Isaac Stacey

December 7, 2017
Field Biology 10th
Soil Report

How pH Levels Do or Dont affect the Productivity of an Ecosystem

By: Isaac Stacey

The productivity of an ecosystem is a very important piece of information to know while

studying its successfulness. With this knowledge, many things are able to be said, guessed, or
assumed about the ecosystem. When an ecosystem has high productivity, one could assume the
ecosystems biotic matter was abundant and thriving. Rainforests for example, being among the
highest ranking when it comes to production, are always overflowing with living organisms and
plant life. On the other hand, if one found that an ecosystems productivity was relatively low,
they could assume without even examining any existing data that the ecosystems biotic factors
were few and far in between. For example, deserts like the Sahara, or tundras like the Arctic, are
very unproductive compared to tropical rainforests like the Amazon. Productivity, is a piece of
information that every scientist and ecologist vies for when examining ecosystems.
In order to obtain this highly-valued data, one could consider taking a look at the organic
matter of the ecosystems soil. Organic matter is all the organic material left in the soil by no
longer living plants and animals. This is very important to producers, for the decomposers within
their ecosystem decompose all that organic material and recycle it (this is also known as the
Nutrient Cycle). The nutrients produced by decomposition are then used by producers to further
continue the production of an ecosystem. This is what keeps chemical energy flowing throughout
the ecosystem; the energy goes from the sun to the producers, and from producers up through the
trophic pyramid. All the no longer living matter left from that process is then used by the
decomposers, who recycle it and send it back to the producers. From there, the cycle continues.
Knowing the concepts of this system, the conclusion would be that the more productive
an ecosystem is, the greater the biotic component within that ecosystem would be. The greater
the biotic component, the more organic matter that would be left in the soil. This makes the
organic matter in soil another very important piece of information, and with it, scientists can get
an idea of how productive any given ecosystem is.
Taking this piece of knowledge, me and my partner wanted to know how a soils PH
level affected all of this. We knew that scientists use PH level to find the acidity of a soil sample,
so we thought that maybe this would affect the abundance of plant life living in the soil.
In order to test this theory, we came up with a question we would answer by undergoing
an experiment. How does pH level affect the organic content in soil? Our experiment consisted
of 5 stages.
Stage #1: planning out our experiment. Our study area was already chosen for us by Chris
Mortensen, our biology teacher. He chose Victoria Park as our study area, and had the
dimensions laid out for us beforehand. The approximate area of the study area was 25 yards2 by
125 yards2. We planned out exactly where our sample sites were going to be located within the
boundaries of the study area by randomly generating x and y coordinates. This was appropriate
for our question because the answer would not rely on any specific location. We werent looking
for what the pH level was in one area versus the other, we wanted to be able to sample different
types of pH level to see if there was a correlation between pH level and organic content in the
soil. We generated coordinates for 10 samples total. This covered our study area reasonably and
was manageable to sample within the time we had. Following the completion of our plotting, we
created a procedure to help us while we were sampling, and also to help guide any any other
curious person who wanted to replicate our experiment.

Sample # X-Coordinate (yds) Y-Coordinate (yds)

1 23 2

2 63 22

3 69 10

4 17 23

5 9 8

6 121 9

7 98 14

8 101 1

9 54 3

10 48 1

Procedure:
Plan:
Randomly generate the X and Y coordinates for your samples. Make you are planning on a 125yd
by 25yd space, where 125 is the X axis and 25 is the Y axis. (Do this for 10 samples)
Sample:
Pace out the coordinates written down for that sample.
When you reach the coordinate, sample using the Soil Sampling device.
First position the device upright from the ground, and gently but steadily push it into the
ground. DO NOT use your foot, it will break. (You may have to wiggle it into the soil,
but do so gently.
Once youve pushed until your second knuckle is almost touching the ground, gently pull
the device back up again.
After you have the device out of the ground, carefully put the cylinder of dirt in your bag.
Make sure it is still intact. (It should still look like a cylinder, but dont worry too much
about it)
Then label the bag with the designated sample number along with you and your partner
or partner's names.

Once we had completed and perfected our procedure, we moved onto Stage #2:
Sampling. We continued our experiment into the second stage by traveling to Victoria Park to
officially collect 10 soil samples. We walked to each site that we had previously plotted a few
days prior trusting that each of our strides would approximate to a yard. Once we reached a site,
we followed the procedure that we had already created which guided us while using the Soil
Sampling device. To help us locate our sample sites afterward in case it would be useful during
analysis, we marked approximately where each sample had been dug on a map. Once we had dug
a sample, we put the about 12 inch cylinder of soil into a soil sampling bag. When we returned to
our lab, we froze our samples in order to preserve them.
Stage #3: Testing and Measuring the Moisture, pH level, Conductivity, Organic Content,
and Protist Population: A few days after we had returned to the lab, we removed our samples
from the freezer that they had been stored in and underwent some tests. We tested for the
moisture, pH level, conductivity, organic content, and protist population of each sample. We did
not complete the protist population tests as they were not essential to answer our question and
were going to be too extensive to be completed within the time frame we were given.

pH Level vs. Organic Content in Victoria Park

Stage #4: Transferring Data

into Data Tables and Processing
them: (see Appendix A for RAW
data) Once we had accumulated a
large store of raw data, we put it
into some data tables using
Microsoft Excel. We processed
the data we had into charts that
showed visually if pH level
affected the organic content in
soil in any way.
Stage #5 Analysis and
Reflection: The data we collected
has led me to a conclusion that says the PH level does not affect the organic content in soil in any
way. As shown on the scatter chart, there does not seem to be a trend line.

Protist
Moisture Conductivity
PH Level Organics Population
(Percentage) (S/cm)
(Per Gram of Soil)

Sample #1 11.59% 8.46 78 1.81%

Sample #2 7.46% 8.45 92 1.85%

Sample #3 10.75% 8.08 75 2.88%

Sample #4 9.28% 8.60 81 3.80% 61005

Sample #5 7.70% 8.97 138 2.41% 49021.88

Sample #6 12.83% 9.09 194 3.59%

Sample #7 7.10% 8.36 90 3.52%

Sample #8 8.18% 8.79 115 4.40%

Sample #9 7.59% 8.37 79 4.05%

Sample #10 6.50% 8.45 79 4.30%

In sample #1, the pH level is at 8.46 and the organic content at 1.81%. Then in sample #10, the pH level is
really close to that of sample #1s at 8.45, while the organic content is much higher at 4.30%. (Also refer to column
graph above for visualization)

As the pH level goes up and down throughout the samples, the organic content does not
seem to be affected by the values shown in pH level. In sample #1, the pH level is at 8.46 and the
organic content at 1.81%. Then in sample #10, the pH level is really close to that of sample #1s
at 8.45, while the organic content is much higher at 4.30%. This randomness seems to be present
in all the samples, and there does no seem to be any patterns. Perhaps an explicit correlation
between the two is only visible while comparing drastically different results. Or, there is simply
no correlation at all.
Upon further research, data and analysis from the University of Vermont explains that
Plant nutrients are generally most available to plants in the pH range 5.5 to 6.5. This shows
that we must not have gotten results that were different enough from each other in order to
confirm this theory. All our samples ranged in pH levels between 8 and 9, none of them reaching
the sweet spot for plant growth or anywhere far in the opposite direction. Maybe pH level only
differs in large areas, and does not have a large range within a single ecosystem. Looking at
some data my peers had taken from the same study area, there had been results that had reached
the sweet spot, though there were not many. However, they did not manage to include organic
content in their study, so there was no possible way to use their data to contribute to my research.
Reflecting on the experiment as a whole, our results would have been much more
interesting if we had studied more than one site, each far in between (maybe just by a mile or
two). Then maybe we would have gotten results that supported the University of Vermonts
claims. This could be a great experient to try in the future, and would take less time since we
already have a good chunk of data (unless pH level fluctuates over time).
Our final conclusion is this: pH level does in fact impact plant growth and the organic
content within soil. However, this was not shown within the data we collected due to the lack of
a large enough study area, or lack of a sufficient amount of study areas.

Appendix A:
Moisture Data

Mass Before Drying Mass After Drying Amount of Moisture

(g) (g) in Sample (%)
Sample #1 9.92 8.77 11.59%

Sample #2 9.92 9.18 7.46%

Sample #3 10.05 8.97 10.75%

Sample #4 10.02 9.09 9.28%

Sample #5 10.00 9.23 7.70%

Sample #6 9.98 8.70 12.83%

Sample #7 10.00 9.29 7.10%

Sample #8 10.02 9.20 8.18%

Sample #9 10.01 9.25 7.59%

Sample #10 10.00 9.35 6.50%

pH Level

Mass
PH Level
(g)
Sample #1 10.01 8.46

Sample #2 10.05 8.45

Sample #3 10.01 8.08

Sample #4 9.95 8.6

Sample #5 10.00 8.97

Sample #6 10.01 9.09

Sample #7 10.01 8.36

Sample #8 10.01 8.79

Sample #9 10.02 8.37

Sample #10 10.02 8.45

Conductivity

Mass Conductivity
(g) (S/cm)
Sample #1 10.01 78

Sample #2 10.05 92

Sample #3 10.01 75

Sample #4 9.95 81

Sample #5 10.00 138

Sample #6 10.01 194

Sample #7 10.01 90

Sample #8 10.01 115

Sample #9 10.02 79

Sample #10 10.02 79

 Organic Content

Mass Before Burning Mass After Burning Organic Content

(g) (g) (%)
Sample #1 2.76 2.71 1.81%

Sample #2 2.71 2.66 1.85%

Sample #3 2.78 2.70 2.88%

Sample #4 2.63 2.53 3.80%

Sample #5 2.49 2.43 2.41%

Sample #6 2.51 2.42 3.59%

Sample #7 2.56 2.47 3.52%

Sample #8 2.5 2.39 4.40%

Sample #9 2.47 2.37 4.05%

Sample #10 2.56 2.45 4.30%

Protist Population (incomplete)

Amount of Amount of Soil Average Protist

Amount of Soil
Water Used After Protists Population
(g)
(ml) Filtration (g) After Count (Per Gram of Soil)

Sample #1 5 35

Sample #2 5 35

Sample #3 5 35

Sample #4 5 35 2.4 5.6 61005

Sample #5 5 35 2.4 4.5 49021.88

Sample #6 5 35 2.5

Sample #7 5 35 1.8

Sample #8 5 35 1.8

Sample #9 5 35

Sample #10 5 35

Research Source:
http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/pubs/oh34.htm