Rhizotron

The Rhizotron in Houghton, Michigan is an underground facility with 24 windows looking out into northern forest soils. The Rhizotron allows us to better understand the environmental controls and management impacts on forests belowground by providing a research facility that enables repeated non-destructive access to forest soil as it really is in nature.

For more information, please contact Erik Lilleskov.

Mesocosm

The Mesocosm in Houghton, Michigan, consists of 24 1m³ stainless steel bins filled with forest soils or peatlands. These bins are accessible both aboveground and through a belowground laboratory.  The first experiment was initiated in 2011. Known as the PEATcosm Experiment, its goal is to measure the effects of changing climate on carbon storage in peatland ecosystems of the Great Lakes region.  

For more information, please contact Erik Lilleskov.

Quarantine Facility

The USDA Forest Service Quarantine Facility, Ansonia, Connecticut, is utilized to confine arthropod pests and their biological control agents for biological control research. It is certified by the state of Connecticut and the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service on a permit-by-permit basis. The area under quarantine is 3100 square feet and is entered through a double air lock system equipped with light traps.

For more information, please contact Melody Keena.