Abstract (200-91=109):

All natural ecosystems have an ecological balance through the interconnected relationships between
their abiotic and biotic components (Cohen, 2021). Food webs are the systems that transmit energy
from one organism to another in an ecosystem. The main energy source for an ecosystem is sunlight
(Dotson, 2018). Over a period of 5 weeks, the relationship between abiotic and biotic factors of an
aquatic ecosystem would be observed. The ecosystem is a set-up of two jars which replicates a
freshwater environment and will be observed to distinguish any changes on a weekly basis.

What I have found (conclusion/summary): …

Introduction:
An ecosystem is a community of abiotic and biotic components interacting with each other within an
area. For an ecosystem to continuously exist, it relies on the concept of interdependence to maintain
a “balanced” system. In other words, every organism that makes up an ecosystem has a relationship
of energy transferal with each other to survive. This network of relationships that allows energy to
flow throughout an ecosystem is known as the food web (Dotson, 2018). The cycle of energy in the
food web begins with the primary producers or first trophic level converting sunlight to chemical
energy via photosynthesis. When the primary producers are consumed by primary consumers
(second trophic level), the energy stored in the plant is transformed into kinetic energy. Since the
10% law of energy flow dictates that only 10% of energy is transferred between trophic levels, the
consumers will only gain 10% of the energy from the pervious trophic level and 90% of the energy is
lost as heat (Swamy, 2022). Decomposers recycle nutrients by breaking down dead or decaying
matter into inorganic material, such as nitrogen, and allow the nutrients to be usable to primary
producers (Parks, 2022).

The investigation will observe the relationship between the abiotic and biotic variables within a
controlled ecosystem over an extended period of time. The independent variable of the experiment,
sunlight exposure, allow the observation of how an abiotic variable would impact the biotic variables
of an ecosystem. To observe the effects of sunlight on an ecosystem, there would be a setup of two
sustainable aquatic ecosystems in a jar with identical abiotic and biotic components. The prediction
for the ecosystem with exposure to sunlight would make the plant species show signs of positive
growth and green pigmentation will be seen in pond water due to photosynthesis. This would allow
more nutrients for the consumers to absorb and allow for the food web to flourish. Whereas the
ecosystem with no exposure to sunlight would demonstrate a deterioration in the plant species’
growth and pond water experience little to no change in pigmentation. Therefore, there would be
less nutrients for the consumers to absorb and could cause collapse of the ecosystem’s food web.
 Planaria

Ostracods Aquatic snail Daphnia Rotifers

Milfoil Duckweed Algae Euglena

Sunlight

Figure 1. Food web of the investigation’s ecosystem.

Method:
In this investigation, the aquatic snails used was freshwater types and belongs to the Phylum
Mollusca. Their natural habitat are mostly shallow freshwater areas, such as ponds and rivers.
Aquatic snails are decomposers and primary consumers since its main diet involves scraping organic
material (algae and detritus) into the mouth with their radula.

Daphnia are planktonic crustaceans that is more commonly called water fleas and belong to the
phylum Arthropod. They can be found in all freshwater bodies but are abundant in water bodies
with plenty of vegetation. Daphnia are considered as primary consumers because it mainly feeds on
euglena and algae, but they will also eat detritus particles.

Ostracods are microscopic crustaceans that is commonly known as seed shrimp. They belong to the
Phylum Arthropod and its habitat are all aquatic environments. The ostracods in this investigation
feed on dead or decaying vegetation and algae but other ostracods are known to be predators.

Planaria are freshwater, non-parasitic flatworms and belong to the Phylum Platyhelminthes. Planaria
are carnivores due to their diet of various invertebrates that are smaller than itself, such as daphnia
and ostracods. These flatworms will also feed on snail eggs.

Euglena are unicellular, flagellated microorganisms and very commonly found in small bodies of
water, especially when rich with nutrients. They belong under the Kingdom Protista and Phylum
Euglenozoa. Since euglena is both heterotrophic and autotrophic, they can be considered a primary
producer and consumer.

Duckweed are small flowering plants that float on the surface of the water. The natural habitat of
duckweed are bodies of water that are stagnant or slow moving. Duckweed must have access to
sunlight and is very tolerant to pH levels but thrives when the water’s pH level is between 4.5 – 7.5.

Milfoil are amphibious, flowering plants that is considered fast growing when sunlight is regularly
accessible. It is considered to be ideal in controlling algae since it competes for nutrients.
Rotifers are microscopic aquatic animals belonging to the Phylum Rotifera and found in freshwater
environment. They are considered primary consumers and decomposers because their omnivorous
diet commonly consists of dead or decaying matter, other rotifers, algae and other microscopic
primary producers.

Nitrate level is tested with indicator test kit that uses the cadmium reduction method. This method
involves reducing the nitrate to nitrite via cadmium catalyst in the buffer solution and adding a dye
to produce a colour reaction. Afterward, the colour of the sample is compared to a colour chart to
indicate its level.

The phosphate test kit uses the ascorbic acid method which a reagent containing ammonium
molybdate and antimonyl tartrate reacts with an acid to form phosphomolybdate complex. The
reaction produces a colour that would be compared with a colour chart to determine the phosphate
level.

Dissolved oxygen and pH are measured using a specialised probe which detects the dissolved oxygen
or pH with its sensor. When the sensor is triggered, a chemical reduction reaction is activated and
produce an electrical signal that is displayed on the meter.

METHODS:

Two plastic containers acted as the “jars” that the ecosystem was set-up in. Each jar was filled with
approximately 1.5 litres of pond water and a bed of assorted pebbles. A selection of variables was
deposited in each jar roughly in the same placement to create an identical aquatic environment. The
variables placed in each ecosystem consisted of an aquatic snail, a sizeable rock, a milfoil plant, and
3 teaspoons of a mixed solution containing decomposers (planaria and rotifers), consumers (aquatic
snail, ostracods and daphnia) and primary producers (milfoil, duckweed and euglena). Both jars were
covered with netting instead of a plastic lid to permit the ecosystem unrestricted air flow. One of the
jars was labelled as “sun” and the other as “shade”. The sun jar was placed in an area that had
access to natural sunlight while the shade jar was placed in an area without any access to sunlight.

At the beginning and end of the observation period, the length of the milfoil plant was measured
with a ruler and the number of aquatic snails in each ecosystem was counted. The abiotic variables –
nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen and pH level – have been measured on a weekly basis to
determine whether there was any correlation with the visible changes of the ecosystem. Due to the
abiotic factors being taken on a weekly basis, there is a consistent small amount of water loss for the
nitrate and phosphate level measurement. The height of the water was also measured weekly using
a ruler. Using their respective specialised probes, the dissolved oxygen and pH level was directly
measured in the jar.

Collected data from the abiotic variables was inserted in Excel Spreadsheet and organised into 4
tables under the categories: pH, dissolved O 2, nitrate and phosphate levels. Using the tables, each of
the categorised data was used to create bar graphs. The data collected from the biotic variables,
such as length of the milfoil and number of the aquatic snails, was constructed into tables. Other
observations were noted down in weekly intervals but was not constructed into graphs or tables.
Discussion:
The investigation had successfully highlighted the critical role of sunlight in the relationship between
the abiotic and biotic variables within an aquatic ecosystem. The results of the investigation
confirmed the hypothesis on both the sun and shade ecosystem.

pH: There was a significant increase in pH level during the first week of observation.

O2: The shade ecosystem experienced a significant decease in dissolved oxygen level which could
indicate

Whereas the sun ecosystem had a slight increase in dissolved oxygen level…

Overall the

Phosphate:

There was a decrease in water level for both ecosystems, but the sun ecosystem had a higher
difference in measurement by 47 mm because it had a higher rate of evaporation. The process of
evaporation involves an increase in kinetic energy with the water molecules that allows the
molecules to break away from its bonds and change from liquid to gas. Since high temperature
increases kinetic energy, the amount of energy required for evaporation to occur decreases
(Libretexts, 2022). Therefore, the heat from exposure to the sun caused the evaporation rate for the
sun ecosystem to be higher than the shade ecosystem.

In the sun ecosystem, the length of the milfoil had grown significantly since the start of the
observation period. Whereas the milfoil in the shade ecosystem had broken down completely and its
dead brown matter were dispersed throughout the water. The duckweed displayed similar outcomes
for both ecosystems since the duckweed of the sun ecosystem exhibit signs of growth each week of
observation, such as flower budding and root development, while the duckweed had significantly
decreased in the shade ecosystem. These results demonstrated that sunlight is a critical component
for the survival of producers as the lack of sunlight meant no chemical energy was made via
photosynthesis. As a result, the continuous shade resulted in a lack of chlorophyll production which
stunted plant growth as an attempt to conserve its remaining energy. This reduced plant height,
seed production and root development that would eventually cause the plants to break down and
died from the lack of energy to function its cells (Chauhan, 2013).

The food webs of both ecosystems had evolved from the predicted food web because the impacts
produced by the presence or absence of sunlight allowed the formation of relationships outside the
predicted food web, especially between the first and second trophic levels. The overall sustainability
of the sun ecosystem was compromised since there was a collapse of relationships between the
primary producers and consumers that caused an imbalanced system. The weekly observations on
the pigmentation of the water indicated that the photosynthetic microorganisms, like euglena, were
decreasing as each week passed. This occurrence suggested that the microconsumers, such as
daphnia, ostracods and rotifers, had caused the significant decrease. The low prey density meant
that macroconsumers of the food web cannot obtain their energy requirements and died (Salcido-
Guevara & Arreguín-Sánchez, 2014). It was confirmed through the death of the aquatic snail and
yellow-tinted water observed in the final week of observation for the sun ecosystem. Despite the
lack of algae and duckweed growth to sustain the aquatic snail in the shade ecosystem, the results
shows that the number of aquatic snails had increased. This occurrence was unexpected when the
sun ecosystem had demonstrated that the energy and nutrients produced from the 3 primary
producers for the aquatic snail was not enough to sustain it. In the shade ecosystem, the abundant
of dead matter from the disintegrated milfoil supplied an additional food source for the aquatic snail
which allowed procreation to occur. Macro-detritivores have been proven to be able to fulfil most of
their energy requirements through dissolved organic matter which is mixture primarily produced
from decomposed plant material, bacteria and algae (Thomas, 1997). Thus, the aquatic snail did not
depend on the food web’s primary producers due to the abundant dead matter of the plants being
utilised as a viable food source. However, the shade ecosystem would have total ecosystem collapse
since dead matter is an unsustainable food source and cannot support the food web after a short
period of time.

Due to the natural colouration of pond water, the testing method for nitrate and phosphate level
was inaccurate since the results difficult to determine when compared with the colour chart. In
addition, the results were limited to standardised values due to the colour chart which allow for the
reliability and accuracy of the result to be limited. Therefore, other nitrate and phosphate testing
methods that does not rely on visual ability and able to provide precise values should be used in
future experimentation to produce more accurate reliable results. Another limitation in the
investigation was the lack of observation for two weeks due to outside reasons which inhibits the
genuineness of the results. This caused any trends and outliers to be difficult to be detected and
compromise its validity when determined. To minimise the unreliability caused by the limitation, the
frequency of data taken during period of observation should be increased for higher chance to
detect the formation of trends or observe outliers. The interpretations of the investigation would be
unrealistic when applied to natural freshwater ecosystems due to the size of the experimental
ecosystem. Thus, the size of the ecosystem should be significantly increased to improve the
relatability and produce more realistic results.

CONCLUSION:

Summarise main findings, Was the hypothesis correct or not?