AP Biology Lab 12 Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Productivity

Trevor Peterson 09 9 1! AP Biology Pd " 9 #rs$ %lar&'s AP Bio class

Abstract: #easurement o( Dissolved Oxygen) T*e +ur+ose o( t*is ex+eriment ,as to s*o, *o, tem+erature a((ected t*e amount o( dissolved oxygen in an aquatic sam+le$ -ater sam+les ,ere collected at di((erent tem+eratures and t*e dissolved oxygen ,as determined using t*e -in&ler #et*od$ Percent saturation o( oxygen ,as t*en calculated using a nomogra+*$ .esults o( t*e ex+eriment indicated t*at as t*e tem+erature increased/ t*e dissolved oxygen in t*e sam+le decreased$ #easurement o( Primary Productivity) T*e +ur+ose o( t*is ex+eriment ,as to demonstrate *o, lig*t intensity in(luences +rimary +roductivity in an aquatic sam+le$ -ater sam+les ,ere collected and ,ra++ed to simulate di((erent lig*t intensities$ One sam+le ,as ,ra++ed in (oil to simulate a dar& sam+le so res+iration rate could be determined$ 0am+les ,ere le(t overnig*t under a lig*t$ On day 2/ t*e dissolved oxygen o( t*e sam+les ,as determined using t*e -in&ler #et*od$ 1rom t*ese results/ t*e net and gross +roductivity o( t*e sam+les ,as calculated$ T*e results o( t*e ex+eriment indicated t*at t*e greater t*e lig*t/ t*e greater t*e +rimary +roductivity$ Theory: Dissolved oxygen levels are an extremely im+ortant (actor in determining t*e quality o( an aquatic environment$ Dissolved oxygen is necessary (or t*e metabolic +rocesses o( organisms (ound in ,ater$ Terrestrial environments *old over 923 more oxygen t*an aquatic environments$ Oxygen levels in aquatic environments are very vulnerable to even t*e slig*test c*ange$ Oxygen must be constantly be re+lenis*ed (rom t*e atmos+*ere and (rom +*otosynt*esis$

T*ere are several (actors t*at a((ect t*e dissolved oxygen levels in aquatic environments$ Tem+erature is inversely +ro+ortional to t*e amount o( dissolved oxygen in ,ater$ As tem+erature rises/ dissolved oxygen levels decrease$ -ind allo,s oxygen to be mixed into t*e ,ater at t*e sur(ace$ -indless nig*ts can cause let*al oxygen de+letions in aquatic environments$ Turbulence also increases t*e mixture o( oxygen and ,ater at t*e sur(ace$ T*is turbulence is caused by obstacles/ suc* as roc&s/ (allen logs/ and ,ater (alls/ and can cause extreme variations in oxygen levels t*roug*out t*e course o( a stream$ Primary +roduction is t*e energy accumulated by +lants since it is t*e (irst and basic (orm o( energy storage$ T*e (lo, o( energy t*roug* a community begins ,it* +*otosynt*esis$ All o( t*e sun's energy t*at is used is termed gross +rimary +roduction$ T*e energy remaining a(ter res+iration and stored as organic matter is t*e net +rimary +roduction$ T*e equation (or +*otosynt*esis is as (ollo,s) 12H2O + 6CO2 C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O T*ere are t*ree ,ays to measure +rimary +roduction/ measure t*e carbon consumed/ measure t*e glucose +roduced/ or measure t*e oxygen +roduced$ T*e oxygen met*od uses a dar& and lig*t bottle to com+are t*e amount o( oxygen +roduced in +*otosynt*esis and used in res+iration$ .es+iration rate is determined by subtracting t*e dar& bottle (rom t*e initial bottle$

Hypothesis: As tem+erature increases/ dissolved oxygen ,ill decrease$ As lig*t intensity increases/ +rimary +roductivity ,ill increase$

Materials: #easurement o( Dissolve Oxygen) T*is +art o( t*e lab required BOD bottles/ ,ater sam+le/ t*ermometer/ c*emicals (or t*e -in&ler met*od/ titration vial/ syringe/ starc*/ and a nomogra+* #easurement o( Primary Productivity) T*is +art o( t*e lab required BOD bottles/ ,ater sam+le/ screens/ (oil/ rubber bands/ lig*t source/ c*emicals (or t*e -in&ler met*od/ titration vial/ syringe/ and starc* Procedure: #easurement o( Dissolved Oxygen) -ater sam+les ,ere collected (rom ! di((erent tem+eratures in BOD bottles using a s+eci(ied tec*nique to ensure sam+les ,ere (ree o( air$ T*e di((erent tem+eratures are 45/ 225/ and !05$ T*e sam+les ,ere (ixed and t*en tested (or dissolved oxygen using t*e -in&ler #et*od$ Once t*e amount o( dissolved oxygen ,as determined/ t*e +ercent saturation o( oxygen o( eac* sam+le ,as determined using a nomogra+*$ #easurement o( Primary Productivity) 0ix ,ater sam+les ,ere collected in BOD bottles using a s+eci(ied tec*nique to ensure sam+les ,ere (ree o( air$ 6ac* bottle ,as ,ra++ed according to t*e directions to simulate di((erent lig*t intensities$ T*e lig*t intensities tested ,ere dar&/ 1003 lig*t/ 723 lig*t/ 223 lig*t/ 103 lig*t and 23 lig*t$ T*e sam+les ,ere le(t under a lig*t overnig*t$ On day 2/ t*e sam+les ,ere (ixed and t*en tested (or dissolved oxygen using t*e -in&ler #et*od$ Once t*e dissolved oxygen ,as determined/ net and gross +roductivity could be calculated$ T*e baseline dissolved oxygen reading (or t*e calculations came (rom t*e results (or 225% sam+le (rom +art A$

Data/Obser atio!s: #easurement o( Dissolved Oxygen) Table 1) Te"p #C 24 29 12 $roup DO "%/& "$1 8$8 7$2 Class DO "%/& " 8$4 7$" $roup ' saturatio! 97 100 71 Class ' saturatio! 94$! 98 78

0ee attac*ment (or 9ra+* 1 and 9ra+* 2$ #easurement o( Primary Productivity) Once bottles ,ere (ixed/ t*ey ,ere not a yello, color ,*ic* indicates very little dissolved oxygen$ Table 2)
Bottle Baseline (initial) Dar "i#$t 1 screen ' screen ( screen ) screen Actual DO 10 10 17 1&.1 10 * 7 Manipulated DO 7.7 7.! %.% %.& (.) (.( (.' Net Productivity X X 7 &.1 0 +1 +' Gross Productivity X X 7 &.1 0 +1 +'

.es+iration rate : 4$7 mg O2 L 0ee attac*ment (or 9ra+* !$ A!alysis/Discussio!: #easurement o( Dissolved Oxygen) T*e inde+endent variable in t*e study ,as tem+erature ,*ile t*e de+endent variable ,as t*e dissolved oxygen or +ercent saturation o( oxygen$ T*e sam+le at room tem+erature could be considered t*e control sam+le$ As t*e tem+erature slo,ly declined t*e oxygen levels increased$ ;t ,as also a++arent t*at as t*e tem+erature ,ent do,n/ t*e +ercent saturation o( oxygen ,ent do,n$ -it* t*e data collected it is a++arent ,*y Alas&a *as more art*ro+ods t*an %osta .ica$ ;n %osta .ica

t*e tem+erature is ,armer t*an Alas&a ma&ing t*e rate o( dissolved oxygen lo,er in %osta .ica rat*er t*an cold Alas&a ,ere it is cold enoug* (or t*e rate o( dissolved oxygen to be muc* *ig*er$ As a result t*e dissolved oxygen brings about more aquatic organisms ,*ic* is t*e reason ,*y Alas&a *as more art*ro+ods t*an %osta .ica #easurement o( Primary Productivity) T*e inde+endent variable in t*e study ,as lig*t intensity ,*ile t*e de+endent variable ,as t*e +rimary +roductivity$ 1or t*e control ,e decided to use dar& sam+les considering t*at ,e didn<t ex+ect (or +*otosynt*esis to occur$ T*e overall data collected revealed t*at t*e lig*t intensity decreased as t*e +rimary +roduction decreased$ T*ere ,ere some sam+les t*at did not give t*e results +redicted so mani+ulated data ,as used$ Co!clusio!: #easurement o( Dissolved Oxygen) ;t ,as observed t*at tem+erature a((ects t*e amount o( dissolved oxygen in a ,ater sam+le$ As t*e tem+erature decreased/ t*e dissolved oxygen increased$ T*e *y+ot*esis ,as acce+ted$ Any unusual measurements could *ave been due to tec*nician error/ suc* as incorrect execution o( t*e -in&ler #et*od or allo,ing over ex+osure o( t*e ,ater sam+le to air$ T*e tem+eratures o( t*e sam+les may *ave not been accurate and t*is could *ave resulted in similar dissolved oxygen readings$ #easurement o( Primary Productivity) ;t ,as observed t*at t*e amount o( lig*t a((ects t*e amount o( dissolved oxygen in a ,ater sam+le$ As t*e amount o( lig*t decreased t*e amount o( +rimary +roductivity decreased$ T*e *y+ot*esis ,as acce+ted$ ;( t*ere ,ere any errors/ t*ey could *ave occurred (rom im+ro+er measurements and (ailure to +ro+erly carry out t*e ex+eriment= suc* as t*e incorrect execution o( t*e -in&ler

#et*od$ Also/ a error could *ave occurred (rom t*e bottles not being +ro+erly ,ra++ed and tied ,it* rubber bands$

(e)ere!ces: >Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Productivity$? Lab @andboo&$ %arolina Biological 0u++ly %om+any$ %arolina$ 2008$ dl(A Biologic Biologic BiBiological 0u++ly %om+any/ %arolina$ 2008$