Project R-6007

Agreement between LSM and UHasselt concerning the 'Ecotrons' project. (Research)

This Ecotron infrastructure is a complex of 12 sophisticated semi-automatically environmentally controlled chambers. The state-of-the-art facility allows the controlled study of "global change" and builds a bridge between the complexity of "in situ" experiments and lab/greenhouse experiments in relation to the environment (global e.g. climate change; local e.g. pollution). The infrastructure facilitates to study the dynamics of ecological processes and functions in order to understand the mechanisms of responses and interactions of the different species in an ecosystem (to stress factors). A variety of environmental conditions - temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, pollution, ozone, ... - can be perfectly replicated x-times. The Ecotron Hasselt University is the result a collaboration between the Centre of Environmental Sciences (CMK-UHasselt) and the Research Group of Plant and Vegetation Ecology (PLECO- University of Antwerp) and the Regional Landscape Kempen and Maasland (RLKM), and the Agency for Nature and forestry (ANB).

01 January 2013 - 31 December 2017