An autonomous and economical benthic incubation chamber for measuring dissolved oxygen fluxes in shallow, low‐flow environments

Benthic incubation chambers enclose a known volume of water overlying a known area to measure water chemistry changes and are typically used to quantify the metabolic activity of benthic organisms or communities. Here we present an economical benthic incubation chamber for shallow, low‐flow environments, built using off‐the‐shelf components, that minimizes three major limitations or challenges of traditional chamber designs. Our chamber design features: (1) non‐static mixing that avoids radial pressure gradient formation, (2) reduced unnatural shading of the benthic surface, and (3) easier field operation. We used commercially available dissolved oxygen sensors and programmable stirring motors, both oriented horizontally to minimize shading and eliminate rotational flow and radial pressure gradients. We provide design specifications and a complete materials list in a supplement to this paper. The chamber was tested successfully in bare sediment patches in temperate eelgrass meadows, capturing day‐night dissolved oxygen fluxes caused in part by dense benthic microalgal mats.