The Luxembourg Gutland Landscape

This book gathers older and current knowledge of the evolution and functioning of cuesta landscapes to provide a better understanding of the Luxembourgian landscape. The geological variety and tectonic setting of the area provide excellent opportunities to study landscape development, hydrology, geomorphological processes, soil formation, forest vegetation and interrelationships between them, which are characteristic of larger parts of Europe. The book is organized around four themes. The first addresses the development of the Luxembourgian cuesta landscape, covering geological evolution, lithology, geomorphological characteristics and hydrology, as well as the scientific history of research in this area. The second theme addresses aspects of the landscape’s geo-ecological- system functioning and development, including soils, nutrient availability, forest ecology and educational approaches to study geo-ecological systems, including old and modern mapping techniques. The third theme is related to biological and physico-chemical control of erosion processes, including the impact of (macro-)fauna, vegetation and substrate on soil erosion processes. The last theme discusses practical applications of the research findings.

Annemieke Kooijman received her PhD in Biology in 1993 at the University of Utrecht on changes in nutrient availability and vegetation in rich fens due to environmental stress. She has been working at the University of Amsterdam as a landscape ecologist, currently at the Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics Department of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She works on interactions between soils and biota in ecosystems with gradients in geology and pH, such as semi-terrestrial wetlands, coastal dune grasslands and Luxembourg forests, with particular focus on ecosystem nutrition. For the Luxembourg forests, she has published a number of studies about the impact of geology and litter quality on ecosystem functioning. She has been teaching (field) courses on soils and landscape ecology in various ecosystems for more than 25 years.