Sarah Milani, 12BIO

Penrith Lakes

Penrith lakes is the rare combination of wetlands, forests, nature, history

and community, the Penrith Wetlands are situated on the Western
gateway to Sydney, Australia's first capital.

Aim: To examine how good the environment is by measuring the water

quality and the other biotic and abiotic factors in the freshwater marine
ecosystem and checking for the relationship between production and
distribution of live species.

Hypothesis: If the following tests show robust and positive results then
Penrith lake’s freshwater aquatic ecosystem is in good, healthy
condition.

Method:
Sarah Milani, 12BIO

Station 1- Abiotic Factors:

- Phosphate (nutrient):
1. Open a test tube and place one phosphate tablet into the
tube from the test tablet kit.
2. Fill half the tube with water from the lake and close it.
3. Shake the tube, then leave it for five minutes for the tablet to
dissolve.
4. Compare the colour of water to the chart.
5. Record results.
- Water ph (how acidic/basic the water is):
1. Fill the test tube with water from the lake.
2. Place a 3cm piece of universal indicator paper into the tube.
3. Wait one minute.
4. Compare the colour of the paper to the chart.
5. Write down results.
- Turbidity (how opaque the water is):
1. Grab a turbidity tube (a long thin clear plastic tube with a
checkered pattern at the bottom).
2. Fill the tube up with water gradually.
3. Look through the tube from the top after each pour of water
to see if the checkered pattern is still visible.
4. Note down the results in NTU.
- Water temperature:
1. Turn on the digital thermometer.
2. Place the thermometer in the lake water.
3. Wait till it fully stops at a degree.
4. Record result.
- Dissolved oxygen:
1. Measure dissolved oxygen by using the dissolved oxygen
Meter.
2. Use the conversion chart to then convert the results into a
percentage.

- Conductivity:
1. Take the hand held Total dissolved Solids (TDS) scan and
turn it on.
Sarah Milani, 12BIO

2. Place the tip of it into the lake water.

3. Press the ‘hold’ button to keep the reading in place.
4. Take it out of the water and record the TDS scan reading.
- Light:
1. Switch the Lux meter on.
2. Put it in the sunlight and wait for results.
3. Record results and turn it off.
- Slope:
1. Stand on a small hill or slope.
2. Hold the clinometer straight in front steadily.
3. Hold down the button and stay still until the arrow stops
moving.
4. Record results.
- Wind exposure (speed):
1. Hold the ‘on’ button of the Anemometer for five seconds to
turn on.
2. Raise it up in the air and wait for a moment.
3. Record down the number.
4. Hold the same button for five seconds to turn off.
- Visual Pollution:
1. stare at the lake and assess the visual pollution.
2. Use your eyes to observe whether there is low, medium, or
high visual pollution.

STATION 2- Dipnetting:
1. Grab a rod with a net or strainer at the end of it.
2. Select an area from the lake.
3. Drag the net through the water.
4. Discharge findings into a bucket or container with water in it.
5. Separate and count the waterbug species.
6. Record the number of water species found.

STATION 3- Waterbird Observation:

1. Walk around the Lake’s area.
2. Assess the area by using your eyes.
3. Keep a tally of the number of birds sighted for each species.
4. Total up the number of birds seen from the day.
Sarah Milani, 12BIO

Results:
STATION 1- Abiotic Measurements:
Site- Final Detention Basin Conditions- Sunny/ Hot
Water source- Groundwater and run-off
FACTORS EQUIPMENT Results Average
results
Phosphate Test tablet kit 1.5 ppm 1.5 ppm
(1ppm = Excellent) Measured in- ppm
(parts per million)

Water pH Universal Indicator Paper 8 7

(7.5 = Excellent) Measured in- A number

Turbidity tube Less than

Turbidity Measured in- NTU’s 11 NTUs 10 NTUs
(<10 = Excellent) (Nephelometric Turbidity
Units)

Water Digital thermometer 28.5 ℃ 26.5 ℃

temperature Measured in- ℃
(27.5℃ = poor) (degrees celsius)

Dissolved Oxygen Meter

Measured in- mg/ L 7.8 mg/ L mg/L
(milligrams per Litres)
Dissolved oxygen
(85% = Excellent)
Conversion Chart
(Temp, mg/ L, and % % %
saturation) saturation saturation
Total Dissolved Solids
Conductivity (TDS) scan 160 ppm 130 ppm
(195ppm= Excellent) Measured in- ppm
(parts per million)

Light Light/ Lux meter 8.07 lx lx

Measured in- lx (Lux)

Slope Clinometer 10° 2-22°

Measured in- ° (degrees)

Wind exposure Anemometer 0-3 kph 0 kph

(speed) Measured in- kph

Water depth General knowledge of

Lakes 4M 4M
Sarah Milani, 12BIO

Measured in- M (metres)

Visual Pollution Visual assessment Low Low

(none-low = Excellent) (using eyes)

In general, the experiments and studies have been carried out

accordingly and the results show that the abiotic factors of Penrith Lake
are healthy and stable.

STATION 2- Dipnetting:

Name of Bug Number of Name of bug Number of

bugs bugs
Back swimmer 1 Water Beetle 1
Caddisfly Larvae 2 Water Boatman 50+
Damselfly Nymph 7 Water Mite 5
Dragonfly Nymph 0 Water Scorpion 0
Freshwater 100+ Water Spider 0
Shrimp
Giant Water Bug 1 Water Treader 0
Leech 0 Worm 0
Mayfly Nymph 5 Mosquito Fish 100+
Pond snail 0 Other 0
Total bug species caught- 10
Total Sensitivity Rating- 46
Signal Score- 4.6
STATION 3- Waterbird Observation:

Number of Species- waterbird species observation:

Sarah Milani, 12BIO

Total Abundance- 31
Total number of species seen- 9

Abundance- Waterbird species observation:

Total Abundance- 79

Discussion:

Impacts of Penrith Lakes ' abiotic influences before, during, and after the European
settlement have changed dramatically. One of Australia's first agricultural
settlements was Penrith Lakes. The Europeans began to make use of the land about
Sarah Milani, 12BIO

250 years ago and settled in. In the 1800s, the Europeans and the aboriginal people
of Australia began agriculture at Penrith Lakes and during that period the natural
forest gradually burned, egrets no longer remained and more sediments and
nutritions became runoff. As for the water quality throughout the european
settlement; high phosphate, high salinity, low oxygen, high turbidity, and low
biodiversity.

There are many species in Penrith Lakes’

ecosystem, many of these species have
adapted throughout time to survive in its
ecological niche. Examples would be, water
boatman and Mosquito fish.
The water boatman is a Herbivore. It uses its
two small forelegs to hunt and eat coral,
plants and compost. There are also four rear
legs for swimming that help them live in their environment. Unlike many other aquatic
animals, water boatman do not have gills which prevents them from swimming easily
for long stretches of time. But due to this weakness they learned to adapt, they hold
a bubble under their wings while they dive under the surface and use it.
Mosquito fish are Carnivores. They came from North America to Australia during the
European settlement.The invasive species caused a lot of destruction and
disturbance. In the Penrith lakes
ecosystem, because of their aggressive
behaviour and quick reproduction,
mosquito fish caused loss for other
species and changed the habitats
through aggression and predation.They
eat worms, snails, frog eggs, small fish,
insects, and destroy the lakes’
environment. Penrith Lake experts should reduce the volume of mosquito fish in their
lakes in order to prevent these threats and inconveniences.

Station 1- Abiotic factors:

Sarah Milani, 12BIO

The workers who were with us the entire day gave good explanations and helped us
if we were stuck with any of the experiments. They also gave us a good
understanding of the lakes and what they are used for. As for the experiments it was
pretty simple procedures and everyone got different results however in the same
range. We had a good amount of time to do the experiments and record our results.
The end result was that Penrith lakes is all round a healthy and diverse ecosystem.

Station 2- Dipnetting:
Each of us stood around the side of the Lake dragging our strainers into the water
and discharging them into the buckets. The helpers told us what each species we
caught was. There were mostly mosquito fish and water beetles. In my opinion, if the
rods were longer and sterdier, we would be able to catch more different species that
swim deeper in the lake. We then took a small amount of the different species and
observed them under a microscope.

Station 3- Waterbird observation.

Walking and looking around the lake we observed different types of birds in their
habitats. We managed to see a Pelican which is a rare sight in that area. Not
everyone tallied the same results as birds kept moving or flying away so the results
were not consistent. Overall, we saw the birds peacefully living and it shows that
Penrith lakes is a safe and eco-friendly environment for bird species.

A basic food chain to sum up the eating lifestyle:

Ribbon Weed → Decomposers → Shrimp → Bass

References-
Encyclopedia Britannica. 2020. Water Boatman | Insect. [online] Available at:
<https://www.britannica.com/animal/water-boatman> [Accessed 15 March
2020].

Mcgrouther, M., 2020. Eastern Gambusia, Gambusia Holbrooki Girard, 1859.

[online] The Australian Museum. Available at:
Sarah Milani, 12BIO

<https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/fishes/eastern-gambusia-
gambusia-holbrooki-girard-1859/> [Accessed 15 March 2020].

Penrithlakes.com.au. 2020. [online] Available at:

<https://www.penrithlakes.com.au/home/environment-2> [Accessed 15
March 2020].

Penrithlakes.com.au. 2020. [online] Available at:

<https://www.penrithlakes.com.au/home/history/history-of-penrith-lakes>
[Accessed 15 March 2020].