Duke University Plant Teaching and Research Facility

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a controlled environment facility?
Controlled environment facilities permit investigators to create experimental systems in which biotic and/or abiotic variables and factors are controlled by the investigator.

What are the advantages of using the Phytotron?
We can reproduce different types of environments, ranging from the arctic to the desert to the tropics. Researchers can maintain precise control over environmental conditions (e.g., soil type, air temperature, light levels, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, relative humidity, nutrients) and the organisms under study (e.g., mixtures of plant and animal species and their spatial arrangement). Such a degree of rigor and control is virtually impossible to achieve under natural field conditions. Other advantages include the ability to study without disturbing the organism, the ease of replication and manipulation, and relatively low research costs. With the large number of chambers available, experiments can be designed to explore key interactions among multiple stressors, e.g., temperature, CO2, and air pollutants. This provides the opportunity to gain increased understanding of the complex interactions between plants and their environment in studies of global change.

What is the role of the Phytotron in global change research?
While direct observation of ecosystem responses in manipulative field experiments is an important approach to the study of global environmental change, the sheer number of environmental variables that simultaneously affect ecosystems poses serious constraints. To adequately test null hypotheses - and to successfully tease out a signal (effect) against a background of noise (random variation) - it is necessary to have adequate replication and control, something that is often impossible to do in nature. The Phytotron plays a key role in experimental research on global change by providing researchers with tools to aid in disentangling the complexities of natural ecosystems.

Who uses the Phytotron?
Scientists, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students from all over the U.S. can utilize the controlled environment facilities at the Phytotron (consult our web site for an explanation of the fee structure for space use). Off-campus users are encouraged; in fact, historically, over 70% of Phytotron users have been from outside of Duke. Research and experimentation conducted in the Phytotron has yielded an impressive record of scholarly publication over the past 33 years.

What facilities are available?
The Phytotron contains 48 plant growth chambers, six controlled greenhouses - a total of over 450 square meters of growth space - and associated instrumentation and laboratories. Descriptions of the sizes, control capabilities, and numbers of these growth facilities can be found by following the Facilities link. A series of extensive renovations, begun in 1996, has been undertaken to ensure that the facility's equipment remains state-of-the-art.

What services are offered?
The Phytotron provides all supplies and services necessary to conduct many types of controlled environment experiments, from the simplest to the most complex. The Phytotron staff performs all preparation, configuration, and maintenance of the growth chambers or greenhouse units, and any routine plant care requested, including watering, fertilization, and pest control. The Phytotron is staffed seven days a week, allowing off-site researchers to run experiments without having to make extended visits. Chambers and greenhouses are continuously monitored and maintained. Staff members are on call 24 hours a day to respond to environmental control problems before they adversely affect experiments in progress. Expertise in electronics and instrumentation is available for routine instrument maintenance or developing equipment for specialized uses. The Phytotron staff has extensive experience growing many species of native and agricultural plants from different habitats. Assistance with experimental design and data analysis is also available.

How is research space allocated?
Requests for the use of growth chamber or greenhouse space can be made at any time. No priority is given to researchers in a particular field or geographic location. Scheduling is at the user's convenience and is coordinated to make best use of the available space and funding cycles.

What supplies and equipment are available to Phytotron users?
The following supplies are provided free to Phytotron users:

The Phytotron owns the following equipment which is available for use in Phytotron experiments:

The following types of equipment can generally be borrowed from labs at Duke - by arrangement with professors - for use by Phytotron researchers: