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Learning Journal Unit 5

Maxwell Bosire

UoPeople

BIOL 1122-01

Preeti Shinde

11/05/2024
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Learning Journal Unit 5

1. Having read the text of this learning journal, write a definition for each of the

following reporters – ie what ecological measure does each of them represent?

Individual species counts are the number of individuals captured by each separate species.

They measure the abundance of each species in the sample.

Total catch is the number of individuals of all species captured in the sample. It measures the

overall abundance of organisms.

Total species is the number of different species represented in the sample. It measures species

richness.

2. Which of the measure (or measures) of species diversity that you have described in

question 1 reflects how evenly individuals are distributed among different species?

The measure that reflects how evenly individuals are distributed among different species is

the relationship between Total Catch and Total Species. If the Total Catch is high but the

Total Species is low, that suggests the catch is dominated by a few abundant species (low

evenness). If the Total Species is high relative to the Total Catch, that suggests individuals

are more evenly spread across many species (high evenness).

3. Which measure of species diversity that you have described in question 1 reflects the

overall density of organisms in an area?

The measure that reflects the overall density of organisms in the area is the Total Catch. The

more individual organisms captured in the standard sampling time, the higher the overall

density of organisms in that environment.

4. Run the simulation and set the sampling time = 200. Perform the experiment three

times with no pollution and three times with severe pollution. Record counts in
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your journal for individual species, for total species and for total catch in each run.

Create a table for easier recording and analysis and calculate the average (mean)

values for each read out. Present your calculated results in a graphical format – you

may choose which ever type of graph you think best displays your data (bar, line or

pie).

No pollution
Species Name 1st Run 2nd Run 3rd Run Average
Caddisfly 3 3 6 4
Mayfly 4 0 4 2.67
Stonefly 4 2 1 2.33
Rif. Beetle 3 4 2 3
W. Penny 2 1 2 1.67
Gill Snail 0 0 0 0
Dobsonfly 0 3 0 1
Cranefly 3 1 1 1.67
Dragonfly 1 3 2 2
Crayfish 3 2 1 2
Sowbug 2 2 1 1.67
Worm 1 0 2 1
Black Fly 1 2 1 1.33
Midge 2 4 2 2.67
Leech 2 2 4 2.67
Lung Snail 5 3 6 4.67
Total Species 14 13 15 14
Total Catch 36 31 38 35

No Pollution
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
Average

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
y y y le y il y y y h ug orm Fly dge ech nai
l
i sfl ayfl nefl eet enn Sna onfl nefl onfl yfis b k i e S
dd w
M Sto if. B . P ill obs Cra rag Cra So W ac M L
ng
Ca R W G D D Bl Lu

Species Name
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Severe pollution
Species Name 1st Run 2nd Run 3rd Run Average
Caddisfly 0 0 0 0
Mayfly 0 0 0 0
Stonefly 0 0 0 0
Rif. Beetle 0 0 0 0
W. Penny 0 0 0 0
Gill Snail 0 0 0 0
Dobsonfly 0 0 0 0
Cranefly 1 1 1 1
Dragonfly 1 2 1 1.33
Crayfish 0 0 3 1
Sowbug 3 3 3 3
Worm 17 15 11 14.33
Black Fly 6 3 6 5
Midge 1 2 3 2
Leech 0 4 2 2
Lung Snail 6 4 3 4.33
Total Species 7 8 9 8
Total Catch 35 34 33 34

Severe Pollution
16
14
12
10
Avereage

8
6
4
2
0
y fly y e y il y y y sh g ly ge h ai
l
isfl ay nefl eetl enn na onfl nefl onfl yfi bu or
m
kF id ec Sn
dd M o B P l S s a g a w W c M Le
Ca St f. .
Gi
l b Cr Dr
a Cr So Bl
a ng
Ri W Do Lu

Species Name

5. Which species appear to be the most sensitive to pollution? Which species are the

least sensitive?

Based on the data, the most pollution-sensitive species are the caddisfly, mayfly, stonefly,

riffle beetle, water penny, gill snail, and dobsonfly. In the severe pollution trials, these
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species had an average count of zero, indicating the polluted conditions completely

eliminated them. The least sensitive species appear to be the aquatic worms, with an average

count of 14.33 in the polluted stream. Blackflies, lung snails, sowbugs, midges, leeches,

crayfish, dragonflies and craneflies also persisted in lower numbers in severe pollution.

6. Observe the cumulative species to sampling time plot. Explain what it represents and

describe how it changes (if it does) in the presence and absence of pollution. Is it

behaving as you would expect?

The cumulative species to sampling time plot shows the total number of different species

captured (on the y-axis) as the duration of sampling increases (on the x-axis). For the

unpolluted stream trials, the species accumulation curve rose steeply at first as new species

were quickly discovered. It then leveled off and approached an asymptote as sampling

continued, adding fewer new species. An average of 14 total species were captured across the

unpolluted trials. This pattern of the curve rising rapidly before plateauing is expected for a

diverse community, as thorough sampling will initially yield many species, but extended

efforts tend not to add many new species once the common ones have been found. In

contrast, the species accumulation curve rose more slowly for the severely polluted stream

trials and leveled off sooner at a much lower average of only 8 total species captured. The

lower plateau reflects the reduced species richness under pollution stress, with only the most

pollution-tolerant organisms like leeches, lung snails, and worms persisting while many

sensitive species were eliminated or became rare compared to the unpolluted trials. This

simplified community structure is why fewer new species continued to be found as sampling

efforts increased in the polluted conditions. The data matches these expectations. In the

unpolluted trials, an average of 14 total species were captured. But under severe pollution, the

average was only 8 species, and this included pollution-tolerant species that were rare or
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absent in the clean stream like leeches and lung snails. The species accumulation curve would

reflect this decline in diversity.

7. Briefly describe the effect of pollution on stream diversity using data to support your

analysis and make some suggestions about why pollution could cause the changes

you have observed.

The experimental data shows that severe pollution caused a major decrease in species

diversity in the stream. The average number of species captured dropped from 14 in the

unpolluted trials to just 8 species with severe pollution, a 43% reduction. Pollution

completely eliminated sensitive groups like mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies that require

clean water. It dramatically reduced the abundance of other moderately sensitive organisms

like riffle beetles, dragonflies, and craneflies. Only a few tolerant species, like worms and

lung snails, maintained large populations in the polluted conditions.

Pollution likely causes these changes through several mechanisms:

 Direct toxicity: Many pollutants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and ammonia, are

directly toxic to aquatic life. Sensitive species lack adaptations to detoxify or excrete

these substances and are poisoned (Goutam Mukherjee et al., 2022).

 Oxygen depletion: Nutrient pollution can cause algal blooms and subsequent

decomposition that depletes dissolved oxygen. Species with high oxygen demands,

like mayflies and stoneflies, quickly suffocate (Hasan et al., 2023).

 Habitat degradation: Pollutant accumulation in sediments can disrupt bottom-dwelling

invertebrates. Siltation from runoff can bury rocky substrates that many species

require (Mulat & Mekoya, 2024).

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 Food web disruption: Loss of pollution-sensitive prey species can indirectly harm

predators higher in the food chain, even if the predators themselves can tolerate some

contamination (Mor et al., 2021).

Protecting water quality is essential for maintaining diverse and healthy freshwater

ecosystems. The dramatic effects of pollution in this experiment underscore the importance

of preventing contaminants from entering our waterways (Kumaraswamy et al., 2019).

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References

Goutam Mukherjee, A., Ramesh Wanjari, U., Eladl, M. A., El-Sherbiny, M., Elsherbini, D.

M., Sukumar, A., Kannampuzha, S., Ravichandran, M., Renu, K., Vellingiri, B.,

Kandasamy, S., & Valsala Gopalakrishnan, A. (2022). Mixed contaminants:

Occurrence, interactions, toxicity, detection, and remediation. Molecules, 27(8), 2577.

https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27082577

Hasan, B. M., Islam, Md. S., Kundu, P., & Mallick, U. K. (2023). Modeling the effects of

algal bloom on dissolved oxygen in eutrophic water bodies. Journal of Mathematics,

2023, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/2335570

Kumaraswamy, T. R., Javeed, S., Javaid, M., & Naika, K. (2019). Impact of pollution on

quality of freshwater ecosystems. Fresh Water Pollution Dynamics and Remediation,

69–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8277-2_5

Mor, J., Muñoz, I., Sabater, S., Zamora, L., & Ruhi, A. (2021). Energy limitation or sensitive

predators? Trophic and non‐trophic impacts of wastewater pollution on stream food

webs. Ecology, 103(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3587

Mulat, K., & Mekoya, A. (2024). Impact of fine sediment on benthic macroinvertebrates

communities of freshwater ecosystem: A Review. East African Journal of Forestry and

Agroforestry, 7(1), 146–174. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajfa.7.1.1895

Virtual Biology Lab created by dr. Thomas C. Jones. (n.d.).

https://virtualbiologylab.org/NetWebHTML_FilesJan2016/StreamDiversityModel.html