OccupyUTK (Allison, Terrence, Elizabeth, Jen, Devin)

http://www.archive.org/details/OccupyutallisonTerrenceElizabethJenDevin

Week Four

A group of Philodina sp.
Rainis and Russell 1996, Figure 88.

It is the final week of observation, and things are slowing down in the microaquarium. Some of the decrease in diversity and population could be accounted for by the loss of water (evaporation) and higher organisms on the food chain. I would hypothesize that the Philodina had a significant influence on the foodchain and the present state of the aquarium.I snapped a shot (Figure 1.) of some Philodina congregated around some foliage feeding on random bits of food. Although the Philodina population has exploded, I noticed an increase of Diatoms and Green Algae. The population of Tachysoma has remained steady with just a handful times throughout the entire observation time.

Week Three

Figure 1.  Arcella sp. with several Diatomsand a Desmid sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 173.

Another week of brings changes that i couldn't have foreseen. Firstly, a dramatic decrease in Colpidium is a firm example of food competition for the dead bacteria, and can also be attributed to a higher organism with an appetite for organisms in its size range. After several minutes of scanning for something new, I found an amber colored organism that was said to be Arcella (another amoeba). Figure 1. shows the organism with several Desmids and Diatoms by which they feed upon. It was very interesting to witness the cytoplasmic flow within the Arcella, and after a few pictures, a speedy moving ciliate noted as Tachysoma zipped throught the viewing area. Testing my microscope capabilities, this little organism zipped back and forth with the help of an array of cilia surrounding its cell membrane. Like many Protozoa, Tachysoma competes for the dead bacteria and other food particles that float about in the micro-ecostystem.

Figure 2. Tachysoma sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 265.

Figure 2 shows the fast swimming ciliate in a brief moment of rest; just enough time for me and a peer to snap a quick shot before it resumed its seemingly never ending search for nutrition.

Week Two

Figure 1. Colpidium sp. and Gloecystis sp.
Forest 1954, Figure 44.

Figure 2. Anabaena sp.
Forest 1954, Figure 633.

Another week has passed, and i was really excited to see the expected explosion of activity. I couldn't have been more thrilled with what i saw! The Colpidium population has increased exponentially, and their focus is as anyone would guess, the food pellet. Figure 1. shows one of the many Colpidium in a state of division, there was also a green algae called Gloecystis. Although the number of individuals in the microaquarium has increased, the variety of organisms has stayed the same with the addition of a few new faces.While scanning the bottom for new life and seeing mostly Vorticella, I came across a bundle of dark green fibers. This mass of filamentous cyanobacteria was identified as Anabaena, and is shown in Figure 2. Anabaena is a "double-edged sword" in that they fix nitrogen for certain plants but also produce neurotoxins that is harmful to other wildlife. Coupled with population growth, there was also a notable increase of Philodina size.

Figure 3. Mayorella sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 192.

They seem to have gotten quite large off of the readily available dead algae and bacteria present in the microaquarium. Within the last minutes of observation, I happened upon a slimy amorphous cell scooting around in a random position in the aquarium (Figure 3). It was quickly identified as Mayorella, an amoeba that uses cytoplasmic flow around the nucleus to reshape its body to make temporary limbs and even a temporary "mouth" used to engulf other organisms like Desmids.

Week One of Observation

Figure 1. Vorticella sp.
Patterson 1996, Figure 233.

         After a week of waiting, a few Beta fish pellets, and some artificial sunlight (fluorescent light), I get my first chance to carefully observe the lively activity that I was told to expect. As if it were some sort of black magic, the amount and diversity practically tripled. Unfortunately, my nematodes didn't adjust well to the new environment, as indicated by the few carcasses that Dr. Mcfarland and I found scattered around. Among the increase in of life in my aquarium, the first new critter I spotted was a bellshaped protozoa that was identified as a Vorticella. These little guys were attached to the sediment at the bottom mostly, but i saw a few just floating around. They have extremely fast moving cillia that they use to create an artificial current around them. This is a means to gather food, which in their case is mostly bacteria. Figure 1. shows the basic stucture of   the organism.

Figure 2. Colpidium sp. and Gloeocystis.sp
Forest 1954, Figure 44.

        Heading north, around the food pellets and Amblestegium sp. , I noticed a feeding frenzy of Colpidium sp. scooting around with rows of cillia all around it. This unicellular protozoa was observed most frequently around the readily available food pellet, and I also managed to capture a picture of what seemed to be a Colpidium reproducing by means of conjugation, seen in Figure 2. with the addition of a Gloeocystis. 

Figure 3. Philodina  sp.
Rainis and Russell 1996, Figure 88.

         Among the excitement of the feeding Colpidium and an ever increasing abundance of algae, lurked a hand full of rotifers called Philodina sp. These micro vacumes devoured dead bacteria and algae making them useful and welcomed organism in any body of water. The lack of cloudiness and a build up of algae can be credited to these little garbage disposals when used in fish tanks. I snapped a quick picture (shown in Figure 3) of one of these before wrapping up my day of observation.

Day of Microaquarium Creation!

We were instructed to fill our aquariums with water from samples from a variety of water sources. I opted for a sample from the Dean's Woods- SpringCreek.I chose this sample because I hike often, and have washed my face and even taken a drink from creeks and streams like this. This being said, I interested in the kind of organisms present in that waterand whether or not I should stop this occasional indulgence.We were then given two aquatic plants:  Amblestegium sp. (a moss by which the organisms can gather/hide around and feed on) and Utricularia gibba L. (a carnivorous flowering plant that may have an interesting effect on the organisms around it).
Upon first observation, not much was going on in there. I spotted a few worm like organisms whipping about that I soon identified as Nematoda sp.


Full sources:  Plant A . Amblestegium sp. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/9/2011
                                Plant B. Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A carnivous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.
                                Water Source. Dean's Creek, SpringCreek. Spring Creek off Woodson Dr running through Dean's Woods Road frontage., Knox Co. Tennessee. Partial shade exposure. Tennessee River water Shed N35 55.274 W083 56.888 848 ft 10/9/2011 Fissidens fontanus moss in stream
                               
Book sources: 
Forest, Herman Silva. 1954. Handbook of Algae. Knoxville (TN). 

Patterson, D. J. 1996. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A colour guide. London (England).


Rainis, Kenneth G and Russell,Bruce J. 1996. Guide to Microlife. Franklin Watts. Danbury, Connecticut.