The Marker Wadden is a newly constructed archipelago in lake Markermeer, which aims to improve the lake’s degrading food web by stimulating primary productivity. The archipelago consists of five islands that add a currently missing habitat type to the lake: shallow, sheltered waters with high nutrient availability and gradual land-water transitions.

A total of 40 mesocosms are distributed in five rows of eight mesocosms with a spacing of 0.5 m between them. In spring/summer we grow plant species that are currently expanding their range within Europe and species that belong to the same genus while being native in the Netherlands.

This is a facility for keeping waterfowl for behavioural and physiological research. The facility consists of an outdoor aviary and a building for birds indoors.

Plants and microorganisms emit a wide range of chemically diverse volatile compounds. These volatiles mediate swift chemical interactions and communication in both aquatic and terrestrial environments, and carry out important ecological functions.

The NIOO stable isotope facility is part of the chemical analytical lab, with equipment and facilities to perform stable isotope tracer experiments. Stable isotopes (13C) can be analysed in PLFA, gases (CO2/CH4) , (13C/15N) solid material (e.g. soil, plant material, bird feathers) as well as in DNA and RNA and breath samples of birds (D/H).