Ecosystem in a Bottle: Week 5

Week Five

October 7, 2013

Water: The water in our ecosystem is still clear. The water level seems a bit lower, but there is quite a bit of condensation in the top of the system that could explain why the level has gone down.

Elodea: The elodea is still floating in the water. The original spring is still slightly brown on the edges. The new sprig, however, looks very healthy with longer, very green leaves. The entire elodea plant has roots that are traveling down to the gravel at the bottom of the ecosystem (as seen in the first picture) which we assume is happening so that the plant can anchor itself down as it grows larger and longer.

Snails: Only one snail was stuck to the side of the bottle. The smaller snail was on the gravel at the bottom. We hope it's still alive.

Daphnia: The daphnia are still not visible, although any time the ecosystem bottle is moved, you can see tons of daphnia exoskeletons swirling around.

Seeds/Leaves: We have about 5 leaves that are turning very yellow (see picture 2) and some are actually turning brown on the end. We observed our TA's ecosystem and found that she did not have any yellow leaves. She put more soil in her ecosystem, leading us to believe our leaves are yellowing due to a nitrogen deficiency that is keeping the plant from making enough chlorophyll. (Read the Wiki Page on Nitrogen Deficiency Here)

Soil: The roots of the bean plants are still visible in the soil. There are roots that are now poking out of the top of the soil.