jimbo

This excursion takes you through the floodplains of Beuningen. The floodplains are, as the name implies, a highly dynamic ecosystem with many different habitats and a high biodiversity. In this first exploration of the area you'll become acquainted with the most important habitat types, their role in the ecosystem and their biodiversity. At the end of this excursion you:

- Understand basic ecological processes that form floodplains
- Know what the most important habitats in floodplains are
- Can explain differences in biodiversity between these habitat types

Floodplains Beuningen Adapted High Water

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Jimbo

This excursion takes leads you through the push moraine landscape. The push moraines were formed during the penultimate ice age, and consist of grinded material that was pushed forward by the land ice. The forested hill is interesting in terms of flora and fauna, especially to a flat country such as the Netherlands. Not only do we find typical habitat types such as seepage springs, but the push moraine is also situated on the eastern end of the Netherlands, forming a western outpost of several Centro European species. During this excursion you’ll learn about the push moraine, its flora and fauna and the process that explain the distribution of this flora and fauna in the landscape.
Study aims:
After the excursion on the forested slopes of push moraines, you
• can explain how ecological factors, both biotic and abiotic, influence the distribution of plant and animal species (on the push moraine)
• can recognize the characteristic plant and animal species for different parts of the landscape
• can explain what morphological adaptations allow different plant and animal species to grow in different parts of the landscape

Push Moraine

This route has been developed for the course Biodiversity at the Radboud University to teach first year students how to identify the order, family and in some cases species to which a vascular plant or arthropod belongs. The route also highlights the various ecological factors and their influence on the distribution of plant and animal species in landscapes that can be found in the vicinity of Nijmegen (floodplains, woodlands on slopes of push moraines, heathlands).

Learning objectives
•	you can list the differences in abiotic conditions between a rainwater fed ecosystem and a groundwater fed ecosystem 
•	you can recognize the floral and faunal communities that are characteristic for the Hatertse vennen and for park Staddijk
•	you can explain what adaptations allow different plants and animals to survive in either nutrient poor and acidic environments or in nutrient rich and buffered environments


Radboud University

Alle trails van Radboud University

Floodplains Beuningen Adapted High Water

Push Moraine

Hatertse Vennen & Park Staddijk