User:Sasha A. Weitzman/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

Examining Biological Life at AU (06/30/2015)

'Introduction ______________ Life can be seen all around us, from large organisms such as humans to the smallest organisms such as protists and other unicellular eukaryotes. As these different species interact with each other as well as the surrounding environment, ecosystems form which allow for evolution and natural selection to occur . Over time, natural selection creates biodiversity through the extinction of some species and the formation of others. In this lab, we will be looking at biodiversity through studying a small transect of land and it's containing ecosystem (Bentley, Knight, Walters-Conte, Zeller, 2015). Through this process, we will hopefully gain a better understanding of ecology as well as biodiversity.

Methods ____________ This lab contained two projects, Initially, the class was divided into groups of 4 and told to find and describe a 20x20 meter transect of land on the Au campus. Transects were to be chosen based on the likelihood of biodiversity and high biotic and abiotic life. For this reason, we chose to conduct this research within a transect of land located between Hurst Hall and the East Quad Building, and next to Nebraska Ave. Next, we noted the nature of the transect and took a small sample containing soil and some biotic life (grass) for the second part of today's lab, the hay infusion. To make the hay infusion, we combined approximately 10 grams of our sample with 500 mL water and .1 g of dried milk. The jar containing the aforementioned ingredients was then shaken and labeled, then placed in the back of the room with the lid off.

Results __________

The area is relatively flat and is mostly comprised of different species of grass. In terms of biotic life, the transect also contains several trees, flowers, as well as life such as birds, squirrels, fungi growing adjacent to the trees, worms, and flies. In addition, our transect also contains a lot of abiotic life, through rocks, soil, buildings, the sprinklers for the grass, etc.

Discussion _____________ This is the first part of an ongoing exploration of our transect. Most of this lab was devoted to finding and describing the transect as well as creating the hay infusion. In the coming weeks, the transect will be more closely studied, looking at the ecosystem from small organisms (protists) to larger invertebrates and vertebrates. In the next lab, we will be studying the organisms present in the hay infusion.