Exploring Biomass Pyramids Progress Report

Name: Naomi Haynes

Progress Report
Exploring Biomass Pyramids
Field Study I
Study site selected: Limestone

Biomass pyramid hypothesis: Conventional pyramid

Biomass pyramid hypothesis explanation:
I choose this pyramid because the amount of producers are usually higher than the
primary consumers. Pyramid C& B both show alge as equal to or less that the primary
consumers.

Algae scraped: 0.21 g

Pool's estimated total algal biomass: 4.6 g

Estimated biomass of catfish: 0.49 g

Estimated number of adult catfish: 8

Observed number of adult catfish: 146

Observed biomass of adult catfish: 14.6 g
Observed biomass pyramid: Inverted pyramid
Observed biomass pyramid explanation:
It's inverted maybe becasue the amount algae isn't as much as the amount of catfish,
but provide enough biomass for the fish to live. The algae could also regenerate the
amount it orginally had faster than the catfish can reproduce new fish.

Biomass pyramid over time: Conventional pyramid

Biomass pyramid over time explanation: The ecosystem shows that the amount of
algae is greater than the amount of catdish. My chart shows, over the 9 month seson,
that the amount of algae goes up every month. This may mean there isn't enough
catfish to eat all the algaee in this ecosystem. There could be more fish that could live
here. As a primary producer, the sun provides enough food for them, and sice there
isn't a lot of primary consumers to eat it all up, the algae grows more.

Field Study II
Open canopy hypothesis: Algal standing crop is directly proportional to percent open

www.BioInteractive.org Published Fall of 2017

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 Exploring Biomass Pyramids Progress Report

canopy
Algal standing crop hypothesis: Bat Rocks

Bat Rocks estimated algal biomass: 0.3 g

Cess estimated algal biomass: 0.3 g
Did this match your prediction: Yes

Light availability hypothesis explanation:

The more light that is present in a pool, the more algae grows. Algae relies on light for
it's food, so the more light present, the more food aglae has. The ammount of algae in a
pool may determine how much catfish is also present, so, if the main reason catfish are
alive is because of algae, and algae relies on the sun for it's food, the ammount of
sunlight indirectly affects how many catfish can live in the pool.
Bat Rocks observed number of adult catfish: 174
Cess observed number of adult catfish: 82

www.BioInteractive.org Published Fall of 2017

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