Click here for Amphibians,
Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals
Click here for Fish.
Use this page to Species diversity of a hillside spring.
This spring is a hillside or gravity spring; the
water does not issue under artesian pressure, but as seepage,
in which the water percolates from small fractures in the rock.
Aquatic insect diversity is subject to a broad spectrum of threats,
including chemical pollution, physical destruction of habitat
from impoundments or drainage, and introduction of alien aquatic
biota. Adequate legislation exists to provide protection to
aquatic insect taxa at risk, but the implementation of this
legislation is often hampered by a lack of taxonomic and distributional
knowledge, and by a concentration of recovery efforts on more
highly visible vertebrate taxa.
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Physical factors to consider |
Biological
factors |
Click
on the circles to explore the spring. |
- Pond size (length, width, depth)
- Rainfall
- Water temperature
- Water pH
- Stream length, flow rate
- Parking lot use
- Water
turbidity
|
Count
& identify:
aquatic insects
annelids, tadpoles, crustaceans, and/or ostracods
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More
criteria |
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References |
Your instructor!
Key
1
Key
2
Key
3
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Before beginning, talk with the
instructor to see the spring and to develop your work plan.
1. Title page (1)
2. Six (no more and no less) content pages. The
text should consist of a student-worded analyses of your research
during long hours in a library and at the spring. Do
not quote authors: Put the information in your own
words and cite your reference.
a. Bimonthly data. (15)
b. Construct a food chain for the pond. (10)
c. Graph one or more of the insect populations against a physical
factor. (5)
d. Explain the relationship between the factors that you graphed.
(10)
e. Discuss the (beneficial, neutral, negative) significance
of the spring. (5)
3. Read about the organisms you identified and answer
the following questions:
a. Identify two predators from your food chain:_______________
& _______________
Contrast the two predator types (e.g., speed, camouflage, stealth).
How do they avoid competing with each other?
(10)
b. Identify
some prey defenses, using specific examples from your food chain.
(10)
c. Identify
two herbivores from your food chain:______________
&________________
How do they avoid competing with each other? (10)
4. Literature cited page*.Include
5 references in correct format.
(10) You must use at least 3 journal articles; all references
may not be books and websites. References must be cited somewhere
in the content. Do not include references prior to 1980.
5. One table listing all species found and their
relative abundance. (3)
6. Two figures on three separate pages.
a. Each figure must have a legend.
b. Refer to each figure in the body of the text.
c. Figures can include (one) photograph or picture; chemical
formulae; metabolic pathways; phylogenetic tree; survivorship;
population trends; graphs. (6)
7. General form: (5)
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Attach this page to your report. ( pdf)
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Followed all directions explicitly with no
exceptions.
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Presentation is neat and orderly throughout.
-
Spelling and grammar are faultless.
Type your answers. Refer to the Style
Sheet for directions. Print this page
in pdf |
BIOL
215