Middle East Technical University, Institute of Marine Sciences,
33731, Erdemli,
Mersin,
Turkey
Dr. Korhan Özkan
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IMS-METU mesocosm facility consists of 24 outdoor mesocosms and for stocking tanks mimicking shallow lake or coastal ecosystems. The system allows 3×2 factorial design experiments Each tank is made of polyethylene with a diameter of 2 m and depth of 1.8 m and insulated. Tanks are equipped with dynamic heating systems that can simulate climate change scenarios. Each tank is equipped with real-time sensors for temperature, oxygen, methane, carbon dioxide monitoring. The water column can be mixed with wave makers. Currently each tank has 0.3 m natural lake sediment and 1.2 m of water column and inoculated with natural communities (plankton to fish) from Anatolian coastal and inland Lakes. The facility involves a nearby field laboratory and storage facilities hosting all sampling equipment and basic analysis capacity.
Detailed information is available at the publication:
Özkan, K., Korkmaz, M., Amorim, C. A., Yılmaz, G., Koru, M., Can, Y., … & Jeppesen, E. (2023). Mesocosm Design and Implementation of Two Synchronized Case Study Experiments to Determine the Impacts of Salinization and Climate Change on the Structure and Functioning of Shallow Lakes. Water, 15(14), 2611.
- Temperature
- mixing
- nutrient levels
- salinity
- species composition if required.
- Climate change effects on ecosystems
- extreme events
- salinisation
- ecosystem ecology
- Ecology of inland and coastal lakes as well as coastal seas
- Aquatic ecology
- ecosystem ecology
- community ecology
- climate change
- plankton
- All tanks were equipped with temperature, oxygen, methane and CO2 sensors.
- There is a nearby field lab for basic wet-lab requirements such as filtration, alkalinity, Chl-a measurements.
- The site includes storage facility for all sampling and maintenance gears.
- The institute laboratories are 200 m away and hosting a large analyses capacity (nutrient auto-analyzers, HPLC, ICP-MS, Ion Chromatography, CHN analyzer, TOC-TN analyzer, microscope labs)
Lodging may be provided on campus for visiting students and researchers.
