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I. Objectives
To investigate the effects of temperature ranges on the metabolism or respiratory rates of fish as well
as the effects of ranging pH and salinity levels on the growth, development and survival of selected
plants and animals.
B. The observed effects of pH changes on the morphology and behavioral responses in guppies.
pH levels
Responses
2.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 10.0
Breathing
Slow Fast Normal Fast Slow
Responses
Swimming Fast Fast
Fast Normal Fast
Movements (swimming around) (swimming around)
C. Effects of pH changes on the mortality rate of guppies after 3 minute exposure to various pH levels
Salt Solutions Average Shoot Length Average Root Length R/S Ratio
0.0 4.27 cm 7.51 cm 1.75
2.5 2.75 c 6.275 2.28
5.0 1.21 cm 0.5 cm 0.41
10.0 0 0 -
20.0 0 0 -
Graphs
Effects of pH Changes in Guppies Effects of Salinity Changes in Corn
5 15
No. of Germinated Corn
No. of Dead Guppies
4
3 10
2
5
1
0 0
2.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 10.0 0.0 2,5 5.0 10.0 20.0
pH levels Salt Solutions
III. Conclusion
A limiting factor is any environmental factor that restricts the ecological niche of an organism. pH,
salinity and temperature as factors can greatly affect the range of tolerance of organisms. It may
hinder the organism’s growth, cause physical and metabolic changes or worst, cause death. In this
experiment, we realized the importance and great effect of limiting factors to our environment and
how this simple unnoticed factors cause big efffect in nature.
2.
Van’t Hoff, a Nobel Laureate in thermo chemistry proposes that with the increase of every10 C°
, the rate of metabolic activities doubles. This rule is termed to as the Van’t Hoff’Rule. Van’t Hoff’s rule
can also be stated in reverse saying that the reaction rate is halved with the decrease of every10 C° .
The effect of temperature on the rate of a reaction is expressed in terms of temperature coefficient of
Q10 value. Q10 values are estimated taking the ratio between the rate of a reaction at X°C and rate of
reaction at (X 10 C − ° ). In the living systems the Q10 value is about 2.0. If the Q10 value is 2.0, it means,
for every 10 C° increase, the rate of metabolism doubles.
This relationship holds only over the temperature range of normal activity, which for most
organisms lies between 0°and 40°C (Thompson 1942, Schmidt-Nielsen 1997). Normal operating
temperature varies among species and taxonomic or functional groups. Any given species usually
operates over some subset of this temperature range, although there are exceptions. For example, most
aquatic organisms do not experience temperatures above 25°–30°C, endothermic birds and mammals
maintain relatively high and constant temperatures (36°–40°C), some ectotherms can tolerate only a
very narrow range of temperatures, and some microbes from extreme environments such as hotsprings
and hydrothermal vents can live at temperatures that approach or exceed 100°C.
3.
Endotherms are animals that primarily produces its own heat.
Ectotherms are animals that primarily gains heat through the environment.
Homeotherms are animals that have a constant body temperature.
Poikilotherms are animals whose body temperature adjusts depending on the environment.
Osmoconformer adjusts to the osmotic concentration of its surrounding so that the
osmoregularity is the same at the medium.
Osmoconformer maintain its own osmotic concentration regarldess of the surrounding
medium.
Eurytopic Organism is a plant or animal capable of living in extremely varied habitats.
Stenotopic Organism is an animal or plant confined to relatively few habitats.
4.
5.
6.
Water weight decreased in plants that received higher concentrations of NaCl, which
shows that higher concentrations of NaCl in a plant’s environment make it more difficult for the
plant to take in water causing some of the seeds to not germinate. Solutes like NaCl decrease
the water potential of the water surrounding a plant, making water uptake by the plant’s cells
more difficult (Parida and Das, 2005).
This indicates that corn plants experiencing NaCl stress have a decrease in net
photosynthesis. A corn plant under NaCl stress should create extra roots to take in the
maximum amount of water possible.