Biodiversity Improves Water Quality Through Niche Partitioning By

Biodiversity Improves Water Quality Through Niche Partitioning By Ligia Pasc and Tyler Wood

Introduction Diverse ecosystems have proved particularly good at removing pollutants from human interaction

Importance • People claim that there is no technological way to solve the many environmental problems facing us today. • Increasing Biodiversity is a natural method for improving the quality of surrounding ecosystems.

Why we Chose this Article Relevant to class material Prominent to where we live Presents information about water pollutants A step towards solving the water crisis

Question Asked How does biodiversity help cleanse water of pollutants?

Niche Partitioning

Methods Used Two changes in the environment 1) Stream Flow (Heterogeneity and homogeneity) 2) Temporal Disturbance Eight different algae

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Relevance to Sustainability Water Crisis Biodiversity Pollution

Results Obtained Algae absorbs more pollutants through niche partitioning Significance of Results Rivers with heterogeneous environments can house more biodiversity, therefore reducing the amount of pollutants in the water

What Was Unclear? No clear description or diagrams of “flumes” used in experiment Different method types not clearly explained Complex figures with confusing graphs

Future Experiments Could test other environmental factors such as moss in forests, or plankton in the ocean Limits of pollution in inhabitable water for algae

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