Rewilding, landscape history & soil carbon in the Oostvaardersplassen M.Sc. thesis Earth
Sciences, University of Amsterdam (IBED) Maarten van Schie
Abstract
A study was done in the Oostvaardersplassen, NL, on the effect of rewilding on the landscape and
soil. Rewilding is a relatively young paradigm in nature management and conservation that proposes
the management of nature through natural processes. The Oostvaardersplassen is an area where
management through natural processes and/or boundary conditions for these processes has been the
stated goal since 1982. Interventions in the area were summarised and compared with the definition
of rewilding to propose a definition for rewilding interventions: the introduction of self-sustaining
processes that affect the ecosystem and continue to do so as long as they are present. The
introduction of grazers (in 1983, 1984 and 1992) was defined as the only unambiguous rewilding
intervention in the area. The effects of this intervention were measured by comparing historic
vegetation maps and quantifying change. This temporal change was translated into a parameter for
spatial information by calculating how often locations in the landscape changed. This parameter was
called dynamicity, and was used to assess the effect of changes in the landscape on soil carbon
stocks. Carbon stocks measured were total organic carbon, inorganic carbon, cold-water extractable
organic carbon (CWEOC) and hot-water extractable organic carbon (HWEOC). A significant effect
was found of both dynamicity and grazing CWEOC. A correlation was suggested between
dynamicity and total organic carbon in the 0-5 cm layer of the soil, and between grazing and total
organic carbon in the 5-10 cm layer of the soil.