The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar “ 'Bridging the Gap between Field and Lab: The Sylt Mesocosm Facility to Simulate Climate Change Scenarios on Coastal Ecosystems,” presented by Knut Mehler, adjunct research scientist in the SUNY Buffalo State Great Lakes Center, on Monday, November 20, at 3:00 p.m. in Science and Math Complex 151. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies before the seminar.

Abstract
Global climate change has tremendous effects on the world’s coastal ecosystems, such as an increase in surface water temperature, changes in water chemistry, and sea level rise. The German Wadden Sea national parks are marine-protected areas and of tremendous conservation interest due to their high biodiversity, biomass production, and as an important migratory route for birds; however, the unique ecosystem is threatened by climate change, fisheries, and the expansion of nonnative species.

The mesocosm facility at the Alfred-Wegener Institute's Wadden Sea Station on the island of Sylt, Germany, provides a unique platform for studying the effects of single or multiple stress scenarios at the intertidal community level. Each of the 24 outdoor and six indoor units is equipped with novel techniques of tidal and currents simulations as well as multi-parameter measurement systems to simulate multi-factorial climate change scenarios, including the combination of warming, acidification, nutrient enrichment, and sea level rise. Temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and salinity can be continuously monitored and logged, while discreetly collected samples of total alkalinity, light availability, chlorophyll a, nutrients, and seston supplement these datasets.