This investigation compared the water qualities of Cherry Creek and Bear Creek in order to determine how the physical, chemical, and biological factors of the streams impacted the amount of life present within them. This investigation attempts to answer the question, “How are abiotic elements related to the number and abundance of macroinvertebrates found in the two streams?”
Water quality is the term used to indicate a body of water’s suitability for use (Ayers 1976). Water quality can be assessed based on its physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that it portrays (Metcalfe 1989). All of these elements interact together to create the ecosystem in which an organism lives in. The investigation looked at the physical parameters, temperature and water quality of the streams, and the bioindicators present within the streams.
The physical parameters consisted of observations regarding the physicality of the streams. That is, how wide and deep the water was, and how fast was the flow rate of the water. These elements are important because they affect what kinds of organisms can survive in different parts of the water. Some organisms may not be able to survive in deeper waters, whereas others may not be able to survive if
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The independent variable, water quality, will be determined through the measurements of pH, temperature (measured in degrees Celsius), phosphate, nitrate, ammonia, dissolved oxygen and dissolved solute levels (all measured in parts per million) in the water. The dependent variable will consists of the number and abundance of different types of organisms and plants present in the streams.
If the number and abundance of macroinvertebrates is dependent on the quality of water in the streams, then Bear Creek will have a greater abundance of macroinvertebrates due to its better quality of
...they affect water loss from animals and plants so affect where the limpet will live. The factors were measured with a CEM 4 in 1 Environment Meter (Light, Sound, Temp, Humidity Meter), which I got from a store which looked like this (http://www.digital-meters.com/humidity-c8/handheld-c58/cem-4-in-1-environment-meter-light-sound-temp-humidity-meter-cem-dt-8820-p61)
In the eutrophication test, we tested the phosphate, nitrate, and dissolved oxygen in the Conodoguinet Creek. We had a total of 9 tests for each of these items. Everyone who conducted these tests that day got the same results. The average for phosphate is 0.1, which is very good for the creek. The lower the phosphate, the better and less polluted the water is. 0.9 was the average for nitrate in the water. Nitrate is just like phosphate, the lower the nitrate the better the water quality is. The average for the dissolved oxygen is 9.8, which isn’t the best it can be, but it isn’t bad either. The average for the dissolved oxygen was lower because the weather was warm over the past few months, so that made the dissolved oxygen go down. Since the number was medium it shows us that the Conodoguinet Creek is not that polluted by doing this
Bibliography Laws, Edward A. Aquatic Pollution. 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1993. Pg. 301-305. Adams, Aurthur G. The Hudson Through the Years. New Jersey: Lind Publications, 1983. ------------------------. The Hudson: A Guide to the River. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981. Barnthouse, Lawrence W. Science, Law, and the Hudson River WWW.SCENICHUDSON.ORG WWW.HUDSONRIVER.ORG WWW.RIVERKEEPER.ORG
There are many causes and solutions to the deterioration of the Colorado River. The Colorado River is not the great river it used to be, with an abundant amount of healthy water, thriving wildlife and abundant plant life. With climate change, water salinity, pollution, and natural runoffs, the river’s water quality has deteriorated immensely. However, if communities and environmental groups join forces to research and raise money to find ways to help improve the Colorado River, it can get back to its original condition. This issues affects those who live by the river, concluding that I live somewhere near the river, I would love to see a change in the rivers condition to not only help the nature around it, but to help myself and others.
About 80% of the state's surveyed freshwater rivers and streams have good water quality that fully supports aquatic life uses, while 17% have fair water quality that partially supports aquatic life uses, and 3% have poor water quality that does not support aquatic life uses. Ten percent of the surveyed rivers do not fully support swimming. The major sources of impairment are agriculture, responsible for 53% of the impaired river miles, urban runoff, responsible for 16%, and construction, responsible for 13%. These sources generate siltation, bacteria, and organic wastes that deplete dissolved oxygen. Only 17% of the surveyed lakes in North Carolina are impaired for swimming, and 6% are impaired for aquatic life uses.
“Don’t waste that water! Kids in Africa don’t even have water to drink!” Almost every American has heard this saying before. We have heard this because there are water shortages in third world countries like Africa, as seen in the movie “Blue Gold”. But why have we developed this notion that there are only water shortages in third world countries? When in reality, there is a shortage of water right here in our home country. The Colorado River’s water is high in demand as it serves millions of people, powers industries, and is home to all different kinds of wildlife. The Colorado River will not be able to keep up with the increasing demand of water and soon enough the river will go dry. Organizations like the Colorado River Water Users Association are trying to change the way that the water is used and adjust how it is managed. The Colorado River is drying up and the western states are running out of water, however, public policy is trying to regulate and preserve the Colorado River to make it more sustainable in the future.
Latham, A., Wright, E., & Tsang, A. (n.d.). Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem. Retrieved from University of Michigan website: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section5group1/introduction_and_background
"Step 1. Characterizations of the Watershed." Forest Service: 17 pars. Viewed 7 Nov. 2002. <http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/spl/south_platte_web/step_1.htm>.
It ranges from zero to fourteen with seven being neutral. Anything less than seven is considered acidic and anything greater is considered basic. A river can become acidic through acid rain or certain pollutants. A non toxic stream is supposed to be around a pH of seven, and anything too far away could harm aquatic life and drinking water quality. Changing the pH of the water affects the solubility of nutrients and heavy metals in the water that aquatic life needs to survive. Dissolved oxygen is how much oxygen is dissolved in the water. Life in the rivers and streams breath this oxygen in order to survive. If the dissolved oxygen were to drop too low, the life in those waters would begin to die off. The oxygen enters the stream mostly from the atmosphere. When eutrophication occurs, it can cause an oxygen deficiency in the water. Eutrophication is a significant increase in plant life in a river which can kill off much of the aquatic life due to lack of dissolved oxygen. An ideal level of dissolved oxygen is five to six parts per million(ppm). Aquatic life will have difficulty with anything below three ppm. The level of nitrates in the water can affect the plant’s life directly and the aquatic life
In the news we hear about all the problems with water pollution in third-world countries, making the problem feel sort of foreign to us. However, water pollution is much closer to your home than you might think. As a matter of fact all kinds of different pollution affects us all the time, it can be in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. Pollution has plagued our beloved Buckeye Lake and we intend use the process of dredging to provide a short-term solution, until another, more permanent solution is put in place.
Nebel, Bernard J., and Richard T. Wright. Environmental Science. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
... any environment but in the deep sea the fish have had to evolve immensely just to survive.
which could out compete the organisms of the upper pool when in a more benign environment.
Smith, Zachary A., and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print
Water is one of the most essential non-renewable natural resources on the Earth. Technically, an un-hydrated human being can live no more than three days. In the United States, people consume water mainly from tap water and bottle water. However, the consumption between these two sources is not even but lean to one side heavily. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, people consume from 240 to over 10000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they usually do for tap water. (NRDC) In addition, according to a survey from US National Library of Medicines, only 17% of the participants prefer to drink tap water exclusively.(US National Library) Compared to the bottled water which is shining like a superstar, tap water is like a diligent worker in the shade, unpopular but useful. The extremely unbalance of bottled water consumption implies that a commonly hold conception exists: bottle water is superior to tap water. In fact, scientific evidence proves that tap water is nothing different than bottle water. More importantly, the excessive consumption of bottled water is an irrational use of resources and creates severe environmental issues.