Environmental Science Lab Report Essay Example
Estimation of Duckweed Geometric Population Density
Phosphate Depletion
By Ana Rosina Alarcon
University of Texas at El Paso
Department of Environmental Science
Instructor: Gebregiorgis Alay G.
Introduction Duckweed is a small aquatic plant that is able to grow rapidly, making it the ideal specimen for our experiment. It is hypothesized that altering the amount of light received by duckweed will alter its photosynthetic rate. It is predicted that a lower light intensity will lower the rate of growth in duckweed. Also is an important high-protein food source for waterfowl and also is eaten by humans in some parts of the world. As it contains more protein than soybeans, it is sometimes cited as a significant potential food source. The tiny plants provide cover for fry of many aquatic species. The plants are used as shelter by pond water species such as bullfrogs and bluegills. They also provide shade and, although frequently confused with them, can reduce certain light-generated growths of photoautotrophic algae. The plants can provide nitrate removal, if cropped, and the duckweeds are important in the process of bioremediation because they grow rapidly, absorbing excess mineral nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphates. For these reasons they are touted as water purifiers of untapped value. For Lab 7, the duckweed lab, the purpose is to test what factors might affect the growth of duckweed. In this case phosphate was taken away from the nourishment given to the plant; this was to see how it might affect the plants growth rate after a few weeks. As the weeks went by a significant difference between the duckweed samples without phosphate and the samples with phosphate was noticeable, the duckweed without phosphate had a lower growth rate. This goes to show that in a case where growth rate of plants is important phosphate must be present to raise the growth rate significantly for the first few weeks. This is
Phosphate Depletion
By Ana Rosina Alarcon
University of Texas at El Paso
Department of Environmental Science
Instructor: Gebregiorgis Alay G.
Introduction Duckweed is a small aquatic plant that is able to grow rapidly, making it the ideal specimen for our experiment. It is hypothesized that altering the amount of light received by duckweed will alter its photosynthetic rate. It is predicted that a lower light intensity will lower the rate of growth in duckweed. Also is an important high-protein food source for waterfowl and also is eaten by humans in some parts of the world. As it contains more protein than soybeans, it is sometimes cited as a significant potential food source. The tiny plants provide cover for fry of many aquatic species. The plants are used as shelter by pond water species such as bullfrogs and bluegills. They also provide shade and, although frequently confused with them, can reduce certain light-generated growths of photoautotrophic algae. The plants can provide nitrate removal, if cropped, and the duckweeds are important in the process of bioremediation because they grow rapidly, absorbing excess mineral nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphates. For these reasons they are touted as water purifiers of untapped value. For Lab 7, the duckweed lab, the purpose is to test what factors might affect the growth of duckweed. In this case phosphate was taken away from the nourishment given to the plant; this was to see how it might affect the plants growth rate after a few weeks. As the weeks went by a significant difference between the duckweed samples without phosphate and the samples with phosphate was noticeable, the duckweed without phosphate had a lower growth rate. This goes to show that in a case where growth rate of plants is important phosphate must be present to raise the growth rate significantly for the first few weeks. This is