Beverbeek - Belgium

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Basic Information
Site Name
Beverbeek
Short name
Beverbeek
Country
Belgium
Web Address
https://ees.kuleuven.be/fnl/
Operating Organisation
KU Leuven
Site Manager
Bart Muys
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
2025-04-23 08:53:45

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2015
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.
LTER Belgium✔ (LTER_EU_BE_37)This site is a verified "LTER Belgium" member.
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
Projects
Natura 2000
Photos
Map of the Beverbeek site
Map of the Beverbeek site
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 51.2781 Longitude: 5.5242

Size
ca. 636.10ha
Elevation (average)
33.00msl
Elevation (min)
31.00msl
Elevation (max)
35.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Mixed Forest
Ecosystem Type
Agricultural
Forest
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Temperate coniferous forests
Grasslands
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Rivers
Small rivers
Biogeographical Region
Atlantic Bio-geographical Region
EUNIS habitat
Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E)
Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E) » Mesic grasslands (E2)
Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E) » Mesic grasslands (E2) » Agriculturally-improved, re-seeded and heavily fertilised grassland, including sports fields and grass lawns (E2.6)
Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E) » Mesic grasslands (E2) » Permanent mesotrophic pastures and aftermath-grazed meadows (E2.1)
Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E) » Mesic grasslands (E2) » Unmanaged mesic grassland (E2.7)
Habitat complexes (X)
Heathland, scrub and tundra (F)
Heathland, scrub and tundra (F) » Temperate shrub heathland (F4)
Heathland, scrub and tundra (F) » Temperate shrub heathland (F4) » Dry heaths (F4.2)
Mires, bogs and fens (D)
Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats (I)
Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats (I) » Arable land and market gardens (I1)
Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats (I) » Arable land and market gardens (I1) » Intensive unmixed crops (I1.1)
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) » Coniferous woodland (G3)
Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G) » Mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland (G4)
Air Temperature: Average Annual
9.30°C
Precipitation Annual
867.00mm
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
Land Use
primary production
primary production » agriculture
primary production » forestry
other uses » natural areas not in other economic use
Site Type
Stationary land-based 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
Observation devices » Probe continuous measurements
Equipment notes
There is a network of 12 monitoring wells to measure groundwater level fluctuations.
Soil surface temperature and soil moisture content is measured at 15 min intervals with 7 TMS4 data loggers
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