The Merzenhausen study site (50°55'47?N, 6°17'46?E) is situated approximately 13 km northwest of Selhausen, near Jülich in western Germany, close to the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands. Located at an altitude of 105 meters above sea level with a slope of less than 1°, the site is part of the Eifel/Lower Rhine Valley Observatory within the Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO) network.,Covering an area of 6.9 hectares (approximately 200 m × 300 m), the site consists of conventionally managed agricultural land. The region follows a typical crop rotation pattern, including two seasons of winter wheat and one season of sugar beet. The surrounding landscape is dominated by agricultural fields.,The climate is temperate, with a mean annual temperature of 9.7°C and average annual precipitation of 750 mm (Schulz, 2004). The soil at the site is classified as silt loam and described as an Orthic or Haplic Luvisol (Heitmann-Weber et al., 1994, Schulz, 2004).,Although specific land use history for the field is not available, historical maps of the area indicate continuous agricultural use since 1895. Additionally, the discovery of nearby Bronze Age tombs suggests human activity in the area for several millennia. Therefore, any impacts from land use conversion are assumed to be negligible, similar to observations at nearby Selhausen and Merken sites.
