Ecosphere post by [Fun-Guys]

Biosphere Ingredients:

Ground material/water used:

Soil (19.27g)

Sand (111.63g X 3)

Gravel (90.61g)

Algae nutrient water (200 mL)

Pond water (>2000mL)

Aquatic Floating Fern (1 Plant)

Water Sprite (1 Plant)

Bacopa (1 Plant)

Anabaena (~20 mL, Algae- autotrophic)

Selenastrum Capricornutum (~20 mL, Algae- autotrophic)

Volvox Globator (~20 mL, Algae- autotrophic)

Snail(1, Gastropod-heterotrophic)

Organisms spotted that were not  purposely added, thus existed in pond water:

Gnats

Small floating white things in water (Possibly Ostracods?)

Predictions for our biosphere:

1. Algae would grow with no inhibitors and quickly due to the algae nutrient water, as well as natural nutrients found in the pond water.
2. We would gain unknown organisms through the pond water sample that would create a unique enviroment.
3. The oxygen level would increase as three plants and three algae were present in the biosphere using photosynthesis
4. Our snail would have plenty of food from the plants and algae.

Types of metabolism for each organism:

Aquatic Floating Fern - photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Water Sprite - photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Bacopa - photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Anabaena- autotrophic

Selenastrum Capricornutum - autotrophic

Volvox Globator - autotrophic

Snail- heterotrophic

Group observations:

So far so good!

All the organisms that were added in our biosphere are all still living and growing! There has been the appearance of a few organisms in our biosphere which we were not aware of at time of creation. One of these organisms we believe are Ostracods, which are small crustaceans and most commonly found in fresh water/ forest humid soil. We believe it might be this organism due to their rapid population growth. Ostracods can reproduce asexually by cloning themselves. These organisms might have flourished due to the nutrients available that are biproducts of the producers, or the plants that aren’t being consumed by other organisms in our biosphere. Overall, our ecosphere looks amazing. Our predictions for the following week are that we expect the snail to possibly reproduce since they reproduce asexually. There are no predators in the environment, and plenty of food to consume, therefore the snail should be able to survive, grow, and possibly reproduce.

Biosphere Pictures: