Belgian National Focal Point to the GTI - News

3 November 2010 - GTI alumnius Ariel Rodrigues (& colleagues) release new taxonomic paper

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

23 November - GTI alumnius Pham Hong Thai and his colleague Jeng-Tze Yang release a new taxonomic paper

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

24 November 2010 - Research of Cuban GTI alumnius figures in a Belgian Newspaper

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

December 2010 - New book on seaweed taxonomy released by, a.o., GTI alumnius A. Prathep from Thailand

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

December 2010 - Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation accomplished!

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

The Missouri Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have completed The Plant List a working list of all land plant species. The list is a huge accomplishment, fundamental to understanding and documenting plant diversity and the effective conservation of plants.

5 April 2011 ProSPER.Net-Scopus Young Scientist Award in Sustainable Development

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

The ProSPER.Net-Scopus YSA is given annually to young scientists or researchers, based in the Asia-Pacific region, who have made significant contributions in the area of Sustainable Development.

6 April 2011 - GTI alumnius Tarombera Mwabvu obtains his PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

July 2010 - Belgian and Thai taxonomists demonstrate the need for more taxonomic and faunistic studies on Southeast Asian micrometazoa

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

In a paper on sessile Cambodian rotifers, published in the Belgian Journal of Zoology, Belgian and Thai taxonomists conclusively show that very little is known on species diversity of Southeast Asian micrometazoa.

Abstract

Recognizing the dearth of information on the biodiversity and biogeography of Southeast Asian micrometazoa, particularly sessile rotifers, we examined two samples of submerged aquatic macrophytes (Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle and Utricularia sp.) from different sites in Cambodia. We were able to distinguish a total of 23 taxa, three of which may represent undescribed species. Two more taxa could not unequivocally be ascribed to a known species. We further comment on the distribution of Octotrocha speciosa Thorpe, which may be much less widespread than previously thought.
In addition to the three possibly new species, nine are newly recorded for the Oriental region; of these, two are recorded for the second time ever. All represent new records for the fauna of Cambodia. Our results illustrate the need for more detailed and thorough taxonomic and faunistic studies on this group of poorly known organisms.

From Belg. J. Zool., 140 (2) : 235-240

May 2011 - International Institute for Species Exploration announces this year's top 10 species

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

Tenth volume of Abc Taxa released

2012-05-15T17:12:03Z

26 September 2011. GTI alumnius (partim) Dioli Ann Payo successfully defends her Phd at the University of Ghent (Belgium)

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

On 26 Septmber 2011 Dioli Ann Payo obtained his PhD from the University of Gent in Belgium. Dioli's research, performed at the Phycology Research Group of Ghent University (Belgium) and at the Institute of Environment & Marine Sciences of Silliman University (Philippines), was funded through a scholarship from the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) and the Belgian GTI Focal Point

Her PhD entitled 'Diversity of the marine red alga Porieria in the Philippines, an integrative approach' successfully identifies and causally explains the diversity of the red alga Portieria from the Philippines and the Indo-West Pacific, while also taking into account the difficulty of characterizing the detected (pseudo)cryptic species and by investigating the spatio-temporal variation of secondary metabolite production. It does so in eight chapters, six of which conceived as scientific publications.

The Belgian GTI warmly congratulates Dr Payo with her well-earned PhD title.

More on Dr Payo's research can be found on her GTI-page.

6 October 2011 - GTI alumnius Hong Thai Pham and his Belgian colleague Jérôme Constant release a new taxonomic paper describing two new species

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

As a result of a project funded by the Belgian Development Cooperation, via the Belgian GTI Office, two new insect species were detected, described and named in a research paper entitled 'Two new species of Hemisphaerius from Vietnam (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Issidae)'.

Read the abstract here.

The Belgian GTI wishes to thank and congratulate both researchers.

31 October 2011 - Peruvian, Belgian and Brazilian taxonomists describe a new sponge from Peru

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

K. Aguirrei (Peru), Y. Hooker (Peru), Ph. Willenz (Belgium) and E Hadji (Brazil) describe a new species of Clathria (Demospongiae, Microcionidae) from Peru. This sponge occurrs on rocky substrates as well as epibiontic on Eucidaris thouarsii sea urchins.

Learn more on this species in the abstract below or contact the corresponding author (philippe.willenz@naturalsciences.be) for eventual reprints.

ABSTRACT - Southeastern Pacific sponges (Phylum Porifera) range among the world’s least known faunas, with only 13 species reported to date from the entire Peruvian coast. This state of affairs motivated the onset of two large, cooperative, exploratory initiatives, with the aim of mapping sponge richness and distribution in the area: Proyectos ESPER and EsponjAS. Over 800 specimens have been collected in Peru since 2007, with identifications still in progress. Among these, a sponge species originally thought to be an exclusive epibiont on Eucidaris thouarsii sea urchins, relatively conspicuous on Peru’s Punta Sal region. This sponge, latter found to occur on additional substrates too, is described as a new species of Clathria (Microciona). Cidarid density ranged between 1.5 and 12/m2, and largest diameter of the tests between 3.2 and 5.6 cm. Total number of spines on each sea urchin varied between 68 and 96, and percent sponge coverage of these, between 18.2 and 75.7. There appears to be only a slight tendency for increased sponge coverage on larger sea urchins, so there may be factors, other than sea urchin age, shaping this association. Clathria (Microciona) aculeofila sp. nov. can be markedly dominant as an epibiont on E. thouarsii, albeit the great sponge richness in the area. This is in contrast to the allegedly opportunistic, diverse epibiosis by sponges reported previously for Antarctic cidaroids.

This research was co-sponsored by the Belgian National Focal Point to the Global Taxonomy Initiative.

2012 call for proposals for taxonomic training and access to collections in Belgium launched by the Belgian GTI NFP

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

22 December 2011, the Belgian Focal Point to the Global Taxonomy Initiative launches its 2012 call for proposals for 'Taxonomic Training and Access to Collections in Belgium'.

GTI alumnius H. T. Pham and J.-Y. Yang document the first record of the cicadid genus Karenia and decribe a new species therein

2012-05-15T17:16:36Z

As a result of a project funded by the Belgian Development Cooperation, via the Belgian GTI Office, the genus Karenia (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) is recorded for the first time in Vietnam. A new species, K. hoanglienensis sp. nov; is also described.

Read the abstract here.

The Belgian GTI wishes to thank and congratulate both researchers.

GTI alumnius H. Taedoumg describes two new species of Rubiaceae from west central Africa

2012-05-15T17:17:06Z

Mr. Hermann Taedoumg, together with his Belgian, French and Cameroonese tutor published a scientific paper, describing two species new to science, in volume 29 of the Nordic Journal of Botany.

The Belgian GTI warmly congratulates Herrmann for this achievment.

The abstract of that paper can be read here.

11th volume of Abc Taxa released

2012-05-02T11:05:49Z

The Belgian GTI office witnesses with profound appreciation a strong refutation of creationism through taxonomic scrutinisation

2012-05-15T17:13:07Z

January 2012. A team of Belgian and a Portugese biologists document the fraude of creationism through taxonomy. Read more here.

GTI alumnius (partim) Prince Kaleme graduated to obtain his PhD degree in Zoology, at the Stellenbosch University (South Africa)

2012-05-15T17:12:26Z

On 06 December 2011, Prince Kaleme graduated to obtain his PhD degree in Zoology, at the Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Prince’s research at the vertebrate laboratory, Belgian Royal Institute of Natural Sciences and the Royal Museum for Central Africa as well as Stellenbosch University (South Africa) was funded through a scholarship from the Belgian Cooperation Agency and the Belgian GTI Focal Point.

His PhD entitled “Habitat fragmentation, patterns of diversity and phylogeography of small mammal species in the Albertine Rift' successfully identifies and explains the diversity of the rodents from the genus Praomys from the Albertine Rift, east-central Africa. The study highlighted the importance of factors such as fragmentation, geological factors as well as past climate change in shaping the distribution and taxonomy of the species. The thesis has five chapters, three of which were prepared as papers for publication, one of which was already published in April 2011.

Prince with Prof B. J. van Vuuren (his promoter) after the graduation ceremony

Prince and family after the graduation ceremony at Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Prince presenting his results

New paper on the importance of taxonomy for development

2012-05-02T10:54:07Z

New article entitled "Host Shifts from Lamiales to Brassicaceae in the Sawfly Genus Athalia" by RBINS researchers partially funded by the Belgian GTI

2012-04-16T16:57:27Z

by Sebastian E. W. Opitz¹, Jean-Luc Boevé², Zoltán Tamás Nagy², Gontran Sonet², Frank Koch³, Caroline Müller¹^*

1 Department of Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany, 2 IRSNB-KBIN, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Bruxelles, Belgium, 3 Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.