Earthworms (1)

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Iowa State University *

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312

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Geography

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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3

Uploaded by ChiefWildcat3821

Earthworms and Soil Guided Lab Report Yasmin Pannell Section 2 The number of earthworms in the soil Prairie vs Corpfield No group Members Monday 8:50-11:40 am Abstract: In this study, two different habitats were sampled. Since earthworms are excellent indicators of the quality of soil, a place with a higher worm population in the soil is likely to have richer, more nutrient-dense soil. Prairies will contain more earthworms per unit area and will have a higher average mass per worm than crop fields. This hypothesis was made because degraded organic waste is more concentrated at deeper depths in the Prairie than in the corp fields. Furthermore, we took a pit 30cm x 30cm to a depth of 30cm and sampled soil from these two habitats the Prairie and the corp fields to test this theory. The area of Ames, Iowa located at Stuart Smith Park was where the samples were taken in order to get a taste of both ecosystems. In our testing, the earthworms rise to the soil surface using liquid extraction which is a mustard seed and water combination. This combination irritates the earthworm's epidermis and causes them to rise to the surface to avoid it. The average number of worms in the Prairie was 14 with a mass of 0.32 G. The corp fields had an average of three worms with a mass of 0.43 G. Introduction: Iowa's Prairie regions once occupied the majority of the state and the soil was particularly desirable for growing crops because it was rich in nutrients as well as organic matter. The soil being altered over time resulted in the unfortunate removal of the natural prairies and the planting of crops. Organic soil can be impacted by several agricultural methods. Some of these methods are the use of chemicals for crops and tilling the soil for planting. In terms of soil characteristics, prairies have narrow horizons and decreasing organic contents as we go deeper into the depth of the soil. As for crop fields, their horizon includes a thick layer and is high in organic content concentration that persists to a great depth of the soil. Corpfields process a significant proportion of their annual production to their roots proving that compared to Prairie's corp fields have more organic materials in the soil. This type of soil is significantly impacted by earthworms as well. They borrow tunnels and create Airways and this helps to fertilize the soil as it brings H2O absorption to the plants quicker. With this information, a hypothesis is that if there is a higher concentration of decomposing organic materials in the corp fields, there will be more earthworms and larger earthworms in the Prairie. Methods:
The location of the study was Stuart Smith Park in Ames Iowa. This park contains two ecosystems, prairies and crop fields. Once in the desired ecosystem, the procedure of taking samples of the worms was to dig for them. With this, a pit was dug with the measurements of 1ft x 1ft to a depth of 1ft. Then a solution of mustard water is poured into the soil, and with time the Mustard Seed solution is allowed to percolate down. This mustard Seed solution is a mix of 1 gallon of water with one-third cup of ground yellow mustard seed. From the solution irritating the worms, they rise to the surface. Once the worms were fully exposed they were able to be picked and examined. The worms were counted and weighed for a total mass in grams. This information was inputted into the class data sheet. The tools used for the study were 1 gallon of water, 40 G of ground yellow mustard seed, portable electric balances, plastic cups, shovels, plastic trays, stopwatches, and rulers. After collecting the data the worms were returned to the soil. The same procedure was done in the crop fields and the Prairie. Both of these observations from these habitats were inserted into the data sheet. Results: Looking at the results, the Prairie habitat had more earthworms on average with 14.17 earthworms compared to the crop fields with 3.83 earthworms. However, the crop fields had heavier worms with 0.43 G compared to the prairies with 0.32 g. Average of Prairie and Crop Worms Prairie Worm # Prairie- mass/worm (g) Crop worm # Crop-mass/worm (g) Average 14.17 0.32 3.83 0.43 Figure. 1 Discussion: Overall and in light of the given question, how do you anticipate that the number and the masses of earthworms within the Prairie and corn fields would vary? Based on our data from Figure 1, there is a larger concentration of decomposing matter at lower deaths in the Prairie and then in the crop fields. We hypothesize that there would be more heavy earthworms in the crop fields rather than in the Prairie. The results of this study proved our hypothesis to be wrong. The Prairie did have more worms but the crop field had more mass per worm. Thus in terms of the quantity of worms in the soil, the data somewhat supports our hypothesis. Nevertheless, it does not support the whole hypothesis. Ultimately, since the whole hypothesis was not supported we must reject the hypothesis as a whole. There could have been human error in this observation that affected our data. These errors could be not digging deep enough or not adding enough Mustard Seed solution. There is the possibility of missing worms and weighing them incorrectly as well. A way to improve this study is to do the study multiple times a year to have a correct average of data throughout the seasons.
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