Anaylsis
The four locations were all first tier streams, meaning they were the starting streams which would lead into larger streams further down. The setting I found the different samples in were varied and I made sure to keep note of the different types of environments I found them in. Below are my findings and my conclusion based on them:
The environment is woodland and rocky, and the stream is not too far from a mining company. The mining my does not appear to be a direct factor given the distance between the two sources, but still note worthy. The slides themselves show a notable amount of debris, as well many centric colonies are found within the cluster. While I cannot identify the exact species of diatom I can say that there is a solid variance of 3 - 4 different species based on the spacing between the Chloroplasts. A size difference is also noticeable with the diatoms of a smaller size being found in small clusters in the algae.
Once again a rocky woodland environment, but this stream is much further from the mining company and also has a higher pH to match. The slides have less debris and thicker diatoms, Centrioles in particular. Debris has been greatly reduced and the variance has become more limited. A few silica shells and small colonies have been found. Though a Tabellaria Flocculosa was also discovered easily identified by its broken and elongated figure. This site hold a major difference compared to first making it possible to notice a variance in the life found on the sites.
This Creek is the final source is not far from a power plant that supplies energy to a prison nearby, Bill tells me a lot of the runoff goes through this lake. These slides are Emptier and the diatoms are either dead or covered in a red tint. This tint’s cause is debatable, but I have two possible sources. Testate Amoebae are microorganisms that are known to eat silica of which diatom shells are made of and once they do so they turn red. The other option is iron bacteria, which are red in color and could have come from the power plant. Either way this red tint is only seen here.
A more flatland rocky stream even hidden in the backwoods and sits between Dyers Run and Wheelers Creek. A notable amount of debris found in the sample, along with a high amount of (what looks like) centric diatoms of some sort; the size differences are extreme with this organism in this sample. A large amount of epiphytic diatoms huddle around algae in these environments. Also a blue something is on the screen, I am not even sure if it is alive, it appears to have a similar shape to the other diatoms, but lacks any internal organs so it may just be debris. This sample also holds a tabellaria flocculosa showing a correlation between Wheelers Creek and this one.
Wheelers Creek (pH 6)
Mill Creek (pH 3)
Dyers Run (pH 4)
Wagners Run (pH 5)
Conclusion
In conclusion, throughout the different water sources you see greater variance and overall health in the diatoms as the pH rises closer to 5, but there seems to be a drop off at 6. Likewise, as the pH lowered the diatoms looked less healthy and begin to develop bacteria around their shells. There are several reasons 6 might have been preferable to 7. Mayhaps instead of thinking of how the water’s pH effects diatoms we must also consider how diatoms affect the pH, the chemicals within them have been documented to control and even reconfigure the pH throughout a stream or river. Likewise they also have preferences in the environments they are in, intern it is possible that many of them just prefered the ranges between 5 and 6. Of course, even if these are factors the results still shows an indicator of safety through diatom consistency in the higher pHs. Tabellaria flocculosa despite it lack in quantity was still discovered in the on in the waters closest to 7. This shows a level of consistency in the quality of water. To make this more solid I would also need to compare diatoms in the upper more base pHs, and even beyond that just because water around the diatoms is garrenteeed to be safe it does not mean it is still drinkable with them inside. It has been noted before that some diatoms will attach themselves to fish’s gills slowly suffocating them and due to their high silica compound I do not expect a high intakes of these organism to be healthy. So overall, this project proves that there are indicators between the different water sources, but still the results do not guarantee the safety of the water.
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