Colonization Reactor for the Establishment of an Optimal Micropedological Ecological System (CROP)

The CROP system was developed to establish stable micropedological microcosms that enable research under conditions very close to the natural environment. Previous approaches to creating such systems were often limited in duration due to difficulties in maintaining quantitative relationships between key organisms and their sensitivity to changes in environmental factors and substrate quality. CROP addresses this problem with an innovative principle of separated cultivation: in the initial phase, organisms are kept in individual chambers with controlled conditions (temperature, humidity, food availability) that promote maximum biomass growth and reproductive potential. Once they reach a critical mass, the organisms spontaneously migrate into the central module, where a shared ecosystem is established under conditions adjusted to realistic environmental values. In this way, CROP enables the formation of complex, long-lasting and stable microcosms suitable for experimental manipulation and ecological research.