Ecocolumn Notes

land (soil)

What does the terrestrial chamber mimic?

cleans water as it drips through

What is the function of the filer chamber?

• Nature where sand and gravel clean water from pollutants

• Water treatment where river/lake/groundwater is run through sand and gravel to capture pollutants

What does the filter chamber mimic?

True

True or false? Some wastewater treatment plants use sand and gravel to clean water.

Gravel

_______ under the sand and soil helps with drainage (this is something you should do whenever you plant in pots)

the aquatic chamber

What chamber mimics a pond?

germinate

The sprinkler is used to gently water your seeds as they __________

air

What do flaps/holes in the aquatic chamber allow to flow?

oxygen

What will dissolve into the water, allowing fish to breathe?

legumes (beans)

We plant ______ to demonstrate one part of the nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen fixation

_______________ occurs via bacteria on the roots of legumes

amonia

The bacteria turn nitrogen from the air into _________

use it

Other plants will use the nutrients in the soil, but the legumes both add nitrogen and ___________

Micronutrients, like NPK

What nutrients are already in the soil?

silt and suspended particles

We will flush (drain) the ecocolumn every day for 2 weeks, becase _____________ will clog the gills of the fish

turbidity

Dirty water (suspended particles) is known as ____________

tannins

Some color in the water is from _______ (compounds found in plants) and will not hurt the fish

leach

Flushing will _______ nutrients out of the soil

Leaching

________ is when percolating water flushes substances out of soil

Adding nutrients in other ways

How will we mitigate leaching?

Worms and other insects

Detritivores like ________________________ help break own decomposing matter into nutrients (NPK)

aerate

Worms also help _______ the soil (create tubes for water and air flow)

1. Provide food for detritivores

2. Provides hiding places for detritivores

3. Leaves will decompose and add nutrients to the soil

4. Leaves prevent water loss in the soil by capturing and condensing any evaporated water

We add leaf litter to the soil for these reasons:

True

True or false? In the aquatic chamber, we start with purified water to see how water quality changes as we add new items

• Home for beneficial bacteria

• Keeps debris and fish feces from being in water colum

Gravel at the bottom of aquatic chamber:

• Adds dissolved oxygen to the aquatic chamber

• Takes in ammonia and nitrates to keep below toxic levels

• Provides food for the fish

• Salvinia is wet with water from the original aquarium (Ms. Shirley’s). This water is full of nitrifying bacteria which will colonize the aquatic chamber.

What are the functions of Salvinia?

Water Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

What is important for fish survival?

Dissolved Oxygen

What must be higher than 2-3 mg/L ppm?

pH range

Species have a preferred ________ and cannot survive above or below that range (Range of Tolerance)

acid rain

A change in pH in a pond, lake, or stream could indicate a water pollutant, _______, etc.

temperature range

Species prefer a specific ____________. If this range changes, they will leave or die. This is another “range of tolerance”

True

True or false? Colder water holds more dissolved oxygen ( a physiccal property of water)

To demonstrate its importance in nature, since are ecocolumns are inside, the temperature is constant

Why do we mesure the temperature within our eccocolumn?

nitrates

Purified water may have zero or a few ________

Increase

Fish will excrete waste and the nitrate levels will then ____ over time

Decompose

Dead fish or plants will _________ and increase nitrates.

Water TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)

What measures the total amount of anything in the water, including minerals (calcium and magnesium), Salts, Nitrates, Phosphates, and Metals?

Colonizes

Over two to three days, nitrifying bacteria _______ the aquatic chamber

Ammonia

The intruding bacteria turns _____ from fish into nitrites and then nitrates

toxic

The fish feces contains ammonia which is ________. However, the bacteria will turn ammonia into nitrates to relieve this issue.

Fish

_____ can handle fairly high levels of nitrates

Dissolved Oxygen

If Salvinina is healthy, it uses CO2 and adds DO through photosynthesis, therefore _____ increases in the aquatic chamber

Carbonic Acid

Dissolved CO2 makes ___________ so less CO2 = less acid = higher pH

Large fish

If Salvinia is dying, the decomposing bacteria use more DO, causing dissolved oxygen to decrease. Decomposition produces CO2 = more acid = lower pH. Too many fish or _________ will also used too much dissolved oxygen.

Increased

After the fish have been added, healthy nitrifying bacteria in the water will readily turn ammonia into nitrite then nitrate. (nitrites and nitrates should have _______ compared to before the fish)

Normal

Over time (after fish), the aquatic chamber’s bacteria will increase and rapidly turn nitrites and subsequently nitrites will be zero, but nitrates will be very high. This is _________.

pH

As the fish respirated, ___ may decrease due to the increase in carbonic acid from CO2

Healthy salvinia using the CO2 for photosynthesis

What counteracts the pH decreasing due to fish respiration?

Decomposing

_________ fish decrease the dissolved oxygen

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

What is the process called when bacteria that decompose use dissolved oxygen?

Remove it from aquatic chamber and bury it in terrestrial chamber

If the fish dies, what should you do?

Nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorus)

What will decomposing fish add to the soil?

3

You must wait until dissolved oxygen is back to at LEAST _ mg/L before adding a new fish

pH levels

After a fish dies, the ___ may decrease due to more carbonic acid.

Fish waste

Water your terrestrial chamber with water from the aquatic chamber, the plants love this as it contains nitrates and phosphates from _________

Carbon Cycle

Producers provide oxygen and glucose through photosynthesis and consumers eat the glucose and provide plants with CO2 through cellular respiration

Water Cycle

• Plants do transpiration

• Plants roots allow seepage of water into the soil

• Watering mimics precipitation

• Ecocolumns lose water through evaporation

• Plant roots prevent soil erosion from water and flooding

Leaching

• _____ occurs as water takes nutrients out of soil.

• Nutrients in our terrestrial chamber are _______ into the filter chamber

• We replace nutrients through the action of detritivores, nitrogen fixation on the roots of legumes, watering soil with aquatic chamber water, and decomposing dead fish

Dead Fish

Plants may spike in growth rate if you bury a ____________

Density-depending limiting factors

Plant growth may slow down as roots run out of space and nutrients in the terrestrial chamber. These are ________________________

Growth

Salivina may increase due to the addition of fish waste for ______

Plant Tissues

The producers convert energy from the Sun (GPP) into sugars which are stored in their _________ (NPP)

Plant seeds

Outside temperate readings of soil help gardener or farmer know when to __________

Temperature Range

Each plant has a __________ for germination, growing, and transplanting

pH

Different plants prefer different ____ levels

Nutrient uptake

The majority of plants prefer 6.5-7.0, because of increased bacterial decomposition in soil and ____________

Acidic

pH 5 and below are extremely ______

Excessive Acidity in Soil

• Causes calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium to be changed into forms that planets cannot use, causing the plants to suffer a deficiency

• Slows down beneficial bacteria

• Increases toxicity from trace elements (like aluminum)

• Dissolved and disperses humus

• A farmer can change the pH or grow plants for the soil’s pH