Biosphere 2

I know Biosphere 2 came up a while ago so I figured some background would be helpful, especially since we've been looking at terrariums.

Essentially, Biosphere 2 was suppose to replicate the all of Earth's major ecosystems. Biosphere 2 is the largest enclosed ecosystem in existence. It has a rainforest, an ocean with a coral reef desert, wetlands, a marsh,  a savannah, as well as spaces for agriculture and human habitat. This huge structure is about 1/2 an hour north of Tucson, Arizona. A bit of an aside, the structure is called Biosphere 2 because the Earth itself is Biosphere 1.

The scientific community was enchanted with the idea of being able to have actual control over future experiments. Since the ecosystems within Biosphere 2 can be manipulated, researchers were fascinated with the prospect of being able to control factors within their experiments that were out of their power when experimenting on Earth. The general public initially saw Biosphere 2 as the first step to colonizing space. If a self sustaining replica of Earth could be built on Earth, what was stopping us from eventually doing the same on Mars?

The primary objective of Biosphere 2, past scientific research, was to see if a crew could survive with no outside intervention for a reasonable length of time. In 1991 a crew of 8 people entered the structure, their ability to sustain themselves would determine the success of the project. Researchers also included different species of mammals, insects and plants. The crew entering Biosphere 2 was expected to maintain their own food crop while cohabiting with the other animals, insects and plants.

The experiment was essentially a failure. Nearly every insect introduced was dead by the end of the two year long experiment, as were most mammals. Somethings, like cockroaches and morning glories, thrived in the environment. However their extraordinary ability to adapt to the environments of Biosphere 2 often came at the cost of the survival of other species. Biosphere 2 was not able to maintain balanced ecosystems without the aid of researchers on the outside.

As for the crew, within a few months of the experiment starting, they began to suffer from oxygen deprivation. While it was initially thought that the ecosystem was balancing itself out and this was part of the process, the oxygen levels dropped to the point where researchers had to intervene to keep the crew alive.

The lack of balance within the ecosystems mentioned earlier also made sustaining food crops much more strenuous than initially anticipated. Squabbles among those funding and running the experiment form the outside also contributed to the ultimate failure of what then referred to as"Mission 1".

There was one other short lived enclosure experiment that ended prematurely. Until 2007 Columbia University oversaw the structure and conducted research. Now it is in the hands of the University of Arizona who also uses it for research. The expense, grandeur, and failure of Biosphere 2 has left a distinct mark on the scientific community..