake Ahémé during the short and long wet seasons (SWS and LWS, respectively). Thi...

Climate change and biodiversity loss trigger policies worldwide, many of which target or impact local communities. Although research, international development, and policy implementation (and, thus, success in fighting both threats) require thoughtful consideration and communication of the underlying concepts, field work encounters a cascade of tan...

Ecosystem services are a telling concept to discuss the integrated management of natural resources, such as integrated water and soil, with non-academic stakeholders. Stakeholders have different perceptions regarding the management of various ecosystem services, which is challenging when aiming to develop and foster sustainable ecosystem management...

The poor understanding of changes in mollusc ecology along rivers, especially in West Africa, hampers the implementation of management measures. We used a self-organizing map, indicator species analysis, linear discriminant analysis and a random forest model to distinguish mollusc assemblages, to determine the ecological preferences of individual m...

The fisheries of Lake Tanganyika play an important role in food security in Central and Eastern Africa. Conservation of these valuable fish stocks will benefit from documenting the ideas, opinions and observations of stakeholders. Knowledge of the perceptions and an understanding of the concerns and struggles of stakeholders of these fisheries can...

Ebola and COVID-19 are textbook emerging diseases influenced by humans. Ebola is often considered a result of exotic nature threatening health. Conversely, COVID-19, emerged in an urban environment, entails risks worldwide. Geographical, virological and demographic differences influence risk perceptions and responses to both diseases. Because ecolo...

Lake Tana is the most important freshwater lake in Ethiopia. Besides pressures on water quality resulting from urbanization and deforestation, the invasion of the exotic water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) poses new threats to the ecosystem. Water hyacinth, endemic to South America, is widely considered as the world’s worst aquatic invasive weed....

The social-ecological system of the Lake Manyara basin (Northern Tanzania), a UNESCO Biosphere reserve (BR) suffers from social-economic and environmental problems due to decreasing water levels, erosion and land and water use conflicts. We propose an integrated assessment of the social-ecological interactions of the area to support future sustaina...

While the concept of ecosystem services which links biodiversity to human wellbeing, is by now well-known, its translation into actual management decisions is still uneven. African Biosphere Reserves, which are to be living labs for sustainable development, embody the idea of synergies between people and nature. Gaining knowledge about the provisio...

Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into development cooperation—highlights from an ALTER-NET-EKLIPSE workshop - Volume 54 Issue 1 - Jean Hugé, Maarten Vanhove, Bruno Verbist, Els Dekeyzer, Piet Stoffelen, Ingrid Leemans, Jennifer Sjölund, Isabelle Vertriest, Erik Verheyen, Hilde Keunen, Anne-Julie Rochette, Luc Janssens de Bisthoven

Mainstreaming biodiversity in development cooperation activities is called for by scientists and policy-makers alike, as the current biodiversity crisis can only be mitigated if the linkages between biodiversity and human wellbeing are acknowledged. Reconciling biodiversity conservation and human development is a particularly topical challenge in h...

Monitoring natural resources in protected areas: developing biodiversity indicators in and around protected areas in East- and West Africa and the Middle East • The Convention on Biological Diversity and other conventions recommend the development of indicators as a key tool for monitoring the imple- mentation of National Biodiversity Strategies a...

Originating in medical and veterinary spheres, the One Health concept stands as an open call for collaboration also between these disciplines or professions and those of environmental and social science. However, the communities of practice in question show uneasy or under-developed collaborations, due to a variety of factors. We argue that an impo...

Environmental characteristics and macroinvertebrate assemblages of Lake Nokoué (Benin) were investigated from September 2014 to July 2016. Seasonal and hydroclimatic changes, as well as anthropogenic activities were the overriding factors affecting environmental variables investigated. Analysis of macroinvertebrate community structure with several...

Conserving African biosphere reserves: a workshop on the valuation of ecosystem services in Man and the Biosphere Reserves

Monitoring is important in ensuring that we keep track of trends in utilisation and restoration. Monitoring natural resources in protected areas: developing biodiversity indicators in and around protected areas in East-and West Africa and the Middle East

There is an increasing need to develop monitoring schemes that help us understand trends in the global biodiversity crisis and to propose solutions for the future. Indicators incorporating temporal baselines are crucial to measure the change in biodiversity over time, to evaluate progress towards its conservation and sustainable use and to set cons...

There is an increasing need for monitoring schemes that help understand the evolution of the global biodiversity crisis and propose solutions for the future. Indicators, including temporal baselines, are crucial to measure the change in biodiversity over time, to evaluate progress towards its conservation and sustainable use and to set conservation...

Lake systems are under heavy pressure impacting on their biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. This is especially acute in West Africa and developing countries which lack resources and technical capacities for waste disposal, water purification, as well as sufficient scientific capacities for biomonitoring and integrated management. The p...

To successfully conserve ecosystem services in the global South, biodiversity should be integrated at all levels of policy and decision-making processes of development cooperation. CEBioS, in collaboration with KLIMOS, explores in this policy brief different methods of mainstreaming biodiversity into development cooperation ( by applying ex ante i...

This policy brief (in French) is a common work of Congolese scientists and representatives of environment administrations to address the issue of the bushmeat trade in DR Congo. It was created and presented during a workshop organized by CEBioS (cebios.naturalsciences.be) in Kisangani, DR Congo.

This policy brief (in French) is a common work of Congolese scientists and representatives of environment administrations to address the sustainability of fisheries in DR Congo. It was created and presented during a workshop organized in October 2017 by CEBioS (cebios.naturalsciences.be) in Kisangani, DR Congo.

Unnoticed by the public, initiatives for oil exploration are advanced in Africa’s largest freshwater reservoirs, including Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and lately Albert, threatening their ecosystems and biota. It is imperative that environmental impact assessments are conducted by independent organizations to ensure that decisions on this matter are b...

Understanding the role of termite mounds in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is a priority for the management of tropical terrestrial protected areas dominated by savannahs. This study aimed to assess the effects of termite mounds on the diversity of plant functional types (PFTs) and herbaceous' net aboveground primary productivity (NAPP) in...

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009;...

This plot is not part of the published stance but derives from it. The plot shows the number of authors by geographic region (courtesy of Dr. Diego Astua).

As the world’s demands for hydrocarbons increase, remote areas previously made inaccessible by technological limitations are now being prospected for oil and gas deposits. Virtually unnoticed by the public, such activities are ongoing in the East African Great Lakes region, threatening these ecosystems famed for their hyper-diverse biota, includin...

In view of better linking conservation and sustainable development, it is imperative to optimize the transfer of biodiversity-related knowledge and technology from resource-rich countries to developing countries. All countries signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity are expected to report on their progress towards achieving the Aichi Bi...

Based on our involvement in numerous consortia and projects with colleagues from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as on our extensive fieldwork experience in the global South, we have a shared concern on the actual inclusion of LMIC colleagues and institutions in coproducing highly valuable and policy-relevant science. While capaci...

Presentation of the Mangrove Marine Park of DRCongo. The Mangrove Marine National Park in a nutshell •located at the mouth of the Congo River in the new Kongo Central province - closest cities : Moanda and Boma •protected terrestrial and marine area (2km off coast) - created by Ministerial Order n°0044/CM/ECN/92 of 2 May 1992 •76 800 ha - 9000 ha...

Levels of Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn were measured in fourth-instar Chironomus gr. thummi and in three sediment fractions of Belgian lowland rivers, extracted with 1 M NH4-acetate, 1 M HCl, and 70% HNO3 - 30% H2O2. The percentages of deformed larvae and the mean population severities (MPS) of deformity for the head structures were compared by means of Pear...

An integrated multilevel phytoassessment of an acid mine drainage (AMD, pH range 3.3-6.8) in southern Portugal was performed. A 7-day phytotoxicity bioassay with the duckweed Lemna gibba (chlorosis, necrosis, growth) was carried out, both in the laboratory and in situ, combined with an analysis of the resident epilithic diatom community. The toxici...

Diurnal vertical migration is a well-known phenomenon in the circadian activity rhythms of zooplankton. Our goal was to test whether negative phototaxis in Daphnia magna clone BEAK (provoked by artificially induced light stress, alternating light and dark phases in 2h intervals), and its interference with the endogenous rhythm of diurnal vertical m...

Short-term 48 h laboratory bioassays with water from an acid mine drainage (AMD: pH 3.3, 4.4, 5.0, 5.5, 6.4, control) and water from an arsenic containing reservoir were performed with the freshwater shrimp Atyaephyra desmaresti Millet, validated in situ and compared to acidified control water (ACID). Behaviour, mortality and time to death were mon...

The Stepwise Stress Model (SSM) states that a cascade of regulative behavioral responses with different intrinsic sensitivities and threshold values offers increased behavioral plasticity and thus a wider range of tolerance for environmental changes or pollutant exposures. We tested the SSM with a widely introduced fish Gambusia holbrooki (Girard)...

Survival and behavior of the mayfly Choroterpes picteti (Leptophlebiidae) exposed to acid mine drainage (AMD: pH 3.3-6.4) and a reservoir polluted with arsenic (pH 6.8) from Sao Domingos mine (Portugal) were studied in laboratory and in situ bioassays (48 h) with the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor, and compared with water from a reference river...

The abandoned So Domingos mine in South Portugal discharges acid metal pollution in the drainage system. A dynamic pH- and metal-gradient (pH 3.3–6.8) modulated by rainfall at the confluence of a tributary with the acid mine drainage (AMD)-channel, and a small reservoir contaminated with arsenic were sampled for Chironomidae in three different seas...

The hypothesis is tested that toxicity of acid mine drainage can be detected by a selection of existing macroinvertebrate community and bioindicator metrices supplemented by toxicity tests with the local mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki Girard and the shrimp Atyaephyra desmaresti Millet. The behavioural responses of A. desmaresti to acid mine draina...

The abandoned Säo Domingos mine (Portugal) offers a pH and metal gradient of acid mine drainage (AMD), and is an ideal model for ecotoxicological studies. Short-term 24-h bioassays with water from the AMD (pH 3.3, 4.4, and 5.5, and control) were performed with fourth instars of Chironomus in the laboratory and in situ (AMD at pH 5.5) in artificial...

Survival and behavior of the mayfly Choroterpes picteti (Leptophlebiidae) exposed to acid mine drainage (AMD: pH 3.3–6.4) and a reservoir polluted with arsenic (pH 6.8) from S¼o Domingos mine (Portugal) were studied in laboratory and in situ bioassays (48 h) with the Multispecies Freshwater Bio-monitor, and compared with water from a reference rive...

Two unpolluted streams and one chemically and thermally polluted stream in Skania, Sweden, were investigated in summer 1995 for their temporary chironomid fauna and the occurrence of buccal deformities. The unpolluted streams 'Ovedsan' and 'Skäralidbäcken' each contained, respectively, 13 and 16 taxa, with a dominance of Microtendipes pedellus grou...

The Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor (MFB) based on quadropole impedance conversion technique is a "biological early warning system" (BEWS) for online water quality biomonitoring. The aim of this study was to test the MFB with two crustaceans (Gammarus pulex and Daphnia magna) in a drinking water processing plant at the River Rhine: 1) Sensitivit...

Whole effluent toxicity was assessed for the fish Oryzias latipes and the prawn Macrobrachium nipponense for 18 h in a dilution series (0-66%) of the inflow and effluent of a municipal waste water treatment plant as well as waste water from a teramycin producing pharmaceutical industry, before, during and after a pilot laboratory purification proce...

1. Parameters of condition between normal and deformed fourth instar larvae ofChironomusgr.thummi(Kieffer 1911) were compared in four populations: one reference (PE) and two metal-polluted sites (NP and SCH) in the River Dommel, and one site polluted by domestic sewage and copper in the River Ijse (NEI). 2. The site PE ranked lowest for metal body...

In order to test the potential of chironomiddeformities for biomonitoring, induction of morphologicaldeformities in Chironomus riparius larvae was assessed afterchronic exposure (static with renewal) of eggs and subsequentinstars to sublethal nominal cadmium concentrations of 0, 3 (NOEC),9 (intermediate) and 27 (chronic LC50) g Cd l-1 during 7to 10...

Five consecutive generations of Chironomus riparius Meigen larvae were chronically exposed from egg to fourth instar to four sublethal concentrations of copper (0, 1, 10, 100 µg L-1) and lead (0, 5, 50, 500 µg L-1) in artificially spiked water (static with renewal), with diatomaceous earth as substrate and tetraphyl(R) as food, in order to test the...

The feeding ecology of four species of Xenotilapia (Teleostei, Cichlidae) from Lake Tanganyika was investigated by examining their intestine contents in three different habitats from two 24-h catch cycles. The fish were caught in a sandy bay 4 km north-west of Bujumbura (Burundi) during the dry season, from August until October 1993. Three differen...

The morphological response of Chironomus gr. thummi larvae after a spill of xylene (10000 1) and toluene (7500 1) in a brook was investigated. At the site of the spill, the proportion of larvae with mentum and antennal deformities increased in the following months. Downstream (500 m), no such clear response could be discerned. Mandible deformities...

Populations of Chironomus gr. thummi larvae from two differently polluted lowland streams (Dommei, high cadmium and zinc; Ijse, medium copper and organic xenobiotics) were screened for behavioural and morphological responses to pollution. Behaviours such as locomotion (swimming and looping), respiration movements (ventilation) and inactivity were q...

The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cu and Zn inChironomus gr.thummi were determined for 4th instar larvae from the polluted Dyle River, tributary of the Scheldt River (Belgium). Comparison was made between larvae with deformed and normal menta. Deformed larvae showed higher overall metal concentrations than normal larvae. Especially Pb and Cu had higher...

Larval densities ofProdiamesa olivacea were examined in the Laan stream for one year and matched against stream discharge and coarse organic detritus (COD) content of the sediments. The sediment grain size partitioning for the 12 monthly sampling dates was also assessed. The substrate was mainly composed of fine sand (high discharge periods) or sil...

Haplochromis burtoni is a benthic insectivore and detritivore consuming a wide range of prey species. The main animal prey are Chironominae larvae. Rotifera are numerically abundant but volumetrically insignificant in fish stomachs. -from Authors