Mesocosm facility and Experiment halls at Umeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF) - Present research projects at UMF focus on the effects of land-sea interactions and climate change on marine foodweb structure and function, as well as on the origin, impact, and remediation of anthropogenic environmental pollution.

Experimental facilities allow research on disease challenges, contaminants, light field, salinity and heatwave effects on aquaculture. Mesocosms are supplied with a cooling/heating system, aeration, full salinity range and mechanical and biological filtration allowing the administration of contaminants and/or pathogenic agents to the marine organisms of aquaculture focus. Outflows have specific scrubbers for pathogen removal. The indoor mesocosm facility consists of 12 cylindrical mesocosms with water columns 4.86 m high and 0.74 m in diameter. Temperature can be controlled at 3 different sections on each mesocosm. This enables projects that require stratification, controlled convective stirring or both.

Projects that require ice can be carried out, and parameters such as freezing or thawing rate can be adjusted. The eight-channel light sources are specially produced to closely mimic the spectrum and intensity of the sun at every hour of the day. For example, this is well-suited for investigation into the roles of changing light fields on aquaculture species including algae or studies requiring real-world simulations. The intake water can be pumped in directly from the sea with an intake 800 m offshore. It is possible to prefilter intake water to any desirable size down to 1 μm, it is also possible to adjust the salinity between fully marine to low salinity levels (i.e. 33 – 4).

The experiment halls consist of two parts with a combined area of 170 m3 including rooms for aquaria and two climate rooms. The experimental halls are primarily intended for flow-through experiments with running seawater. Four different streams of running water are fed into these halls, three of which are temperature controlled. Experiments are carried out using aquariums of 65 or 150 l or tanks of 1 m3, the facility is also equipped with a state-of-the-art cleaning section allowing for experiments with toxic substances such as pharmaceuticals. This facility is licensed for use with vertebrate aquaculture species (i.e., fish).

Associated available infrastructure: RV Botnica (22m), a hovercraft, 7 boats of less than 10m and an associated scientific dive team are available for the collection of aquaculture species of interest. Data from monitoring activities from several sites in the Gulf of Bothnia both coastal and offshore are available in the databases dBotnia and BEDA covering 30 years of times series: hydrography, chemistry (nutrients, pH, alkalinity, DOC, humic substance, oxygen), biology (bacteria biomass and production, phytoplankton biomass and species composition as well as primary production, zooplankton composition, benthic fauna). Two large student labs for 24 persons each, one general purpose research lab with 6 places, DNA lab, chemical ecology lab and histology lab plus additional specific rooms for microscope work, RNA work and isotope work. One large research vessel (Nereus, 16 m) and one small (Doris, 8.5 m), plus additional small boats. Laboratory space includes access to all standard laboratory instrumentation including microscopes, sensors, analytical instruments (including two large general-purpose dry laboratories with a capacity for 20 scientists, wet laboratories for visitors including -80 freezers, Zeiss microscope imaging software for bacteria analysis; imaging system for microplankton analysis, ice proof floating marine mesocosms (n=9), fully equipped omics lab at UmU including aDNA capacity, marine boy with full suite of measured parameters including pCO2. DIC, elementary analysis, nutrients - total and inorganic, total alkalinity, pCO2, chlorophyll a, humic substance, CDOM, SPM, turbidity, ROV with video capacity, a lecture hall with seating capacity for 30 scientists). Access to boats and transportation with seagoing research vessels is also ensured if, for example, biological material for Aquaculture experiments needs to be collected. Guests can be accommodated in a hostel with 20 beds and cooking facilities about 500 m from the field station.

The experimental halls have recently been renovated and upgraded with a cleaning section allowing for projects that include organic toxic compounds in running water experiments, making it one of few infrastructures where such projects can be carried out.