P5 4 Attempting to create a sealed mesocosm - Garden in a bottle

Mesocosms are small experimental areas that are set up as ecological experiments. Fenced-off enclosures in grassland or forests could be used as terrestrial mesocosms; tanks set up in the laboratory can be used as aquatic mesocosms. Ecological experiments can be done in replicate mesocosms, to find out the effects of varying one or more conditions. For example, tanks could be set up with and without fish to investigate the effects of fish on an aquatic ecosystems. Another possible use of mesocosms is to test what types of ecosystems are sustainable. A mesocosm involves sustainably sealing a small ecosystem which includes both biotic and abiotic factors. As it is sealed, nothing should be able to enter or leave the mesocosm except sunlight.