An Effective Mesocosm Design for Studying the Settlement and Recruitment of Fouling Organisms (original) (raw)

2017, Marine Technology Society Journal

Mesocosms are a powerful tool in the scientific community. They bridge the gap between laboratory and field studies by creating a contained test apparatus that allows for greater control over test organisms while still exposing them to natural environmental variations. A new mesocosm was designed to monitor the in-situ settlement patterns of barnacles. This paper focuses on testing the efficacy of the mesocosm to manage potential problems such as biofouling, corrosion, and poor water quality. The mesocosm consisted of a PVC cube, where four of the six sides had windows covered with 100-μm plankton mesh. Every 2 days, the cube was rotated so that one of the mesh sides was held out of the water, preventing biofouling from clogging the mesh. Biofouling on the outside of the mesocosm significantly correlated to the days of immersion in the marine environment; the longer a side was immersed, the greater the biofouling coverage (p < 0.05, R2 > 0.50). Therefore, the design successful...

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