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. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. Research Vessel RV Dreissena

    Faciliteit
    University of Amsterdam (UvA)
    The research vessel RV Dreissena is used for (experimental) fieldwork programs on lake Markermeer.
    Research vessel Dreissena

  9. Soil ecotron

    Faciliteit
    NIOO-KNAW
    The ecotron consists of 60 cilinders with intact (non-disturbed) sand, peat or sea clay cores (20 each). For each soil treatment, ten of the cilinders are inoculated with soil from species-rich grassland with the same soil type. The other ten are inoculated with sterile soil from the same grassland. The cilinders are buried in an experimental garden.
    Bodembiodiversiteit onderzoeken

  10. SPI-Birds Network & Database

    Faciliteit
    NIOO-KNAW
    SPI-Birds Network & Database, or the Studies of Populations of Individuals – Birds, is a grassroots initiative connecting those working on populations of individually-marked breeding birds. SPI-Birds is a metadata registry of individually-marked breeding bird studies and the people involved in these studies, and a central hub for data on individually-marked breeding birds.
    Map with locations of SPI-birds studies

  11. Veluwe grassland plant collection

    Faciliteit
    Dry sandy areas
    NIOO-KNAW
    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).
    Veluwe grassland plant collection

  12. Vogeltrekstation (Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography)

    Faciliteit
    NIOO-KNAW
    Ringersvereniging (bird banding society)
    Vogeltrekstation (Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography) is a cooperation between NIOO-KNAW and the Ringersvereniging (bird banding society). It arranges the daily practicalities with relation to catching and ringing of wild birds for science, policy and conservation.
    house sparrow


 

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.