Sofie MeeusMeise Botanic Garden · Collections Department
Sofie Meeus
PhD in Biology
About
40
Publications
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450
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
September 2014 - August 2016
January 2010 - March 2014
Publications
Publications (40)
This research examines biodiversity specimens from two areas of the Caribbean to understand patterns of collection and the roles of the people involved. Using open data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Wikidata, we aimed to uncover geographic and historical trends in specimen use. This study aims to provide concrete evid...
Citizen Science (CS) or community science significantly contributes to the study and management of biological invasions. Public participation in research and management boosts awareness, engagement, scientific literacy and can reduce conflict in invasive species management. Technological developments such as social media, internet scraping, eDNA, a...
Speciation in plants may not always be the outcome of a gene flow barrier followed by gradual mutations, selection, and drift; instead hybridization and polyploidization events can play a significant role. Consequently, species delimitation can be difficult, as morphological assessments or genotyping assays using standard molecular markers (e.g. Sa...
Tens of millions of images from biological collections have become available online over the last two decades. In parallel, there has been a dramatic increase in the capabilities of image analysis technologies, especially those involving machine learning and computer vision. While image analysis has become mainstream in consumer applications, it is...
In the framework of implementing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), there is still confusion between the concept of data FAIRness (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable, Wilkinson et al. 2016) and the idea of open and freely accessible data, which are not necessarily the same. Data can indeed comply with the requirements of FAIRnes...
This presentation focuses on the service aspect of taxonomy in Europe, encompassing the description, identification, and nomenclature of taxa. This aspect of taxonomy supports all biological research, and working taxonomists contribute to it in different degrees (Dayrat 2005). Taxonomy also serves as a research discipline, emphasising the evolution...
In recent years several species of American cudweeds (Gamochaeta; Gnaphalium s.l.) have increasingly been recorded in Belgium and the Netherlands, especially (but not exclusively) in urban habitats. Since these species are naturalizing – at least one even on a relatively large scale – assessing their genuine identity is necessary. Three species are...
Bioblitzes are a popular approach to engage people and collect biodiversity data. Despite this, few studies have actually evaluated the multiple outcomes of bioblitz activities. We used a systematic review, an analysis of data from more than 1000 bioblitzes, and a detailed analysis of one specific bioblitz to inform our inquiry. We evaluated five p...
Abstract. Some 25 years after a previous overview of the orchid flora of the Westhoek nature reserve (De Panne), this publication presents a recent update of the situation in the Westhoek reserve and, in extension, the whole of the Flemish dunes (between Sangatte and Breskens). The most obvious trend is the (very) outspoken increase in the number o...
Abstract: Tens of millions of images from biological collections have become available online in the last two decades. In parallel, there has been a dramatic increase in the capabilities of image analysis technologies, especially those involving machine learning and computer vision. Whilst image analysis has become mainstream in consumer applicatio...
The BiCIKL project is born from a vision that biodiversity data are most useful if they are presented as a network of data that can be integrated and viewed from different starting points. BiCIKL’s goal is to realise that vision by linking biodiversity data infrastructures, particularly for literature, molecular sequences, specimens, nomenclature a...
For centuries, naturalists from the Global North have traveled southwards to collect specimens of species from regions where there were many. The legacy of this is that the large natural history collections and the biodiverse regions of the world are often distant from one another. The unique and often disappearing species and ecosystems in these r...
Evolutionary understanding is central to biology. It is also an essential prerequisite to understanding and making informed decisions about societal issues such as climate change. Yet, evolution is generally poorly understood by civil society and many misconceptions exist. Citizen science, which has been increasing in popularity as a means to gathe...
We took data on the collectors of specimens from natural history collections. Co-collectors of specimens were extracted from the data and a network of co-collection was constructed. This network was used to analyze the age and gender balance of collectors and how this has changed with time. Men outnumber women in the network, but women participatio...
Evolutionary understanding is central to biology as a whole. It is also an essential prerequisite to understanding issues in everyday life, such as advances in medicine and global challenges like climate change. Yet, evolution is generally poorly understood by civil society and many misconceptions exist. Citizen science, which has been increasing i...
The BiCIKL Project is born from a vision that biodiversity data are most useful if they are viewed as a network of data that can be integrated and viewed from different starting points. BiCIKL’s goal is to realize that vision by linking biodiversity data infrastructures, particularly for literature, molecular sequences, specimens, nomenclature and...
Emerging in the 1990s, bioblitzes have become flagship events for biodiversity assessments. Although the format varies, a bioblitz is generally an intensive, short-term survey in a specific area. Bioblitzes collect biodiversity data and can therefore play a role in research, discovery of new species at a site and monitoring. They may also promote p...
Many species have been introduced beyond their native ranges and many have become global weeds. Human mediated dispersal has removed the geographic isolation of these species, reversing millions of years of independent evolution. Examples are the Oxalis species in section Corniculatae where several species have become invasive. Here we characterize...
• Plant leaf stomata are the gatekeepers of the atmosphere–plant interface and are essential building blocks of land surface models as they control transpiration and photosynthesis. Although more stomatal trait data are needed to significantly reduce the error in these model predictions, recording these traits is time‐consuming, and no standardized...
Hybridisation is a creative evolutionary force, increasing genomic diversity, and facilitating adaptation and even speciation. Hybrids often face significant challenges to become established, including reduced fertility arising from genomic incompatibilities between their parents. Whole genome duplication in hybrids (allopolyploidy) can restore fer...
Forests exhibit leaf and ecosystem level responses to environmental changes. Specifically, rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels over the past century are expected to have increased the intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE) of tropical trees while the ecosystem is gradually pushed into progressive nutrient limitation. Due to the long‐term character of...
Given the impact of tropical forest disturbances on atmospheric carbon emissions, biodiversity, and ecosystem productivity, accurate long-term reporting of Land-Use and Land-Cover (LULC) change in the pre-satellite era (<1972) is an imperative. Here, we used a combination of historical (1958) aerial photography and contemporary remote sensing data...
Plant functional traits have shown to be relevant predictors of forest functional responses to climate change. However, the trait-based approach to study plant performances and ecological strategies has mostly been focused on trait comparisons at the interspecific and intraspecific levels. In this study, we analyzed traits variation and association...
Leaf stomata are microscopic pores on the leaves of plants which control the balance between water loss and CO 2 uptake by the plant. As plants adapt their stomatal traits in response to environmental parameters such as water availability, temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, stomatal size and density of preserved leaves have...
One of the most important issues for controlling the spread of invasive species is public awareness (Dehnen-Schmutz et al. 2018). Passively, the public are responsible for the spread of invasive species, for example by moving dirty boats from one water body to another. But they also actively spread invasive species by releasing them in the wild. Th...
When researchers and managers are asked to rank the issues that prevent adequate control of invasive species, lack of public awareness is at the top of the list (Dehnen‐Schmutz et al. 2018). It is therefore imperative to raise the general public's awareness of the potential risks of introducing alien species into the wild.
Green Pioneers, a citizen...
Although tropical rainforests play an important role in regulating the world’s climate, they are at the same time particularly vulnerable to changes in the climate. Intense and prolonged droughts, for instance, can lead to biomass loss which will further accelerate these changes. Especially for tree species it becomes problematic, due to their long...
An idiogram construction following chromosome measurements is a versatile tool for cytological, cytogenetic and phylogenetic studies. The information on chromosome length, centromere index and position of cytogenetic landmarks along with modern techniques (e.g. genomic and fluorescence in situ hybridization, banding, chromosome painting) can help t...
The reduction in genetic diversity in polyploid lineages, formed from whole-genome duplication of a few individuals, can affect their long-term evolutionary potential. Because most polyploids originate multiple times, secondary contact and gene exchange among independently formed polyploids can create novel genetic combinations and reduce the sever...
Polyploidization can trigger rapid changes in morphology, ecology and genomics even in the absence of associated hybridization. However, disentangling the immediate biological consequences of genome duplication from the evolutionary change that subsequently accumulates in polyploid lineages requires the identification and analysis of recently forme...
Geographical ranges of plants and their pollinators do not always entirely overlap and it has been suggested that the absence of specialized pollinators at range margins may induce changes in mating systems. Because a species' mating system is known to have a considerable effect on within-population pollen movement, the extent of fine-scale spatial...
This account presents information on all aspects of the biology of P ulmonaria officinalis L . (Common L ungwort) that are relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the framework of the B iological F lora of the B ritish I sles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to bioti...
Premise of the study:
Populations at the edge of a species' distribution area are often small and have low levels of gene flow resulting in lower genetic variation and higher differentiation compared to core populations. This study examined genetic variation among populations of the distylous temperate forest herb Pulmonaria officinalis located in...
Background and Aims In heterostylous plant species, skewed morph ratios are not uncommon and may arise from a range of factors. Despite the recognized
importance of skewed morph ratios on overall reproductive success within populations, little is known about the impact of
skewed morph ratios on population genetic diversity and differentiation in he...
This article documents the addition of 238 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Alytes dickhilleni, Arapaima gigas, Austropotamobius italicus, Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici, Cobitis lutheri, Dendroctonus ponderosae, Glossina morsitans morsitans, Haplophilus subterr...
Surveys of the incompatibility status of island floras have shown a deficit in taxa possessing homomorphic or heteromorphic incompatibility. This observation provides strong evidence for Baker's Rule (1967) in that self-incompatibility can impede these taxa of colonizing and establishing on islands. The woody liana Hugonia serrata Lam. (Linaceae) i...
Questions
Question (1)
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to screen the ploidy level of plants we have transplanted into the field using flow cytometry. Whereas plants from the growth chamber (inside) show a clear pattern, namely just one peak at the expected fluorescence intensity (Fig. 1) the plants transplanted in the field from the same accession show a very unclear pattern in fluorescence with a lot of noise (Fig. 2). Rinsing the leaves thoroughly unfortunately didn't help. Did anyone encounter the same problem? Or can anyone think of a reason why our outdoor samples have such poor quality?
Many thanks!
