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ZOOLOGY 470L LABORATORY Enrollment in the lab (Zool 470L) is required for enrollment in the course (Zool 470). Labs will meet either on Tuesday (13:30 – 16:30 [or longer sometimes]) afternoons or on weekends - usually Saturday. This is necessary because some labs will take more time than is available in the short afternoon period. The dates and timing of some of the labs will also depend on tides, and all outdoor labs will be subject to the weather. You will be graded on your laboratory work according to the information below. While some lab exercises will be carried out by groups, students are responsible, individually, for writing up lab reports. Some labs are more or less “cook book” while others simply give you general guidelines and you must design your own experiments. For grading more weight will be given to these labs. One Lab (#1) will require the entire semester to get the necessary data. You must attend all labs. There isn’t anyway to make up a field lab so you have to be there. There are two field trips, one to Kahana estuary and one to a stream (TBA). There will be no written lab report for these field trips, but attendance is required. In addition to the scheduled labs each student will design and carry out a small research project. The topic and methods will be decided through consultation with the teacher and the TA. Reports on these projects will be presented on April 30 and May 7 during the Tuesday afternoon lab period. We may have an opportunity to carry out a field study at Kalaupapa on Moloka’i, probably over Spring Break (March 23 – 27). If this works out, it would take about 4 days including travel. Because each student will have to pay for his/her own airfare and food etc. on this field trip, it is optional and missing this exercise will not affect your final grade. LIMNOLOGY LABS 2009 Tentative schedule Lab # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Jan. 13 Jan. 20 Jan 24 (Sat) Jan. 27 Feb. 7 (Sat) Feb. 10 Feb. 14 & 15 (Sat & Sun) Feb 17. Feb 24 Mar. 3 Mar 23 - 27 Apr. 11 (Sat) Apr. 25 (Sat) Apr. 18-19 (Sat-Sun) Apr. 21 Apr. 26 (Sat) Apr. 28 May 5 We will meet for organizational matters. Leaf pack degradation - Initiation Set out leaf packs Lake Morphology Nu‘uanu Reservoir - structure Predation/Herbivory - Initiation Primary Productivity Watershed Mapping I Watershed Mapping II Hydrology Moloka’i field trip (tentative) Salt wedge Kahana Estuary 24 hour photosynthesis/respiration Leaf pack degradation - finish XXXX field trip Project Reports Project Reports Laboratory #1 Leaf pack degradation Jan 20 - Tuesday afternoon (and Saturday Morning Jan. 24) et seq. DUE DATE April 28 Much of the input of organic matter at the base of food chains in streams is allochthonous - i.e. it is not the product of instream primary production, but rather is organic material produced outside of the stream - usually consisting of leaves and small woody material that comes from the drainage basin. CPOM (Coarse particulate organic material) usually must be processed before it becomes available to some components of the stream ecosystem. This processing consists of two processes. First dead matter is colonized by saprophages (usually fungi and bacteria) which weaken the physical structure of the particles and can accumulate nutrients onto the surfaces. A later stage is the physical break down of large particles CPOM into smaller particles SPOM and FPOM which can then be used by certain organisms. The rate of this process is determined by physical factors such as temperature and water motion, the nature of the starting material (fresh or old) and species specific differences, and biological factors - the composition of the shredder community i.e. those animals that utilize the CPOM. Hawai‘i lacks many of the insect groups that are the important shredders in temperate mainland streams. We are trying to discover what controls the rate of decomposition in Hawaiian streams. We will prepare a series of artificially produced leaf packs of known weight on Tuesday afternoon. These will be placed in Aihuilama Stream on Saturday morning. Throughout the semester, class members will retrieve some of the bags and replace them with new ones. Retrieved packs will be placed in plastic bags and returned to the lab where colonizing organisms will be rinsed off and fixed for identification. The leaf material will be dried and weighed. On April 21 the class will retrieve all of the bags in the stream and washing and weighing will be carried out as a group. Materials will consist of leaves, we may decide to use dried or fresh leaves of one species or fresh leaves of two species. Leaves will be divided into experimental units and weighed. Two different types of leaf packs will be compared. Leaf packs will be formed by tying or else placed in mesh bags with an identifying number. Leaf packs will be set out in a stream and tied down. The class will set out a collection schedule for the semester and randomly selected bags will be collected at approximately 2 week intervals. The goals are: 1) to construct time-degradation curves for leaves from several species of plants. 2) to compare two types of leaf pack designs 2) to identify and quantify the animals that colonize leaf packs. READING Stewart & Davies 1989 Winterbourn 1978 Cummins et al. 1980 Hoevels 1993 Archer 1980 Laboratory #2 Lake morphology January 27 Tuesday afternoon DUE DATE Feb. 10 Because we have no access to “real” lakes this will be a lab exercise. We will use data (bathymetry and contour maps) of several lakes. For these lakes you will determine the basic lake morphological parameters: A, V, L, b, zm, z, zr, SL, DL and you will develop hypsographic curves and depth volume curves for these lakes. READING Wetzel & Likens (1990) Exercise 1 Laboratory #3 Survey of Nu‘uanu Reservoir Feb. 7 DUE DATE Feb. 24 There are few (about a half dozen) natural lakes in Hawai‘i. However there are many man made reservoirs which have many of the characteristics of natural lakes. Nu‘uanu reservoir was constructed to serve as a water source for replenishment of O‘ahu’s ground water. This reservoir is protected on one side by a ridge and may be stratified if the trades are not blowing too hard. We will make measurements on the temperature and PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) vs. depth. The goal will be to determine the location of the thermocline (if the reservoir is stratified) AND the extinction coefficient. Goals: a) to gain hands-on knowledge of some lake survey techniques 2) to determine the structure of this man-made body of water. READING Wetzel & Likens (1990) Exercise 2 Laboratory #4 - Predation/Herbivory Feb. 10 Tuesday DUE DATE April 28 Energy moves up food chains through consumption by animals. Herbivory denoted consumption of plant material while carnivory refers to consumption of animal material. Detritivory (or saprophagy) concerns consumption of non-living organic matter. In this laboratory you may choose to study either predation or herbivory. Predation Hawai‘i today food chain structure in many ecosystems is being altered due to the increasing number and density of introduced species. While there is much speculation as to how these alien species might be affecting community structure in Hawaiian ecosystems there is little hard data available on this topic. In this lab, we will use the alien predatory snail Euglandina rosea as the predator and several aquatic snails as prey. There is evidence that Euglandina can locate prey using water born signals. You will form groups of 2-3 members and design one or more experiments to refine our knowledge about prey seeking behavior of this alien predator in aquatic systems. Goals: 1) to investigate the predation behavior of Euglandina rosea 2) to design experiments that will provide information on trail following behavior or searching behavior of this predator in aquatic habitats READING Kinzie 1988 Herbivory. Plants are often thought of as passive and vulnerable to herbivores, yet we know of a range of plant defense mechanisms. One set of such mechanisms consists of noxious chemicals that are made by the plant and which are stored and may deter removal of living plant materiel by herbivores. Many compounds that make plant parts “hot” or “spicy” serve to deter herbivory. In this lab we will use watercress, a plant which can be mild to quite “hot”, and grazing snails to test aspects of plant defenses. The defense system of watercress consists of a glucosinolate-myrosinase system. the actual defensive agent 2-phenylethyl isothiosynate is produces after enzymatic hydrolysis if 2-phenylethyl glucosinolate by the enzyme myrosinase. The enzyme is held apart from the substrate in special cells which are broken when plant tissue is disrupted by herbivores. The enzyme is de-activated by heating. Also some Watercress plants apparently have higher levels of these compounds than others. You will form groups of 2-3 members and design one or more experiments to refine our knowledge about plant defense mechanisms and herbivory. Your group can choose to work with carnivores, herbivores or sapropvores. Goals 1) to observe the effects of plant defense compounds on herbivores 2) to design experiments that will provide information on what factors influence the effectiveness of the plant’s defenses. READING: Newman et al. 1996 Laboratory #5 Primary productivity of phytoplankton Feb. 14 & 15(Saturday & Sunday) DUE DATE March 3 Primary production is ultimately at the basis of almost all food chains. Measurement of primary production is, therefore, a basic tool in determining community dynamics. There are two commonly used methods to determine primary production of phytoplankton; 14C uptake which is a measure of carbon fixed and oxygen production which is more less stoichiometrically related to carbon fixation. We will measure oxygen production using Winkler Method which analyzes the amount of dissolved oxygen. By using light and dark bottles, net photosynthesis and respiration can be determined. With these two values, gross photosynthesis can be calculated. We will carry out this exercise at Nu‘uanu Reservoir. Water samples will be collected, the larger zooplankton will be filtered out and paired light and dark bottles will be incubated at various depths in the water column. Oxygen production must be normalized to some factor. Typically Chlorophyll is used. We will measure Chlorophyll in the water samples using either spectrophotometric or fluorometric methods. Both are frequently used in limnological and oceanographic studies. Goals: 1) to learn common methods of photosynthesis determinations 2) to measure photosynthesis across a range of depths 3) to explore the relationship between photosynthesis and PAR READING Wetzel and Likens (1990) Exercise 6 Laboratory #6 - Watershed mapping Feb 17 Tuesday and Feb 24 Tuesday DUE DATE March 31 This will be the second of our hydrology labs. This exercise will use maps (USGS topographic maps and others) to give you an opportunity to explore the kinds of information required for description of a stream. Because of the importance of geographic information systems (GIS) in areal studies we will also have a demonstration of these technologies at a GIS facility. Goals: 1) to determine the boundaries and area of the drainage basins for several streams 2) to explore channel length vs. order relationships for these streams 3) to learn how to find and use available data on streams. READING Wetzel and Likens Exercise #5 Laboratory #7 – Hydrology March 3 Tuesday DUE DATE March 31 Hydrology is the study of flowing water. With reference to streams Hydrology investigates the parameters of flow in these open channels. Unlike ditches, flumes and pipes the bed of the stream channel is constantly modified by the flow of water. This in turn alters the flow regime of the stream. This constant interplay of mutual feedback is of central importance in the study of stream ecology. Because of its importance, we will have two labs dealing with this topic. Today’s lab will be a field exercise. The goals are: 1) to construct channel cross sections 2) to measure discharge 3) to construct a stage/gage relationship for the stream READING Wetzel and Likens Exercise #5 Laboratory #8 Lake Kauhako During Spring Break NO LAB DUE OPTIONAL I am currently exploring the possibility of carrying out a survey of Lake Kauhako on Kalaupapa peninsula. What this exercise will be like will depend on how many people can go, what equipment we can borrow and how long we can stay - more later Laboratory #9 - salt wedge April 11(Sat) DUE DATE May 28 Estuaries are characterized by a dynamic interaction between the outflow of freshwater, which is unidirectional and fairly slow to change under normal conditions, and sea water which shows in Hawai’i a twice daily ebb and flow. Ass the tide rises a layer of denser salt water intrudes beneath the less dense freshwater which continues to flow to the sea. This intrusion is called the salt wedge. This exercise will document and quantify the intrusion of the salt wedge into the Ala Wai canal. In this channelized estuary the salt wedge is particularly clearly seen. On April 11 there is a very large tidal excursion (-0.2’ at 10:22 to 2.0’ at 17:38). We will take salinity vs. depth readings from each of the bridges that crosses the Ala Wai during this period. Goals: 1) to document the Ala Wai salt wedge 2) to construct a graphical representation of this phenomenon Laboratory #10 Field Trip to Kahana estuary April 25or 26 (Sat-Sun) NO LAB REPORT This will be a field trip, taking advantage of an early morning low tide to study the fauna (fish and invertebrates) of Kahana estuary. READING Maciolek 1981 Maciolek & Timbol 1981 Laboratory #11 -- 24 hour productivity study April 18 - 18 (Sat-Sun) DUE DATE April 28 There are two general conditions that must be taken into account in studies of community metabolism. In the daytime plants photosynthesize (and respire) and nonphotosynthetic organisms respire. At night only respiration occurs. In making a budget for a community the net balance of these two processes must be taken into account. To this we need data that span a 24 hour period. If the total photosynthesis over the 24 hours (actually it only occurs when the sun is up) produces more than is burned by the total respiration over the same 24 hour period, we say the community is autotrophic. The P/R ratio is >1 and there is a net accumulation (or export) of organic material. If P/R <1 then the community is heterotrophic and energy must be imported from outside the community for it to persist. In this exercise we will measure oxygen production (consumption) in a section of stream over a 24 hour period and construct a budget for the community. To do this we will take water samples every 3 hours over at least 24 hours. For safety at least 2 people will be needed for the night samples. Goals 1) to use our new abilities to measure primary productivity to construct a budget for a stream community. READING Wetzel and Likens Exercise 24 La Perrier MS Laboratory #1 - end of the leaf pack study April 21 Tuesday We will all meet together to 1) collect, wash, sort dry and weigh the leaf packs remaining in the stream 2) copy, collage, organize and distribute all the leaf pack data. Laboratory #12 Field trip to XXXXX April 26 (Sat) NO LAB REPORT READING Kinzie 1988