The Ecosphere Wonderland [by JESK]

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

Recap:

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: The original contents of our ecosphere

New Developments:

Since our last post, our ecosphere has developed more algae, and snail babies (Figure 4). The development of our snail babies was slightly surprising to us, considering our parent snail has been dead/decomposed for quite some time now (Figure 3). Other than these new forms of life, our ecosphere is the same. Our shrimp is still alive and is doing very well. We were even able to record our shrimp hightailing around the ecosphere.

Compare:

We compared our ecosphere to Mariam’s group ecosphere (Figure 5). They included a snail, and the aquatic floating fern in their ecosphere like our group, but they did not add a shrimp, daphnia, anabaena, or bacopa like we did. However, MCDC had hay and three mermaid plants in their ecosphere. In the similar organisms the main difference was that their snail was still alive. Also, the water in their ecosphere seems to be a bit clearer, while ours is a little murky.

Video 1: Video of Shrimp

Figure 1: Ecosphere on May 11

Figure 2: Shrimp Swimming Around Ecosphere [May 11]

Figure 3: Decomposing Snail [May 18]

Figure 4: Baby Snails on Side of Container, As Well As Algal Growth [ May 18]

Figure 5: Mariam’s Group Ecosphere

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.

The Fun-Gis: Mystery Pond Water

Mystery Pond Water Organisms by the Fun-Gis

Group Members: Tyler, Teka, Kevin, Lana

1). Organism 1: Arcellinida (Shelled Amoeba)

A-C. Taxonomy:

Domain:  Eukaryota

Kingdom:  Protozoa

Phylum:    Amoebozoa

Order:  Arcellinida

Family:  N/A

Genus:  N/A

D. Defining characteristics of organism

• Partially enclosed by a shell
• Pseudopodia (false feet) sticking out from the shell

E. References used:

Handout - Guide to Freshwater Organisms

http://tolweb.org/Arcellinida/124471

F. General Comments/Observations:

Arcellinida are characterized by their soft shell and pseudopodia. They resemble crustaceans like crayfish and use their 'feet' in similar ways. Arcellinida feet are not really feet but cells that they can extend out of their body. They use these feet to move food in to eat.

2) Organism 2: Flatworm

A-C. Taxonomy:

Domain:  Eukaryota

Kingdom:  Animalia

Phylum: Platyhelminthes

Order:  N/A

Family:  N/A

Genus:  N/A

D. Defining characteristics of organism

• Bilateral
• Multicellular
• Eye spots

E. References used:

Handout - Guide to Freshwater Organisms

F. General Comments/Observations:

This little guy is definitely a flatworm, but what type exactly is something we can't say. The first (and only) flatworm that comes to mind is the planaria, which most of us looked at in 212. However, this guy lacks the arrow shaped head of planaria.

3) Organism 3: Spirogyra

A-C. Taxonomy:

Domain:  Eukaryota

Kingdom:  Plantae

Phylum:  Chlorophyta

Order:  Zygnematales

Family:  Zygnemataceae

Genus:  Spirogyra

D. Defining characteristics of organism

• Filamentous
• Spiral chloroplasts

E. References used:

Handout - Guide to Freshwater Organisms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirogyra

F. General Comments/Observations:

Spirogyra and other filamentous algae were by far the most common organism on our slides considering the fact that there are over 400+ species of Spirogyra around. This is why they deserve two pictures, and also because their spiral chloroplasts look amazing.

4) Organism 4: Euglena

A-C. Taxonomy:

Domain:  Eukaryota

Kingdom:  Protista

Phylum:  Eunglenozoa

Order: Euglenales

Family: Euglenacea

Genus: Euglena

D. Defining characteristics of organism

• Red eye spot
• Green color of chloroplasts
• Small hole in the middle is seen in other euglenas (hard to see in photo)

E. References used:

Handout - Guide to Freshwater Organisms

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euglena

F. General Comments/Observations:

These were relatively slow moving organisms. The eye spots in the picture might not be very clear, but they were unmistakably red in the microscope. This is a characteristic of Euglenas and this trait plus its size is how we identified the organism. They are also suppose to have flagellum but our picture did not capture this. Fun(?) fact: Euglenas can feed by both autotrophy (with chloroplasts) or heterotrophically via phagocytosis.

Closing Comment:

Trying to identify organisms in in the pond water was a tedious task which speaks volume about abundance of microorganism species. The amount we couldn't name were many times more than the organisms we could name. This lab gave us a look into a world we don't normally think about on a daily basis. To think that there are so many living organisms in just a few drops of pond water is pretty astounding. But, most of all, this lab taught me that I should really not drink pond water.

Mystery Pond Water Organisms by group DCMC

<Mystery Pond Water Organisms>

Group 4 (Dayeon Jung, Wenyi Fu , Mariam Elias, Conner Laursen)

Our group saw creatures swimming around in the pond water sample. Here are the organisms identification that we found. We took two samples from Diane and Chloe. We used 40x magnification for each of them.

Whole view

                        Picture 1                                                          Picture 2

Partial view

Organism 1: Colpoda

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Chromista

Subkingdom: Harosa

Order: Colpodida

Family: Colpodidae

Superphylum: Alveolata

Phylum: Ciliophora

Class: Colpodea

Genus: Colpoda

Defining Characteristics

• Macronucleus with brown color (kidney shaped)
• Outside is green color
• It looks like its slightly concave on one side, and concave on the other side.

Observations and comments:

Usually Colpoda are  found in moist soil and they are able to quickly enter the protective cysts and will also be found in desiccated samples of vegetation and soil as well as in some temporary natural pools as tree holes.

References

"Colpoda." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

"WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species." WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Organism 2: Stephanodiscus

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Chromista

Order: Thalassiosirales

Family: Stephanodiscaceae

Subphylum: Bacillariophytina

Phylum: Heterokontophyta

Class: Bacillariophyceae

Genus: Stephanodiscus

Defining Characteristics

• Brown color with round shape
• Nucleus is very clear and on the top

Observations and comments:

Stephanodiscus has a circular valve view with uniserial punctae near the center and radial multiserial punctae out from the central area. There is a circle of spines protruding near the periphery from the smooth areas between the rows of punctae.

References

"Genus Detail." :: Algaebase. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

Organism 3: Chilomonas

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Protista

Subkingdom: Protophyta

Phylum: Cryptophyta

Order: Cryptomonadales

Family: Campylomonadaceae

Genus: Chilomonas

Defining Characteristics

• Green color and with oval shape

• stay together

Observations and comments:

Chilomonas is heterotrophic, and a genus of cryptophytes. It also doesn’t have chromatophores (pigment-containing structures) and lives by ingesting organic matter.

References

"Chilomonas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

"Taxonomic Information: Chilomonas Paramecium;inf." Organism: Chilomonas Paramecium;inf. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Organism 4: Spirogyra

Domain: Eukaryote

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Apusozoa

Division: Chlorophyta

Class: Zygnematophyceae

Order: Zygnematales

Family: Zygnemataceae

Genus: Spirogyra

Defining Characteristics

• Clear cell wall
• Slimy filamentous green masses
• Grows under water
• It can reproduce both sexually and asexually

Observations and comments:

When there is no enough sunlight and warmth, spirogyras produce huge amounts of oxygen as bubbles between the filaments and tangled. Then the filamentous masses come to the surface and appear as slimy green mats.

References

"Spirogyra." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

"Welcome to the PLANTS Database | USDA PLANTS." Welcome to the PLANTS Database | USDA PLANTS. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

Organism 5: Gloeocapsa

Domain: Bacteria

Kingdom: Eubacteria

Subkingdom: Negibacteria

Phylum: Cyanobacteria

Class: Cyanophyceae

Order: Chroococcales

Family: Microcystaceae

Genus: Gloeocapsa

Defining Characteristics

• It looks like some green dots
• It appears to be only one cell since the new cells temporarily get together
• They are also known as “Glow caps”

Observations and comments:

Some of the gloeocapsa species are halophiles and they are found in hypersaline lakes and in other high salinity environments.

References

"Algaebase."Algaebase. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.