Experimental garden

The facility

The experimental garden at the Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences is a unique, modern facility that consists of a greenhouse, climate chambers, phytotron, experimental field, and aquatic mesocosms. These facilities can be used for research on the effect of climate change on plants, insect pollination, and GMOs. 

Research topics

Plants; climate change; insect pollinations; genetic modifications; aquatic ecology; root growth; plant growth; dike vegetation; climatic conditions. 

References

Tang, Y., Harpenslager, S. F., van Kempen, M. M. L., Verbaarschot, E. J. H., Loeffen, L. M. J. M., Roelofs, J. G. M., Smolders, A. J. P.,  & Lamers, L. P. M.  (2016). Aquatic macrophytes can be used for wastewater polishing, but not for purification in constructed wetlands. Biogeosciences, 14, 755-766. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-755-2017  

Oliveira Junior, E. S., Temmink, R. J. M., Buhler, B. F., Souza, R. M., Resende, N., Spanings, T., Muniz, C. C., Lamers, L. P. M., & Kosten, S. (2019). Benthivorous fish bioturbation reduces methane emissions, but increases total greenhouse gas emissions. Freshwater Biology, 64(1), 197-207. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13209  

Nijman, T. P. A., Lemmens, M., Lurling, M., Kosten, S., Welte, C., & Veraart, A. J. (2022). Phosphorus control and dredging decrease methane emissions from shallow lakes. Science of The Total Environment, 847, 157584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157584  

Aben, R. C. H., Oliveira Junior, E. S., Carlos, A. R., van Bergen, T. J. H. M., Lamers, L. P. M., & Kosten, S. (2022). Impact of plant species and intense nutrient loading on CH4 and N2O fluxes from small inland waters: An experimental approach. Aquatic Botany, 180, 103527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2022.103527  

Running period

1974 - undetermined 

Equipment

• Greenhouse with eight growing rooms (160-240 m2), equipped with advance climate control system, shading and energy saving screens, rainwater basins for watering plants, coffee/meeting room, offices, dressing rooms.
• Six climate chambers (16 m2) with computer-controlled management of climate conditions (light regime, light intensity, humidity, temperature).
• Root lab (phytotron) for research on plant growth and below-ground root interactions.
• Experimental field (7500 m2) for diverse field experiments.
• 40 aquatic mesocosms (ø: 1.15 m, h: 0.75 m) [available within the infrastructure] 

Data management

https://www.ru.nl/sites/default/files/2023-09/ribes%20data%20management.pdf  

Available datasets

Connected to the papers mentioned above 

Conditions for access

The facility is open for use by both internal and external researchers. Contact facility manager Koos Janssen for more information.