WCL – WasserCluster Lunz
Dr. Carl Kupelwieser Promenade 5
A-3293 Lunz am See
Lunz am See, 150 km southwest of Vienna, Austria
Description of the infrastructure: The Lunz Mesocosm Infrastructure (LMI) belongs to WasserCluster Lunz (WCL), an inter-university research centre of the University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU) and the Danube University Krems. It includes 2 permanent land-based mesocosm systems: 40 mesocosms holding 320 L of water each are equipped with a special port to minimize sample contact in experiments targeting dispersal limitation; 24 additional mesocosms holding 400 L each and placed next to a cabin are equipped with a filling system filtering water. Both are equipped with computer-controlled heating and mixing systems. In addition, LMI comprises three experimental flume systems. The Benthic Flumes consist of 6 streamside channels (40 m long, 0.4 m wide) that are continuously fed with stream water. Basic hydraulic and sediment characteristics can be adjusted and solutes such as inorganic nutrients or DOM be added. The Hyporheic Flumes consist of 6 deep channels (5 m long, 0.5 m wide, 1 m deep) filled with gravel and fed with oligotrophic stream water in flow-through mode. Inlets and outlets at different depths (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1 m) allow for gradually lowering and increasing water levels to study effects of intermittency on hyporheic communities and processes. And there is an indoor flume system where water is channelled through 42 acrylic glass flumes (0.5 m length, 9cm width, 10 cm depth) connected either in parallel or in series. Each flume is operated by an individual aquarium pump in either flow-through or circulating mode, allowing to study biogeochemical turnover processes per flume under controlled temperature and light conditions.
Available infrastructure and instruments beyond the mesocosm facilities include 3 boats and 2 cars, several labs, including a radio-isotope lab (3H,14C), walk-in environmental chambers, elemental analyser coupled to isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS), GC-FID/MS for analysing fatty acids, HPLC, flow cytometer, total organic carbon (TOC) analyser, nutrient autoanalyser, bench spectrophotometer, fluorometer; PhytoPAM fluorometer, and dissecting, bright- field, inverted and epifluorescence microscopes. Field gear and instrumentation is also available including sampling gear, nets of various mesh sizes, water collection tubes. temperature sensors. Equipment and gear used in the Hyporheic Flumes include a fully automated discharge and water-temperature interface, data loggers, a flow velocity measurement system, a remote-controlled (IR) video system, electrofishing devices, sampling gear, tanks for hatching and maintaining fish, and more.
1A) WCL-Mesocosms-AquaScale (Robert Ptacnik)
40 land-based mesososms (320 L each); water pipes for aeration and mixing; exchangeable inner walls; app. 500 m from lake; local tab water suitable for experiments (not chlorinated)
1B) WCL-Mesocosms-LipTox (Martin Kainz)
24 land-based mesososms (400 L each), temperatured controlled, aerated, temperature sensors, remote controlled
2A) CARBOCROBE Flumes (Katrin Attermeyer)
The EcoCatch flumes, also named the ‘Lunzer Rinnen’ consist of 6 streamside experimental flumes of 40m length in which replicated streams can be simulated. The flumes can be used in two operational modes, in flow-through mode with raw stream water to all flumes, or in recirculation mode, with separate recirculation for each flume. A fact-sheet can be found here.
2B) Hyporheic Flumes (Katrin Attermeyer, Gabriele Weigelhofer)
The Hyporheic Flumes consist of 6 deep channels (5 m long, 0.5 m wide, 1 m deep) filled with gravel and fed with oligotrophic stream water in flow-through mode. Inlets and outlets at different depths (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1 m) allow for gradually lowering and increasing water levels to study effects of intermittency on hyporheic communities and processes.
2C) Indoor Flumes (Gabriele Weigelhofer, Simon Vitecek)
Water is channeled through up to 42 acrylic glass flumes (0.5 m length, 9cm width, 10 cm depth) connected either in parallel or in series. Each flume is operated by an individual aquarium pump in either flow-through or circulating mode, allowing to study e.g. biogeochemical processes, grazing of macroinvertebrates, and others, under controlled temperature and light conditions.
1A) WCL-Mesocosms-Ptacnik
Air flow; possibly shading; nutrient levels
1B) WCL-Mesocosms-Kainz
Temperature, air flow
2A) Water flow, sediment, DOC, nutrients
2B) Inundation/water flow, DOC, nutrients
2C) water flow, temperature, DOC, nutrients, pollutants
Please contact the respective group leaders for ongoing research
WCL Mesocosms 1A,B – Robert Ptacnik, Marin Kainz
Flumes 2A,B,C – Katrin Attermeyer, Gabriele Weigelhofer, Simon Vitecek
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