Lab Report On Algal Biomass

The aim is to identify and associate landforms, rock types and soils to the natural environment and its plants and animals and also to investigate the history of the local environment, comprising human impacts over the last 50 years. The impact of human alterations to the environment includes increased soil erosion and changes in river flows.

The loss of Louisiana coastal land is one of the most major factors in our environment today. Louisiana has already loss 1,880 square miles of land in the past eight decades. This problem is effecting the state funding to help solve the problem before the state lose more coastal land. Human disturbance has had a massive impact on the balance of wetland growth and decline. (Wilson, 2013). In order to stop this situation the state needs to have a stronger structural protection for the coast line. (Wilson, 2013).

In lake sas man has built a dam, but to the elevation of the sampling site the team believes that the dame does not effect the soil. The soil sampling site appears to be in a natural state. No human impact effected the sampling site, the samples collected are relatively accurate to the natural soil state.

As humanity continues to prosper agriculturally, industrially, and in population, companies, as well as local communities, have obsessively used the Ocean to toss their waste without consequences. The formation of dead zones has been intensified by the increase runoff of fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. Enhanced primary production causes algae to bloom at a constant rate creating a layer near the surface. This layer acts as a roof to vegetation below resulting in a lack of oxygen which organisms use to live. According to Robert Diaz and Rutger Rosenberg, “Dead zones have now been reported from more than 400 systems, affecting a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers, and are probably a key stressor on marine ecosystems.” Specifically, the Chesapeake Bay has been polluted to the point where areas have now been uninhabitable to marine life. Although waste disposal is a difficult issue to solve, polluting bodies of water endangers the marine life, environment, and health of organisms.

Within each zone, alterations in physical features of the landscape can blur zonation patterns (Graham & Wilcox, 2000; Stephenson & Stephenson, 1949; 1937; Lipkin, 1971; McQuaid & Branch, 1984). Additionally, between each zone there is a “fringe” zone where species from each zone can persist in small numbers before reaching their range limit (the “supralittoral fringe” and the “infralittoral fringe”) (Stephenson & Stephenson, 1949). Boulders, crevices, and tide pools all create microhabitats within the zones (Graham & Wilcox, 2000; Stephenson & Stephenson, 1949; Lartigue, 2003; Bolton & Anderson, 1990; Underwood, 2000). The presence of these features can alter the effects of abiotic factors such as light availability, salinity, and wave

The location of the two different sites selected to be assessed are provided in the map below (figure 1). Site 1 is located at the marina with a major mangrove ecosystem and a surrounding recreational land area that may affect the overall quality of the site. Site 2 is located beside the Gateway Motorway, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, a nearby airport and a waste disposal yard. Both sites were assessed at high tide which leads to a large range of possibilities in data accuracy. Site 1 is managed all year round whilst site 2 is currently

Secondarily, the EPA compared the sediment data and water samples to ecological risk based screening levels. In this study, the EPA did find some levels to exceed ecological screening levels in both the sediment data and water samples. The action that the

Soil erosion is proven to be the dominant sediment source within catchments, comprising up to 63% of the sediment flowing into rivers (McKergow, Prosser, Hughes, & Brodie, 2005, pp.200). It is estimated that by the end of the 20th century, agricultural purposes had caused the clearing of more than 50% of the natural vegetation in Queensland (Bowen & Bowen, 2002, pp. 407). In 1999, 90% of all land cleared in Australia was located within Queensland, an estimated 400,000 hectares (Bowen & Bowen, 2002, pp. 407). Cropping, particularly sugarcane, and beef grazing are the main sources of soil erosion, as well as cotton and minor urban development (Brodie et al., 2007). Use of nitrogen fertilization (De’ath & Fabricius, 2010) has also caused a flux of nutrients to make their way to the Great Barrier Reef, causing eutrophication in some areas (Brodie, Wolanski, Lewis, & Bainbridge, 2012, pp. 267). Degradation of land assigned for Pastoral purposes has been the main contemporary source of sediments, owing the impact they have to the sheer amount of cleared land that is designated to beef grazing (Neil, Orpin, Ridd, & Yu, 2002, pp. 733). Unlike agricultural practices which use highly fertilized soils, the exported nutrients from cattle grazing land are from natural, unfertilized soil that results from erosion inland (Brodie et al.,

The D’Olive Creek and Fly Creek Watersheds are both connected to Mobile Bay and integral parts of the environmental health of the bay (Figure 1). The network of habitats found in Mobile Bay supports the greatest diversity of species out of all states east of the Mississippi River (Swann and Herder, 2014). Regarding discharge, Mobile Bay is the fourth largest estuary in the U.S. at 1800 m3/s (Ellis et al, 2011). Over the past few decades, Mobile Bay has experienced much environmental stress related to anthropogenic activities (Ellis et al, 2011). This environmental stress has affected many important, natural systems in the area: wetlands, streams, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), longleaf pine forests, and maritime forests (Swann and Herder,

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 office is the lead agency for this Site and has conducted remedial activities at the site since the 1990’s. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) is the support

Hasting’s Point is surrounded by farm lands and development areas that result in run-off containing plastic, microbial contaminants from sewerage, sediments, heavy metals, fertilisers (contain phosphorus and nitrate), pesticides, car exhaust, motor oil and gasoline. All of these run-off materials are toxic and can greatly harm all ecosystems. Mangroves, which filter heavy metals, phosphorus and sediments, can have oils smother ‘breathing’ roots and hinder functions. Consequently, the run-off would enter the ocean, harming organisms on the rocky shore and sea. Excess nitrate and phosphorus based chemicals in the ocean exponentially increases the growth of algae and plants, resulting in an algal bloom and eutrophication. Any organism below the algae cannot perform photosynthesis (no sunlight) and suffocate from oxygen depletion due to strained respiration and decomposition of dead plants by bacteria. As such, a whole ecosystem, or ecological niche, can be destroyed, much like 2011’s marine die-off along the Pacific coast [12]. These suffocating organisms can also contribute to ocean acidification for respiration produces CO2 (which reacts with water to produce carbonic acid: (H2CO3)), therefore increasing the acidity of the ocean (alongside excess atmospheric CO2)[13]. Acidic waters at Hasting’s Point, and anywhere else, would corrode an organism’s protective shell (calcium) and pressure species to adapt, or die, to the altered chemistry

How have urbanization processes impacted the geomorphology of the D’Olive Creek Watershed? This project will explore the known environmental impacts of the urbanization process and compare this to the impacts of urbanization in the D’Olive Creek Watershed, with specific emphasis on the temporal geomorphology of the area. The D’Olive Creek Watershed is located in Baldwin County, Alabama and is part of Mobile Bay, which is classified as one of the largest and most ecologically significant estuaries in the United States – it is also a member of the National Estuary Program (Stout et al. 1998, p. xv). There are many anthropogenic factors associated with urban development that could detrimentally impact the local environment: impervious surfaces,

This study specifically focused on the relationship between plant stem oiling and marsh erosion rates to test for these thresholds. Five categories were established based on the

The texts from this reading list for the Erosion Control Structure Unit will be used as starting points for each of the topics to be discussed in the classroom. Topics for this unit in order are: general conservation, terraces and tile, ponds and spillways, and careers. Students will be assigned one reading in preparation for a new topic in class, and the three texts with different Lexile scores will provide students to read a text appropriate to their reading level. At the start of class, the discussion will be focused and based on the information the students read for homework. I will ask for questions students would like to explore or learn more about in the topic area. These questions will serve as a majority of the lessons material and

Coastal erosion is known as the natural removal of land and sand caused by changing wave conditions, coastal erosion is also caused by storm events which creates a massive amount of destruction to the beach and can put building and infrastructure in potential danger (SES, 2016). Some of the factors that affect coastal erosion include: strength of waves, weather as well as human activity can all negatively impact the amount of erosion (A. Jackson, 2016). Beaches are an important part of the world’s ecosystem for they provide homes for many species of animals such as: birds, crabs, invertebrates, turtle eggs, etc. Beaches also provide services such as sediment storage and transport, wave dissipation and associated buffering against extreme weather