TERENO - Wüstebach - Germany

The Wüstebach catchment is located in the Eifel National Park and covers an area of 38.5 ha, with mean altitude of about 610 m. The geology is dominated by Devonian shale, which is covered by a periglacial solifluction layer of about 1–2 m thickness. Cambisols and Planosols have developed on the hillslopes, whereas Gleysols and Histosols have formed in the valley. The main soil texture is silty clay loam and the litter layer has a thickness between 0.5 and 14 cm. The mean annual precipitation is about 1200 mm. Norway Spruce planted in 1946 is the prevailing vegetation type. During late summer/early autumn of 2013, trees were almost completely removed in an area of 9 ha by the national park forest management in order to promote the natural regeneration of near-natural deciduous forest from spruce monoculture forest.