Environmental Effects on Algal Growth Patrick Leech Pittsburgh

Environmental Effects on Algal Growth Patrick Leech Pittsburgh Central Catholic PJAS 2009

Introduction Most algal deaths result from salt affliction During winter, road salt causes algal death Many attempts have been made to create a safe ice melt salt

Runoff The way salt gets transported into the water Surface runoff is runoff that occurs on land Materials that are transported on surface runoff is fertilizers, petroleum, pesticides, herbicides, and SALT Usually this creates a watershed, or a common point where runoff drains

Algal Importance Base of aquatic food chain § Used as a bio-indicator for aquatic environments

Euglena Common algal like protist Extremely tolerant of many habitats Capable of survival in both salt and water environments A partial heterotroph can attain food through endocytosis and photosynthesis

Chlamydomonas Common unicellular algae Valuable experimental model for biochemistry, genetics, etcetera Exclusive to this organism are ion channels that are directly stimulated by light

Dehydration Directly alters tonicity of organisms Cells lose water through hypertonicity when exposed to salt Some salts can be toxic at high concentrations or interfere with biological processes

Calcium Chloride(Ca. Cl 2) The most universal road salt Extloermic reaction with water heats up ice or snow Lowers the freezing point of salt(colligative property)

Safe Salt Ex. “Safe Paw” Has a dual effect in which a liquid is released instantly melting snow distant from the pellet. Core immediately heats up melting snow directly around it. Has an endothermic heat speeding the melting process Claims- environmentally safe and lessons irritability to plants and animals (dogs paws)

Former Experiments Effects of road salt on the environment were first noticed in the 1950 s Along the Minnesota highway, trees within a 3. 4 mile radius of the road were showing indications of salt related death. At this same time period the New Hampshire government reported the death and removal of about 14, 000 trees due to salt related problems.

Purpose To determine if salt has any effect on algal growth/survival

Hypothesis Null: The presence of, “Safe Paw”, will NOT have a significant effect on both Euglena and Chlamydomonas growth/survival. Alternative: The presence of, “Safe Paw”, WILL have a significant effect on both Euglena and Chlamydomonas growth/survival.

Materials 20% Safe Salt solution Euglena gracilis Chlamydomonas rheinhartii Soil water (sterile) Spring water 30 test tubes (13 x 100 mm borosilicate culture tubes) Pipettes (macro + micro) Pipette tips Science Kit Educator spectrophotometer Test tube rack

Procedure 1. The following ingredients were pipetted into 13 x 100 borosilicate culture tubes: (shown on next slide) 2. The growth of both types of algae was monitored every day for one week: absorbance at 430 nm in a spectrophotometer

Procedure continued 0% salinity . 1% salinity Euglena Chlamydomonas 3 m. L Spring water 1 m. L Chemical (Safe Salt) 0 m. L . 05 m. L Soil Water 1 m. L . 95 m. L Final Concentration 5 m. L

Euglena P-value testing the effect of salinity 0. 35 0. 3 0. 25 0. 2 Absorbance In nm 0. 15 0 m. L chemical 0% chemical 0. 1 . 05 m. L chemical. 1% chemical 0. 05 . 5 m. L chemical 1% chemical P-value=. 0677 P-value=. 0666 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Time Elapsed (Days) Day 6 Day 7

Chlamydomonas P-value testing the effect of salinity 1% chemical Absorbance In nm . 1%chemical 0% chemical P-value=. 07886 Time Elapsed (Days) P-value=. 07777

Results and Conclusions The null hypothesis that the presence of, “Safe Paw”, will NOT have a significant effect on both algae’s growth/survival is ACCPETED (p-value >. 05). My alternative hypothesis that the presence of, “Safe Paw”, WILL have a significant effect on both algae‘s growth/and survival is REJECTED.

Extensions and Limitations Extensions Some extensions that could have improved the quality and obvious depth and extensiveness of this experiment is the use of more tubes in the experiment and the use of different concentrations. Algal health- the study will be repeated using a fresh culture and a longer period of observation Limitations Algae was not kept at the same temperature each day Another limitation could be using different salts such as sodium chloride or calcium chloride.

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Sources continued Chapman, V. J. (1950). Seaweeds and their Uses. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd Round, F E (1981). The Ecology of Algae. London: Cambridge University Press. hamptonroads. com/2008/01/odu-experiment-turning-sewage- algaebased-biodiesel-flourishing www. dow. com/productsafety/finder/cacl