Sonian Forest - Belgium

Basic Information
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Site Name
Sonian Forest
Short name
Sonian
Country
Belgium
Web Address
http://www.sonianforest.be
LTER-Belgium
Operating Organisation
Agency For Nature and Forest (ANB)
Site Manager
Arne Verstraeten
Kris Vandekerkhove
Site Description
Large forest area, ancient woodland of beech forests, just south of Brussels. In this forest, numerous research activities covering silviculture, forest history, biodiversity inventories, geomorphology, recreation etc... have taken place. Therefore, the complete forest is proposed as an LTSER-platform. Within the forest, two active long-term ecological monitoring programmes are present: - one ICP Forests Level II intensive forest monitoring plot (permanent sampling since 1987) - strict forest reserve monitoring programme on an area of 100 ha (periodic sampling of 15 ha since 1986, extended to 100 ha in 2000) On July 7th 2017, the strict forest reserve 'Joseph Zwaenepoel', together with 4 other unmanaged reserves in the forest, was added to the UNESCO Natural Heritage Site ' Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe' (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133). Besides these, a large number of former research projects, PhD research and a detailed management follow-up make the Sonian Forest one of the best mapped and documented forests in Belgium / Europe.
Last modified
2024-10-11 09:10:25

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
1986
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
ILTER✔This site is a verified "ILTER" member.
LTER Europe✔This site is a verified "LTER Europe" member.
ICP Forests✔ (2_21)This site is a verified "ICP Forests" member.
LTER Belgium✔ (LTER_EU_BE_02)This site is a verified "LTER Belgium" member.
Projects
Natura 2000
NEC Directive (2016/2284)
eLTER (H2020)
eLTER catalogue
FutMon
Teabag
ICP Forests (Level II)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Photos
Natural regeneration of maple under old beech trees at level II plot in Sonian forest
Natural regeneration of maple under old beech trees at level II plot in Sonian forest
litterfall trap and througfall precipitation sampling at the Level-II site
litterfall trap and througfall precipitation sampling at the Level-II site
old monumental beech trees (DBH>130 cm) in the strict forest reserve
old monumental beech trees (DBH>130 cm) in the strict forest reserve
soil profile at the Level II-plot
soil profile at the Level II-plot
strict forest reserve (Unesco WH)
strict forest reserve (Unesco WH)
canopy height and gap fraction based on airborne LIDAR
canopy height and gap fraction based on airborne LIDAR
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 50.746 Longitude: 4.4133

Size
ca. 4400.00ha
Elevation (average)
120.00msl
Elevation (min)
80.00msl
Elevation (max)
150.00msl
Related location(s)
Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]
Boundaries [.shp] [.kml]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Deciduous Forest
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Deciduous Forest
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Grasslands
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G)
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G) » Broadleaved deciduous woodland (G1)
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G) » Broadleaved deciduous woodland (G1) » Beech woodland (G1.6)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
10.70°C
Precipitation Annual
854.00mm
Protection Level (IUCN category)
Category IV – Habitat/Species Management Area
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
partly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
plot scale
Design of Observation
partly observation
Scale of Observation
plot within catchment
Permanent Power Supply
No
Equipment
Observation devices » Camera traps
Observation devices » Measurement tower » No tower on site
Data infrastructure » Data services » Other data services
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Spatial database (GIS)
Data infrastructure » Data storage » Relational database
Supporting infrastructure » Transportation » Vehicle 2WD
Supporting infrastructure » Lodging at site » No lodging possible
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (from site) » No data transmission from site
Energy and data transmission infrastructure » Data transmission » Data Transmission Type (within site) » Cable based
Accessible All Year
Yes
All parts of Site Accessible
Yes
Access Type
dirt road (4WD)
Permanent Operation
Yes
Operation Notes
operational costs involve mainly sample collection and maintenance and laboratory analysis of samples
Site Visit Interval
15
Maintenance Interval
15
General Data Policy
Co-authorship on publications resulting from use of the dataset
LTER Site Classification
Regular
Related Resources on DEIMS-SDR
2 dataset(s) in total:
Ground vegetation data ICP Forests Level II plot Sonian forest
Meteorological_data_Sonian_2011-2016
There is EURO-CORDEX climate scenario data available for this site:
Projected Near Surface Specific Humidity ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Precipitation ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Sea Level Pressure ChangeRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Surface Downwelling Shortwave RadiationRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Wind SpeedRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85
Projected Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air TemperatureRCP26RCP45RCP85

You can also download the entire climate scenario dataset for this site from the EUDAT B2SHARE data store.