Changes in our Eco-column over 3 weeks

Observation of the Eco-Column when it was finished being built.

Plants:

Terra: In our terra layer, we planted one small, green weed. It was approximately 3.5cm tall. We also planted a small clover plant that was about 4.6cm tall at its peak.

                        On the right is a picture of the clover plant: 

Decomposition: We did not plant anything in our decomposition layer.

Aqua: We did not plant anything in our decomposition layer.

Animals:

Terra: In our terra layer, we placed seven woodlouse in our soil and two rose beetles. We also placed three scarab beetle larvae in.

                             On the right is a Scarab Beetle Larvae: 

Decomposition: The only animals we identified in our decomposition layer were about 11 common earth worms.

Aqua: In our aqua layer we found about four small water snails and one water skimmer.

                        On the right is a picture of a water skimmer:

Predictions for Eco-Column over the three week holiday.

Terra Layer

In our terra layer, judging from our last eco-columns result, The clover will probably wither and die but about three small, green weeds will take its place. The woodlouse will survive, except for one or two which would die from lack of food and space. The two rose beetles will probably not survive as they are not the most aggressive and fast animals and so will die from lack of nutrition. Our Scarab Beetle larvae will probably survive because they feed off soil and we placed lots of healthy soil in. They also do not move much but hatch into three scarab beetles when they are ready.

Decomposition Layer

In our decomposition layer, many small, green weeds will start to grow because their seeds will probably be carried in the compost we put in. Many small insect larvae will also emerge but will be too small to identify. Our earth worms will survive because the soil and compost we put in is healthy and contains lots of nutrition. The level of the soil would have dropped because much of it would be consumed by the earth worms. When we first measured its height, it was about 8cm above the bottom of this layer, it will probably drop by about 3cm.

Aqua Layer

In our aqua layer, we predict that the water level will have dropped by about a centimeter through evaporation through the small air hole we pierced in the side. To counteract this, it may also rise by about the same amount due to the waste products of our earth worms, this is commonly referred to as 'worm tea' and is a very good fertiliser. Our water skimmer will probably not survive due to the lack of space but there will be many more insect larvae which we will try and identify. The small water snails will probably survive and produce because the conditions in this layer seem ideal for them and there are no natural predators to kill them off. The water temperature will probably increase on average due to the waste material and other substances dropped through from the other layers.

Analysis of a actual results:

Terra Layer

Our predictions about our plant life was very accurate, the clover did die and no trace of it can be found. One large, green weeds have grown to take its place, it is  about 10cm tall, there are another three small,green weeds each about 3cm tall. Our animal predictions are a little hard to decide on as we are not sure if the woodlouse are alive but we cannot find any within the eco-column, but there is no evidence that they have died. Our rose beetles have died, the only surviving animals being two scarab beetle larvae. They have grown larger but no beetles are present yet.

Decomposition Layer

In our decomposition layer, as predicted, five green weeds have started growing. One being about 4cm but the other four about 8-10cm. There are many small larvae and insects crawling in the soil but they are too small to identify, so another prediction proved correct. Many of the earthworms have survived and the soil level has dropped by about two centimetres due to the predicted reason.

Aqua Layer

The water level has more or less stayed the same as predicted but has gone much darker in colour and contains many more substances such as rotting bark, soil and worm faeces. There are still many water snails and as we thought the water skimmer has vanished, probably consumed by other bugs.

Before and After

Terra Layer:

Before:                                              After:

Decomposition Layer:

Before:                                               After:

Aqua Layer:

Before:                                                After:

Eco-column as an ecosystem 

An ecosystem is a defined area that is self-maintaining, which includes all the different living organisms within that area. These organisms interact with each other and with their non-living physical environment. The two main components that influence an organism in its natural habitat are the abiotic and biotic resources, which function together. An ecosystem cannot exist without both these components.

Even though water traveled from the Terra to the Decomp to the Aqua zone there was no other real interaction between the zones eg 1. The Aqua to the Terra zone, eg 2. We only had herbivores, wood louse etc we had no carnivores (no interaction between animals), eg 3. materials from different zones could not mix eg dead insects from the Terra zone could not fall into the Decomp zone.  

No it was not successful, because our Eco-column firstly blown over by the wind the other factor is we did not work well as a group as we some of us did not do our part.

 This is the Terra, Aqua and Decomp layer after being left at Rissik's house over the three week holiday

Reflections on the term’s work

Was the eco-column a success or not as an ecosystem? No, an ecosystem is defined as a self-maintaining area that contains different living organisms that interact. In our eco-column although we had living organisms they did not interact which means our eco-column was not a ecosystem.
To what extent do you have a better understanding of ecology (as explained in the notes) as a result of creating and looking after your eco-column? Although our eco-column as a whole wasn't a great success. I have learnt quite a bit about ecology, one of the things I was most impressed about was the way in which the plants adapted and grew at a rapid rate in their new environment. So it terms of understanding how ecology works, I think learnt things I wouldn't of learnt if we didn't take time to build and observe these eco-columns. 

Did our group work well together or not? No, our group was fairly disorganized and encountered many problems building our eco-column (as referred to in the video linked) We also suffered with our blog because we never read the marking rubric which was vital in getting good marks for our blog and our blog reflected our standard of work. For me the blog was an accurate reflection of what I learnt from this project. If I had to do this project again I would of been much more careful with my blog and therefore enjoyed it a lot more.

Posted By Darren Holliday.

Observation of Biotic Factors

7 March

Plants

Terra Layer: In this layer we have four green-leaved weeds, the tallest being 7cm, the second being 5cm tall and the shortest being 3cm. We also have a small Clover Plant growing, it is about 4cm tall and has three branches with many green leaves.

Decomposition Layer: In this layer we have three of the same type of weed as in the Terra Layer, but the tallest in this layer is 4cm and the others are both about 3.5cm tall. We also have a very small, silver mushroom growing in the corner.

Aqua Layer: There are no plants observed in this layer.

Animals

Terra Layer: In out Terra Layer there is a small, red centipede about 4cm in length and three small Wood-Louse we have identified living under the rock. There are no dead animals we can find.

Decomposition Layer: There are about 7 earth worms in the filter area of this layer and no other identifiable animals in this layer. There are no dead animals we can find.

Aqua Layer: We have hundreds of small, red beetles that can only be seen under a microscope which live in the water, they are clearly insect larvae. There is also another unidentifiable white insect larvae in the water. There are also about three small, brown water snails living in this layer. There are no dead animals in this layer.

Other Factors:
Water: The water seems to be the same colour as our last observation but the ater level has dropped by another 0.7cm.
Soil Level: The soil level in the Terra Layer has dropped by about 0.4cm.

28 February

Plants:
Terra Layer: In this layer, we have three small, green weeds and they are all about 2cm tall but one is almost 3cm. Our Clover we planted has receded a little but will probably start growing larger soon.
Decomposition Layer: We cannot find any plants in our Decomposition Layer.
Aqua Layer: The small, white mushroom is the same size as last time.

Animals:
Terra Layer: In our Terra Layer we can find one 3cm long, red centipede and four woodlouse that burrow in the soil and under the rock.
Decomposition Layer: In this layer we have about ten earth worms living in the soil and small ant-like creatures crawling at the top and on the sides of the container but they are extremely small.
Aqua Layer: In this layer we have hundreds of white and red insect larvae and many small, brown water snails crawling on the side of the container.

Other Factors:
Water: The water has gone about two shades a darker reddish brown, and the water level has decreased by 0.6cm since our last observation.
Soil level in Terra Layer: The soil layer in the Terra Layer has decreased by about 2cm.

21 February

Plants:
Terra Layer: Our original weeds are not doing so well, their leaves are starting to wither and sag. New small, green weeds are starting to grow though.
Decomposition Layer: A small, white mushroom has started to grow in this section of the eco-column.
Aqua Layer: We cannot find any plants in this layer.

Animals:
Terra Layer: There is a small, red centipede living in this layer, it is about 3cm long. There are also about 4 or 5 woodlouse living in the soil.
Decomposition Layer: There are about 12 earth worms around the filter.
Aqua Layer: There are two different types of insect larvae in this layer and about five small, brown water snails.

Observation of Bio tic components under light and dissecting microscopes 

We took samples of the water every lesson and we saw small white insect larvae floating on top of the water as well as small brown beetles. Swimming in the water we found water snails. 














These are the small white insect larvae we found floating on the water.
 

Delegations: 
Matthew Mckirby: took all the photos and videos and some of the information
but Darren Holiday posted the videos. 
Darren Holiday: took the PH balance and temperatures for the Eco column 
Matthew Rissik: Did most of the information. 
All: We all contributed to building the Eco column  

Abiotic Components

Temperature (Degrees Celsius)	Date and time
24	14th Of February at 11am
20	21st of February at 9am
21	28th of February at 12am
24	4tth of March at 10am

P.H on Universal indicator	Date
10.0	28th of February
10.0	4th of March
10.0	7th of March

Temperature of room (Degrees Celsius)	Date and time
22	28th of February at 11am
25	4th of March at 11am
20	7th of March at 9am

Why is our eco-column self sustaining?

The eco-column is self sustaining because there is a terra, decomposition and aqua layer. In the terra layer, there are small weeds which, using sunlight, will photosynthesise and produce more oxygen and water. The small centipede living in the terra layer can live off the many woodlouse in the layer which will hopefully reproduce to create more food. Therefore the cycle repeats and is self sustaining.

Contributions 
We all contributed towards the Eco-column we all built and stocked it together.

Stocking the Eco-column 
Terra layer: 
For the Terra layer we used some weeds we found in the garden we used the same soil the plants were in originally, we also used gravel from Darren's house we put in a millipede a centipede and some wood lice.


Decomposition layer: 
We used decomposing material from Rissik's worm farm and a bit of worms also some gravel again for the filtration of the water.


Aqua layer: 
We took water from the "green belt" for the aqua layer and some gravel for the insects and organisms.