Mesocosm experiments
Our research group has access to several mesocosm facilities. Mesocosms are large scale experiments simulating true communities but also allowing manipulation of the different environmental variables.

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Some of the white bags shown on the photo got extra nutrients (nitrogen), others got extra organic carbon (sugar) and the status of the microbial communities was monitored throughout several days. Which bacterial groups would dominate where and when? Which algal species would grow? Photosynthetic micro-algae convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic compounds. But, if extra sugar is added to the system, non-photosynthetic bacterial species may win the battle of the nutrients also needed by the algae and the final result can be less organic carbon in the end.
Learn more about MESOAQUA - a research infrastructure linking a number of European mesocosms.
Marine Biological Station, Espeland, Bergen.