4. Respiration rate- 5.

2 mg/L
5.
Bottle DO Net Productivity Gross Productivity
Light (0 screens) 26.4 16.4 21.6
1 screen 24.0 14.0 19.2
3 screens 14.6 4.6 9.8
5 screens 12.2 2.2 7.4
8 screens 10.0 0 5.2

4.
___1___ nonpolluted freshwater lake in a temperate region
___4___clean, fast-running stream in an alpine region
___3___eutrophic lake in central Florida
___2___nonpolluted estuary along the mid-Atlantic coast

All unpolluted bodies of water in alpine regions have very low dissolved oxygen levels
with percent saturations that can come close to 100. Few fish live in alpine regions, so
little dissolved oxygen is used or needed.
Freshwater lakes of temperate regions generally have a percent of saturation of 70 which
goes hand in hand with a very high dissolved oxygen rate.
Mid-Atlantic estuaries, like the Chesapeake Bay, have low rates of dissolved oxygen
because of previous algae blooms.
In this eutrophic lake in central Florida, the massive amounts of algae and bacteria that
use up the majority of oxygen in the body of water leave little for larger organisms like
fish.

5. Typically, lakes have great populations of fish and other aquatic creatures, while
streams contain considerably less fish. Because of this, lakes would most likely have a
lower DO. Streams would contain plenty of oxygen that would be transported from lake
to lake, but not used in the actual stream. Lakes would have that DO but it would be
utilized by algae, fish, and other plants that are in this body of water.
6. Eutrophication is a word with two meanings throughout the scientific community. The
first is to describe an increase in chemical nutrients especially those containing nitrogen
and phosphorus. The second is used to explain an increase in the primary productivity of
a body of water. Fertilizers, regardless of what they contain, can easily destroy life in
whatever they are used. Those that run into a body of water can kill aquatic organisms
and lower the primary productivity. This will also lower the dissolved oxygen
concentration in that body of water.
 Kera Pezzuti
Primary Productivity Lab

Primary productivity is the rate at which autotrophs store organic materials. This is one of the
key concepts of ecology. A higher primary productivity means that the ecosystem can support large
amounts of autotrophs, and then heterotrophs. With a falling primary productivity many organisms die
and the ecosystem becomes corrupted. Strategically measuring primary productivity can tell researchers
a great deal about the living conditions of an ecosystem. There are many ways to measure primary
productivity including rate of carbon dioxide consumption, rate of formation of organic compounds, or
the rate of oxygen production. These three products and reactants are common in a process called
photosynthesis which is a good test of primary productivity. In our lab, we measured the oxygen levels,
dissolved oxygen (DO), of a body of water at different temperatures and with different amounts of light.
These are two factors that could affect photosynthesis, primary productivity, and the rate of dissolved
oxygen.
The first of two labs we did altered the temperature of the water sample to see if it made a
difference to the amount of DO. Once a sample was obtained in a BO bottle, the Winkler Method had to
be performed. During this method, we had to first add 8 drops of manganous sulfate solution to all three
bottles—4ºC, 25 ºC, and 30 ºC. Then, 8 drops of alkaline potassium iodide azide were added. After the
bottled was mixed and the precipitate settled a little, 1 gram of sulfamic acid powdered was added.
These three substances are vital in the first step of the Winkler Method—Oxygen Fixation. After the
fixation of the oxygen was completed, the solutions needed to be titrated. 20 milliliters of the oxygen
fixated solution was then put into a titration sampling vial. A titration syringe was filled with sodium
thiosulfate and then inserted into the sample until it became a faint yellow or “pale ale”. 8 drops of
starch indicator was added to the three samples which turned it a blue or purple color when mixed due to
the presence of glucose. More sodium thiosulfate was added drop by drop until the solution became
completely colorless. When this stage was reached, the amount of sodium thiosulfate was recorded for
each temperature which is the same amount of DO in parts per million. This number was then converted
into percent saturation using a nomograph—a graph that uses temperature and the amount of oxygen to
determine percent saturation. For 4 ºC, our DO was 9.2 and saturation was 70%, for 25 ºC, our DO was
6.4 and saturation was 76%, and for 30ºC, our DO was 5.6 and saturation was 74%. From these
numbers, one can determine that temperature and DO have an inverse relationship, but as temperature
increases, so does percent saturation.
In the second part of the lab, we also performed the Winkler Method on several different
samples. These sat overnight with different amounts of screens covering them to simulate
photosynthesis at different depths of an aquatic ecosystem. Once we obtained the DO, we did not find
percent saturation, but net productivity and gross productivity using the baseline (DO of the initial
sample) of our water—10 ppm—and the loss of oxygen due to respiration—5.2 mg/L. For the bottle
with 100% light, the DO was 26.4, the net productivity was 16.4, and the gross productivity was 21.6.
For the bottle with 65% light (1 screen), the DO was 24.0, the net productivity was 14.0, and the gross
productivity was 19.2. For the bottle with 25% light (3 screens), the DO was 14.6, the net productivity
was 4.6, and the gross productivity was 9.8. For the bottle with 10% light (5 screens), the DO was 12.2,
the net productivity was 2.2, and the gross productivity was 7.4. For the bottle with 2% light (8 screens),
the DO was 10.0, the net productivity was 0.0, and the gross productivity was 5.2. The simulated depth
for each of the number of screens is as follows: 1 screen is equivalent to 1 meter under the surface of the
water, 3 screens is analogous to 2 meters, 5 screens is the simulation of 3 meters, and 8 screens is 4
meters. As the “depth in the lake” increases, the amount of dissolved oxygen present decreases along
with net productivity and gross productivity. Predictably, this shows that photosynthesis and primary
productivity decrease farther underwater.