Eco-Column Lab Questions

This counts as a major lab grade and should help guide you in writing your final lab poster project. By each question, record the name of the group member(s) who answered the question after the question number or letter. Any sources used other than your own data or data from comparing with other groups (for question 1) must be cited with each answer. Answer clearly and concisely. The final copy of these questions may be typedor written legibly in black or blue-black ink and submitted as a hard copy next week on Thursday after you take your column apart.

  1. What are threemajor differences you saw in your eco-column versus those belonging to other groups? For each, propose a possible reason or reasons(must be at least one specific reason for each difference) why there are such large differences in each case. You will need to talk to the other groups and possibly do some research.
  1. Identify two Food Chains or Food Webs in each of your habitats (chambers). Use arrows to illustrate these food chains and food webs. It is expected that some chains will be short and that there may be some flow and overlap from one chamber into another. Complete sentences are not required for question 2 a, b, or c.
  2. Aquatic Chamber
  3. Decomposition Chamber
  4. Terrestrial Chamber
  1. Identify and briefly discuss three biogeochemical cycles which are taking place/which are present in your Eco-columns.Do not merely state that “they are all present”; instead, provide more specific information about how the cycle is occurring from one area or organism to another.
  1. Is your ecosystem column a closed or open system? Is it something in between a closed or open system?Explain how this (closed, open or other) influences the ecosystem column overall. Did this contribute to the success or failure in any way, or in any section of the column?
  1. What kind of niches are available/present for the various organisms in the column? Be specific, descriptive, and use terminology that is pertinent to the topic.
  1. Discuss five limiting factors in your habitats, clearly stating which chamber(s) you are referring to and what is being limited.
  1. Discuss evidence of ecological succession taking place in your column (or in the column of another lab group if you have not observed any signs of succession in your column).
  1. Discuss the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem columns in the lab, including your own.
  2. Explain why it was or was not a stable system. Is there anything you might have done to make it stable?
  3. Explain why it was or was not sustainable. Is there anything you might have done to make it more sustainable?
  4. Discuss threespecific trends or patterns which stand out as you think back on the data which you have been recording for 6 weeks.These trends or patterns should apply to the water quality tests or other observations which you have made over this multi-week time period. Briefly discuss these three trends or patterns, providing possible explanations based on environmental science principles.
  1. Explain what culturaleutrophication refers to, what causes it, how this occurs, and how it impacts both water chemistry and aquatic organisms.Apply this explanation to your ecosystem column.How might eutrophication take place in your column?Explain fully, even if it did not occur in your column.

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