Silvershell Beach Lab Report

Although it supports a number of different organisms, Nudgee Beach lacks many of the fundamentals that make up a healthy and successful ecosystem. The first indicator of this is from the lack of birds present in the area. Although it has been noted for terrestrial bird species – such as kingfishers, pelicans, ibis, egrets, jabiru, stilts and heron – and wading bird species – such as golden plovers, curlews, tattlers and godwits – to have been spotted at Nudgee Beach and surrounding areas in the past; after a day’s worth of extensive observation and research, it was found that the birds observed were limited to magpie, ibis, great knot and eastern curlew species. To intensify this factor, at the time by which this lack of species was recorded, Nudgee Beach was expected to have started seeing tens of thousands of birds arrive for the migratory season [21]. This blatant lack of bird species diversity and quantity may have been due to the lack of small organisms within the ecosystem. The restricted number of small organisms at Nudgee Beach is detrimental to the entire ecosystem as these organisms make up the bottom levels of the food web and provide higher-level organisms with adequate amounts of food to consume. The smaller organisms expected to be observed – including; crustacean, shell, mollusc, lizard, frog, fish, worm, arachnid and insect species – was limited to the infrequent observation of crustacean, shell,

The oxidation number of an atom of any free element is ZERO. Means to say there is only one kind of atom present, no charge.

It 's important to understand that we are all a product of our own environment and what goes into it comes out as a positive or negative result. Long Islanders have faced many problems with ground water pollution. According to http://oceanworld.tamu.edu, after doing countless geographical surveys every few decades from the 1940 's, early 1960 ', 1980 's, mid 1990 's to now, scientist have concluded that the higher levels of stress was causing species changes and a lower diversity to the environment. It was determined that the 1962 samples were heavier in delta13C suggesting that organic carbon was being oxidized at a greater rate in the 1990 's then in the 1960 's. Scientist have come to a hypothesis that the waters stress was a contributing factor to an increase in waste water effluent treated sewage which a study measured a fair amount of bacteria spores called Clostridium perfringens which was found in human excrement ("Waste Water in Long Island," n.d.). This meant that Long Island has a big sewage pollution problem. According to Suffolk County 's comprehensive water resource management plan in 2010, there have been large changes in the ground water aquifers between the years 1987 to 2005.

Only one method of planktonic sampling was used so comparison with another method of sampling cannot be done. It is safe to assume that the most appropriate method of sampling in these areas was previously determined by the lab instructor. Isolation of organisms in the samples was met with some difficulty as there was very little life to be observed. Once isolated however, a general identification was simple with the use of the “quick picks” section of the Marine Invertebrate Zoology Lab Manual. One particular organism isolated from the “T-docks” samples, a foraminiferida, was chosen for scientific drawing (Figure 1).

Along the coasts of rocky beaches, an intricate ecological community inhabits the ‘rocky intertidal’ areas. The variety of rocks is home to an array of slimy, squishy, and colorful organisms. This intertidal community is comprised of nine species: three different algae, three stationary filter-feeders, and three mobile consumers. The three algae, Nori Seaweed, Black Pine, and Coral Weed, are the community’s producers and inhabit the bottom of the food chain. The next three species are stationary consumers. They are Mussel, Goose Neck Barnacle, and Acorn Barnacle. Because of their consumer status, they are more competitively dominant than algae. The last three components are the mobile consumers: Whelk, Chiton, and Starfish. They

Mr. Jason Dickey is an aquatic ecologist with over 15 years professional experience in the assessment of freshwater ecosystems. His Masters research focused on impairment and recovery of lakes and streams across a land use gradient in the southeastern U.S. Much of his work at Cardno has focused on the measurement of surface and groundwater, biological assessment of aquatic flora and fauna, and instream habitat surveys. Jason also specializes in federally protected aquatic species and habitat and has significant project experience with Gulf sturgeon and freshwater mussels. Jason is qualified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for conducting mussel surveys in the Florida panhandle and southern Georgia and Alabama.

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, is one of the most familiar inhabitants of marshes and waterways along the Atlantic and GMx coasts of North America. The abundance of blue crab larvae and juveniles make them important components of the diets of numerous species of fish, invertebrate and avian predators (Van Engel 1987, Guillory and Elliot 2001). As juveniles and adults, blue crabs act as generalist predators on benthic infauna and epifauna; consuming invertebrates, fish, and crustaceans (including other blue crabs) as well as plant and detrital materials (Darnell 1958, Alexander 1986, Meise and Stehlik 2003, Lipcius et al. 2007). It has been proposed that blue crabs are keystone species in the marsh because of their impact as predators

In 2015, commercial fisheries harvested in North Carolina caught more than four times the recreational coastal fish harvest, yet commercial fishermen ask for less stringency on commercial fishing (“Portal”). Within North Carolina waters the most effective way of catching fish can be noticed without looking very far. Over the past few decades, many more commercial fishermen have been popping up creating a lack of abundance in some channels and creeks that once were pristine. The methods used by many commercial fishermen can harm them by catch and nontarget species of the estuaries and nurseries. With the harming of these species we also begin to harm the keystone species of most coastal regions. There may have been an abundance of fish at one

Three main ways our public drinking waters can become contaminated are by agricultural runoff, which have effects that go all the way from the effects of the remnants left behind from sprayed pesticides and unmanaged animal feces. Second, we have an oil and coal industry that just never stops. What comes from our oil industry ultimately ends up changing and altering the biology of the surrounding water with thermal pollution, and in some cases I have seen this reported as just as if not more damaging than bacterial or sedimentary pollution. The coal industry pollutes surrounding waters with sulfides from leaching. Illustrations are given below.

The Evolution Lab done in SI Biology was pertaining to the concept of evolution. The lab shows examples of three different kinds of structures: Homologous, analogous and vestigial structures. The specimen displayed in the SI Bio Lab includes samples of leg bones derived from horse, pig and human anatomies, shells of marine animals, armadillo and turtle shells as well as the preserved bodies of various animals, including eels, salamanders and snakes. Overall, the lab provides a plethora of evidence in regards to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

The intertidal rocky shore of Caloundra Beach is inhabited by diverse range of biodiversity of animals and plants, many of which have developed high levels of adaptations throughout their existence. The very boundary of marine and terrestrial ecosystem, this environment is subjected to extremes of the physical environment such as temperature, desiccation, wave turbulence as well the ecological interactions that commonly occur in biotic communities (e.g. competition, predation). However Rocky intertidal shores are easily accessible by humans and provide an enjoyable opportunity for passive recreation and for science and environmental education as well.

The aim of this experiment is to test the changes in and effects o abiotic and biotic factors along a transect line form low tide to high tide in the mangroves at Nudgee Beach. The hypothesis is that at low tide the soil texture would be a brown clay with a pH of 9-10, however; at high tide the soil would be light brown sand with a ph of -8-9. The purpose of this report is to analyze whether the hypothesis true. The results found match with the hypothesis. At low tide the pH was 8 ½ , whereas at high tide the pH was 8. At each tide, the air temperatures were similar, except for the low tide, where the temperature was 17.5°C. The conclusion made was that because mangroves grow better on ecosystems where there is a high level of rainfall

To sum up, groundwater contamination can be related to waste disposal, land disposal of solid waste, and brine disposal from the petroleum industry. Over 50% of the United States population depends on ground water for drinking water. Water management needs to be in place to regulate what is going in water and where waste can be put to prevent contamination. Contamination of groundwater and population of surface water with waste are big problems affecting water supply. The problem associated with water pollution has the ability to disrupt life on our planet to a great

On our arrival we looked for an area deeper in the forest and with flowing water. Taking our tubes, one at a time we filled them up trying to get enough sample with little to no rocks from the stream. We took four samples to make sure the area was well covered. A group we were working with went to the other location, the Campus Pond to gather data from there. They too took tubes to gather data and used two tubes. Once the tubes were filled with the samples we took them back to the lab, the tubes were put on a tube holder. After having the tubes stay still for a few minutes a few drops were put on a wet mount to view under the microscope. The samples were also shaken thoroughly to find more species. We also used a filter. Going through the different samples we tried to find the different amount of species that were in the stream. Looking at different online organism identification websites helped is in identifying the organism. Specifically we looked at a Microscopy-UK pond key. We also used a website called MicroscopyU as well as a Pond Identification Sheet. Calculations were all done on a Microsoft program Excel. All of the organisms were put into our data table. Using the Excel spreadsheet, the sum of species per location and their Shannon index were calculated using the proportions and

Bathers and others coming in interaction with dirty water at beaches and other recreational sites can become extremely ill. Beach closures caused by urban runoff have a adverse impact on the quality of life, and can obstruct economic development as well. Similarly, the bacterial contamination of shellfish beds poses a public health threat to consumers, and shellfish bed closures undesirably impact the fishing industry and local economies (Jacobs, J. and Ellis, J. B. , 1991) .Additionally other literature supports the above idea, The US EPA (1999a) thus, ‘’the significant real impacts of urban area and highway storm water runoff is caused by the high concentrations of faecal indicator organisms in the runoff waters. These organisms are a threat to the use of the receiving waters for domestic water supply and for contact recreation, such as swimming, wading, etc.’’. As part of its “beaches” program, is devoting significant attention to handling the sanitary quality