Question: How diverse are the plankton species of South Maui?
Hypothesis and Prediction: I think that around 20 plankton species will be found in our samples, because Hawaii's warm & clean waters could probably support that seemingly diverse amount. If there are less that around 20 species found, then the environment we collected our sample from probably can't support a high plankton population.
Materials: plankton net, line, microscope, collection jars, journal, pipette, cover slip, & ID books
Procedure:
- Go to a location where it is safe and convenient to test the water and use the plankton net (in this case, Kihei Boat Ramp).
- Observe the wind, weather, wave action, and tide. Record your observations.
- Test the water to determine the different variables for the plankton's living conditions and record the results for each:
- Find the water's temperature and pH level. Remove cap from pH/temperature pen. Place pen in water to be sampled. Wait for numbers to stabilize.
- Use a refractometer to find the salinity of the water. Lift the cover and use a pipette to put a few drops of water onto the prism. Close the lid, then look through the eye piece. Record the parts per thousand of salinity displayed on the scale to the right.
- Use the dissolved oxygen test to find the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. Fill the test vile up to the 10 ml mark with water. Insert a dissolved oxygen tablet into the test vile. Cap and start to shake before the tablet has dissolved fully. Shake for one minute. Then, let sample sit for 5 minutes. Compare the color of your sample to the chart given.
- Finding the nitrate and phosphate levels is very similar to finding the disolved oxygen levels. Fill test vial with water to 10ml. Add test tablet and shake for one minute. Let the sample sit still for 5 minutes. Compare the sample color to the color on the chart given.
- Find the turbidity using the secchi disk and test vile. Fill test vial to 25ml. Place test vial over the secchi disk on the card. Compare it to the the pictures of the other disks.
4. Use the plankton net to collect samples:
a) Remove cap on sample vile.
b) Slowly lower the net into the water.
c) Drag net through the water until a reasonable amount of organic matter is captured (usually about 3-5 minutes).
d) Quickly pull net out of water and let drain.
e) Cap sample vial & remove from net.
5. Use a microscope to observe the plankton you collected:
a) Remove the microscope cover and plug into an outlet.
b) Using the pipette, fill the three sample slide with water taken from the collection jar.
c) Add one or two drops of detain to each of the 3 samples on the slide.
d) Lay the slide underneath the lower microscope lens.
e) Look through the upper lens and focus it using the adjustable ring around it.
f) Draw some different species of species you observe and label them to the best of your ability using the ID books.
g) When finished, carefully pour the samples in the slide back into the collection jar.
h) Rinse the slide in the sink and dry.
i) Unplug the microscope and cover it.
6. Use a Proscope to observe the plankton you collected:
a)Plug the Proscope into the computer and open up its program.
b) Slowly and carefully pour some water from the collection jar into a petree dish. Take the pipette and extract some water from the very bottom of the collection jar and add it to the water in the petree dish.
c) Put the petree dish directly under the round lens on the Proscope.
d) Slide a white piece of paper under the petree dish.
e) Focus and lens by moving it up or down manually until the picture is clear. If needed, add about 10 drops of detain.
f) Draw some different species of species you observe and label them to the best of your ability using the ID books.
g) Take pictures and video, then save them to your z-drive.
h) When finished using the Proscope, raise the lens and wipe it dry. Unplug it from the computer and put it back into it's case.
i) Slowly and carefully empty the petree dish into the collection jar.
j) Rinse the petree dish and dry.
Data:
Wind) calm
Weather) sunny, partly cloudy
Wave action) subtle
Temperature) 25.2∘C
pH) 8.1
Tide) low
Salinity) 21 ppt
Dissolved Oxygen) 2
Nitrates) 1
Phosphates) 1
Turbidity) 0 JTU
I was able to possatively identify four plankton species.
Conclusion: My question was, "How diverse are the plankton species of south Maui?" My hypothesis was, "I think that around 20 plankton species will be found in our samples, because Hawaii's warm & clean waters could probably support that seemingly diverse amount." According to the data I collection, my hypothesis was incorrect, because I only identified about 1/5 of the amount I thought I would find. I beleive there were errors to alter my results. I was only about to identify a few, but there were actually many more species in my samples. The samples that we took at first when we tested the water and took observations weren't the same as the samples that we observed in class. Different conditions may have altered the results. When trying to identify plankton, it was hard to tell which pictures were the most similar to the plankton I was observing. This may have been because of the quality of the image I saw using the Proscope.
