Overview
The research station at Kristineberg is situated on the Gullmarsfjord, the largest and only true fjord in Sweden. The fjord is 30 km long with a maximum depth of 118 m and has been a natural reserve since 1983. Key features that make this important marine environment unique in Europe are:
- the excellent water quality with two rather distinct water-masses;
- brackish surface water originating from the Baltic and oceanic water from the North Sea at greater depths;
- a large number of habitats, resulting in a very high biodiversity and a unique fauna.
Ecosystems
- Steep rocky ecosystems
- Deep basin sediments
- Sand and mud flats
- Seagrass beds
- Exposed and protected shores
Ecosystem access
- Coastal research vessels (On-site service)
- Small vessels (5–7 m), bigger vessels 16 and 12 m (12 m is the R/V Oscar von Sydowl, with access to all research equipment and technical support from vessel crew)
- Scuba diving facilities (On-site service)
- The divers of UGOT can sample in depths down to 30 meters
- Submersibles (On-site service)
- ROVs depth rated from 500–2000 m, manipulator, sample storage, CTD, video- and still photography
- ROVs are stationed at TML, but can be moved to KMRS if requested
Biological resources
- Marine model organisms (On-site service)
- The unique and high level of organismal diversity available at the Lovén Centre includes many current and emerging marine model organisms, for example Ciona intestinalis, Balanus improvisus, Skeletonema marinoi and Myxine glutinosa
- A list of marine organisms found in the North East Atlantic can be found here
- A list of the species that can be maintained and spawned at the Lovén centre can be downloaded here
Experimental facilities
- Climate-controlled rooms (On-site service)
- Six thermoregulated rooms where you can control both water and air temperature, floor areas 15-37 m2. Some have lighting fixtures for regulation of circadian rhythms.
- Two additonal thermoregulated rooms, where only air can be regulated
- Dry labs (On-site service)
- Dry lab for molecular biology (PCR, qPCR, microbiology)
- All labs have running deep and surface water, lab benches.
- Labs are also equiped with fume hoods, fridges, freezers, microscopes
- Wet labs (On-site service)
- Basic wet labs with lab benches, running seawater from surface and deep water
- Aquaria and tanks (On-site service)
- Aquaria and tanks are available in sizes from 1 liter to 30 000 liters
Technology platforms
- Imaging (On-site service)
- Advanced microscopy laboratory including the following confocal instruments:
- Two Leica UV DIC digital photomiscroscope with video facility
- High-level Leica UV stereo microscope with micromanipulators and microinjection (Eppendorf)
- A top-of-the-range tri-laser Leica broadband confocal scanning laser microscope
- Molecular biology and omics (On-site service)
- Molecular biology and genetics laboratories with equipment for:
- Gene cloning
- Bacterial culture
- PCR and QPCR (ABI)
- Protein extraction
- 1 and 2-D gel blotting
- Densitometric analysis (BioRad)
- Histology lab for ISH and immunohistochemistry
- A cell culture lab with laminar flow hoods and incubators
Supporting faciltites
- On-site lodging (On-site service)
- On-site catering (On-site service)