DissolvedOxygenChangeswithvaryingDepth,Temperature,andSalinity

LabPartners
:AlexaRogers(adog),TafariWilliams(twizzle),JordanHill(Jtown)
Date
:82715

Introduction
Primaryproductivityiswhenaproducercreateschemicalenergyfromlightenergythrough
photosynthesis.Grossprimaryproductivity(GPP)isthetotalenergyproducedandusedfor
cellularrespiration.Itiscalculatedbyfindingthedifferencebetweentheproductivitiesofan
organismthatisinfulllightandgoingthroughphotosynthesisandanorganisminadarksetting
inwhichitundergoesmorecellularrespiration,whichisthebreakingdownofthischemical
energyandusingittomakeenergyincellularrespiration..Wemeasureprimaryproductivityby
measuringtheamountofoxygenthatisproduced.Thisisachievedbymeasuringtheamountof
dissolvedoxygeninthewaterthatcontainsphotosyntheticorganisms.Netprimaryproductivity
(NPP)ismeasuredbysubtractingtheGPPandthecellularrespiration.NPPistheamountof
energythatisleftoverforaconsumeraftertheproducerhasusedsomeforrespiration.
Howevernotonlylightlevelsaffectthemeasureofthedissolvedoxygeninasample.Itcanalso
beaffectedbytemperatureorthesalinityofasample.
Thepurposeofthislabistomeasureprimaryproductivitybasedondifferingabioticfactorssuch
astemperature,salinity,andvaryingdepthofawatersample.

Question
:Howdodifferentabioticfactorsimpactdissolvedoxygenlevelsinvariouswater
samples?

Hypothesis
:
A.Astemperatureoffreshwaterdecreases,thedissolvedoxygenlevelswillincrease.
B.Assalinityofawatersampleincreases,thedissolvedoxygenwilldecrease.
C.Aslightintensityoflakewaterincreases,dissolvedoxygenlevelsincrease.

Variables
:
A.Independentvariabletemperature
Dependentvariabledissolvedoxygenlevel
Control20degrees(roomtemp)watersample
Constantslight,salinity,watersource
B.Independentvariablesalinity
Dependentvariabledissolvedoxygenlevel
Controlfreshwater
Constantslight,temp
C.Independentvariableslight
Dependentvariabledissolvedoxygenlevel
Controlinitialwaterdissolvedoxygenlevel
Constantstemp,salinity


MaterialsandProcedure
:
Seelabhandout.
Safety
Seelabhandout.
DataTables:
Table1:Temperature/DOTable

Temperature(degrees
Celsius)

ClassMeanDO(partsper
million)

ClassMean%DO
Saturation(from
nomogram)

20degrees

6.4ppm

65.5

14degrees

7.1ppm

69

Salinity(partsper
thousand)

ClassMeanDO(partsper
million)

ClassMean%DO
Saturation

0ppt

6.45ppm

70

32ppt

4.6ppm

61

LabGroupData

ClassMeanData

InitialDO

5.8

6.1

DarkBottleDO

3.7

3.8375

RespirationRate
(InitialDark)

2.1

2.2625

Table2:Salinity/DOTable

Table3:Respiration

Table4:LabGroupData
Watersource:MeridianParkPond
%Light

DO(ppm)

Gross
NetProductivity
Productivity(Light (Light
BottleDarkLight) BottleInitial)

100

5.55

1.85

.25

65

3.2

.5

2.6

25

3.8

.1

2.0

10

3.3

.4

2.5

4.2

.5

1.6

Table5:ClassMeanData

%Light

GrossProductivityDO
(ppm)

NetProductivityDO
(ppm)

100%

2.3

.03

65%

.9

1.4

25%

.7

1.6

10%

.5

1.7

2%

.8

1.5

Graphs
PartA:

PartC:

Conclusion
Discussion
1.Thethreewaysprimaryproductivitycanbemeasuredisthroughtherateofcarbondioxide
utilization,therateofformationoforganiccompounds(glucose),ortherateofoxygen
production.
2.TofindtheamountofcarbonfixedinthesampleyoumultiplyyourO2ppmby0.698toget
themLofO2perliterofsolution.Thenyoutakethatanswerandmultiplyitby0.536tocalculate
themgofcarbonfixedinthesampleintheformofglucose.Inoursample,wefixed0.011mgof
Carbon.
3.Thelowerthetemperatureofthewater,theamountofoxygenthatthewaterholdsincreases.
4.Thehigherthesalinityofthewater,thelessoxygenisdissolvedinthesolution.Thisis
becausethesalttakesupspaceinsidethesolutionandthereforeleaveslessspaceforoxygen
todissolve.
5.A)Grossproductivitywillbe0inthedarkbottle(orat0%light).
B)Netproductivitywillbe0atabout99.9%light.
6.Fishrequiremoreenergytoventilatethanmammalsbecausetheabundanceofoxygenina
freestateinwaterissignificantlylessthanthatinair.
7.Astreamwouldhaveahigherdissolvedoxygenconcentrationthanalake,becausestreams
aremoreshallowandphotosynthesisoccursthroughoutmoreofthebodyofastreamthana
lake.Thewaterofastreamisalsochurningconstantlyexposingmoreofittotheatmosphere
subsequentlyincreasingtheamountofdissolvedoxygeninthestreamaswell.
8.TheDOconcentrationwouldbegreaterat5pmthanat7amsinceithashadmoresunlight
throughoutthedaytodophotosynthesisandat7am,respirationhasbeenhappeningallnight
andoxygenlevelsarelower.
9.Eutrophicationistheenrichmentofanecosystemwithchemicalnutrients,typically
compoundscontainingnitrogen,phosphorus,orboth.Thereasonthisisbadisbecausethe
phosphorusandnitrogeninfertilizersattractsdifferenttypesofalgae.Thisleadsto
overcrowdingandcausesspeciestocompeteforresourcesandspace.

10.Initially,glassAwouldhavemoreoxygenavailablebecauseitismorewatersoahigher
concentrationofoxygenisdissolvedforthefish.Butovertime,Bwillhavealargeropportunity
togaindissolvedoxygenbecausethereisalargersurfaceareaofwaterincontactwiththeair.

Allthreeofourhypotheseswerecorrect.ForpartAoftheexperiment,theeffectsof
temperaturechangesondissolvedoxygenlevels,ourhypothesiswasthatasthetemperatureof
thefreshwaterdecreases,thedissolvedoxygen(DO)levelswillincrease.TheDOlevel
increasedinthesampleatalowertemperaturebecausetheoxygenmoleculesaremore
solubleatlowertemperatures.ForpartB,thesalinityinpartperthousand(ppt)wastestedto
seeitseffectontheDO.Ourhypothesiswasthatasthesalinityofawatersampleincreases,
theDOleveldecreases.Whenthetwosalinitylevelsweretested,thehigheronehadalower
DOlevel.Andlastly,forpartC,theeffectoflightintensitywastested.Ourhypothesiswasthat
aslightintensitydecreased,DOlevelwoulddecrease.Themorelightthatwasletintothewater
sample,thehighertheDOconcentration.Totesttheeffectsofdepthofthelake,lightintensity
wastestedover24hours,wheredifferentamountsoflightwereletintothewater.Thelesslight
letintothesample,thelowertheDOconcentrationthenextday.Thelesslight,theless
photosynthesiscanoccur,sowhentherespirationoccursitlowerstheconcentrationofoxygen
inthewater.Asthedepthofthelakeincreased,thelesslightwasreachingthewater,soless
photosynthesiswashappeningandthenetprimaryproductivity(NPP)wasalowerandlower
number,meaningthereislessenergyforthenextlevelinthefoodchain.Inthelab,we
calculatedtheNPPofoursamplesanditdecreasedasthedepthincreased(orthelight
intensitydecreased).So,whenitisnegative(asmanyofourswere),thereismorerespiration
thanphotosynthesishappening,sonoconsumerscangainanyenergy.
Asagroupweranintosomeproblemsduringourlab.Ourresultsmayhavebeensomewhat
incorrectasthewrongnumberofscreenswasplacedontwoofthebottlesinitially,however
onlyarelativelysmallamountoftimepassedinwhichthelightpercentagewasincorrect.
AnothermistakethatmayhavebeenmadebyourgroupwasduringthetitrationsoftheDO
solution.Wemaynothavemixedthesolutionadequatelyasweaddedineachsubsequent
drop.Foralmostallofthesolutionsittookapproximatelyfiveminutesofshakingthebottleand
lettingitsettle,howeverforthe25%lightexposurebottle,theprecipitatedissolvedalmost
immediately.Thewrongamountofachemicalmayhavebeenaddedtothesolutionduring
somepointcausinglessofaprecipitatetobeformed.Onequestionthatmayresultfromthislab
isifitispossibletodeterminethepopulationdensityofcertainphotosyntheticorganismswithin
asampleoflakewaterbasedupontheamountofdissolvedoxygeninasample.