Pond Water Lab

  The purpose of the Pond Water Lab is to figure out if the new turf fields at Proctor are affecting the pond.  In order to find out the affect of the turf we needed to test the pond for changes in diversity and pH.  In order to rule out the changes being caused by weather or outside factors not including the turf we tested the temperature of the air and water. If the turf is affecting the pond in any way it could have extreme consequences due to the interconnected nature of the pond. If the rubber beads from the turf change the chemical make-up of the pond it could end up being devastating because the change could cause a domino effect and eventually disrupt the majority of organisms in the pond.  If there is a change in diversity in the pond then the surrounding ecosystem could also change drastically. In the case that we find drastic changes in the pond we will compare what we find to past years and determine if the turf could have caused the pond to change.

The supplies we used were as follows:

• 1 magnified box to examine life forms
• 1 bin to collect the water and materials
• 2 nets used to gather the plants and animals in the water
• 1 pH tester
• 1 thermometer
• 1 turbitity tester
• 1 nitrogen test
• 1 phospherous test
• 1 dissolved oxygen tester
• 1 kayak
• 1 micro organism test
• 1 bug diversity book to identify organisms
• 1 spoon to pull organisms out of large bin and place in magnifying box
• 1 eyedropper to pick up smaller organisms

The method we used to collect our data was simple:

1. We gathered our materials
2. Observed the pond’s surrounding to see if it was cold, rainy or even windy.
3. We checked the temperature and pH of the water using the pH tester.
4. After that we collected water in the bin.
5. We used a net to stir up the sediments, plants, and animals and collect them from the pond.
6. We placed what we picked up in the net into the bin
7. We removed and recorded all the debris and plants from the bin and put back in the pond
8. We identified the organisms we found in the bin using the magnifying box to view them and the diversity book to identify them. These included not only insects but also minnows and tadpoles.
9. After recording everything we saw in the bin we placed it all back in the pond.
10. To finish we tested the turbidity, nitrogen, and phosphate levels of the site.

Observations: The Proctor pond is a central sight on the Proctor Academy campus.  All the rainfall on campus drains down into the pond and then out the pond through the single outflow sight. Our site was the inflow and outflow closest to Shirley hall and had aquatic grass and lily pads all over it. The ponds pH was always the same, staying level at 7, and this indicated that the turf was not affecting the pH. It had rained the day before almost every data collection period. The water looked dirtier on days after it had rained but it did not affect the pH.  One day there was an oily film over the water, but that did not appear to affect what life we found at our site for that day nor did it change the pH. There was a high diversity in the pond, we found many organisms from mayfly nymphs to minnows and tadpoles.The tadpoles and minnows seemed to only come out later in the day, since that was the only time we caught any. The insects seemed to be in abundance no matter what time of day it was or what the weather was like the day before. Overall, there was high diversity in the life that was found at our site. This diversity shows that the pond is still flourishing and can uphold life.

  Data:

SITE 5 (Outflow)
pH	7
N	0
P	1
Turbidity	20
Sediment type	Detritus and Silt
Tadpole	7
Hellgrammite	1
Adult Riffle Beetle	1
Mayfly Nymph	2
Bloodworm	1
Moss Spider	1
Damselfly Nymph	2
Water Boatman	1
Water Penny	2
Minnow	2
Sowbug	3
Dragonfly Nymph	2
Copepod	15
Scud	1

Analysis:

  The data we collected was very helpful in discovering wether it had been affected by the turf fields or not. Surprisingly our class did not find drastic changes in the ponds diversity. One would expect a turf field to take away some of the nutrients that were being delivered to the pond in the past but we found nothing of the sort.  Using the "Simpson's Diversity Index" we calculated that the ponds current diversity was .989, making it the most diverse out of the past 4 times the site has been tested. In 2007 the diversity was .948, 2008 was .934, 2010 was .914, and now it has risen to .989.  The steadiness of the ponds diversity indicates that the turf fields have had no affect on the pond.  Strangely enough the loss of the grass and the implementation of synthetics has not decreased diversity in any way.  I had originally expected the pond to be greatly affected by the turf but it was not. In fact diversity increased.  Whether the increase had anything to do with the turf we do not know for sure.  

Conclusion: 

When observing the pond originally I noticed that there did not seem to have too much diversity other than plants.  I viewed lily pads, reeds, and grass as well as tree leaves that had fallen into the pond.  Before starting testing there was no sign of advanced life besides the sight of tadpoles on days before testing began.  Originally I did not think there was much the turf fields could affect. After data collection i was astounded at the amount of diversity in the pond that could be changed by changes to the chemical balance of the pond.  Luckily after comparing our data to past experiments there did not seem to be any immediate change in diversity.

I found this lab very enjoyable.  The fact that the experiment took place in our very own pond made it very applicable to every day observations.  Looking at the pond I will now know things about it that I never would have thought of in the past making this lab extremely interesting. It is good to know that I am learning things in class that affect the way I view my every day environment and life.  I never would have guessed that there were so many factors in the environment of the pond. Going into the lab I thought that we might find a couple bugs and tadpoles in the water, I was very surprised to see that so much diversity goes into the pond to keep it running smoothly.  The environment did not seem to have many factors for things besides plant life but after further research I was genuinely amazed at the diversity of the pond.