Ecological research infrastructures in the Netherlands

From experimental mini-ponds to research vessels, and from living labs to collections: in The Netherlands we have many ecological research facilities. This website provides a national overview of the large-scale ecological research infrastructures.
For ecological researchers in the Netherlands this overview offers opportunities to team up with other researchers and to link to existing ecological research facilities and initiatives. Currently, the inventory of large-scale ecological research facilities focuses on ecotrons, scientific (data) collections, long-term field studies and research infrastructures for fieldwork.
Map
List
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CLUE field Veluwe + database
Since 1995, we run a series of biodiversity experiments on a former agricultural field in the nature area Planken-Wambuis near Ede. In some plots, secondary succession has followed its natural course, In other plots, a low or high diversity of plants was sown, or the soil has been inoculated with soil from nature areas. -
Hole-breeding passerines monitoring: Hoge Veluwe
Hoge Veluwe is one of four areas in NIOO-AnE's long-term monitoring research on great tits and other bird species that started in 1955. It consists of a large forest area of more than 350 ha of mainly conifers and oak on poor sandy soil. This area is part of the largest forest complex in the Netherlands, De Veluwe. Every breeding season, many students and researchers are involved in doing field work at Hoge Veluwe. -
Hole-breeding passerines monitoring: Liesbos
Liesbos is one of four areas in NIOO-AnE's long-term monitoring research on great tits and other bird species that started in 1955. It consists of a large forest area of about 100 ha of deciduous trees, mainly oak, on rich sandy-loam soil. -
Hole-breeding passerines monitoring: Oosterhout
Oosterhout is the last of four areas in NIOO-AnE's long-term monitoring research on great tits and other bird species. Research there started in 1956, one year after the other three areas. It consists of deciduous forest of mainly oak trees on a country estate of about 8 ha, and has a rich clay-sandy-loam soil. Oosterhout has around 150 nestboxes. -
LTSER-platform Veluwe
The area defined as ‘the Veluwe’ lies in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands, West of the river IJssel and North of the river Rhine. The region hosts the largest connected nature area of the country. The natural landscape consists of a mix of forests, heathlands, sand drifts, lakes, and moorlands and is surrounded by agriculture, settlements, or infrastructure. This means there is a lot of interaction between humans and nature. -
NutNet Planken-Wambuis
Two of the most pervasive human impacts on ecosystems are alteration of global nutrient budgets and changes in the abundance and identity of consumers. In spite of the global impacts of these human activities, there have been no globally coordinated experiments to quantify the general impacts on ecological systems. The Nutrient Network (NutNet) is a grassroots, global research effort to address these questions within a coordinated research network comprised of more than 130 grassland sites worldwide. -
Veluwe grassland plant collection
This is a systematic collection of eight plant species from five grassland sites in the Veluwe, for which some tissue from individual plants is stored at -80 °C. For each site, up to 10 individuals from each species have been sampled along a transect at two time points (late May and early August).
www.eco-ri.nl is initiated and maintained by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), and supported by the Dutch universities and research institutes connected to NERN (Netherlands Ecological Research Network) and/or BiodiversityXL (Centre of Excellence for Netherlands Biodiversity Research).
The inventory of ecological research infrastructures is ongoing.
Highlighted ecological research infrastructures
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National Research Fleet
The National Research Fleet consists of three research vessels: RV Pelagia, RV Navicula and RV Adriaen Coenen.
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Limnotrons
The limnotrons are nine stainless steel indoor mesocosms with a high level of control.
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LTSER-platform Veluwe
The Veluwe is the largest connected nature area of the Netherlands, with a great array of ecological and socio-economic research.
Contact
If you have any additions to the inventory, please contact the NIOO Research Support Office via rso@nioo.knaw.nl.