Ecological research infrastructures in the Netherlands

Soil ecotron as seen from the sky

From experimental mini-lakes to research vessels, and from living labs to collections. In The Netherlands we have many and diverse 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. LTSER-platform Veluwe

    Faciliteit
    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

  2. Marker Wadden

    Faciliteit
    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

  3. Mesocosms for soil-plant-insect interactions

    Faciliteit
    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

  4. Microcosms

    Faciliteit
    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

  5. National Research Fleet

    Faciliteit
    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

  6. NPEC - Ecotron

    Faciliteit
    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

  7. NPEC – Multi-Environment Climate Chambers

    Faciliteit
    Utrecht University
    NPEC’s Multi-Environment Climate Chambers Module hosts a series of 15 small climate chambers with the highest level of homogeneity in temperature, humidity, and light intensity available.
    Multi-Environment climate chambers

  8. NPEC – Plant-Microbe Interaction Phenotyping

    Faciliteit
    Utrecht University
    The Plant-Microbe-Interaction Phenotyping Module consists of two independent phenotyping installations designed for high-throughput phenotyping of the plant shoot (Helios) and in-vitro root system (Hades).
    NPEC – Plant-Microbe Interaction Phenotyping

  9. NutNet Planken-Wambuis

    Faciliteit
    Dry sandy areas
    Agricultural and Rural Areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    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.
    NUT-net Planken-Wambuis

  10. Optics lab

    Faciliteit
    University of Groningen
    Optics lab with equipment to study the optical properties of plant, animal and artificial materials, and study insect eyes. Spectroscopic setups (probe, microspectrophotometer) to measure reflectance spectra, imaging scatterometer to visualise angle-dependence of reflection, angle-dependent reflectance setup to quantify angular dependence of reflectance, various types of microscopes. Goniometric research apparatus to quantify the visual field of insects.
    Optics lab

  11. Palaeoecology Reference Collection

    Faciliteit
    University of Amsterdam (UvA)
    The Palaeoecology Reference Collection contains reference specimens and archived material from palaeoecological investigations.
    Ten Poaceae pollen grains from nine subfamilies

  12. Polderlab Vrouwe Venne

    Faciliteit
    Agricultural and Rural Areas
    Leiden University
    At the Polderlab Vrouwe Venne, farmers, citizens and researchers work together to shape the future of Dutch agriculture. Its goal is to restore biodiversity and the peat meadow landscape. And that farmers can earn their living sustainably.
    Polderlab Vrouwe Venne with ditches and fields


 

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. You are very welcome to share additional information via our contact address below.

 

Highlighted Ecological Research Infrastructures

Institutions with ecological research facilities

Contact

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