ExStream experiment

The ExStream experiment is an outdoor mesocosm system.

Location: At the river Boye, in Bottrop/NRW.

Stream water is pumped into header tanks, from which it feeds up to 128 circular mesocosms. In the mesocoms, multiple stressors can be simultaneously applied in a full factorial design with eight replicates per stressor combination each.

The effects of three stressors (temperature increase, salinization and hydraulic modification) on organism groups from bacteria to fish and their parasites and on ecosystem functions will be tested.


First ExStream experiment finished (May 2021)

After about one and a half month, starting with the construction of the system on April 12, the ExStream outdoor mesocosm finished successfully on May 28.