Beverbeek - Belgium

Basic Information
Site Name
Beverbeek
Short name
Beverbeek
Country
Belgium
Web Address
https://ees.kuleuven.be/fnl/
Site Manager
Bart Muys
Operating Organisation
KU Leuven
Funding Agency
Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape
Site Description
Beverbeek is a complex site consisting of areas with a primary conservation purpose as the two gazetted nature reserves Elsbroek (mesotrophic and oligotrophic mire with alder-birch woodland, Myrica bush) and Zooren (alluvial plain forest). Other parts are multifunctional forests with scots pine, corsican black pine, oak, larch, douglas fir, etc.
Last modified
2020-11-27 01:11:34

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Planned
Year Established
2020
Observed properties
biological parameter
ecosystem parameter
environmental parameter
landscape parameter
remote sensing parameter
water parameter
Photos
Map of the Beverbeek site

Map of the Beverbeek site

Geographic
Size
165.00ha
Elevation (average)
33.00msl
Elevation (min)
31.00msl
Elevation (max)
35.00msl
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
LTER Europe✔This site is a verified "LTER Europe" member.
LTER Belgium✔ (LTER_EU_BE_37)This site is a verified "LTER Belgium" member.
Projects
Natura 2000
Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Mixed Forest
Ecosystem and Land Use
Agricultural
Forest
Grasslands
Rivers
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E)
Habitat complexes (X)
Heathland, scrub and tundra (F)
Mires, bogs and fens (D)
Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats (I)
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
9.30°C
Air Temperature Range (Monthly Minimum)
2.10°C
Air Temperature Range (Monthly Maximum)
17.30°C
Precipitation Annual
867.00mm
Precipitation Maximum Monthly
86.00mm
Precipitation Minimum Monthly
51.00mm
Geology
The Campine is part of a syncline basin located north of the Brabant massif. The paleozoic deposits (Cambro-Silurian Carboniferous) outcrops in southern Belgium are found here at great depth. During the Cenozoic period, sandy material was deposited by repeated regressions and transgressions, the diestian, Antwerpian, Kasterliaan, Poederliaan, Merksemiaan outcrops as substrates.

During the Pleistocene, these sandy formations were covered by younger deposits, including the clays of the Campine in the north, the sands of Mol and the Maasterrace. The niveo-aeolian loess and / or covering sand was deposited on this. During the Pleistocene, Late Glacial and Holocene, local sand was blown up from the exposed Wadden sands and along the rivers, to continental dunes. Hamont-Achel is situated just north of this thick sandy Campine plateau.
Vegetation
The wide variety in drainclasses of the soils expresses in the wide variety of vegetation types. In the most wet conditions are located the Alder groves, peaty birch forest and the gale shrub. In the forested part there is also Oak-Birch forests and the biggest part (on the dryer parts) is mixed coniferous (pine) and deciduous (oak an birch) forests. In the historical agricultural land there are important wood edges, permanent grasslands and crop fields.
Soils
The substrate is sand (Z in the Belgian soil map) in the whole site. Nevertheless this, there is a big variety in drain classes, from very wet soils in the valley of the Warmbeek and in the center of the Elsbroek, to dry soil in the more elevated area between Warmbeek and Elsbroek. Most of the soils have a clear humus and/or a iron B horizont. A specific type of soils are the Anthrosols, nearby old settlements. These soils originate of the former historical land management (potstal system) where the closest innerfields were elevated by the addition of the plaggen. These soils have a deep antropogene humus A horizont.
Hydrology
The experimental site is situated between the Warmbeek in the West and the Beverbeek in the East. In both the water flow is from the more elevated Campine plateau in the south to the Netherlands in the North. The historical agricultural land is situated around the Beverbeekloop in the south. The whole Area is in the river basin of the Maas and in the sub-basin of the Warmbeek.
The nature conservation Area Elsbroek is situated in a depression originating from a historical fishing pond. The Valley of the Warmbeek and the Elsbroek are the natural floodable area’s. In the Elsbroek the groundwater level is monitored since 20 years on 12 locations.
Protection Level (IUCN category)
Category IV – Habitat/Species Management Area
Site Type
Stationary terrestrial site
Design of Experimentation
no experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
not applicable
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
sub-catchment within catchment
Permanent Power Supply
No
Equipment
Data infrastructure
Maintenance infrastructure
Observation device
Supporting infrastructure
Equipment notes
There is a network of 12 monitoring wells to measure groundwater level fluctuations.
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
No
Access Type
regular car
Permanent Operation
Yes
Site Visit Interval
14
Maintenance Interval
14
General Data Policy
Co-authorship on publications resulting from use of the dataset
The data provider must be offered co-authorship for publications using this dataset at least within the metadata description
The opportunity to collaborate on the project using the dataset
Data Policy URL
data on request
LTER Site Classification
Emerging