The Second Viewing

On Thursday, October 20th, 2011 I checked back on my micro-aquarium.

I was able to find some information on the organisms I had already seen in my experiment, as well as make some observations of new ones.

I was able to locate information on the aquatic plants present from Dr. Kenneth McFarland.

The first, Amblestegium sp. Moss, seems to be a food source for the micro-organisms. It was collected at a Natural spring at Carters Mill Park on 10/9/2011. This is located at Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. The spring source has Partial shade exposure.

The second plant is known as Utricularia gibba L. It is a flowering carnivous plant from the south shore of Spain Lake, located on Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building at The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. This plant traps micro-organisms in small, passive bladders.

The most numerous organism I observed had dwindled in population, but each individual organism had grown in size. I observed one eating soil. I was not able to identify this species yet.

Now, the most abundant organism appears to be an arthropod, either an ostracod or water flea. These are translucent organisms that vibrate through the soil at quite a fast pace.

I also observed populations of other micro-organisms. There were fast moving copepods and water mites near the middle layer. Towards the bottom, I observed what I believe to be some sort of nematode. These were green worm like creature that stayed near the soil. However, they were very slow moving so I am unsure if they were bacteria or algae.

One interesting observation I made was in the aquatic moss Amblestegium sp. There were tiny black dots orbiting the leaves fairly quickly, however I was not able to use a high-powered microscope to get a better look or take pictures.

Overall, the biodiversity of this secluded ecosystem seems to be flourishing. I can't wait until I can look more closely.

-Ivy