Investigating difference in Abiotic Factors and species diversity in two ponds.

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Investigating difference in Abiotic Factors and species diversity in too ponds.

Aim- To investigate the distribution of invertebrates in two pond ecosystems.

In this investigation I will be studying the distinction in abiotic factors and species diversity in the two ponds. The two ponds that I will be looking at to achieve my results is meadow pond which was man made in 1994 and Woodland pond which is mad made in 1990 and is surrounded by deciduous trees like oak and ash, which loose their leaves during the season of the year when there is in short water supply.  

Several physical factors affect the distribution of organisms in their habitats. These physical factors are often referred to as abiotic. Abiotic is referred to not living. Biotic factors which involve the effects of other living organisms including plant with the type and distribution to feed on also the food availability and the competition of invertebrates.

The Abiotic factors include oxygen concentration, pollution, light intensity, and water temperature and substrate depth.

Other factors comprise of invertebrate diversity, number of detrivores/decomposer compared to herbivores and carnivores and number of Herbivores compared to detrivores and carnivores.

  • I predict that light intensity would be higher in the meadow pond as there is no shading from the trees so more light reaching the pond.
  • I predict that water temperature will be greater in the meadow pond than the woodland pond due to fact of no shading of trees so more light reaching the pond so the temperature will be higher due to the heat of the light.
  • I predict that the oxygen concentration will be higher in meadow pond because of more sunlight so plants will be photosynthesising more. Also as I am taking the data during the day the oxygen will be higher linked to its production by the photosynthesis of activity of aquatic plants. Also the factor of seasonal changes in temperature and light intensity influences oxygen availability through the photosynthesis activity.
  • I predict that the substrate depth will be higher in the woodland pond as there are deciduous trees which loose their leaves which fall in the pond giving a rise in the water.
  • I predict the acidity will be more acidic in the meadow pond due to the fact that more rainfall reaching the pond as there is fewer trees which reduce interception which increases surface run-off. As I mentioned I will be taking this data during the day in which carbon dioxide is higher due to the fact photosynthesis activity will be higher. Carbon Dioxide forms carbonic acid which is weak acid so the rain is likely to be mildly acidic. Carbonic acid dissociates into hydrogen ions (H+) and hydrogencarbonate ions (HCO3-). The H+ ions contribute to the acidity of the water or make the pH lower.
  •  I predict that there will be a higher invertebrate diversity in meadow pond due to fact there is more light reaching the plant so more photosynthesis is occurring so more species are available to survive.
  • I predict that there will be more detrivores/ decomposers compared to herbivores and carnivores in the woodland pond as there are more dead organic matter like leaves.
  •  I predict number of herbivores will be higher compared to detrivores and carnivores in the Meadow pond because of more sunlight reaching the plant so more photosynthesis so they grow more and more food for the herbivores.
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Methods

Light intensity – Used a light intensity detector, 

Place it in the water and read the temperature for different sites in the pond.

Oxygen concentration – Used an oxygen concentration detector, bottle of pond water. First off all we got pond water in the bottle and shacked it for 1minute. Then we turned the meter on and opened the lid of the bottle. Place the meter in the bottle until it reached to 100. After that we put the meter in the pond and read readings at different sites in the pond.

Water ...

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