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.

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General Characteristics, Purpose, History

Site Status:

existing

Year Site Established:

1967

Size :

1 500.00ha

Purpose of Site :

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 of Site:

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:

Parameters:

Photos

Geographic

Coordinates:

Latitude: 55.690000000000
Longitude: 12.360000000000

Site Details

Ecosystem and Environmental Characteristics

Elevation Range FROM:

23.00msl

Elevation Range TO:

68.00msl

Elevation - Average:

24.00msl

Air Temperature: Average Annual:

9.00°C

Precipitation Annual :

651.00mm

Biome :

Deciduous Forest

GEO-BON Biome:

Terrestrial

Ecosystem and Land Use:

Forest
Deciduous Forest
Evergreen Forest
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Grasslands
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Biogeographic Region:

Atlantic

Geology:

Glacial till

Soils:

Hapludalfs/Luvisols

eLTER Parameters

eLTER Parameters:

Network Affiliation and Network Specific Information

Networks/Projects:

LTER

LTER related

LTER Site Code:

LTER_EU_DK_02

LTER Site Classification/Category:

Regular

ExpeER Classification:

Highly Instrumented Observational AND Experimental Site

Protection Status and Resource Management

0 - 25%

Management of Resources - Percent of Site:

75 - 100%

Design and Scale of Site

Site Type (Spatial Design):

Complex Site

Scale of Observation:

plot without link to explicit catchment

Design of Observation:

only observation

Scale of Experiments:

plot scale

Design of Experiments:

partly experimentation

Infrastructure

Value of the Infrastructure :

700-2000 k

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

Infrastructure:

Energy and data infrastructure › Data transmission › Data Transmission Type (within site) › Telephone line
Energy and data infrastructure › Data transmission › Data Transmission Type (from Site) › Telephone line
Energy and data infrastructure › Energy supply › Permanent Power Supply Location › Central station(s)
Supporting infrastructure › Lodging at site › No lodging possible
Supporting infrastructure › Transportation › Vehicle 2WD
Data infrastructure › Data storage › Structured file
Data infrastructure › Data services › Other data services

Operation

Operation Notes:

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

Permanent Operation:

Yes

Site Visit Interval:

Every 30 days

Maintenance Interval:

Every 30 days

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 Storage Format :

Structured file or spreadsheet

Data services :

Other data service

Data Request Format :

Offline (Mail or Telephone)

Associated Data

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