The next round of the joint AquaNet and AQUACOSM-plus experiments are kicking-off! This time around the experiments will take place at Asa Research Station and Svartberget Research Station with a focus on functional and compositional consequences of different salinity disturbance regimes on plankton communities. The experiment is a follow up to the GLEON Salt experiment in 2018 and will run from mid-June to the end of July.
Through AQUACOSM-Plus, international project participants are supported through Transnational Access (TA) to travel to and carry out the experiment at the SITES AquaNet mesocosm facilities. SITES staff support in the preparation of the experiment and AquaNet platform set up; this includes connecting many small wires to a data logging system so that each mesocosm is equipped with high frequency sensors measuring, e.g., dissolved oxygen, temperature, photosynthetic active radiation, chlorophyll, phycocyanin and turbidity.
On June 12, 2023, the TA participants and SITES staff met at SITES Erken Laboratory to officially kick-off the experiments. The group discussed the experimental set up details and got hands-on training of the sampling scheme, using the AquaNet platform on Lake Erken as a test case. This week the group will separate into two cohorts; one group travels south to Asa Research Station, while the other travels north to Svartberget Research Station.
The mesocosm experiments will be identically run at the two stations, which are both located in forested catchments. The contrast between geographical location (57.17N and 64.26 N), lake area (0.52 km2 and 0.04km2) and trophic status (Oligratrophic and Mesotrophic), respectively for Feresjön at Asa and Stortjärn at Svaretberget, will provide an interesting comparison for the study.