Parent institution: University of Antwerp
Active since 2022
Active through all year
Nijs, Ivan
email: ivan.nijs@uantwerpen.be
De Boeck, Hans
email: hans.deboeck@uantwerp.be
This Ecotron facility will initially consist of 12 units where monoliths of 1 m² and 1 m depth can be installed in lysimeters. It can harbor small-statured ecosystems, such as grasslands or crops. By sampling inlet and outlet air, trace gas fluxes (CO2, H2O, in the future possibly CH4, N2O) are continuously determined in the units, which serve as growth environment as well as “ecosystem analyzer”. As biogeochemical cycles are often tightly coupled, the simultaneous measurement of these fluxes - in the long run also in combination with stable isotope determinations - will advance understanding relative to focusing on single or few fluxes. This Ecotron is capable of imposing temperatures well above ambient temperatures (up to +12 K), and together with the hosts' expertise in the domain, is suitable for climate extreme research.The platform will be situated on the University of Antwerp campus, and will be operational in 2022.
Country: Belgium
Latitude: 51.1614
Longitude: 4.4081
Nearest town: Wilrijk
Distance from neaerst town: 2 km
Highly-instrumented Ecotrons (environmentally controlled chambers) advance understanding of interacting processes by testing specific combinations of forcing variables, and measuring gas fluxes in an automated way (Roy et al. 2021). Multiple key questions regarding climate change, biodiversity loss, eutrophication and other global change factors can be addressed. We especially welcome research into climate extremes.
This platform is currently under construction.
Experiments duration: Weeks, Months, Years;
Total area: 12 m²
Available area: 0 m²
unit size: 1 m²
basal area is area within a dome; area of the lysimeter is 1 m²Replicates number: 12
Electricity available on site.
Years measured: 29
Mean Temperature: 10.6 °C
February Mean Temperature: 3.7 °C
July Mean Temperature: 18.5 °C
Mean Annual Speed: 3.5 m/s
Max. Annual Speed: m/s
Dominant Direction: SW
Precipitation type: Rain, Snow;
Total annual precipitation: 850 mm
Mean snow cover duration: days
| Variable | Ecosystem | Status |
|---|---|---|
| CO2 | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Warming | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Precip | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Hydro | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Fire | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Soileutroph | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Fire, the second one | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Soilerosion | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Desert | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Management - Nutrients (levels or nutrient type) | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Management - conventional vs. organic or other eco-friendly practice | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Management - rotation practice | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Management - species and/or ecotype combinations | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Management - traditional (or native) vs. new (or non-native) species | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Pests | Agrosystem | Planned |
| Biodiversity | Agrosystem | Planned |
| CO2 | Grassland | Planned |
| Warming | Grassland | Planned |
| Precip | Grassland | Planned |
| Hydro | Grassland | Planned |
| Fire | Grassland | Planned |
| Soileutroph | Grassland | Planned |
| Fire, the second one | Grassland | Planned |
| Soilerosion | Grassland | Planned |
| Desert | Grassland | Planned |
| Management - Nutrients (levels or nutrient type) | Grassland | Planned |
| Management - conventional vs. organic or other eco-friendly practice | Grassland | Planned |
| Management - rotation practice | Grassland | Planned |
| Management - species and/or ecotype combinations | Grassland | Planned |
| Management - traditional (or native) vs. new (or non-native) species | Grassland | Planned |
| Pests | Grassland | Planned |
| Biodiversity | Grassland | Planned |
| CO2 | Shrubland | Planned |
| Warming | Shrubland | Planned |
| Precip | Shrubland | Planned |
| Hydro | Shrubland | Planned |
| Fire | Shrubland | Planned |
| Soileutroph | Shrubland | Planned |
| Fire, the second one | Shrubland | Planned |
| Soilerosion | Shrubland | Planned |
| Desert | Shrubland | Planned |
| Pests | Shrubland | Planned |
| Biodiversity | Shrubland | Planned |
Up to 3 people
Up to 3 people
Up to 1 visitors
No beds on site
Showers on site
Laundry on site