Scholar

Pieter De Frenne

H-index: 56
Environmental science 53%
Agriculture 18%
pieterdefrenne.bsky.social
Fibre-optic cables (also used for internet) can be used as a novel means of continuous measurements of #forest #microclimate in space and over time, at 25-cm spatial and 1-minute temporal resolution

New paper @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1111/2041...
pieterdefrenne.bsky.social
Cool method to know which insect species visited a flower🌼: Using Flower eDNA Metabarcoding to Identify the Effects of Forest🌳 Structure and Microclimate on Flower-Visiting Arthropods🪰🐝 doi.org/10.1002/edn3...
pnas.org
One in six species on Earth experienced extraordinarily high temperatures across more than 25% of their range in 2024--the hottest year on record. For most, this was the second year of extreme heat, likely compounding risks. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The number of terrestrial vertebrate species highly thermally exposed (>25% range) over time versus the mean global terrestrial temperature anomaly (denoted by color scale of points).
rupertseidl.bsky.social
Climate change increasingly alters the interactions between forest disturbances. Here we present a framework for quantifying dist. interactions and compile evidence for their impacts. Led by @dudney-joan.bsky.social with @brian-j-harvey.bsky.social & @julieedtree.bsky.social doi.org/10.1146/annu...
jappliedecology.bsky.social
Plant species–habitat networks in a mosaic landscape of restored and fragmented tropical forests 🌲🌏

Highlights the role of species interactions and their correlated traits such as dispersal syndromes in promoting landscape-scale connectivity 📊🧪

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...
jonlen.bsky.social
Just published in Insect Conservation & Diversity 🪳

We studied the local abundance of Elater ferrugineus, the rusty click beetle, along urban to rural gradients 🏤🏡🏕🌳 in 🇪🇺

Urbanisation ↘️ the local abundance of E. ferrugineus, while the amount of tree cover had a ➕️ influence

doi.org/10.1111/icad...
Functional trait variation of an emblematic saproxylic beetle along rural‐to‐urban gradients across Europe
Urbanisation reduced the local abundance of Elater ferrugineus L., but tree cover increases it. This deadwoods species can persist even in highly urbanised areas. The traits of E. ferrugineus do not...
doi.org

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

fornalab.bsky.social
ForNaLab at @nerdland.be festival 2025!
The results are now online on our website:
canopychange.ugent.be/Nerdland.htm...

🌡️ Microclimate mapping of the festival island!
🔬 Stomata counting for a citizen science experiment!
✨ BK Worm Charming!!
🍂 Soil fauna safaris!

#citizenscience #burgerwetenschap
Nerdland – CanopyChange
Op Nerdland festival voerden we een experiment uit tezamen met meer dan 400 festivalbezoekers! We stelden onszelf de vraag of zomereiken een verschillend aantal huidmondjes op hun bladeren hebben afhankelijk van het microklimaat dat ze ervaren. Een zomereik die op een parking staat, ervaart andere temperaturen dan een zomereik die in een bosje op een eiland staat. Zomereiken die op de parking van het provinciaal domein Puyenbroeck staan zullen in de zomermaanden warmere temperaturen ervaren omdat ze in volle zon staan omgeven door asfalt. Zomereiken in een bosje op een eiland van het provinciaal domein zijn daarentegen omringd door andere bomen, staan in de schaduw en zijn omgeven door water. Wanneer bomen droogtestress ervaren sluiten ze hun huidmondjes, de poriën in het blad waarmee ze CO2 opnemen, maar ook waterdamp verliezen. Zo houden ze meer water vast en kunnen ze vermijden dat blaadjes verwelken. De hypothese luidde daarom dat zomereiken op de parking sneller hitte- en droogtestress ervaren vergeleken met zomereiken op het festivaleiland en bijgevolg verwachten we dat bomen op de parking meer huidmondjes hebben om hun waterverlies efficiënter te regelen.
canopychange.ugent.be
jonlen.bsky.social
Allometric equations underestimate woody volumes of large solitary trees outside forests #LSTOFs 🌳

We used terrestrial lidar scanning #TLS & scanned 215 #LSTOFs along rural to urban gradients across 9 🇪🇺 cities to assess their woody volumes 🧪🌐🍁

Below is one #LSTOF near Amiens 🇨🇵

shorturl.at/hEzfv
jonlen.bsky.social
#CoolTree project on the benefits of large solitary trees #LSTs & trees outside forests #TOFs in rural & urban landscapes: cultural heritage values, regulating services & local refugia

@pieterdefrenne.bsky.social
@kvanmeerbeek.bsky.social
@karen-depauw.bsky.social
@fspicher.bsky.social

🌐🌍🍁
jonlen.bsky.social
We monitored air 🌡 & vapour pressure deficits below the crown of >200 large solitary trees #LSTs 🌳 along rural-to-urban gradients for 3 tree species (oak, ash, and lime) across 9 European cities 🏫 We found that #LSTs shape their own species-specific microclimate to host 🐝🦋🐿🦇🌾☘️🌻🌼

shorturl.at/3xPRd

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

fornalab.bsky.social
ForNaLab wins the Sustainability Research Award Rudi Verheyen 2024! FNL was selected by a jury for its work on 'Forest conservation and restoration in a changing world'. Kris Verheyen, Lander Baeten, @pieterdefrenne.bsky.social & Jan Mertens received the price & gave an inspiring talk together.

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

frodsan.bsky.social
The fallacy of single imputation for #traits databases: Use multiple imputation instead @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social #ecopubs

doi.org/10.1111/2041...

    The past few years have seen the publication of many new trait databases. A common problem with large databases is a lack of completeness, or inversely, the high prevalence of missing values.
    Biologists have developed several methods to impute (fill in) missing values. This allows ordinary statistical procedures to be used in analyses and the use of only complete cases, with a concomitant loss of power and accuracy, can be avoided.
    Often, biologists use simulation to test new methods by deleting values from a dataset and recording how well the imputed values match the known, removed values.
    Here we argue that this is a poor measure of the strength of an imputation method. We also describe the importance and logic of the statistical procedure of multiple imputation, which requires that the imputations need not be precise or accurate estimates of the missing data.

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

jeremborderieux.bsky.social
📯🌲| The last article from my thesis is now out in @peercomjournal.bsky.social !
We tackled how the different drivers of forest temperature determine plant communities. We found that shaded valley bottoms harbor 5 (30%) more cold-adapted species! doi.org/10.24072/pcj.... Will it lead to microrefugia?
Cool topoclimates promote cold-adapted plant diversity in temperate mountain forests
doi.org

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
Check out our new blog post to find out more about the article 'Ten practical guidelines for microclimate research in terrestrial ecosystems' by @pieterdefrenne.bsky.social and team! 🌎 🧪

Read the blog here 👉 https://buff.ly/4h32ybX
wslresearch.bsky.social
More frequent, more intense, affecting larger areas: over the last 40 years, mega-droughts have become more severe and are increasingly damaging ecosystems. This is shown by a study led by the WSL and published in @science.org www.wsl.ch/en/news/mega... @dirknkarger.bsky.social
📷 Dirk Karger 🌐
Dead vines in the region around Los Andes in the western catchment area of Aconcagua, a region that has been particularly hard hit by the ongoing drought in Chile. Photo: Dirk Karger, WSL

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

pnas.org
Ancient ginkgo trees, some over 600 years old, show no signs of aging, maintaining vitality similar to younger trees. A study shows that their stem cells and immune defenses remain robust over centuries, explaining their extraordinary lifespans. In @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...
A stock image of a ginkgo tree. They’ve lived through the ice age, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs and brushed off an atomic blast just a mile away. Here’s the story of this living fossil that refuses to age—or die.

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

fornalab.bsky.social
New reflection paper by Eline Lorer & Dries Landuyt: ‘From Prototype to Reality: Moving Beyond the Technology Hype in Ecological Research’.

A reflection on their sensor development trajectory

@The Bulletin @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1002/bes2....

#ecology #microclimate #sensor
From Prototype to Reality: Moving Beyond the Technology Hype in Ecological Research
Click on the article title to read more.
doi.org

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

fornalab.bsky.social
In the latest NatuurFocus, we present this framework, developed for Aelmoeseneiebos, our research forest with high scientific and ecological value. The goal: inspire scientists & nature managers to adopt similar practices & strengthen dialogue to protect nature during research.

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

fornalab.bsky.social
Field experiments in natural areas are crucial to study environmental change but can pose risks to these ecosystems and their species. To minimize impacts, we propose a careful framework in NatuurFocus to balance potential damage against scientific value.

📸 by @habenblondeel.bsky.social

Reposted by: Pieter De Frenne

fornalab.bsky.social
Hej Bluesky!
We are ForNaLab:
🌼 a team of researchers passionate about Forest & Nature at Ghent university
📈 scientists delving deep into fundamental and applied questions

We will be posting here on
🔭 the process of doing science
✨ new research results

stay tuned! 🎉
jonlen.bsky.social
Everything you ever wanted to know to get started on #microclimate is compiled there ⬇️ in 🔟 guidelines 🤓 Unpack each 1️⃣ to select the right variable, the most relevant spatiotemporal scale, the best sampling design & to tailor your analyses to your study question

🧪🌐🍁

shorturl.at/VYP8f

References

Fields & subjects

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