Bio Ecosphere [by JESK]

Authors: Emma Brasseur, Shane Hall, Jessica Roth, Karina Yu

Organism	Metabolism	Amount
Snail	Heterotroph	1 Snail
Shrimp	Heterotroph	1 Shrimp
Bacopa Plant	Autotrophic	1 Bacopa Plant
Aquatic Floating Fern	Autotrophic	1 Aquatic Floating Fern
Anabaena	Autotrophic	2.25 mL
Daphnia	Heterotrophic	4.75 mL

Table 1: Organisms and Metabolisms within Ecosphere

Other ecosphere contents include 43.07 g of soil, 910.16 g of gravel, 1600 mL of pond water, 700 mL of tap water, and 100 mL of nutrient solution.  Although groups utilizing pond water did not necessarily need to add a quantity of nutrient solution, our group decided to experiment with the effects of tap water, pond water, and nutrient solution mixture on our aquatic environment.  

Figure 1: Ecosphere Food Web

Video of Ecosystem

Figure 2: Decomposing Snail Photographed on 4/25/16

Figure 3: Ecosphere on 4/25/16

Figure 4: Water view of Ecosphere on 4/25/16, Visible Algae Growth

Figure 5: Ecosphere on 4/27/16

Figure 6: Ecosphere on 5/4/16

Figure 7: Shrimp on 5/4/16

Figure 8: Shrimp and Decomposing Snail on 5/4/16

On April 11th , we started our ecosystem. The nutrients we put into the large jar are seen above in Table 1.  After putting them in, we screwed the lid on and placed it by the window. Screwing the lid on tightly probably was not such a great idea as this may be a possible reason why our poor snail disintegrated.  However, in the following lab, we unscrewed the jar so the lid would be slightly loose in order to relieve the pressure buildup within our ecosphere.

Nevertheless, we noticed some changes within our ecosystem in the next labs to follow:

• Algae growth on the sides
• Snail died
• Shrimp became a little more lively (it was very limp when we first put it in)

So overall, our ecosystem is happy and healthy, and we are eager to see how it will continue in its growth.