Vestskoven - Denmark

DEIMS.iD

https://deims.org/c9736cb4-7276-48db-86e4-23cf8dcba6bf

Basic Information

Site Name

Vestskoven

Short name

Vestskoven

Country

Denmark

Web Address

Dept of Geosciences&Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen

Site Manager

Inger Kappel Schmidt

Morten Ingerslev

Lars Vesterdal

Keywords

afforestation

belowground biomass

biodiversity

Broadleaved deciduous woodland

chronosequence

Critical zone observatory

Dry grasslands

ecosystem services

forest ecosystems

grazing

ICP Integrated Monitoring

ICP-forest

Land-use

Land-use management

soil chemical characteristics (pH, CEC, EC, C and N content, …)

terrestrial ecosystems

transitional forest

understory vegetation

Site Description

Vestskoven is a 15 km2 ongoing afforestation area located 15 km west of central Copenhagen. Since 1967 arable land has successively been bought up for afforestation in order to establish a large forest area for outdoor activities and wood production. In 1998, afforestation chronosequences in oak (Quercus robur) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) were established as a research platform to quantify soil carbon dynamics, water recharge, nitrogen budgets and ground vegetation species diversity. The soil and grund vegetation species composition were resampled in the chronosequences after 13 years in 2011. Since 2003, an ICP-Forests Level II/Core plot with integrated monitoring under the UN Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) is placed in an oak stand. Monitoring has developed over time. There is no time limit on the monitoring financed by the Ministry of Environment and Food in Denmark.

Last modified

2020-09-01 03:09:22

General Characteristics, Purpose, History

Site Status

Operational

Year Established

1967

Purpose

The site presents a unique opportunity to study the influence of afforestation within the same soil type. The site offers many possibilities to explore the environmental benefits of afforestation, also with respect to recreation, biodiversity and for assessment of environmental economics at the landscape scale. Management guidelines for afforestation in Denmark are partly based on the results obtained in Vestskoven.

History

Afforestation from 1967 and is still ongoing on former agricultural land as a near urban forest to Copenhagen. The forest is presently 1500 ha with stands of mainly oak (Quercus robor), beech (Fagus Sylvatica) and Norway spruce (Picea abias) of varying age but a number of other tree species are present. The site has been an ICP-forest site since 1998. Studies of forest development in chronosequences have been conducted since 1998 including biogeochemical cycling, forest growth, soil carbon sequestration, nitrogen retention and development of understory vegetation. Further, longer term studies of different land-uses incl. diff forest types, pastures and agriculture have been conducted

Research Topics

successional dynamics

land cover classification

land use classification

landscape ecology

long term ecological research

plants population changes over time

population dynamics

soil ecology

soil microbial ecology

depositions chemistry

environmental chemistry

isotopic chemistry

soil chemistry

soil solution chemistry

water chemistry

environmental science

environmental assessment

environmental awareness

environmental impact

global change

global environmental change

soil solution chemistry

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Parameters

agricultural parameter

amount of nitrate leaching

amount of nitrogen leaching

atmospheric parameter

mean annual air temperature

mean annual precipitation

mean annual temperature

methane concentration

minimum temperature

plant carbon concentration

precipitation intensity

reflected global radiation irradiance

relative humidity

saturated water content

solar radiation

vapor pressure deficit

wind direction

wind direction (mean and gust)

wind speed

wind speed (mean and gust)

annual net primary production

leaf nitrogen concentration

leaf nutrient

microbial biomass carbon

net primary productivity

nitrogen content

nitrogen dioxide flux

plant nitrogen concentration

tree diameter at breast height

tree height

chemical parameter

ammonium content

ammonium nitrate concentration

ammonium nitrogen content

available phosphorus

base cations content in water

base saturation

buffer capacity

carbon to nitrogen ratio

cation exchange capacity

chemical composition

chemical composition of water

dissolved organic carbon in water

dissolved organic nitrogen

dissolved organic phosphorus

inorganic carbon content

inorganic nitrogen content

inorganic nutrient content

nitrogen availability

nitrogen balance

nitrogen budget

nutrient availability

soil acidity

soil carbon storage

soil nitrate leaching

above ground net primary production

floristic composition

habitat heterogeneity

habitat structure

habitat use

inorganic nutrient content

land cover type

leaf area

leaf area index

leaf nitrogen concentration

leaf nutrient

litter residence time

litter size

microbial biomass carbon

percent carbon

percent nitrogen

percent organic carbon

plant species abundance

plant species composition

plant species richness

species group abundance

tree diameter at breast height

tree distribution

tree height

vegetation layer composition

vegetation layer structure

vegetation layer type

vegetation pattern

vegetation structure

environmental parameter

environmental heterogeneity

ground surface temperature

landscape composition

landscape connectivity

landscape fragmentation

landscape heterogeneity

breast height diameter

bulk density

canopy height

dry bulk density

remote sensing parameter

interception

soil parameter

ammonium content

ammonium nitrate concentration

ammonium nitrogen content

available phosphorus

carbon dioxide concentration

carbon-to-nitrogen ratio

cation exchange capacity

conductivity

dissolved organic nitrogen in soil

inorganic carbon content

inorganic nitrogen content

percent carbon

percent nitrogen

perched water table depth

pore structure

pore water content

potential evaporation

soil gravimetric water content

soil matrix water potential

soil moisture content

soil moisture field capacity

soil solution concentration

soil temperature

soil texture

soil volumetric water content

soil water content

soil water holding capacity

soil water retention

soil water retention curve

soil wilting point

thickness of soil horizon

total organic carbon

Photos

not defined

Geographic

Size

1500.00ha

Elevation (average)

24.00msl

Elevation (min)

23.00msl

Elevation (max)

68.00msl

Affiliation and Network Specific Information

Affiliation

Projects

eLTER Plus (H2020) - VA

Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid coordinates [.shp] [.kml]

Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml]

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Site Details

Ecosystem and Environmental Characteristics

GEO-BON Biome

Terrestrial

Biome

Deciduous Forest

Ecosystem and Land Use

Forest

Deciduous Forest

Evergreen Forest

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Grasslands

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Biogeographical Region

Atlantic Bio-geographical Region

Air Temperature: Average Annual

9.00°C

Precipitation Annual

651.00mm

Geology

Glacial till

Soils

Hapludalfs/Luvisols

EUNIS habitat

Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E)

Grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens (E) » Dry grasslands (E1)

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) » Lines of trees, small anthropogenic woodlands, recently felled woodland, early-stage woodland and coppice (G5)

Woodland, forest and other wooded land (G) » Mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland (G4)

Design and Scale of Site

Site Type (Spatial Design)

Complex Site

Design of Experimentation

partly experimentation

Scale of Experimentation

plot scale

Design of Observation

only observation

Scale of Observation

plot without link to explicit catchment

Infrastructure

Infrastructure notes

Part of the site is an ICP-forest site and highly instrumented. Other parts are experimental designed study sity e.g. three forest chronosequences in oak, beech and Norway spruce for forest development studies

Accessible All Year

Yes

All parts of Site Accessible

Yes

Access Type

dirt road (4WD)

Permanent Power Supply

Yes

Operation

Permanent Operation

Yes

Operation Notes

ICP forest site with continuously sampling of environmental parameters
Soon assessible online

Site Visit Interval

Maintenance Interval

Data Management

General Data Policy

The opportunity to collaborate on the project using the dataset

Data Policy Notes

The site has an ICP-forest site where data are available on request through ICP-forest. The rest of the forest is used in numerous projects and collaboration is always welcome

Data Storage Location

Central

Data Services

Other data service

Network related information

LTER Site Classification

Regular

Related Resources

Additional data

There is EURO-CORDEX climate scenario data available for this site:

Projected Near Surface Specific Humidity Change	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Precipitation Change	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Sea Level Pressure Change	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Surface Downwelling Shortwave Radiation	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Wind Speed	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Near-Surface Air Temperature	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Daily Maximum Near-Surface Air Temperature	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85
Projected Daily Minimum Near-Surface Air Temperature	RCP26	RCP45	RCP85

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