UKCEH Aquatic Mesocosm Facility (Lancaster)
The purpose of the UKCEH Aquatic Mesocosm Facility (CAMF) is to enable controlled experimental studies of simulated shallow lake ecosystems. For example to study the effects of climate warming on freshwater communities, or to disentangle how different external drivers or stressors influence the structure and function of shallow lake ecosystems. Understanding how inland freshwater lakes work is important because they provide us with ecosystem services such as water supply, flood regulation, fishing and tourism, as well as supporting our health and wellbeing.

Category
Controlled environment platforms
Capabilities
The Aquatic Mesocosm Facility comprises 32 outdoor tanks, each 2m diameter and 1m deep (holding around 3000 litres of water exposed to air at the water surface) in which shallow lake ecosystems can be established. Each tank is equipped to enable controlled experimental manipulations, for example: heating elements to increase water temperature; mixers to disrupt thermal stratification; external raw (filtered reservoir water) water supply to flush the tanks. Each tank is also equipped with automatic sensors to measure water temperature, dissolved oxygen and solar radiation. A weather station on site tracks air temperature, rainfall, wind speed and direction. All data are automatically logged and transmitted to UKCEH to keep track of the experimental conditions and outcomes. A simple laboratory on site is available for storage, working space and sample preparation.
Lifecycle
The UKCEH Aquatic Mesocosm Facility was built in 2011 and has been in operation since 2012.
Uniqueness
The UKCEH Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is one of only three in the UK, however the others are not so well equipped to simulate climate warming (by computer-controlled water heaters) or to measure temperature, PAR and dissolved oxygen.
Partners
The Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is operated by UKCEH. It is part of the EU Horizon project AQUACOSM-plus
Access
The Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is available for use by other researchers, usually in collaboration with UKCEH; initial enquiries to Heidrun Feuchtmayr at UKCEH Lancaster.
Location
The Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is located at UKCEH Lancaster
Funding sources
The Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is currently funded by the EU: AQUACOSM-plus project.
Users
The Aquatic Mesocosm Facility is used by UKCEH researchers and project partners. It currently contributes to the AQUACOSM-plus EU project.
Scale
Area, city, farm, habitat
Location
Last updated
17 April 2024 07:31
Contact
Heidrun Feuchtmayr UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Lancaster