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Stephanie Schelfhout

@stephschelfhout.bsky.social

360 followers 520 following 96 posts

Applied ecologist at @fornalab.bsky.social (UGent) 💚 Grasslandnerd 💚 Into ecological restoration of species-rich grasslands 💚 biodiverse agricultural landscapes 💚 Jungle gardens 🪱 Digging for earthworms www.anekoworm.com 💚 science communication

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Jun 8

Hilarische taferelen tijdens de #nerdlandfestival #wormcharming @nerdland.be @fornalab.bsky.social
www.instagram.com/reel/DKnA6PO...

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

David Kleijn @davidkleijn.bsky.social · 2d

Intensifying grassland management leads to massive loss of arthropod species. However, total arthropod numbers remain more or less stable. Many losers, few winners. doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Number of wild bee species at risk of extinction in Europe doubles in 10 years

Number of endangered butterfly species also surging amid habitat destruction and global heating, finds study The number of wild bee species in Europe at risk of extinction has more than doubled over the past decade, while the number of endangered butterfly species has almost doubled. The jeopardy facing crucial pollinators was revealed by scientific studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species, which found that at least 172 bee species out of 1,928 were at risk of extinction in Europe. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

martinswarren.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social · 1d

The new European Butterfly Red List is published today, with worrying findings. Over 1/4 (28%) of Europe’s 442 species are threatened with extinction or are close to being so. The situation is far worse for our 148 endemic species, 40% are now threatened or nearly so www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

Front cover of the European Butterfly Red List, showing Polyommatus humedasae. The report can be downloaded at https://www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?name=red-list-butterflies-2025

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

WWF EU @wwf.eu · 4d

@europarl.europa.eu votes to scrap CAP green rules 😬

This move opens the door to harmful farming in protected areas

And yet ignores the root causes of farmers’ struggles 💔👨🏽‍🌾

Read full reaction 👉🏼 www.wwf.eu?19513941/Eur...

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · 4d

Pracht erfgoed project Water & Land van CAG en Kenniscentrum imm erfgoed NL kwam tot een einde. Over historisch vloeibeheer, watermolens... in BE & NL. Leren uit verleden voor een klimaatrobuuste toekomst. Knap filmpje werd opgeleverd als een van de eindproducten: youtu.be/ZFDkzUw2ljM Sterk gedaan!

Water en Land. Immaterieel erfgoed als motor voor een klimaatrobuuste toekomst

YouTube video by Centrum Agrarische Geschiedenis (CAG)

youtu.be

Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · 5d

Download de regenwormen poster hier: deweekvanhetbos.be/sites/defaul...
Ik zou hem zelfs boven mijn bed hangen 😎🤓

deweekvanhetbos.be

Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · 5d

Na de pissebedden een paar jaar terug, nu regenwormen 🪱 in de Week van het Bos!!
😍 regenworm poster!
Trek het bos in met het lespakket voor kleuter- en lagere scholen, www.weekvanhetbos.be #wetenschapscommunicatie #anekoregenwormenwerkgroep #bodemleven @fornalab.bsky.social @bosplus.bsky.social

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

ForNaLab @fornalab.bsky.social · 16d

The recent issue of the journal @eoswetenschap.bsky.social focusses on sustainable forests. Postdoc at our lab Pallieter De Smedt took an EOS reporter into the forest to discover the importance of litter dwelling fauna for ecosystem functioning.
www.tijdschriftenwinkel.be/collections/...

EOS editie 10/2025

Dossier: Duurzame bossen · Het bos van morgen: Kunnen onze inheemse bomen de klimaatopwarming aan, of moeten we inzetten op zuidelijke soorten? · In een handvol bosgrond lever meer dieren dan ...

www.tijdschriftenwinkel.be

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

ForNaLab @fornalab.bsky.social · 6d

🌳Week van het bos🌳
In het Aelmoeseneiebos onderzoeken we hoe bossen reageren op complexe uitdagingen zoals klimaatverandering, luchtvervuiling, ... Onze collega's namen @eoswetenschap.bsky.social journalist Kim Verhaeghe mee in dit levend openluchtlaboratorium.

www.eoswetenschap.eu/natuur-milie...

Een levend laboratorium

Door klimaatverandering, luchtvervuiling, ziekten en plagen worden bossen steeds kwetsbaarder. Tegelijk vormen ze een van de krachtigste bondgenoten in de st...

www.eoswetenschap.eu

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · 9d

That time of the year again: Fire salamander monitoring. 67 individuals on our route = great night! Yes, we saw the orange morph again 😍

Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

apache/ @apache.be · 10d

🌿 In afwachting van een “uitfasering” van PFAS-houdende pesticiden belanden ook dit jaar tienduizenden kilo’s PFAS op Vlaamse velden en uiteindelijk in het (drink)water.

apache.be/2025/10/02/h...

Hoe PFAS uit pesticiden Vlaamse velden vervuilen

De verkoop van pesticiden met PFAS zit al jaren in de lift, net als de PFAS-vervuiling van ons drinkwater.

apache.be

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · 13d

Really great that you did finally write this paper anyway, the data is important to be shared! No matter the age.

Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

David Kleijn @davidkleijn.bsky.social · 15d

Higher cutting frequency can restore habitat quality on farmland. doi.org/10.1111/1365...

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

Thijs Fijen @thijsfijen.bsky.social · 19d

Dutch solar parks approach pollinator & plant biodiversity levels of extensive grasslands, but only on the surface not covered by panels. Soil-emergent arthropods and butterflies lack behind. Proud of Timea for leading besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@jappliedecology.bsky.social

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · Sep 10

Conservation is not a simple solution to climate change

“ecological benefits of rewetting drained boreal peatland forests come at a climate cost

restoration is unlikely to mitigate climate change”

Stopping emissions is the only failsafe solution
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Rewetting drained boreal peatland forests does not mitigate climate warming in the twenty-first century - Ambio

Rewetting drained peatland forests restores pristine ecosystem functions, improves peatland ecological status, and has been considered to mitigate climate change. We quantified climate impact of rewet...

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

Laetitia Navarro @laenavarro.bsky.social · Sep 5

Fresh off the press! Our perspective in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com discusses the wealth of information on biodiversity contained in historical sources, and its integration for long-term ecological knowledge and biodiversity conservation. A thread on the paper and what led to it:
rdcu.be/eEcIt

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Sep 4

Jakkes. Courage!

Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Sep 2

We actually studied it in Belgium (or the conversion of lawn to meadow via nomowmay) for 3 years in a citizen science project, FlowerPower De Tuin: mijntuinlab.be/projects/13/ lots of failure and disappointment. But also successes. Managing expectations would help. (And there is room for research!)

Mijn Tuinlab

mijntuinlab.be

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Sep 2

Even in Europe you do not always/often get the desired result by mowing your lawn less frequently. The species need to be there! Otherwise, you just get long grass (and sad and frustrated garden owners).

a grassland chase 🌾🌾🌾🌾 @chasesolidago.bsky.social · Sep 2

An unmanaged, unmown english lawn is full of native flowers that support local pollinators
An unmanaged, unmown american lawn is mostly eurasian weeds that only support generalists

Is a buckthorn thicket on an abandoned lot "[re]wild"? I suppose, but what ecological value does it bring a landscape?

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Sep 1

Bravo @fornalab.bsky.social colleague @ellendevrieze.bsky.social with her talk “European cities manage their green space for people and biodiversity: a chance for urban (or ecosystem) restoration?” - collaboration with @valentinecology.bsky.social et al

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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Sep 1

Honeybees: manage for optimal nr of hives, not too much
Wild bees: more is better for apple production

Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · Sep 1

@fornalab.bsky.social Colleague @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social in action at the @gfoesoc.bsky.social conference in Würzburg with his Synthesis of apple pollination research reveals positive contributions from wild bees relative to those of honeybees. Surprising results depending on the metric!

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

Milan Chytrý @milanchytry.bsky.social · Aug 29

In our new article with Rui-Ling Liu and Wen-Yong Guo in J. Ecol., we quantified how plant strategy scores derived from leaf traits (Pierce method) correlate with other plant traits and plant environmental preferences.
🔗 Open-access article: doi.org/10.1111/1365...
‪@journalofecology.bsky.social‬

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Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · Jun 10

Six actions for ecologists in times of planetary crisis: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

✅Explicitly recognize and address the #biodiversity crisis
✅Explore positive futures
✅Defend academic freedom
✅Go political
✅Inspire society
✅Address the colonial legacy of ecology

Free to read: rdcu.be/eqjlk

Screenshot of the title and author list from the Correspondence article "Six actions for ecologists in times of planetary crisis" from the Nature Ecology & Evolution homepage

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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · Jul 22

A new #ShortComm in #RESInsectConsDiv reports that urbanization imposes declines in flying insect #biomass through the loss of large-bodied species
doi.org/10.1111/icad.12859

#UrbanInsects #Biodiversity
@katriendewolf.bsky.social @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social @manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com

Monitoring set-up; photo credit: (c) Katrien De Wolf

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