Aquatic Lab Report

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Analysis of an Aquatic Community and its Inhabitants Abstract In this lab, we are trying to analyze the overall health, and ecology of the aquatic community at Lake Raleigh. Various sediments samples were taken at different depths to be tested and observed in order to identify the species inhabiting the lake. Other tests were preformed to further analyze the lake, such as the pH level, Sechhi depth, and compensation depth of the lake. The water temperature, dissolved oxygen content and water clarity were also tested at different depths of the lake. Overall, the results indicate that Lake Raleigh is a healthy and thriving aquatic community. Introduction The purpose of this lab was to evaluate and determine the overall well being of Lake Raleigh’s aquatic community. This was accomplished by conducting tests to analyze several aspects of the Lake. This included measuring the pH, Secchi depth, compensation depth, dissolved oxygen and temperature at various depths, sediment samples from different zones. The pH test was used determine the overall acidity of the water, which is indicative of what organisms can and cannot survive in the water. Testing Secchi depth shows the depth at which visible light can no longer be seen from the surface, and the compensation depth is the depth at which only 1% of surface light penetrates the water column (McNeil, 2014). In order to gather information on what organisms are present in the lake, sediment samples were taken from different zones and analyzed under compound and dissecting microscopes. Methods During this lab our goals were to find the average acidity of the surface water, the average compensation depth, dissolved oxygen and temperature with depth, collect plankton samples, and collect sediment samples. The first test was to find the dissolved oxygen content and water temperature at various depths of the lake. To

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