Welcome to the Bosrandweg!
Please park your bike away from the road, on the forest side. After, you can start reading.
First, have a look at these maps from 1860, 1940 and 2020. The red spot indicates the place where you just parked your bike! These maps can be found on topotijdreis.nl.
The road you just cycled on aligns the outer limits of the forest, as the name indicates (bosrandweg, forest-edge-road). The estate ‘De Dorschkamp’ is located on the forest side of the road. If you would walk into the old forest (already present before 1860!!) you will see a lane of old beech (Fagus sylcatica, beuk) trees. These demarcate an old road that used to go through the forest, as you can clearly see on the 1860 and 1940 maps.
On the other side of this old road there used to be no forest, it was grassland and garden of the estate. You can see the house of the landowner on the 1940 map. However, during the second world war the estate was severely damaged, and the ‘Stichting Bosbouwproefstation’ started using the land. They did a lot of research in this forest part and this is why, on the other side of the beech lane, (where there is grassland in 1940 and forest in 2020) you will find a lot of different trees that you would not typically find in a Dutch forest. This makes this location a very interesting point to look at the different trees and their influence on the ecosystem.
Alrighty, let’s get started with the questions!
Please be aware, there a some standing dead trees here, be sure to not stand below one as it can fall at any given moment.
Be aware that you should spend around 45 minutes at each location, if you have time left, you can go the point with a star ⭐️, here is a bonus question.
🚩 Flags have been put down on the ground to indicate the precise location of each point on the map. Are some points busy with other students? Spread out!