The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) reduces vehicle emissions to combat climate change. EVs raise concerns regarding the production of lithium-ion batteries and related emissions; while batteries can also provide energy storage services for the electricity system.

Wetland plants are distinguished from plants of other terrestrial ecosystems by their adaptations to specific habitat stresses, including waterlogged and flooding and the subsequent abundance of phytotoxic compounds.

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: C.J.M. Muster

A management strategy has been developed for field margins to reduce pesticide drift to non-target areas and to promote biodiversity on arable land. To this end, 3 and 6 m wide strips along the edges of winter wheat, sugar beet and potato crops have been left unsprayed with herbicides and insecticides…

The role of material production as a driver of environmental impacts is increasing, which calls for a better understanding of global material flows. This thesis explores the role of in-use stocks of products, buildings and infrastructure as a key driver of global material demand and discusses the implications…

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Prof.dr. G.A. Persoon, Co-promotor: H.H. de Iongh

Ethiopian wolves are endangered diurnal Afroalpine rodent hunters. I investigated the interaction between wolves, rodents and human land use in Borena Sayint National Park (BSNP), Abune Yosef and Aboi Gara in Ethiopia.

The main research question of this thesis was: Can nitrogen cycling on dairy farms on peat soil in the Dutch Green Heart area be improved by adapting management to the nitrogen supply from soil and by using other grassland species and crops without affecting milk production?

Promotores: G.R. de Snoo, W.T. de Groot, Co-promotor: C.J.M. Musters

CML rapport 192

This thesis focuses on the social dimensions of crane and wetland conservation in rural landscapes in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Promotors: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Prof.dr. H. Leirs (Univ. Antwerpen)

This thesis studied in depth the energy use and CO2 emissions of the industrial sector in China.

Consequences for sediment stability and seston trapping

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: R. Heijungs

Novel entities may pose risks to humans and the environment. The small particle size and relatively large surface area of micro- and nanoparticles (MNPs) make them capable of adsorbing other novel entities, leading to the formation of aggregated contamination.

Mycoheterotrophy is a particular mode of life in which plants obtain carbohydrates from their associated fungal partners, instead of by using photosynthesis.

Promotor: G.J. Kramer Co-Promotor: E.G.M. Kleijn

Large carnivores and humans, along with their livestock, have co-existed for thousands of years. However, human population growth and an increase in economic activities are modifying the landscape for large carnivores and their prey.

Promotores: H.A. Udo de Haes, H.H.T. Prins, Co-promotor: H.H. de Iongh

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo

The rapidly increasing commercial application of metallic nanoparticles within products will inevitably enhance the amount of NPs being released into soil.

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

Large carnivore population is globally declining as a result of the fragmentation of habitat, large prey depletion and retaliatory killing by pastoralists.

Promotores: E. van Dijk, G.R. de Snoo. Co-promotor: H. Staats

As a non-invasive genetic method, eDNA based approaches have become an important component of ecologists' and environmental managers' toolkits for biomonitoring in conservation and an increasingly important source of ecological knowledge.

Low-carbon (LE) technologies have a significant potential to reduce the total carbon emissions in China.

Promotores: Prof. dr. G.R. (Geert) de Snoo, Dr. E. (Ester) van der Voet

Overall dispersion in LCA as result of inherent uncertainties, spread and unrepresentativeness.

LCA has become an important method to study environmental impacts of human activities. Still, there are several methodological issues in LCA that can adversely affect the results reliability.

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo

PNEC-pro is a user-friendly screening tool for professionals dealing with the assessment of surface water quality. The tool calculates local, watertype specific no-effect concentrations (PNEC) of copper, lead, nickel and zinc based on biotic ligand models (BLMs).

This dissertation investigates the energy and material related impacts of the transition towards a low-carbon heating system in the Netherlands, in the context of its 2050 climate and circular economy policy goals.

Although nanoparticles are extensively used in various applications like consumer products and have most probably entered the environment, little is known about the effects of these particles on living organisms.

This thesis describes the genetic and prokaryotic diversity of giant barrel sponges.

Assessing the risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) solely on the basis of experimental assays is time-consuming, resource intensive, and constrained by ethical considerations (such as the principles of the 3Rs of animal testing). The adoption of computational toxicology in this field is a high p…

De Universiteit Leiden heeft onderzoeksinstituten gevestigd in Leiden en Den Haag.

Promotoren: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo en Dr. R. Heijungs

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

Promotores: G. Persoon, R. Schefold

Food waste is a defining inefficiency of the modern food system, with profound implications for resource use, climate change, and circular economy transitions. This dissertation examines food waste through two complementary lenses: the prevention of avoidable food waste and the valorization of unavoidable…

Natural resources often stretch across borders that separate modern nation states. This can create conflict and limit opportunities for regulated consumption of their goods and services, but also provide opportunities for joint multinational efforts that exceed single country capabilities.

To meet the rising demand for minerals driven by the global shift to clean energy technologies, ensuring responsible and resilient supply chains is critical. Minerals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel for batteries, neodymium and zinc for wind turbines, and indium for solar panels are essential.

A sustainable resource management is an essential aspect to satisfy the current human needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

Material circularity and energy efficiency are highly relevant and intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular built environment. In the Netherlands, the building sector has been rendered a priority towards a circular and low-carbon society.

Animal diet studies are critical for understanding ecological processes such as trophic interactions, energy flow, and nutrient cycling. By examining what animals consume, ecologists gain insights into species specialization, predator-prey relationships, and ecosystem management.

Promotor: W.T. de Groot

Interdisciplinaire onderwijs- en onderzoeksprojecten

Dissolution processes – next to aggregation processes - play an important role for fate prediction and environmental risk assessment of metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs). It is challenging to predict the kinetics of the dissolution process of MNPs in complex systems such as we can find in in vivo and…

Globally and regionally, biodiversity is declining and there are shifts in species’ occurrences and functional traits.