pH or not pH

transcript

pH or not pHBy Blue Herrings

Paul Ayala,Hamid G Makki,

Jimmy Tran,Felicia Sainvilus

Urban EcologyUrban Ecology is the study of the city’s biotic

and abiotic factors. The Study of the environment.

Research Questions and Predictions

Question: “What differences are there between the surroundings of an

unhealthy and a healthy tree with regard to soil and water

characteristics?”

Hypothesis: We predict that the unhealthy trees’ soil and water

environments would have measurable differences from the healthy trees’ soil

and water environments, and that those differences would contribute to

the overall health of the tree.

Chandler’s PondChandler’s pond is a pond that was man

made for ice. The ice was collected so that people could get ice when it was summer where they would put the ice in a huge box in a house to keep things cold.

VariablesOur variables for this question are: The

type of tree, and the location of the tree (down by the water), and the health of the tree.

Control Group: 2 Healthy TreesExperimental Group: 2 Unhealthy TreesIndependent Variable: Characteristics

of surrounding soil and waterDependent Variable: The health of the

Chandler’s Pond Study Site

MaterialsMaterials:

Spades for diggingcollection bags for soilBuckets for collecting and transferring waterLaMotte Soil and Water Kits, (including pH, phosphate,

and Dissolved Oxygen) temperature probe tree identification keys tree health inventory sheetGraduate cylinderCameraGoggles and gloves

Identification of Experimental and Control Groups

The control and experimental groups were matched for tree type, overall size, and distance from the water source.

We evaluated the health of the trees by examining the characteristics of the bark, the leaves, root exposure, fungus, and canopy, and identified two healthy and two unhealthy trees to study based on the criteria above.

Healthy Tree #1 genus Salix

Healthy Tree #2 genus Salix

Unhealthy Tree #1 (willow )genus Salix

Unhealthy Tree #2 genus Salix

Methods: ProceduresTo collect soil samples, we dug 4 inches deep at the tree

base to collect the soil. LaMotte Kits were used to test for pH and phosphate. A temperature probe was used to collect temperature

readings at a depth of 4 cm. 200 ml soil samples were collected to be analyzed back at the

lab for soil composition using a turbidity column.To collect water samples, we used a bucket thrown into

the water. LaMotte Kits were used to test for Dissolved Oxygen, pH, and

phosphate. A temperature probe was used to collect the temperature of

the water.Tree Health was evaluated for each testing site.

We looked at the leaning of the tree, root issues, %of dead branches, and %of canopy missing foliage.

Procedure for Sedimentation Tube1- Collect 25 mls of the dirt to be sampled2-Pour the dirt into a 250 ml graduate

cylinder 3-Pour water into the cylinder until its 1

inch bellow the surface of the tube.Shake vigorously to mix the contents.Let the tube settle, undisturbed, until there is

no further separation.Observe the different sediment levels!

Study of Chandler’s Pond SiteThe Blue Herrings

TESTS Healthy Tree Unhealthy Tree Site 1 Site 4 Site 2 Site 3

WaterDissolved oxygen

6 ppm 9ppm 8ppm 4.5ppm

pH 8.0 8.0 7.0 7.0phosphate <0.05 >0.05(blue) <0.05 >0.05(white)temperature 78.9F 75.0F 72.1F 71.4FSoilph 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0Phosphate High Trace Medium Mediumtemperature 77.5F 79.8F 75.5F 77.9FSoil characteristics/ Column description

Well mixed, a combination of gravel, sand and, fine organic matter and silt

Contained a lot of organic materials much less sand than other sample

Tree ID #4 #3 #2 #1Date visited 7/24 7/24 7/28 7/28Tree location See Google mapHeight Class 3 2 3 3Tree Health 3 .5(1-4 scale) 4(1-4 scale) 2.5(1-4 scale) 2.5 (1-4 scale)

ResultsThere were no significant differences in the

water DO concentration test between the healthy and unhealthy trees. There were also no big differences in water pH level. There were no significant differences in the Phosphate for water or soil.

Healthy Unhealty0

Average Water Phosphate LevelsPh

Healthy Unhealty0

Average Soil pH

Healthy Unhealty0

14Average Water pH levels

Healthy Unhealty0

Average Dissolved OxygenD

The Sediment Tubes

Soil from healthy tree Soil from unhealthy tree

ConclusionsWe concluded that there were no significant differences between the healthy and unhealthy trees’ surrounding soil and water chemical characteristics

Evidence: The unhealthy and healthy trees both had consistent data with regard to pH in soil, wide ranges in phosphate suggest that it doesn’t have a consistent pattern, the temperature of the soil and water where slightly different, and the dissolved oxygen where in wide range

Reasoning: wide ranges in phosphate suggest that it doesn’t affect the tree health.

ConclusionsClaim: there were differences in the soil layering

and composition between the healthy and unhealthy tree .

Evidence: The sediment tube shows the different types of sedimentation. There was a difference in soil composition. The unhealthy tree had less sand and more organic material than the healthy tree. The healthy tree had less organic material but more fine soil.

Reasoning: The test tube showed the level of dirt and pronounced the difference of sediment collection.

Recommendation for further studyInclude more trees in the study(study every

willow around Chandler Pond)Include comparisons of different species of

treesBetter determination of the criteria for

rating the health of the tree

Question for further research1- Why does the unhealthy tree have the

same characteristics as the healthy tree?

2- Why does the unhealthy tree have different soil than the healthy tree’s?

What We learned1.I learned that you can tell if a tree is

healthy or unhealthy.2.A tree is unhealthy if it has any shoots at

the bottom of the trunk and if it has any mold or fungi.

3.A tree is healthy if it doesn’t have shoots growing at the bottom or mold growing on the tree.

4.pH is the potential hydrogen ion (H+)concentration of water and soil .

pH or not pH

Documents