Electronic Precinct - December 1998

Pooling Resources

Professor Brian Moss, colleagues and some of the 48 artificial lakes.

A unique research project based on 48 artificial lakes at Ness Botanic Gardens has been launched by the School of Biological Sciences. The lakes, some of which are heated, will provide information about the effects of global warming on animal and plant life in shallow lakes. The project will show how shallow lakes, ponds and wetlands, which are an important part of the ecosystem and the economy in many countries of the world, are likely to react to the 3°C rise in temperature predicted to occur in Europe over the next 50 years. The launch was attended by representatives of organisations which have helped to create the lakes and the associated heating and monitoring systems. These included JVC Industrial, Parkside Engineers, Ness Botanic Gardens and the University's own Buildings and Estates Department. Professor Brian Moss thanked them for their help and said: 'The omens are not good that we can avoid a rise in global temperature and therefore we will have to cope with the consequences. This experiment will tell us what some of those consequences will be.'

The project was described in more detail in Precinct, January 1998. Copies available from the Editorial Office, Senate House.