Hypothesis:
Plankton are organisms that drift in water currents. There are two types of plankton; zooplankton and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are primary producers that are light-dependent. Zooplanktons, on the other hand, are microscopic animals that feed on the phytoplankton. The majority of plankton lives in the photic zone. Plankton can be an indirect or direct source of food for most aquatic organisms and are the base of the aquatic food web. In order to better understand the quantity of plankton communities in the Bahamas during different times of day, we conducted the plankton tow.
We hypothesized that phytoplankton would be the most common plankton found. In our experiment, we expected to find more of the primary producers mainly because they are light dependent and would most likely drift near the surface opposed to deeper waters. In our experiment, another variable we put to the test was time of day; two of our plankton tows were conducted during the day as well as 2 more during the night. With this, we hypothesized that we would find more zooplankton during the night tows because they feed at night; their vertical migration also occurs at this time.
Data Summary:
Our collected data opposed our hypothesis. We found that more zooplankton were found both during the day as well as during the night. Although the numbers of zoo and phytoplankton were somewhat similar for the day, the night numbers showed a significant difference in the amount of zoo and phytoplankton. As we know, this was because the zooplankton vertically migrated in the evening to feed, greatly increasing its number. According to our research, stormy weather also had an effect on the amount of plankton collected. The results we collected after the squall were significantly greater than on a calm day. With the plankton, the squall also increased the amount of sedimentation, inorganic matter suspended in water. Our results helped us propose other questions we may ask about plankton quantities such as; Would the depth of the plankton tow affect the amount of plankton collected?
We used microscopes to identify the plankton and other organisms we found during our plankton tows.
We hypothesized that phytoplankton would be the most common plankton found. In our experiment, we expected to find more of the primary producers mainly because they are light dependent and would most likely drift near the surface opposed to deeper waters. In our experiment, another variable we put to the test was time of day; two of our plankton tows were conducted during the day as well as 2 more during the night. With this, we hypothesized that we would find more zooplankton during the night tows because they feed at night; their vertical migration also occurs at this time.
Data Summary:
Looking through the microscope unveiled some very interesting organisms.
