Clayesha McElwee Lab.

4 Week 4 November 2, 2010

pH 2.8 3.1 3.4 3.7 4.0 4.3 4.6 4.9 5.2 5.5 5.8 6.1 6.4 6.7 7.0 Clam Dragonfly Side Swimmer

0 9 20

0 5 16 18 20 20 20

0 2 7 14 20

1. What are the names of the species used in this experiment? Which of these species was the most tolerant of increased acidity in the aquarium? Which species was the least tolerant? The names of the species used in the experiment were clam, dragonfly, and side swimmer. The specie that was the most tolerant was the dragonfly and the least tolerant was the clam. 2. Describe how acid precipitation affects ecosystems. Acid precipitation affects the ecosystem, for example, lowering ph in water when it falls into the lake which kills some aquatic organisms. 3. What is an indicator species? How are indicator species used to assess pollution levels in the environment? Indicator species are particular aquatic invertebrates that alert us to pollution problems in an environment. Indicator species are used to assess pollution because they change rapidly in response to changes in ecological variables, such as food availability, water temperature, amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, pH levels, and other factors. 4. Suppose you are an ecologist studying the effects of acid precipitation on plant life. Describe an experiment you would perform in order to determine which plant species would be a useful indicator species for acid rain pollution. An experiment that I would use to perform in order to determine which plant species would be a useful indicator species for acid rain pollution would be similar to the experiment we just performed on aquatic invertebrates. I would gather numerous plant species and test how they react when ph levels lowered, keeping record of reactions, and formulating my conclusion from that information.

5. How do the data represented on the Population Bar Graph compare to the data represented in the line graph titled Populations of Aquatic Invertebrates at Various pH Level? In the line graph, you get to see what the species population might between the ph levels represented in the chart. For example, the line graph would show the population between 7.0 and 6.7. The bar graph doesnt show that information. You only get to see the population represented in the chart.