Title: Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Productivity Introduction: The purpose of this investigation is to measure primary productivity

based on changes in dissolved oxygen and to predict the effects of light intensity on primary productivity. In an aquatic environment, the concentration of oxygen is a very important indicator of water quality. Its concentration and distribution are directly dependent on chemical and physical factors and affected by biological processes. Generally, as temperature increases, the solubility of oxygen in water decreases. The measurement of DO concentration is also used to determine whether biological activities, such as photosynthesis and respiration, are occurring. The primary productivity is defined as the rate at which sunlight is stored by plants in the form of carbon containing compounds. A measure of oxygen production can be used as a basis for measuring primary productivity. The light and dark bottle method will be used to measure the rate of oxygen production. The DO concentrations of samples are measured and compared after incubation in light and darkness. The difference between the initial and dark bottles indicates the amount of oxygen used in respiration by organisms in the sample. The difference over time between the DO concentrations in the light bottle and the dark bottle is the total oxygen production and an estimate of productivity. Hypothesis: If the Winkler method, or the light and dark bottle method, is used, then dissolved oxygen can be measured, which would be used to calculate net and gross productivity. Lab group 3s assigned tests were the initial bottle, cold water bottle, dark bottle, and a bottle with 25% light intensity. Materials: 3 BOD bottles, a titration syringe, titration tube, the appropriate number of screens (depending on light intensity being tested), aluminum foil, thermometer, and water at 3 different temperatures (0-5C, 20C, and 30C) were used. Manganese Sulfate solution (8 drops per sample), Sulfamic Acid and 1-g spoon, Alkaline Potassium Iodide Azide solution (8 drops per sample), Starch Indicator solution (8 drops per sample), and Sodium Thiosulfate (0.025N) solution were the chemicals used. Procedure: First, an initial bottle of pond water was made. A bottle of cold water at 4C was filled. Then two more bottles of pond water were filled and labeled as dark and 25% (the lab groups assignments). It was made sure that there was no air trapped in the bottles to give elevated oxygen readings and the bottles were capped tightly. The reading of the thermometers was recorded at the time the samples were taken. On day one of the lab, two of the BOD pond water bottles were prepared to be incubated for 25% light intensity and darkness. For 25% light intensity, the bottle was wrapped with three screens. For the dark bottle, it was wrapped with aluminum foil. They were incubated for about 24 hours. The Winkler method was used to measure DO. The quantity of free iodine measured is equivalent to the amount of free dissolved oxygen in the sample. For each sample, a bottle was uncapped and 8 drops of manganous sulfate solution was added to a bottle, followed by 8 drops

of alkaline iodide. The bottle was capped and mixed until the formed precipitate settled to the shoulder of the bottle (about 2 minutes). Then the 1 gram spoon was used to add a spoonful of sulfamic acid powder to the bottle and mixed until the reagent and precipitate dissolved. Repeat for all bottles when appropriate. For titrations, 20 ml of the sample was poured into the titration tube. Sodium thiosulfate was filled into a titration syringe up to the 0 line. The syringed was placed into the hold on the cap of the titration tube and one drop at a time was added to the sample, swirling between each drop until the sample was a faint yellow color. After, the titration cap was removed, with the syringe still in the hole, and 8 drops of starch indicator was added. The lid was replaced and the sample was swirled. The solution turned blue. If not, then there was not a measureable amount of oxygen present. If blue, the drops from the sodium thiosulfate plunger were added and the sample swirled after each drop. The number of drops it took to make the blue color disappear was recorded. Results: Light bottle-Initial Bottle = Net Productivity Initial - Dark = Respiration Light Dark = Gross Productivity
0.8 0.6 0.4 DO mL/L 0.2 0 -0.2 -0.4 0 20 40 60 80 100 Gross Productivity Net Productivity 120

Gross and Net Productivities

Light Intensity

1. Graph the percent saturation as a function of temperature % Saturation Based on Temperature

120 100 % Saturation 80 60 40 20 0 0 10 20 Temperature (C) 30 40 % Saturation

Lab Group had 60% saturation at 4C

2. What is the effect of temperature on the amount of oxygen water at different temperatures can hold? Compare to Figure 12.1. As the temperature increases, the percent saturation increases. Compared to Figure 12.1, as temperature increases, the solubility of oxygen in water is supposed to decrease, making it inversely proportional. 3. At what light intensity do you expect there to be zero gross productivity? No net productivity? Relate the terms gross productivity and net productivity to the real world. Do your numbers make sense? At 0% light intensity (dark), there should be zero gross productivity because biological processes wont take place. Same with net productivity. Gross productivity is related to total profit, and net productivity is related to after taxes when put into a real life perspective. The numbers make sense because the gross and net productivities decreased as the light intensities decreased. 4. A mammal uses only 1 to 2 percent of its energy in ventilation while a fish must spend about 15 percent of its energy to move water over its gills. Explain this huge difference in their efforts to collect oxygen. The difference is from the amount of oxygen surrounding them. Fish have to filter the oxygen from the water, but mammals are surrounded by air. 5. Would you expect the DO in water taken from a stream entering a lake with algae to be higher or lower than the DO taken from the lake itself? The oxygen levels in the stream will be higher because of turbulence and flowing water. The lake currents are stationary compared to the stream, so the oxygen levels will be lower. 6. Would you expect the DO concentration of water samples taken from a lake on a hot summer day at 7am to be higher or lower than samples taken at 5pm? Whichever time would have more light will have higher DO concentrations since the water will be exposed to more light. 7. What is eutrophication? Explain why allowing nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizers to run into a body of water can negatively affect life in it. Eutrophication is when bodies of water receive excess nutrients which cause excess plant growth, and later, plant death. This depletes the oxygen levels and kills some organisms due to lack of oxygen.

Sources of Error: In the 25% light intensity bottle, there was air at the top of the bottle. The bottle was overfilled according to procedure when the sample was taken, but spilled during fixation. The bottle had an elevated oxygen reading during titrations because of that error. Also, when sodium thiosulfate was added one drop at a time until the sample turned a faint yellow color, judgment varied among groups. One groups perspective of a faint yellow might be two drops away from anothers. This caused a wider range of DO levels. Discussion and Conclusion: The hypothesis worked and the purpose was fulfilled. Temperature is inversely proportional to the solubility in water. As temperature rose the dissolved oxygen levels should have decreased. This was seen in the data obtained from this experiment, as the 4 C water sample measured 6 mL/L and the 25 C sample measured 4.8 mL/L. The percent saturation showed that even though the 4 C sample contained more oxygen it was still less saturated than the 25 C sample. The dark sample has 4.95 mL/L, lower than 2% light. The initial sample had 5.3 mL/L and turned out to be lower than 100% light intensity. This data is close but not expected because of the sources of error that occurred. The relationship between temperature and solubility of oxygen, measures of net productivity, and estimates of gross productivities were found.