Ecological research infrastructures in the Netherlands

Soil ecotron as seen from the sky

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.


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  1. Hole-breeding passerines monitoring: Liesbos

    Facility
    Dry sandy areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    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.
    Liesbos

  2. Hole-breeding passerines monitoring: Oosterhout

    Facility
    Dry sandy areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    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.
    Oosterhout

  3. Hole-breeding passerines monitoring: Vlieland

    Facility
    Dunes and coastal areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    Vlieland 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 several smaller forest areas, which together cover about 250 ha of mainly conifers and oak on poor sandy soil. As Vlieland is an island in the Wadden Sea, the area stands completely on its own. Important population questions in NIOO's long term research are/were studied here.
    Vlieland

  4. Land van Ons - Warmond

    Facility
    Fen and Sea Clay landscapes
    Agricultural and Rural Areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    Leiden University
    Naturalis Biodiversity Center
    The foundation 'Land van Ons' has obtained a peat meadow area near Leiden to increase biodiversity in this intensively used agricultural area. The goal is not to recreate nature, but to develop sustainable agricultural use of this land with the goal of increasing biodiversity in the area and developing management strategies that optimise its ecological, economic and recreational value.
    Land van Ons - Warmond

  5. Limnotrons

    Facility
    NIOO-KNAW
    The limnotrons are nine stainless steel indoor mesocosms with a high level of control. The dimensions are: 0.97 m in diameter, depth between 1.32 m (side) and 1.37 m (centre), volume of 922 L. The vessels can be closed with a removable PMMA flange lid. In addition to the possibility of sampling vertically with specifically designed integrated water samples, sampling can also be done by using the sampling ports positioned at three depths.
    Limnotrons

  6. LTSER-platform Dutch Wadden Sea

    Facility
    Marine and intertidal areas
    Dunes and coastal areas
    NIOZ
    Rijkswaterstaat
    NIOO-KNAW
    The Long-Term Socio-Ecological research platform Dutch Wadden Sea area is a large coastal area bordering the north of the Netherlands.
    Luchtfoto van Vlieland

  7. LTSER-platform Veluwe

    Facility
    Dry sandy areas
    Radboud University
    NIOO-KNAW
    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.
    Tongerense Heide

  8. Marker Wadden

    Facility
    Large fresh water areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    The Marker Wadden is a newly constructed archipelago in lake Markermeer, which aims to improve the lake’s degrading food web by stimulating primary productivity. The archipelago consists of five islands that add a currently missing habitat type to the lake: shallow, sheltered waters with high nutrient availability and gradual land-water transitions.
    Marker Wadden 2018

  9. Mesocosms for soil-plant-insect interactions

    Facility
    NIOO-KNAW
    A total of 40 mesocosms are distributed in five rows of eight mesocosms with a spacing of 0.5 m between them. In spring/summer we grow plant species that are currently expanding their range within Europe and species that belong to the same genus while being native in the Netherlands.
    Mesocosms soil-plant-insect interactions

  10. Microcosms

    Facility
    NIOO-KNAW
    The Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) houses 36x10L microcosms (transparent polycarbonate carboys; NALGENE, Rochester, USA) for plankton research. The microcosms can be temperature-controlled in water baths (at 0.5 °C temperature resolution), and automatically stirred through magnetic stirrers mounted below the water baths.
    Microcosms

  11. National Research Fleet

    Facility
    NIOZ
    The National Research Fleet of the Netherlands is operated by NMF, the National Marine Facilities at NIOZ and consists of three research vessels: RV Pelagia, RV Navicula and RV Adriaen Coenen. Each is dedicated to a specific area of operation, from the shallow waters of the Wadden Sea to open oceans around the world. In addition to the vessels, NMF operates a pool of seagoing equipment.
    RV Pelagia, NIOZ

  12. NPEC - Ecotron

    Facility
    Utrecht University
    Wageningen University & Research
    NPEC’s Ecotron facility at Utrecht University consists of a range of 36 fully closed and controlled mesocosm systems that allow for real-life plant ecosystem analyses in real time.
    NPEC ecotrons at Utrecht University


 

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

Institutes

Contact

If you have any additions to the inventory, please contact the NIOO Research Support Office via rso@nioo.knaw.nl.