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.


Faciliteiten op de kaart

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  1. Research Vessel RV Dreissena

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

  2. Soil ecotron

    Facility
    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

  3. SPI-Birds Network & Database

    Facility
    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

  4. UNLOCK

    Facility
    Wageningen University & Research
    Delft University of Technology
    UNLOCK is a unique large-scale research infrastructure that facilitates research on mixed microbial communities. It consists of three experimental platforms (Biodiscovery, Modular Bioreactor, Parallel Cultivation) and a FAIR data platform. UNLOCK provides a wide range of users with easily accessible and affordable state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, which allow for research resulting in scientific discovery and practical applications. Facilities are equipped to work with strictly anaerobic microorganisms.
    View on the 'Unlock' facility

  5. Veluwe grassland plant collection

    Facility
    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

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

    Facility
    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

  7. Waterfowl facility

    Facility
    NIOO-KNAW
    This is a facility for keeping waterfowl for behavioural and physiological research. The facility consists of an outdoor aviary and a building for birds indoors.
    Water fowl facility

  8. Wild bird biobank

    Facility
    Erasmus MC
    The ErasmusMC hosts a biobank that consists of data and samples resulting from two lines of research in wild bird monitoring conducted by the Erasmus Medical Center and the Dutch Centre for Avian Migration: bird flu with a focus on waterbirds (1999-current), and arboviruses with a focus on songbirds (2016-current). The biobank contains samples of birds infected with viruses as well as negative samples (serum, swabs, feathers), and ticks found on birds.
    test tubes


 

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.