Download Biodiversity of the pond Ecosystem

3/12/2011
Title of the Group:
Splashers
Biodiversity of the pond Ecosystem 1)
2)
3)
Aim and Objective:
The different levels of the pond ecosystem and how the level interact with each other.
interact with each other.
Measurement of the biodiversity index of the species found.
Breaking‐ down a larger system into a smaller system to better able to understand the large system as a whole.
Characteristics of what we consider to be biodiversity?
1)Number of persons/ ethnicities living in a community 2)Gender 3)Culture 4)Height/ length
5)Hair color
6)Skin color / race 7)Age 8)W i ht
8)Weight 9)Eye color 10)Texture of the skin / fur
Members:
Amanda
Keneshia
Liz
Tameika
What is biodiversity? Biodiversity of life‐ forms, the number of species that is found within an area.
What is biodiversity index?
What
is biodiversity index?
Biodiversity Index is a Statistic which measures the local member of a set consisting of various types of object. In other words Biodiversity Index is the measurement of species and its diversity of a community or most importantly of an ecosystem. y
Biodiversity index also measure the different population of species and determines how species are distributed with the ecosystem and then within the community. 1
3/12/2011
Simpson’s diversity index‐ otherwise known as the species diversity index The Simpson’s diversity index is a statistical approach which measure the diversity of a habitat‐ which measure the number of species that are present and their abundance of each species. In this index it is best if the percentage covered is used because it is hard to get an actual count of all the individual species whether plants or animals
•A simple biodiversity index
= Biodiversity Index Equation –
D= ^2
D‐ is the species Density ‐ is the formula use to calculate a large operation such as the biodiversity of a habitat. Pi‐ is the fraction of all organisms which belong to a species ^2‐ is the fraction of all organisms of a specie that is found times h f
f ll
f
h
f
2 or raised to the power of 2 Which means that the fraction of organisms that are found are double so as to offset those that the observer couldn’t count/ or didn’t observed. How is this related to the topic? Through this lab we will be focusing on the biodiversity of an ecosystem found within a pond. In order to better understand the larger scale ecosystem of a pond and its diversity we will fi t
first need to understand it on a smaller scale. As an example I dt
d t d it
ll
l A
l I
will be using a pass experience of my own fish tank.
For example: I tried to create my own aquarium forgetting to do the necessary background checks on what type of fish is compatible and will successfully co‐exist with each other. Not realizing that fish like people are individuals with” distinctive personalities.
fish like people are individuals with
distinctive personalities ” What I read online is that the larger the tank the more fish I can mix. Taking that into great consideration I decided to mix my fish. Mixing the Piranha fish with the kissing Gourami. I bought them all at the same sizes.
2
3/12/2011
Piranha and Kissing Gourami Fish in the fish tank Observation
• Week 1‐ They we all getting along • Week 2 ‐ I notice that they were swimming in group the two piranhas together and the kissing Gourami together.
• Week 3‐ the kissing Gourami was always to the top of the aquarium while the Piranhas remained at the bottom.
• Week 4‐ the Piranhas started to pick at Kissing Gourami and run them around the tank. Not know what the situation was. I said to myself goo they are playing.
• It was approximately 8 weeks when the Piranhas grew in size. They It was approximately 8 weeks when the Piranhas grew in size. They
became twice the size of my index finger out growing the Kissing Gourami but by the end of the week all four of my Kissing Gourami
was seen floating at the top of the tank.
Conclusion After realizing this I decided to create another experiment mixing the same piranha fish with the Oscar. By this time the Piranhas had grown to about my hand size, the Oscar fish was half that size of the Piranhas but it was very heavy built/ stocky fish. I came to realized that I had a mix of different personalities in an unfamiliar environment liti i
f ili
i
t
and that the Piranhas are territorial fish as they grow in size while the kissing Gourami is very passive community fish. Which at no point they should be in the same environment. 3
3/12/2011
Observation:
Conclusion
Answer
• The first weeks the Piranhas constantly pick at th O
the Oscar. After the first week both the Oscar Aft th fi t
k b th th O
and the Piranhas were attacking each other resulting. However after six months they were still living. •
How to relate this fish tank experiment to that large scale pond?
• In this aquarium we notice that in creating community of diversity of different kinds of it f di
it f diff
t ki d f
species can cause some trouble especially when the species aren’t interacting postively. • Now when looking at the pond as a whole it is clear to understand and to be able to compare p
the lifestyle of the fish in the tank to that of the pond. Proposed question • Does the size of a fish determine whether or not they are aggressive / territorial? • No‐ as learned from the experiments above yes when combining the kissing gourami with the piranhas we saw a with the piranhas we saw a
great deal of aggressiveness ( the piranhas grew larger in size than the Kissing Gourami) but what happened when we took those same large piranhas and mixed them with the Oscar which was slightly smaller than the piranhas (they consistently fought but they live together) going back to the question size can vary and thus may have some effect contributing to its behavior but if the genetic traits that
behavior but if the genetic traits that was inherited is aggressive no matter if the fish is large or small that fish will be naturally aggressive and territorial. springs or towards each other within that family or it’s a behavior that they observe for a period of time. I will try to create a biodiversity index that will aid in
deciphering how many species of fish in the pond
are territorial vs. passive and how many plant
species within the pond are at different levels.
Firstly- how large is the pond
Secondly- how many species have I observed or that is present in the
pond community?
•The pond is approximately
•I observed two populations of species. The Fish population and the
plant population. But within those population they are three different
ki d off fish
kinds
fi h species
i such
h as the
th (piranha,
( i h Oscar
O
and
d the
th Kissing
Ki i
gourami fish) while the plant population I also observed three different
species they are (The water lilies, Hibiscus plants and the Dwarf
Sagittaria)
4
3/12/2011
Equation‐
•
‐ Each species = Biodiversity Index
Each species = Biodiversity Index
• Example: 2/6 ‐ x = Biodiversity index • X‐ Refers to the number of each individual species that is counted •
How did I arrive at this? Numerator: • The pond as observed has a population of 2 species (the fish
population of 2 species (the fish population and the plant population)
Denominator:
• As observed within the fish population it was discovered that there’s 3different kind of species (the Piranhas, Oscar and the Kissing Goruami) • Also the plant population was consisting of 3 different plant species living within the pond.
• By adding the two population f specific kind of species = 6
Subtraction:
• X‐ subtracting the amount of each specific kind of species that
each specific kind of species that was observed and counted
Facing difficulties • For example – when looking at the piranha fish species individually we will calculate the total amount that was found within the pond.
• As the same with the Oscar, kissing gourami and the other individual plant species.
• Create a biodiversity index of what species of fish are territorial vs. what species are passive/community fish and how many are within the pond.
• What fish species is territorial‐ what fish species are passive/ community Piranha fish species + the Oscar Fish species the Kissing Gourami
Piranha fish species + the Oscar Fish species –
the Kissing Go rami
Equation:
• [The number of piranha species + the number of Oscar fish ‐ [the number of kissing gourami]
• When observing such an ecosystem in which we are only observing biodiversity of the fish behaviors or interaction with each other and other species, physical traits that was inherit by parents/ previous generation and their preferred habitat or place with in the pond. We may experience some difficulties when trying to get the correct calculations for example‐ what is the probability that we are going to collect two specific species. What is the probability that each species of p
p
y
p
fish would remain in its territory. What if there’s a disturbance in the pond which affects the ecosystem and cause the fish species to all pile into habitat. 5
3/12/2011
Plant Population Equation:
Now when looking at the plant population, • Observe and calculate how many plants are Ob
d l l t h
l t
floaters (found above the water) or how many plants insist that their habitat is on the surface of the water.
• How many plant species are just below the surface (marginal)
f
(
i l)
• How many plants species are found at the bottom of the pond?
• The number of plant species that are found above the surface of the water –
b
th
f
f th
t
th
the number b
that is found at the bottom of the pond * the number of plant species that are neither at the surface or at the bottom of the pond = biodiversity index
My ecosystem the Aquatic habitat in a pond In the Aquatic ecosystem I am focusing on three types of fishes the piranhas, Oscars, Kissing Gourami fish. Also within this ecosystem we will be focusing on other species that also create this system such as plants like fish’s plants are also very territorial. Plants such as water lilies, hibiscus plants and dwarf sagittaria. i i
Fishes
• The piranhas ‐are passive aggressive and very territorial fishes •The Oscar ‐are aggressive and very territorial fishes •The kissing gourami – are very passive community fishes Plants:
The water lilies‐ are floating plants •Hibiscus plants are –marginal plants Hibiscus plants are marginal plants •Dwarf Sagittaria‐ Submerged plants When it comes to the fish we see that there’s a difference between the
different species of fish and plants however it is understood that fish
are very territorial
6