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ENFORCE: Expertiserapport ref. exp_679 (02601173) en ref. exp_680 (02601171), 23/05/2025
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BopCo: an identification service for species of policy concern, including invasive alien insects
No full textInvasive alien species (IAS) can cause a multitude of socio-economic and ecologic problems, warranting the need for their early detection, monitoring, and management. To do so, reliable species identifications are required, using morphology- and/or DNA-based approaches. BopCo is a Belgian research unit that provides such identification services for various species of policy concern, including invasive alien insects. BopCo is jointly run by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Royal Museum for Central Africa, and has access to extensive reference collections, expert taxonomists, and a comprehensive research infrastructure. BopCo handles on-demand species identification requests and is a partner on various projects related to invasive alien insects. In this framework, BopCo contributes to identifying the introduction pathways and dispersal dynamics of two invasive mosquito species in Belgium, Aedes albopictus and Ae. japonicus, as part of the MEMO+ project in collaboration with Sciensano and the Institute of Tropical Medicine. Using various DNA identification techniques, BopCo verifies the species identity of the exotic mosquitoes collected at multiple points of entry. Similarly, the Medical Component of the Belgian Armed Forces is investigating the Culicidae mosquito biodiversity at foreign deployment sites. BopCo takes part in this project by providing DNA-based identifications to support the Laboratory for Vector-Borne Diseases of the Queen Astrid Military Hospital. Accurate identification of the various mosquito species is important since they are known vectors of pathogens of significant public health concern such as Western Nile virus, Plasmodium parasites, and dengue virus. Furthermore, BopCo was involved in documenting the first occurrences of three exotic termite species in Belgium: Cryptotermes brevis, Reticulitermes banyulensis, and R. flavipes. Morphological identification of specimens was corroborated through DNA-barcoding validation. Reticulitermes flavipes is of particular concern as it has been invasive in France for many years and likely to establish populations in Belgium. Finally, BopCo evaluates the usefulness of publicly available DNA sequence data to identify the plant and animal species included in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern (EU Regulations 2016/1141 and 2017/1263). The results are presented as IAS Factsheets which aim to inform policy makers and provide relevant authorities with an identification tool for suspected IAS samples. This collection of IAS factsheets includes five factsheets on invasive alien insects
République Démocratique du Congo, Carte administrative , Province du Haut-Lomami, Territoire de Kaniama
No full textRépublique Démocratique du Congo, Carte administrative , Province de Lualaba, Territoire de Dilolo
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Fruit fly infestation of cucurbitaceous vegetables in Morogoro Eastern Central Tanzania
No full textFruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are a significant threat to cucurbit production in Tanzania. To effectively combat these pests, it is crucial to understand the patterns of fruit fly infes- tations among cucurbit crops at different altitudes. Our study focused on the infestation patterns of fruit flies among commonly grown cucurbit crops cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus [Thunb.] Matsum. & Nakai), and squash (Cucurbita moschata D.) in Eastern Central Tanzania. The research was conducted in the plateau (low altitude) and the mountainous (high altitude) areas of Morogoro over three cropping seasons (March - April as Season I, June July as Season II, and September October as Season III) during 2020. We collected a total of 450 samples equivalent to 4,500 fruits during this period. Out of these, 418 samples were infested by five fruit fly species: Zeu- godacus cucurbitae (Coquillett), Dacus ciliatus Loew, Dacus vertebratus Bezzi, Dacus bivittatus (Bigot), and Dacus punctatifrons Karsch, which are the principal tephritid pests of cucurbit crops in Morogoro. In total, 22,169 fruit flies were recovered from the samples, with more flies emerging from the mountainous zone (12,390) than the plateau (9,779). Zeugodacus cucurbitae accounted for the majority of the emerged flies (18,789), while the remaining species, including D. vertebratus and D. ciliatus, contributed smaller num- bers. Among the hosts, Cucumis sativus was the most heavily infested, followed by Cucur- bit moschata and Citrullus lanatus. Significant effects of fruit fly species × host species and fruit fly species × agroecological zone on percent infestation and degree of infestation. Furthermore, the effects of host species × agroecological zone on percent infestation were significant. The study further found that that Z. cucurbitae was the dominant pest in terms of percent and degree of infestation among the three cucurbit crops at both agroecological zones in the Morogoro region. These findings provide valuable insights into severity of pest infestation that may cause high economic losses in cucurbit crops in cucurbit produc- tion. The study recommends that any management strategies for fruit flies should focus on controlling Z. cucurbitae, as a key pest of cucurbits in the region
Comparisons of the v11.1 Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) XCO2 Measurements With GGG2020 TCCON
Get PDFThe Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) is NASA's first Earth observation satellite mission dedicated to studying the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide (CO2) on a global scale. The observations of reflected sunlight are inverted in a retrieval algorithm to produce estimates of the dry air mole-fractions of CO2 (XCO2). The OCO-2 Level 2 data release, version 11.1 (v11.1) retrievals from the Atmospheric Carbon Observations from Space (ACOS) algorithm, includes significant improvements in the XCO2 data product compared to older OCO-2 data versions. This work compares the v11.1 XCO2 from OCO-2 against XCO2 estimates collected from a global ground-based network known as the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), OCO-2's primary validation source. The OCO-2 project provides a version of the Level 2 data product, called “lite” files that include calibrated and bias-corrected XCO2 values, accessible together with all OCO-2 data products through the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). This work shows that OCO-2 XCO2 observations made between September 2014 and December 2023, after quality filtering and the application of an averaging kernel correction, agree well with coincident TCCON data for all OCO-2 observational modes of land (nadir, glint, target) and ocean (glint). The aggregated, bias-corrected, and quality-filtered absolute average bias values are less than or equal to 0.20 parts per million (ppm) globally for all OCO-2 observation modes, where the biases do not indicate a statistically significant time dependence. The land nadir/glint mode has the lowest bias value of −0.03 ± 0.85 ppm
République Démocratique du Congo, Carte administrative , Province du Sankuru, Territoire de Lomela
No full textGlobal ground-based tropospheric ozone measurements: reference data and individual site trends (2000-2022) from the TOAR-II/HEGIFTOM project
Get PDFTropospheric ozone trends from models and satellites are found to diverge. Ground-based (GB) observations are used to reference models and satellites, but GB data themselves might display station biases and discontinuities. Reprocessing with uniform procedures, the TOAR-II working group Harmonization and Evaluation of Ground-based Instruments for Free-Tropospheric Ozone Measurements (HEGIFTOM) homogenized public data from five networks: ozonesondes, In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) profiles, solar absorption Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer measurements, lidar observations, and Dobson Umkehr data. Amounts and uncertainties for total tropospheric ozone (TrOC; surface to 300 hPa), as well as free- and lower-tropospheric ozone, are calculated for each network. We report trends (2000 to 2022) for these segments using quantile regression (QR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) for 55 datasets, including six multi-instrument stations. The findings are that (1) median TrOC trends computed with QR and MLR trends are essentially the same; (2) pole-to-pole, across all longitudes, TrOC trends fall within +3 to −3 ppbv per decade, equivalent to (−4 % to +8 %) per decade depending on site; (3) the greatest fractional increases occur over most tropical and subtropical sites, with decreases at northern high latitudes, but these patterns are not uniform; (4) post-COVID trends are smaller than pre-COVID trends for Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude sites. In summary, this analysis conducted in the frame of TOAR-II/HEGIFTOM shows that high-quality, multi-instrument, harmonized data over a wide range of ground sites provide clear standard references for TOAR-II models and evolving tropospheric ozone satellite products for 2000–2022