Tihany Outdoor Mesocosm (Hungary)

Klebelsberg Kuno 3,

8237-Tihany,

Hungary

Gergely Boros

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The outdoor mesocosm facility consists of 12 outdoor cylindrical plastic tanks; each has a volume of 5 cubic meters and water depth of about 1.5 m. The sensors deployed in the mesocosms gauge the following parameters: dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation, water temperature, pH, redox potential, conductivity, TDS, light irradiation. The tanks can be filled either with tap water, or with water from Lake Balaton filtered in three phases (gravel, – sand, – and UV filters).

• water temperature (electric heating cables are planted in each mesocosms)
• light irradiation (at the top of each mesocosms there is has a LED lamp emitting a light spectrum similar to sunlight)
• speed of water circulation (an airlift mixing system circulates the water in the mesocosms with adjustable carrying capacity)
• nutrients in the water column
• heating and additional light irradiation are controlled by a programmable logic controller (PLC) system

• ecological stoichiometry;
• effects of temperature (climate change) and nutrient load (eutrophication)

• community ecology

• freshwater ecology
• environmental sciences

• The mesocosm facility with its 12 tanks and the linked infrastructure;
• well-equipped labs (for water quality analyses, stable isotope analyses, etc.) at the research institute;
• indoor facilities for breeding and maintaining plants and animals for experiments;
• offices for guest researchers

The Balaton Limnological Institute provides accommodation in its guesthouse (http://www.blki.hu/vendeghaz/index_en.html).

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