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2I - High-tiered studies (MOP/118) Essential and optional requirements for lotic and lentic mesocosms. Berghahn, Rüdiger 1, Mohr, Silvia1, Feibicke, Michael1, Meinecke, Stefan1, Ottenströer, Thomas1, Schmidt, Ralf1, 1 Umweltbundesamt, Versuchsfeld Marienfelde, Berlin, Germany ABSTRACT- Lentic mesocosms are generally accepted tools in ecotoxicological research including effect studies. There are recommendations from SETAC workshops and other publications on how to construct lentic mesocosms and how to conduct experiments, but up to now there are no guidelines. In contrast, the need of lotic mesocosms in particular for studies on dose response relationships is still under debate and experimental rules in this field are even more fragmentary. Design and construction of the new modular indoor and outdoor system of lentic and lotic mesocosms of the German EPA revealed that many more factors than previously listed have to be taken into account in order to achieve comparability, reproducibility and representativeness of mesocosm studies. They include the selection of basic building materials, natural and artificial light as well as water conditions, uncontrolled input of material from external sources, and the type of pumps employed in the system. Key words: artificial streams, mesocosm design, artificial ponds, recommendations |
