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Student projects

Bachelor and Master thesises supervised (since 2013) 

2021-2022

Aranya Pathak Broome – Global variation in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships in rock pool metacommunities

Lara Van Goethem – in progress

2020-2021

Anaïs Van Malderen – Simulating potential effects of cacao-related deforestation on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climatic resilience in tropical landscapes.

Eliza Vandesande – Do symbiotic relationships have an influence on the feeding strategy of Nepenthes rafflesiana in Jambu Bongkok, Malaysia?

Soline Cuinat-Guerraz –  Mammalio-limnology: exploring the structuring role of large mammals in pond landscapes

2019-2020

Nele Moreels – Inselbergs and rocky outcrops as target features for landscape-wide biodiversity conservation

Nicholas Clarke – Contrasting the effects of a natural biocide for mosquito control in simple and more complex ecological communities

Alexandria Collings – Mosquito habitat selection in response to different aquatic predators

Vincent Dolmans – Climatic control of global biomass patterns in rock pool metacommunities

Dorien Oude Luttikhuis –  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)

2018-2019

Amanor Kisseih – 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 – Exploring a global latitudinal gradient in aquatic biodiversity and food web structure

Sarah Coppens – Exploring links between cluster size and biodiversity in aquatic metacommunities

2017-2018

James Hagan – Increased late season rainfall has limited effects on winter annual communities during drought (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)

James Hagan thesis

Noémie Belanger – Evaluating the relative importance of different larval habitats for cacao pollinators in a cacao agroforestry system in Nicaragua

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Laure Van Lauwe – Habitat selection in bromeliad dwelling insects and amphibians

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Mario Driesen – How unique is the aquatic biodiversity of tropical inselbergs?

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Adwine Vanslembrouck – Responses of ephemeral pond invertebrate communities to 25 years of climate change

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Leendert Plaetinck – The effect of herbivore dung addition on freshwater communities in a subtropical savannah habitat – a mesocosm study

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2016-2017

Justine Vansynghel – Do bromeliads promote insect and pollinator diversity in cacao plantations? A case study in Nicaragua

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Catherine Turner You can’t ignore your neighbors, context dependent habitat selection in bromeliad infaunal communities. (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)

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Mirna Fernandez Pradel Drivers of diversity patterns in bromeliad aquatic communities along an elevational gradient in the Tropical Andes

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2015-2016

Barbara Hendus 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)

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Yannick Coeckelberghs – Dissecting the drivers of diversity patterns  across spatial scales: a case study with rock pool metacommunities in Western Australia

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Celina Ben Saadi – Prey selectivity and aquatic community structure in Nepenthes pitcher plants in Peninsular Malaysia.

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photo credit: C Ben Saadi

Sofie Vermaercke Insular ecology of terrestrial invertebrates in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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Gisela Duran Rodriguez Climatic control of biodiversity in bromeliad infauna.

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2014-2015

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Nathalie Massa – Exploring links between management strategies and fitness in captive killer whales (Orcinus orca).

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Daniel Montecinos – 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 – Disentangling drivers of alpha and beta diversity in bromeliad metacommunities along a tropical elevational gradient. (Beneficiary of the Tropimundo Best student award)


VUB BSc students

2020-2021

Camelia El Bakkali – Evaluating possible conservation strategies and reintroduction procedures for the only remaining Belgian fairy shrimp B. schaefferi

Clement Lenaerts –Quantifying nutrient limitation in temporary ponds to facilitate ex situ breeding of a threatened crustacean

Imke Tys – Large branchiopods, an important food source for waterbirds?

Ramses Moortgat – Is urban biodiversity negligible?: a case study from an urban university campus

2019-2020

Nick Verdoodt – Een vergelijkende studie van verschillende connectiviteitsindices en hun toepasbaarheid om diversiteit te verklaren in een metagemeenschap

2018-2019

Eliza Vandesande – Exploring the use of  DNA-barcoding to assess the genetic diversity of cacao pollinators

Jente Deckers – Hidden biodiversity in rock pools: testing the advantages of complementary biodiversity inventory methods

Rémi Dupont –  Functional convergence between two semi-arid habitats on two different continents

2016-2017

Iliana Janssens – Spatial genetic structure of the stone marten (Martes foina) in northern Belgium

Arne Van Uytsel – The effects of temperature and salinity on Ruppia cirrhosa seed germination

Bram Van Heule – Ant biodiversity patterns in neotropical cacao agroforestry systems – a case study in Nicaragua

Thalia Chaves – The effect of large African mammal herbivores’ dung with different N:P ratios on zooplankton communities

2015-2016

Mario Driesen – How do patch quality and spatial context affect invertebrate communities in a natural moss microlandscape?

Adwine Vanslembrouck – Oviposition patterns in aquatic insects: species-specific effects of fish cues and predation

2014-2015

Jill Eeckhout – Associaties tussen verstedelijking en dispersie-morfologie in waterwantsen (Dutch)

Loïc Gillerot – Disentangling the drivers of alpha, beta and gamma diversity in pond metacommunities

Llewelyn Buidin – Assessing the drivers of habitat selection in Sigara lateralis water boatmen (Corixidae) via a reductionist experimental approach.

2013-2014

Yannick Coeckelberghs – Local and regional drivers of diversity patterns in Swedish rock pools

Jonathan Favaits – Assessing potential impacts of nutrient addition by vertebrates on diversity patterns in rock pool communities in the Australian outback

Nene Lefaible – 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

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