Lifelong Learning Programme

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Geographical Areas

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GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS

NAME OF THE LOCAL AREA
Park of Cointe
COUNTRY
Belgium
CITY
Liège
THEMATIC AREA
Biology
WEB SITE
Neighbourhood association website: http://www.cointe.org
DESCRIPTION OF THE LOCAL AREA
Cointe is a neighbourhood of Liège, in the South-West of the city centre. It includes the hill called “Cointe” and the valley in the West, known as “Les Bruyères”. The Park is divided in three areas; the sport and play field, the landscaped park between the field and Boulevard Kleyer and the wooded area below the boulevard.
One can reach it through the E25 Liège-Guillemins exit and then taking the Avenue de l’Observatoire. There is a walking path to the landscaped park.
It is not a site of community significance.
Park of Cointe is a large peri-urban park. From its lower part, paths lead walkers to the upper part through very different environments. This dendrological park is the home of some remarkable varieties. Fifteen of those subjects have been listed by the Belgian Society of Dendrology, including a yellowwood (Cladrastris lutea) and zelkova serrata. Forty-two trees of those trees are on the list of remarkable trees and hedges of Wallonia.The former rockery is densely populated with shrubs and perennial plants with colourful flowerings. A varied vegetation with shrubs, perennial plants that vary through the seasons. Among them emerge the trunks of tall trees, including several varieties of conifers as well as a ginkgo biloba, a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and a catalpa bignonioides. The park extends below to the other side of the boulevard, on the hillside overlooking the Guillemins station area. This lower part is characterised by an uneven relief and a woody cover that includes sequoias, pines and a rare Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna). This part requires a different management, with a more natural, or even wild, look with many species of insects and pollinators

PICTURES

Bee Bees are indispensable because, without them, most flowers, fruits, and trees would disappear. Indeed bees take care of pollination and, without them, pollen would have difficulties spreading. To produce 1kg of honey, bees have to collect nectar from over five million flowers.
Dandelion seed dispersal (anemochory) Anemochory is the dissemination, by wind, of the fruits and seeds of flowering plants, and more generally, of spores and other forms of living species dispersal. Among the morphological characteristics that are favourable to anemochory, the smallness and lightness of the seeds and sprouts are an easy and efficient possibility. However, weight is a moderate obstacle to wind dispersal, which can bring whole individuals (insects) far away. In flowering plants, anemochory generally involves specific morphological devices. Some have a shape that remind of manmade gliders, others parachutes. When gliding, the seed slides on the air for a certain distance from the mother plant; so does the parachute type, as long as the wind deviates the slown down fall from the vertical.
Dandelion seed dispersal (hydrochory) Hydrochory is the dispersal mode of flowering plants that uses water. Streaming, rain or sea currents: pollination by water can have different aspects. Hydrochory can be done through streaming water when the capsules are carried in puddles, by brooks or during floods (river overflowing), through a direct fall in still water, rain splashes (mainly for a few species such as mushrooms), or through sea currents. Thanks to hydrochory, plants can scatter in their environment.
Pollen dispersal (zoogamy) Zoochory is the dispersal mode of vegetal seeds or diaspores performed through animals. The upside of this process is to make seeds cross large distance. It fosters the specie’s extension and the diversification of its genetic heritage. It is the case of fruits with hooks or stings to cling to the fleece (hair, feathers, etc.) of animals. Zoogamy is a similar process for pollen. The larch was established along the roads of European regions, unintentionally carried by salespeople in the 19th century (anthropochory). This transport can be intentional, like with squirrels or dormice (mammaliochory) that gather fruits such as acorns or hazelnuts to bury and stock them (synzoochory). When the animal dies or forgets or loses its stock, the seeds can sprout: cthis phenomenon is called dyszoochory.
Pollination by butterflies Lepidopterans are an insect order whose adult form is commonly called “butterfly” and the larva “caterpillar”. It is one of the most common insect orders and the most renowned worldwide, with 155 100 to 174 233 described species. The adult is characterised by three pairs of legs (like all insects) and two pairs of wings covered with scales colours that vary widely from one specie to another. Lepidopterans lay eggs that give birth to caterpillars. These then turn into chrysalises (that shelter or not in a previously woven cocoon). The imago, or butterfly, comes out of it. Their life cycle is thus made of four distinct states: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. They are complete metamorphosis insects. Throughout centuries, butterflies and plants created close relationships. The former depend on the latter for food and, in return, the latter can continue their reproductive cycle, which they could not without the former. Pollination by butterflies is inevitable for some plants. Butterflies are not the only insects to perform this essential pollination work. Bees, hoverflies, bumblebees, (as well as wind)... take a large contribution in this effort.
Pollination, a symbiosis Pollinators do not act randomly; it is always a matter of survival for both partners. Symbiosis is so strong that some plants have evolved alongside the insect, with only one insect species that is anatomically able to enter the flower. In other cases, the flower looks strikingly like the female insect, or smells like it. The male realises it too late… A large variety of plants is therefore essential to the survival of a large variety of pollinators, and vice versa...
The bee, top pollinator The main role of bees is pollination. Since it is necessary to plant reproduction, many plants depend on bees and other pollinating insects. When a bee collects nectar and pollen from the flower of a plant to feed, part of the pollen of the stamen stick to its hair. When it lands on another flower, part of the pollen stays on the stigma or the tip of the pistil— the female reproductive organ of the flower. When this happens, fertilisation is possible, and a fruit, with seeds, can develop.
Park residents Created in the last quarter of the 19th century, the Park of Cointe offers many views on the city of Liège +displays a large variety of cultivated and wild. The Park of Cointe was set up as a mixed park with footpaths, a rocky ground, green areas and a wooded and landscaped area that includes a varied collection of trees and shrubs. This dendrological park is the home of some remarkable varieties. Fifteen of those subjects have been listed by the Belgian Society of Dendrology, including a yellowwood (Cladrastris lutea) and zelkova serrata. Forty-two trees of those trees are on the list of remarkable trees and hedges of Wallonia. Most of them are planted in the Eastern part of the park.
The flowery area of the park The park has several characteristics that make it a biodiversity reserve, due among other to the variety of arrangements. The flowery area gives prominence to meadow wild flowers, ensuring quick, late and long-term flowering. It leaves large quantity of food for the pollinators that pass through.

DRAWINGS

Private Park of Cointe (1880) The private park appears on this drawing by Blonden in 1880. It was then located on the nearby municipality of Ougrée (Sclessin).

VIDEO

Pollination – OUP science animation

53 second animation directed by Oxford University Press presenting in a simple and illustrated way the main steps of a flower pollination by a well-known pollinator, the bee. It features the main organs of the plant and the germination of pollen seed in the flower. This video also makes a parallel between the evolution of the flower and the development of the fruit, which will lead to producing a seed and a new plant. Finally, all this is related to the life cycle of flowering plants. On Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/6965266

Cycle de développement des abeilles en images

This video presents in one minute in fast forward, the development of bees. It was filmed in continuous shots, which shows with details the steps the Apis Mellifera goes through. A few cells of a brood that has been swarmed are visible. With this video, one can discover all the steps in the development of this hymenopteran, from larva hatching to coming out of the cocoon.