An Effective Mesocosm Design for Studying the Settlement and Recruitment of Fouling Organisms

摘要

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-mu m 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, R-2 > 0.50). Therefore, the design successfully managed fouling without the use of harmful chemicals. Phytoplankton composition inside and outside the mesocosm was not significantly different (p > 0.05), proving that there was food available to the barnacle larvae for development. There was a lower amount of meroplankton inside the mesocosm (p < 0.05) as compared to outside, showing that this mesocosm successfully excluded most competing larvae. This mesocosm design was successful at inhibiting biofouling growth, maintaining water quality and sufficient food, preventing competitive settlers, and housing specific settlement experimentation.