A novel marine mesocosm facility to study global warming, water quality, and ocean acidification. Issue 20 (30th September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Duarte, Gustavo; Calderon, Emiliano N.; Pereira, Cristiano M.; Marangoni, Laura F. B.; Santos, Henrique F.; Peixoto, Raquel S.; Bianchini, Adalto; Castro, Clovis B.
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 5:Issue 20(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 4555
• Page End: 4566
• Publication Date: 2015-09-30
• Subjects: Experimental biology -- flow‐through system -- marine mesocosm -- open‐source board control system -- pCO2 reactor -- realism -- stress physiology; Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1670
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

Abstract: We describe a completely randomizable flow‐through outdoor mesocosm for climate change and ecotoxicology studies that was built with inexpensive materials. The 16 raceway tanks allow up to 6× water renewal per hour, avoiding changes in natural abiotic seawater conditions. We use an open‐source hardware board (Arduino) that was adapted to control heaters and an innovative CO2 injection system. This system reduced seawater pH up to −0.9 units and increased temperature up to +6°C in three treatments and a control. Treatments can be continuously compared with the control and vary according to diel fluctuations, thus following the diel range observed in the sea. The mesocosm facility also includes an integrated secondary system of 48 aquaria for ecotoxicology studies. We validated the reproducibility and relevance of our experimental system by analyzing the variation of the total DNA of the microbial community extracted from corals in three elevated temperature scenarios during a 40‐day experiment. We also present data from temperature, acidification, and copper contamination trials, which allowed continuous, reliable, and consistent treatment manipulations. Abstract : Development of specific and appropriate experimental systems is a crucial task to help understanding the effects of global change on marine organisms. We describes an experimental system specifically designed to study the effects of global climate change, ocean acidification, and water quality on marine fauna and flora.