Student projects
Master thesis projects
Sara Vroman (2024) – CSI Chocolate : combining molecular tools and field observations to identify the cryptic pollinators of cacao (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo best thesis award)
Wiske Mertens (2024) – Latitudinal patterns in species richness and functional community structure on granitic inselbergs
Golriz Feizian (2024) – A literature-based typology of transhumance – a dwindling land practice
Sofie Van Daele (2024) – After-LIFE: Assessing the impact of LIFE projects on wetland-associated birds along the East-Atlantic Flyway
Fanny Kratz (2023) – Unravelling the secret life of cacao pollinators – behaviour, breeding habitats and relationships across the Neotropics
James Watson (2023) – Global variation in flowering phenology of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)
Jeanne Bruyninckx (2023) – Spatial and temporal distribution of migratory waterbirds and wetlands in Europe and North Africa
Lucas Van Passel (2023) – Towards a first typology of temporary pond ecosystems in the Low Countries.
Ramses Moortgat (2023) – Quantifying the effect of different light spectra on nocturnal insect communities using a nocturnal insect sensor
Aranya Pathak Broome (2022) – Global variation in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships in rock pool metacommunities
Lara Van Goethem (2022) – How nutritious are newly created wetlands for waterbirds: exploring the macroinvertebrate food resources in wetlands in Flanders
Anaïs Van Malderen (2021) – Simulating potential effects of cacao-related deforestation on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climatic resilience in tropical landscapes.
Eliza Vandesande (2021) – Do symbiotic relationships have an influence on the feeding strategy of Nepenthes rafflesiana in Jambu Bongkok, Malaysia?
Soline Cuinat-Guerraz (2021) – Mammalio-limnology: exploring the structuring role of large mammals in pond landscapes
Nele Moreels (2020) – Inselbergs and rocky outcrops as target features for landscape-wide biodiversity conservation
Nicholas Clarke (2020) – Contrasting the effects of a natural biocide for mosquito control in simple and more complex ecological communities
Alexandria Collings (2020) – Mosquito habitat selection in response to different aquatic predators
Vincent Dolmans (2020) – Climatic control of global biomass patterns in rock pool metacommunities
Dorien Oude Luttikhuis (2020) – The effect of organic and conventional agriculture on the biodiversity of freshwater Ostracoda (Crustacea) in West Flanders (Belgium) (topic supervised by Koen Martens from KBIN)
Amanor Kisseih (2019) – Redescription of Strandesia sanoamuangae (Savatenalinton & Martens, 2010) and description of one new species of Strandesia (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from Grande Terre, New Caledonia. (Taxonomic topic supervised by Koen Martens from KBIN)
Blazenka Sopina (2019) – Exploring a global latitudinal gradient in aquatic biodiversity and food web structure
Sarah Coppens (2019) – Exploring links between cluster size and biodiversity in aquatic metacommunities
James Hagan (2018) – Increased late season rainfall has limited effects on winter annual communities during drought (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)
Noémie Belanger (2018) – Evaluating the relative importance of different larval habitats for cacao pollinators in a cacao agroforestry system in Nicaragua
Laure Van Lauwe (2018) – Habitat selection in bromeliad dwelling insects and amphibians
Mario Driesen (2018) – How unique is the aquatic biodiversity of tropical inselbergs?
Adwine Vanslembrouck (2018) – Responses of ephemeral pond invertebrate communities to 25 years of climate change
Leendert Plaetinck (2018) – The effect of herbivore dung addition on freshwater communities in a subtropical savannah habitat – a mesocosm study
Justine Vansynghel (2017) – Do bromeliads promote insect and pollinator diversity in cacao plantations? A case study in Nicaragua
Catherine Turner (2017) – You can’t ignore your neighbors, context dependent habitat selection in bromeliad infaunal communities. (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)
Mirna Fernandez Pradel (2017) – Drivers of diversity patterns in bromeliad aquatic communities along an elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes
Barbara Hendus (2016) – Exploring effects of nutrient addition by bat colonies on aquatic biodiversity in tropical cave systems, a case study with cenotes in Yucatan. (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)
Yannick Coeckelberghs (2016) – Dissecting the drivers of diversity patterns across spatial scales: a case study with rock pool metacommunities in Western Australia
Celina Ben Saadi (2016) – Prey selectivity and aquatic community structure in Nepenthes pitcher plants in Peninsular Malaysia.
Sofie Vermaercke (2016) Insular ecology of terrestrial invertebrates in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Gisela Duran Rodriguez (2016) Climatic control of biodiversity in bromeliad infauna.
Nathalie Massa (2015) – Exploring links between management strategies and fitness in captive killer whales (Orcinus orca).
Daniel Montecinos (2015) – Links between forest degradation and metacommunity structure of bromeliad infauna in a Bolivian humid mountain forest. (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best thesis award)
Mathil Vandromme (2015) – Disentangling drivers of alpha and beta diversity in bromeliad metacommunities along a tropical elevational gradient. (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)
BSc thesis projects
Eduard Dieryck (2024) – Does LIFE bring more life to wetlands?
Ilja Wouters (2024) – Nutritional data of newly constructed wetlands in Flanders
Robrecht Vanhaverbeke (2024) – Exploring the potential of ants as pollinators of cacao in an artificial greenhouse environment
Anne-Sofie Magnier (2023) – The principal habitat types of the curlew (Numenius arquata) in its breeding and migration range in Western and Southern Europe and the protection status
Kaat Staelens (2023) – Habitat use of stopover sites along the migration route of Limosa limosa
Amandine Dhondt (2023) – Do generalist feeders exhibit generalist habitat use?
Michiel Nys (2023) – Uncovering the genetic diversity of ceratopogonid cacao flower visitors across the Neotropics
Irene Vicat (2023) – The effect of habitat connectivity and stability on macroinvertebrates in rock pools
Hannah Pitts (2022) – Wetland restoration in Flanders: evaluation of waterbird abundance in newly created wetlands along the Scheldt and coast.
Joris Nouwen (2022) – The effect of soil texture and carbon content on macroinvertebrate abundance in wetlands as food resource for waterbirds
Lavrans Venken (2022) – Rock pool ecosystem decay leads to high local abundances
Loïs Luijben (2022) – Does climate drive functional convergence in freshwater rock pool communities?
Youssef Boullauazan (2022) – Exploratory global co-occurrence analysis of rock pool communities
Sofie Van Daele (2022) – Waterbirds in Belgium: an identification of wetland stopover sites and possible migration corridors in Flanders
Camelia El Bakkali (2021) – Evaluating possible conservation strategies and reintroduction procedures for the only remaining Belgian fairy shrimp B. schaefferi
Clement Lenaerts (2021) –Quantifying nutrient limitation in temporary ponds to facilitate ex situ breeding of a threatened crustacean
Imke Tys (2021) – Large branchiopods, an important food source for waterbirds?
Ramses Moortgat (2021) – Is urban biodiversity negligible?: a case study from an urban university campus
Nick Verdoodt (2020) – Een vergelijkende studie van verschillende connectiviteitsindices en hun toepasbaarheid om diversiteit te verklaren in een metagemeenschap
Eliza Vandesande (2019) – Exploring the use of DNA-barcoding to assess the genetic diversity of cacao pollinators
Jente Deckers (2018) – Hidden biodiversity in rock pools: testing the advantages of complementary biodiversity inventory methods
Rémi Dupont (2018) – Functional convergence between two semi-arid habitats on two different continents
Iliana Janssens (2017) – Spatial genetic structure of the stone marten (Martes foina) in northern Belgium
Arne Van Uytsel (2017) – The effects of temperature and salinity on Ruppia cirrhosa seed germination
Bram Van Heule (2017) – Ant biodiversity patterns in neotropical cacao agroforestry systems – a case study in Nicaragua
Thalia Chaves (2017) – The effect of large African mammal herbivores’ dung with different N:P ratios on zooplankton communities
Mario Driesen (2016) – How do patch quality and spatial context affect invertebrate communities in a natural moss microlandscape?
Adwine Vanslembrouck (2016) – Oviposition patterns in aquatic insects: species-specific effects of fish cues and predation
Jill Eeckhout (2015) – Associaties tussen verstedelijking en dispersie-morfologie in waterwantsen (Dutch)
Loïc Gillerot (2015) – Disentangling the drivers of alpha, beta and gamma diversity in pond metacommunities
Llewelyn Buidin (2015) – Assessing the drivers of habitat selection in Sigara lateralis water boatmen (Corixidae) via a reductionist experimental approach.
Yannick Coeckelberghs (2014) – Local and regional drivers of diversity patterns in Swedish rock pools
Jonathan Favaits (2014) – Assessing potential impacts of nutrient addition by vertebrates on diversity patterns in rock pool communities in the Australian outback
Nene Lefaible (2014) – Investigating the potential adaptive origin of buoyancy in zooplankton resting eggs
KULeuven MSc students (co supervisor with Luc Brendonck as main promoter):
2013-2014
Elien Bauweleers – The effects of drought-stress and habitat type on the morphology and fitness of the European common frog.
Wouter Hawinkel – Het belang van reproductieve energie allocatie en ontuikingsstrategieën voor overleving in onvoorspelbare tijdelijke poelen (Dutch).
2014-2015
Enya Wynants – Bet hedging in branchiopod crustaceans and the impact of resting egg morphology on dormancy
Eli Thoré – The genetic and epigenetic contribution to phenotypic variation in a vertebrate an an invertebrate model
Community Ecology Lab 