|
(44-06) A new outdoor and indoor pond and stream mesocosm for ecotoxicological research. Feibicke, Michael1, Mohr, Silvia*,1, Berghahn, Rüdiger1, Graßmann, Dirk1, Loth, Stefan1, Meinicke, Stefan1, Ottenströer, Thomas1, Schmidt, Michael1, Schmidt, Ralf1, 1 Umweltbundesamt (German EPA), Berlin, Germany ABSTRACT- In 2001, a new outdoor and indoor artificial pond and stream system for fate and effect studies of chemicals and municipal waste waters under highly controlled conditions has been put in operation. The modular system consists of eight indoor and eight outdoor pond and stream mesocosms which can be connected all with each other. The 16 streams with riffles (width 1 m, water depth max. 0.5 m) and pools (1.2 m * max. 1 m) can be varied in length up to 100 m. They can be run in circulation or flow-through at a flow velocity of 0.02 to 0.5 m/s. The 16 ponds (6.9 * 3.2 * max. 2.5 m) are equipped with drainage and pore water sampling devices for simulation of processes in the littoral zone including influent and effluent ground water flow. The systems can be run with both treated or untreated well water and municipal waste water from the waterworks and the sewage plant of the field station. Physico-chemical standard parameters and TOC, BOD, pH / oxygen profiles in sediments are measured on-line. Sand and organic sediment were introduced into the systems. Furthermore, different species of macrophytes, plankton as well as zoobenthos communities were established. During the initial calibration phase, the development and succession of the aquatic communities in the replicates will be monitored. At a later stage of the project, fate studies will be started. The rationale for this 18-months pilot phase is to gain experience in the management of technical as well as of the biological components of the test systems. Key words: indoor/outdoor pond mesocosm, indoor/outdoor stream mesocosm, risk assessment |
