Biodiversity Improves Water Quality Through Niche Partitioning
By Ligia Pasc and Tyler Wood
IntroductionDiverse ecosystems have proved particularly good at removing pollutants from human interaction
Importance• People claim that there is no technological
way to solve the many environmental problems facing us today.
• Increasing Biodiversity is a natural method for improving the quality of surrounding ecosystems.
Why we Chose this Article
Relevant to class material
Prominent to where we live
Presents information about water
pollutants
A step towards solving the water crisis
Question Asked
How does biodiversity help cleanse water of pollutants?
Niche Partitioning
Methods Used Two changes in the environment
1) Stream Flow (Heterogeneity and homogeneity)
2) Temporal Disturbance
Eight different algae
Figure 1
Figure 2
Relevance to Sustainability
Water Crisis Biodiversity Pollution
Results Obtained
Algae absorbs more pollutants through niche partitioning
Significance of Results
Rivers with heterogeneous environments can house more biodiversity, therefore reducing the amount of pollutants in the water
What Was Unclear?
No clear description or diagrams of “flumes” used in experiment
Different method types not clearly explained
Complex figures with confusing graphs
Future Experiments
Could test other environmental factors such as moss in forests, or plankton in the ocean
Limits of pollution in inhabitable water for algae
THE END