The Effect of Water and Soil Quality on Eutrophication

AbstractThe Cove River of the West Haven/New Haven area is a current hot spot for research. The 7 kilometer long river was used for archaeological purposes and other environmental research. The biome of the Cove River is home to many forms of life, including foxes, many birds, large trees that provide large amounts of canopy cover and small plants that grow in the river. A few years ago, the invasive species, Phragmites australis, were eradicated The research site off of Jones Hill Road in West Haven was used throughout the year from October of 2013 to June of 2014 by the AP Biology students of Mr. Kevin Dickson. The purpose of this research was to determine if the Cove River is being affected by eutrophication. After using probe ware, the results were recorded in notebooks and put on the GLOBE database. From there, students used the data to determine if eutrophication is a problem for the Cove River. Date 10/18/13 11/20/13 11/25/13 5/30/14

Water DO 3.9 mg/L 9.0 mg/L

9.5 mg/L 6.7 mg/L

Soil DO 2.4 mg/L 2.8 mg/L

3.2 mg/L 3.6 mg/L

Water pH 6.6 6.51 6 6.43

Soil pH 5.64 5.95 6.26 6.21

Water Salinity

N/A 21.5 6 N/A

Soil Salinity

N/A 20.1 5.3 N/A

Nitrate 1.0 mg/L 1.4 mg/L

1.1 mg/L 1.5 mg/L

Phosphate 3.4 mg/L 4.0 mg/L

3.8 mg/L 4.2 mg/L

Problem StatementThe project will examine the water and soil quality chemistry and components.IV: Water and Soil componentsDV: Measurements of components which include dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity and amount of nitrate and phosphateHypothesis: If we tests Cove River, then DO levels will decrease which will cause an increase in eutrophication because of the returning wildlife.

Method1) Gather materials and ask permission from advisor to go to Cove River 2) Walk to Cove River3) Find location where one may access the marshland4) Take a bucket and fill it with water, preferable from a deeper end of the marsh5) Using the Vernier Probe Software, measure the DO, salinity, and pH levels using the corresponding probes6) Record data7) Take a sample of the water and insert a nitrate test tablet into the container8) Compare the color to the Nitrate Level card and compare 9) Repeat steps 7 and 8 with the Phosphate kit10) Repeat steps 5 and 6 using soil

ConclusionThe hypothesis of this project was: “If we test Cove River then dissolved oxygen levels will decrease, which will cause an increase in eutrophication because of the returning wildlife.” According to the data, the dissolved oxygen levels have remained somewhat constant, despite the return of the native wildlife of the Cove River. Therefore, eutrophication has not changed and thus the hypothesis has been proven false. There are some errors that may have occurred during the experiment. One being the location; when obtaining samples of water and soil, it was gathered from a general point. However, due to the weather conditions such as flooding and freezing, the group was forced to obtain the samples from different areas. The areas varied in depth and moisture, which may have impacted the variables tested. Time could have also been another error; while taking measurements, the probe ware was left in the samples until a constant number was derived, not for a set amount of time. Although the errors have changed the experiment slightly, the experiment is still valid due to the nature of the measurements.

Future DirectionsThere are many ways in which this experiment may be improved. A more efficient way of obtaining data is one example. For instance, the measurements of water must be done as quickly as possible or else it will begin to change due to atmospheric exposure, which is important when taking measurements for factors like dissolved oxygen levels and temperature. Using other locations for measurements could also be an improvement. Cove River is not the only marshland in Long Island Sound. Using data from other degraded marshes like the Old Field Creek, Mill River, or Sluice Creek could give us an abundance of information.

Work CitedCloern, James E. “Eutrophication” Encyclopedia of Earth. Http://www.eoearth.org/article/Eutrophication. 1 May 2012

Reece, Jane B., et al. Campbell Biology. 9th edition; International edition. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2011.

"Water Quality Impacts." Water Quality Impacts. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 June 2014.

"Welcome to the Cove River Historical Site Online!" Cove River. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2014.

AcknowledgementsA special thanks to Mr. Kevin Dickson for the opportunity of hands-on research, his guidance and support.

Site of Research

https://www.google.com/maps/

By Salvatore Delcollo