Ecophysiological Research Facility

This greenhouse facility is located on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus and has a number of controlled environment areas for research. In addition to temperature controlled areas for general research, the greenhouse has a separate area for elevated carbon dioxide studies.

Elevated CO₂ Desert Environment Facility (ECODEF)

The elevated carbon dioxide treatment rooms are setup to mimic natural conditions as much as possible. Inside temperatures and light are close to the ambient conditions outside of the glasshouse building. Currently, the environment of the carbon dioxide treatment rooms are controlled to the same temperature and relative humidity as the ambient carbon dioxide room. In one of the current experiments, ecophysiological data are being collected on a number of desert species grown in meter-tall pots constructed from PVC sewer-pipe. Plants are growing in a sandy soil which includes a desert soil component, and are watered with 0.75 liters of a weak nutrient solution, weekly. (The pots with Larrea tridentata are the only exception: these plants are watered every two weeks.) Experimental species include Larrea tridentata, Oryzopsis hymenoides, Hilaria rigida, Bromus rubens and Camissonia claviformis.

Other experiments currently running in ECODEF involve Yucca whipplei, Phaseolus spp and Pisum sativum.

The experiments run at ECODEF are specifically designed to support research at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility.