User:Marshal G. MacCartney/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU
Identifying Protists and Algae from the Group 4 Hay Infusion Culture, 2015-01-21 (Unfinished)
Within this Hay Infusion Culture the 500 mLs of water in the jaw acts as its own ecosystem. Inside this small, simple ecosystem are different niches that organisms can live in. These organisms can vary upon location in the jar as well as depths all depending on their life necessities and which area they are best adapted for. In this lab protists and algae will try to be observed as well as any other organisms that are competing for the same resources as well as utilizing all biotic and abiotic factors. With quite a bit of diversity within the culture it is predicted that there will be organisms that are different from the two sample depths that were taken due to competition.
The culture was brought to the lab table without disturbing or mixing its contents. The smell was observed as well as its appearance, all observations were recorded and documented. Two samples were taken from the culture, one from the top of the waters surface and the second from the bottom mucky area. Wet mounts were made from the separate niches and put under a compound microscope to observe what organisms were present using a dichotomous key to help separate the observations. The organisms observed were measured, recorded and drawn.
The initial observations are as followed: smell- bad, foul, moist, decaying; appearance- murky, bottom layer is soft, wet, lose soil, top (surface)layer filled with scum or mold; middle(water) layer is brownish in color and not transparent; objects in suspension- pine needle, shriveled Brussels sprout, leaf speckled with white mold. The first sample was taken from on top of the floating decomposing leaf, and the second was taken from the bottom amidst the soil and muck in the center of the jar. Organisms might differ from there locations because near the leaf there may be decomposers or organisms that feed on decomposers and near the bottom where the human eye can only see wet soil there may be nutrients or a food source for a different type of organism to survive. After observing the wet mounts six organisms were studied all of which were protozoans. From the bottom sample wet mount a motile- Paramecium Aurelia ~130μm, a non-motile- Gonium colony ~90μm in diameter and a motile- Colpidium ~60μm were all observed and recorded. From the top sample wet mount a motile- Pelomyxa ~2mm, a motile- Paramecium ~140μm, and a non-motile- Pandorina colony ~212μm were all observed and recorded. According to page two of the Freeman text the Paramecium Aurelia found from the bottom layer wet mount meets all the needs of life. In the energy department a Paramecium engulfs smaller organisms to obtain the necessary energy to survive. A Paramecium is a unicellular organism that is protected by a cell membrane. Paramecium Aurelia has genetic info and can horizontally transfer some of its DNA to other members of its species. In regards to replication it can sexually or asexually reproduce and is the result of evolution.
This Hay Infusion Culture seems to not have been contaminated to the best of knowledge and is thriving with various types of life at all depths. The data collected supports that there are different organisms at various depths but what is also true is that there is the same type of organism that can survive at both the surface and the bottom and that is the Paramecium. It was quite difficult to find and identify the organisms and if replicated it may be best to use the "slowmo" oil. Furthermore more than one wet mount was made for each layer in order to find and identify the organisms. It would be interesting to see if the Hay Infusion Culture could survive on its own for two months. In my opinion I think it would survive but the quality and the amount of life would significantly decrease. Furthermore, carrying capacity in regards to resources available would be a huge selective pressure that would kill off portions of the population within each niche and could affect the overall ecosystem that is the Hay Infusion Culture.
-M.M.
American University Transect: Group 4, 2015-01-14 (Unfinished)
The amount of organisms through out the world keep increasing due to new organisms being discovered everyday. These organisms can live in a variety of places. At American University it will be observed what organisms are present in the soil all across campus. Due to the location where this sample was taken it is predicted that there will be a decent amount of life such as bacteria, protists, plants, and animals living together in this one area.
Went to the group 4 transect site to examine the biotic and abiotic factors of the niche. A 20meter-by-20meter square was observed and from that the soil samples were taken from all over the site and combined in a 50 mL sterile conical tube. Returned to the lab with the soil sample and made Hay Infusion Culture. Comprised of 11 grams of the soil sample, 500 mLs of deer park water, 0.1 grams of dried milk in a plastic jar. Mixed ingredients for 10 seconds and left out in the lab with the lid removed.
The transect where group 4 took the soil samples was northwest of the soccer field in a campus garden that is gated off from the rest of the of the normal grass by a 10 foot high plastic gate. Inside the transect area there are four separate wooden boxes that vegetation could be grown in. At the time Brussels sprouts and Kale were being grown in two separate boxes of the four that were there. Soil samples were taken from each of the boxes as well as from two other sections of the transect outside the boxes. In addition to the soil that was collected rabbit feces, a Brussels sprout, Kale leaf, snow, a pine needle, a dead leaf and grass was included. All things went normal when making the Hay Infusion Culture. Abiotic factors include: direct sunlight, frozen soil, frost/ice on plants, four wooden vegetation boxes, plastic fencing, plastic irrigation hoses. Biotic factors include: grass, decomposing plant matter, animal traffic(feces), kale, Brussels sprouts, clover.
This lab was merely the process of obtaining the soil sample and setting up the Hay Infusion Culture. From just inspecting it with the naked eye there is a lot of diversity in the soil sample and should provide a positive environment to allow living organisms to survive.
-M.M.
1/28/2015 Figured out -M.M.
