Lemnoideae (Duckweed) population on the surface of the water showed significant amounts of growth, conveying that photosynthesis and respiration were taking place. There was observed root hairs that grew under the surface of the water. There was some noticeable plant decay observed during the four week period which may have been caused due to a lack of nutrients in the water required for the plant to survive.
Figure 4: Root hair on Lemnoideae. Rooted plant decay
PHOTO CREDIT: Carol D’Souza
During the course of the experiment, the Apple snail showed growth in size which provided evidence that the snail was consuming vegetation supplied in the ecosystem.
Observations of the snail activity proved it’s inactivity when exposed to light during the last 3 weeks of observations. The snail was difficult to spot in the ecosystem, but was eventually find seeking darkness between the rocks that were present in the ecosystem.…show more content… Dissolved oxygen was measured each week and showed a decrease during the duration of the experiment. It is known that the solubility of dissolved oxygen in an ecosystem results in a decrease in dissolved oxygen concentration in an ecosystem. (Kemker, 2013) This provides evidence that our ecosystem may have been slightly too warm as there was only a small change in dissolved oxygen concentration over the 5 weeks.
Figure 6: Change in Dissolved Oxygen Concentration over 5 week period.
Weekly temperature measurements all ranged within a 5˚C window, conveying stability in the ecosystem. The temperature over the 5 week period ranged between 16.8˚C and 21.5˚C. This temperature ranged proved to be convenient for growth of living organisms in the ecosystem as all biotic components were proven to show growth in size and weight.
Temperature was also monitored hourly whilst the ecosystem was kept in the glasshouse for development.
Figure 7: Temperature of ecosystem measured each
