Mesocosm

The advantage of mesocosm studies is that environmental gradients of interest (e.g., warming temperatures) can be controlled or combined to separate and understand the underlying mechanism(s) affecting the growth or survival of species, populations or communities of interest. By manipulating gradients (e.g., climate variables) mesocosm studies can extend beyond available data helping to build better models of the effects of different scenarios. Mesocosm experiments also tend to include replication of different treatment levels. Manipulating something can give an idea as to what to expect if something were to occur in that ecosystem or environment. == Disadvantages ==

Using growth chambers for a laboratory experiment is sometimes a disadvantage due to the limited amount of space. Another disadvantage to using mesocosms is not adequately imitating the environment, causing the organism to avoid giving off a certain reaction versus its natural behavior in its original environment. == Examples ==

Mazzeo and colleagues examined the eating habits of Hoplias malabaricus fish when exposed to different amounts of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and competition. Three months prior to conducting the experiment, they maintained an average precipitation, air temperature, and overall subtropical environment. They divided it into four controls and four experiments on University of Calgary's campus pond. Mesocosms have also been used to study how the diversification of three-spined sticklebacks influences trophic communities and other ecosystem processes. == References ==