Assignment 12-1

2. If the ppm of dissolved oxygen is increased in water then there will be more fish observed.

- Having more dissolved oxygen increases the number of fish observed in the body of water.

Today an increased level of productivity in oligotrophic trout lakes has been observed concerning many about the trouts population health. Trout play a vital role in lake ecosystems making it very important to keep the population of trouts at a steady level.

As seen in Figure 1. during the removal of carp in Lake Susan the amount of vegetation had increased by 40% (Bajer and Sorensen 2015). The importance of having vegetation in lakes especially around the littoral zone is vital for providing a habitat for other aquatic and semi aquatic species like amphibians and invertebrates (Radomski et al 2010). It was surprising to learn that removal of carp in a deep lake that can stratify, did not affect the concentration levels of phosphorous. While it improved the turbidity of the water, becoming more clear, and allowing for more light to enter the lake needed for submersed vegetation to growth (Bajer and Sorensen

In healthy lakes and streams, nutrients are needed for the growth of alar that forms the base of a complex food web supporting the entire aquatic ecosystem (Lindberg 2012). Based off of this background information, a second experiment was conducted to study the community ecology within the LSU University Lake. This experiment arose interest in observing the amount of ammonia (abiotic factor) in the lake water and its effect on the concentration of chlorophyll (biotic factor). The data retrieved in this experiment lead to the question, if there is an increase in the amount of ammonia in the LSU University Lake, would that result in an increase of chlorophyll concentration due to an increase in nutrient availability? The null hypothesis states that in an aquatic ecosystem, the different levels of ammonia will have no effect on the concentration of chlorophyll present in the University Lake. Inversely, the alternative hypothesis states that in an aquatic ecosystem, the different levels of ammonia will have an effect on the concentration of chlorophyll present in the University

In Lake Erie, there is out-of-control algae growth that created dead zones. The problem has become critical in the western Lake because of harmful chemicals. Contaminants in fish certainly are causing health problems. At present, the solution is to make

David played a key role in isolating phosphorus as a major cause of algae overgrowth that led to eutrophication, a process that reduced oxygen in lakes. In 1968, David directed a group of scientists to study this process. During their research, he and the group experimentally manipulated parts of nearly 46 lakes, and from their results, they discovered that when lakes are high in phosphorus, the overgrowth of algae is triggered. The large population of algae then decreases the lakes’ oxygen supply,

When dissolved oxygen concentrations drop below a certain level, aquatic life mortality rates will increase. Sensitive freshwater fish such as salmon can’t even reproduce at levels below 6 mg/L. In the ocean, coastal fish begin to avoid areas where DO levels is below 3.7 mg/L. Below 2.0 mg/L, invertebrates also leave and below 1 mg/L even benthic organism show reduced growth and survival rates.

Freshwater shrimp feed on the algae that grows as a result. The streams are kept clean by the freshwater shrimp eating the dead matter . Organisms such as fish would then die as sunlight cannot reach the other water plants, and the oxygen content of the water subsequently decreases too. Oxygen then decreases more because of decomposition by bacteria breaks down dead plant matter. According to Art Eutrophication is “The process by which a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrates. These typically promote excessive growth of algae. As the algae die and decompose, high levels of organic matter and the decomposing organisms deplete the water of available oxygen, causing the death of other organisms, such as fish. Eutrophication is a natural, slow-aging process for a water body, but human activity greatly speeds up the process.” This has a direct impact on fish, their main predators who cannot not survive in low levels of oxygen, leading to an increase in freshwater shrimp

Lake 223 was the first whole-lake ecosystem study on acidification. Over a five-year period, scientists acidified the lake by reaching an annual target pH level. By the end of the experiment in 1981, the pH of Lake 223 dropped from 6.7 to 5.0. This caused major, irreversible changes in the lake ecosystem. Many key species

We had to get exactly 25ml of water from the creek, and calculate the PPM of dissolved oxygen in it using a test kit. So, we went down to the creek, got exactly 25ml of water, and then we brought it back. We had to break a dropper in it and watch the colour of the water. We found that the colour matched 12 PPM on the scale; a deep blue. We collaborated with the other groups, and wrote down the other groups’ results to compare. We calculated that the average pH for the creek water was 7; entirely normal. We did some other stuff, like finding the number of rocks that neutralized acid in the creek, and vice

From July 16-25, bacteria started to feed off the dead algae matter. The bacteria population skyrocketed, becoming 8x higher than it used to be on July 10 (5,000  40,000). Not only was little dissolved oxygen being made, but also the last of the oxygen was being used by the bacteria. On July 22 and 25, dissolved oxygen levels were 5.4 and 4.1 respectively. On July 28, bluegills and largemouth bass died because of the extremely low oxygen levels and high turbidity levels. Their populations were both zero. Minnows survived the incident. This is due to the fact the field guide states “[Minnows] can survive even when the water reaches high temperatures, has high turbidity, or has low

The limiting nutrient in a water source is what controls algal growth, no mater how much other nutrients is present, without that nutrient there will be no growth. In this regard it is imperative to know what the limiting resource is in a drinking water system in order to maintain the health of the system. Since phosphorous is naturally found in small quantities in water, if too much phosphorous is present then algal growth will increase. Having such high levels of algal growth can dramatically affect the lake’s health, and can effect how a municipal government must treat its water. The

Phosphorus gets into the soil and its particles, which then are transferred into surface water through watering the plants, and then that surface water turns into runoff which is transferred into our major bodies of water, causing pollution in our major water sources. When phosphorus gets into lake or surface water, the growth of plankton and aquatic plants greatly increases and as a result of this, the fish population is also increasing. This increase will continue as more and more phosphorus gets into the water. Excessive amounts of phosphorus in the water have been shown to be “the main cause of eutrophication over the past 30 years. This aging process can result in large fluctuations in the lake water quality and trophic status and in some cases periodic blooms of cyanobacteria” (Water Research Center). As phosphorus becomes excessive in the water, an imbalance occurs between production and consumption of living material in an ecosystem. When this imbalance occurs, an overabundance of phytoplankton and vegetation is produced than what is possible for an ecosystem to consume and utilize. The overabundance of phytoplankton and vegetation can lead to a variety of issues like a decrease in diversity and habitat destruction. Phosphorus greatly affects our waters and diminishes the quality of water, but there are also several ways that these issues can be

One, this reduces the risk of algal blooms in the surface waters. Algal blooms occur due to the excess amount of nutrients in the water, causing eutrophication. Eutrophication causes huge plant and algae growth because of the increased amount of nutrients. Then the plants and algae die and bacteria causes the plants/algae to decompose, using up dissolved oxygen. This results in a lack of oxygen, hypoxia and anoxia, in the water. Therefore, many organisms such as the fish die due to the lack of dissolved oxygen in the water.