The aquatic-terrestrial model ecosystem – a possibility to integrate riparian food webs in stream mesocosm testing

In this post, Matthias Wieczorek informs about their recent paper on the use of an aquatic-terrestrial model ecosystem to study cross-ecosystem effects of contaminants.

The scientific background

Emerging aquatic insects provide an important food source for predatory species in riparian food webs. If these aquatic insects are exposed to contaminants during their aquatic life stage, they may transport contaminants to riparian ecosystems during their emergence. Therefore, riparian food webs may be at risk from either an aquatic-terrestrial transfer of contaminants or from contaminant-driven reductions of emerging aquatic biomass. The objective of the present study was to develop an aquatic-terrestrial model ecosystem enabling the possibility to investigate such cross-ecosystem effects on a mesocosm scale under controlled conditions.

Read more here

The stream mesocosm facility at the Campus Landau (photo by M. Wieczorek)