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<h2>E-CO - “environment,” “nature,” “natural habitat”</h2>
 
<h2>SYS⋅TEM - the entire human or animal body considered as a functioning unit</h2>
 
<h2>EC⋅O⋅SYS⋅TEM - A system formed by the INTERACTION of a community of organisms with the environment they live in.</h2>
 
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<img src="/file/view/42_ecosystem.jpg/88589447/509x293/42_ecosystem.jpg" alt="" title="" style="height: 293px; width: 509px;" /> 
<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DONWIL%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" title="" /> 
 
 
Over the past couple of weeks we as a class and I, have been observing Moore Park Pond located in Ames, Iowa. So far, our goals have been simple, but broad. I have been trying to look at the ecosystem as a whole and how it functions rather than looking at the small things, as I look to learn about those later in the semester. During our visits, we administed many tests such as Ph, water quality, oxygen levels and overall life sustainability. After observations, I came to some conclusions about what is a healthy/sustainable ecosystem: 
 
Keys to stable Ecosystem: 
<ul><li>Good climate</li><li>Predators</li><li>Clean water supply</li><li>Interaction among species and resources</li></ul> 
During our class periods, I was able to see all these aspects of a healthy ecosystem. 
<ul><li>Climate - The climate around the pond is fairly normal, and there are some factors that make it a good climate. I noticed that their is a fair amount of sunlight on the pond. Sunlight causes algae to grow which is optimal for oxygen supply in the pond. That saying, there is still shade in some areas of the pond where fish and other life can cool off.</li><li>Predators - The pond is full of small aquatic life like baby bluegill, minnows, frogs. Their are also predators in the pond such as bass, large bluegill, turtles, and birds. More importantly are the small animals. I learned there is so much more then what you see right in front of you. When I took samples of the algae and mud from the pond, there was so much to look at if you sifted through the algae. Just seeing the small invertabretes gave me a much broader view of the pond and made me realize how diverse and complex this ecosystem is. The predators help limit the number of invertabretes in the pond so all the algae doesn't disapear and oxygen levels drop.</li><li>Clean Water Supply - The pond is located in the low part of the park so rain water often runs into the pond. Because of this I thought that the water would be cloudy and dingy. The water, however, was very clear and i assumed this because of the ring of plants and trees that surround the pond which sort of acted as a natural filter. I thought that the fact that there was flowing water, that had an impact on the water quality. (Large fountain and storm sewer) - Maybe making it clearer...</li><li>Interaction among species - Interactions in the pond resulted from the organisms in the ecosystem coming into contact with each other. No organism in the pond could be entirely isolated from from the rest of the ecosystem. I think these interations are crucial to the survival of the species and to the ecosystem as a whole. Some interactions were large scale while others were simple, such as a species consuming another. Here are some that I observed.</li><li>Cycle of matter/nutrients - We have been talking about biospheres and how matter cycling through it is key to its sustainability. The most important cycle to its health is the nitrogen cycle. This allows for oxygen production as the reduction of harmful toxins.</li><li>Sun causing algae to grow (resource and species)<ul><li>Birds gathering materials to make nests (species and environment)</li><li>Spider webs to catch food (species consuming species)</li><li>Bees consuming nectar (i researched this and found out this a characteristic of mutualism, where a species benefits from the resources of another, and vice versa.)</li></ul></li></ul> 
What does it mean to be an Ecosystem? 
In class we have been answering the question about what it means to be a system and what it is. We have adressed that every species lives within an ecosystem, and that some live within each other. For example, the pond as a whole is an ecosystem, while bacteria can spend their whole lifetime on one plant, which also acts as an ecosystem. Every living thing has its own ecosystem while it is also apart of a larger one. 
 
SHOCK Testing at Moore Park Pond 
Last week (9/15) we were fortunate enough to watch local fisheries biologist Ben Dodd and his assistant Andy work at Moore Park Pond. We were able to watch them use the shock boat to survey what types of aquatic fish are living in the pond. We were only able to catch a couple small bass using the boat, but caught many good sized bluegill in the fyke nets as well as turtles. These findings pretty much matched my expectations about the fish population in the pond. I thought that the algae and large amount of vegation would provide good oxygen levels for the ecosystem. The water was clear, there was moving water, and good structure all allow for good fish population. Also, from my previous observations, there were small species of fish such as minnows and baby sunfish which act as a source of food for the larger bass species. Many of the fist we caught in the nets were very healthy, so I think its safe to say that these fish are feeding on some of the smaller bluegill. <img src="/file/view/sunfish.jpg/93367602/361x259/sunfish.jpg" alt="" title="" style="height: 259px; width: 361px;" /><img src="/file/view/largemouth.jpg/93368912/344x229/largemouth.jpg" alt="" title="" style="height: 229px; width: 344px;" /> 
<h1>Vegetation Sampling at Moore Park</h1>
 We also took a class period to survey the types of aquatic vegetation in the pond. We I look at the pond its hard to identify anything other than duckweed because it covers almost the entire pond. The only way I was able to aquire any vegetation was to submerge the entire net into the water and into the silt. Most of what was in the net samples was decayed plant material, but I was able to identify some healthy coon tail. Other than that, I was unable to find any healthy vegetation on the waters edge. 
 
<h1>10/13 Water Flow at Moore Park</h1>
 Last Tuesday during our double period we were fortunate enough to have Mimi Walker and her students come to Moore Park and talk to us about water flow in the park and how it affected the water quality of the pond. We were divided up into groups and performed different tests in different types of terrain around the park. We poured approximately 3L of water onto a pin and simply measured how far the water flowed over 3 trails. Below is a chart that includes all group trails in different areas as their averages. 
 
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<h1>Water Flow Reflection 10/15</h1>
 I think we definately got good data from our tests at Moore Park. All of the tests from the different groups were very close together and had similiar increases from trial to trial. However, their was one that stood out from the rest where the third trial was actually less than the second. I dont think there was any reason for this abnormality. Maybe just a fluke, because we dumped the water in the exact same spot, and we saw no evidence of water seeping into a chipmunk hole or anything. Altogether, I think that because there is alot of prairie grass, trees, and bushes surrounding the pond, water entering the pond is clean and healthy, because it is passing through many natural filters. 
 
<h1>Bob Pyle Marsh Connections</h1>
 Last tuesday during our double period, we traveled to Bob Pyle Marsh North of Ames. We i got there, i immediately noticed differences in the land compared to Moore Park and our prairie. Mainly the grass at Bob Pyle was all the same, there wasnt mu<img src="/file/view/horsetail.gif/98055283/175x261/horsetail.gif" alt="" title="" style="height: 261px; width: 175px;" align="left" />ch variety, whereas our prairie as well as Moore is covered with diverse plant life. You think that seeing how isolated BPM there would have to be more plants, but there isint and i dont understand why. I noticed that when we got close to the pot holes where the water is, the surrounding area was covered in Equisetum- or horsetail. Horsetail is a perenial meaning it grows year round and it is found in moist places, swamp areas and along stream banks. This makes sense seeing that i only saw horsetail near the depressions where the water and not in the dry prairie. I think compared to Moore park, Bob Pyle is a more stable biosphere cause it lies in natural depressions and had many years to adapt and become what it is now.

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 <td><h1>Looking at Moore Park as a Biosphere</h1>
 Lately in class we have been talking about what a biosphere is and how parts of it work together to form systems. We studied the nitrogen cycle as well as took a glance into biosphere 2 and observed some of the aspects that made it a stable biosphere. 
<ul><li>Balanced Cycle of Nutrients - As i know from the nitrogen cycle, these nutrients must be balanced in order for there to be plant growth and overall species survival. In Moore Park there is definately species and they are producing waste which is the first step. Without waste there would be no ammounia molecules that can be broken down into nitrites and nitrates by bacteria. The pond has a very low nitrite level which is good. We know that that oxygen also has to cycle through the ecosystem, mainly the water, which algae will provide.</li></ul>Biodiversity - it is the variation of life that is found within a given ecosystem, biome, or biosphere. It not only is a measure of life, but also a measure of the overall health of the ecosystem. Each level of biodiversity, such as species, effects the ecosystem as a whole. When looking at earth, biodiversity isint evenly distributed. We have many climates all around the globe producing different conditions, but in an ecosystem like Moore Park conditions are the same throughout. It also plays large roles in our atmospheric conditions, water supply, and the water cycle. Different types of life such as plants will release chemicals into the air which directly contribute to the on going cycle of water. 
Evolution 
We look at earth and everything inside of it as a biosphere, because it is sealed by the atmosphere. No matter how tightly a biosphere can be sealed, there is always room for matter at the microscopic level to pass through these barriers. So we can say that the various parts of a biosphere fit together perfectly, as if they were designed, or just adapted over time. In light of this, i dont think Moore park is a completely sealed biosphere but i think looking at and visualizing that Moore park is a biosphere and apart of a bigger one as well really helps me understand the interactions taking place between an ecosystem and a biosphere. 
 
<img src="/file/view/800px-Water_cycle.png/102148999/400x276/800px-Water_cycle.png" alt="" title="" style="height: 276px; width: 400px;" /> 
 
<h1>How does Moore Park contribute to Water Cycle?</h1>
 
There are many aspects of Moore Park that help it contribute to the water cycle. It lies in a depression so rain fall and runoff will directly into the pond, this could be bad depending on what fertilizers are used in the surrounding areas. It also had storm grates that flow clean water in the pond. 
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