Widener University Journal of Undergraduate Ecological Research

Widener University Journal of
Undergraduate
Ecological Research

    The research inquiry journal for the course
         Biology 301, Introduction to Ecology.

         Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 1998

         Dr. Bruce W. Grant, "Editor"
         Department of Biology,
         Widener University , Chester, PA, 19013.
         office Kirk. 200, 610-499-4017.
         grant@pop1.science.widener.edu

Please Read This Comment.

       The abstracts at this site were written by junior or senior undergraduates and are the culmination of semester long ecological research inquiries that are a core component of my ecology course at Widener University. These students are biology, environmental science, or science education majors and minors for whom my course is required.

       These abstracts (and the manuscripts to which they refer) have been peer reviewed by other students in the class according to specific guidelines I have generated for format, clarity, and the student reviewers' assessment of the scientific merit of their peer's manuscript.

       It is important for interested visitors of this site to understand that the results of the research inquiries reported in this journal are the results of course projects designed, conducted, and reviewed by undergraduate students in an ecology course.

       You are welcome to download some or all of the material I have posted at this site for your use in your ecology course. This does not include commercial uses for profit. If you do use any lengthy exerpts (more than 2 lines) of the material above, I request that you formally acknowledge this site and/or sites I have acknowledged as the source(s). I also request that you reciprocate and send me a copy of your ecology materials so that I may see what you have put together.

Please send comments to me: grant@pop1.science.widener.edu.

Volume 6, Number 2, Biology 301, Fall 1998.

1. Effects of Old Clay vs. New Plastic Municipal Sewage Pipes on Water Quality in Little Crum Creek, Swarthmore, PA. Catherine L'Armand and Jennifer Piesvaux.

2. The Effects of Water Quality on Plankton Biodiversity in Areas of New vs. Old Municipal Sewage Piping in Little Crum Creek, Swarthmore, PA. Margaret M. Sadoff and Courtney Siegel.

3. Variations of Aquatic Microorganism Biodiversity in the Brandywine River from Surrounding Industrialization. Taryn Kindred, Tricia Kojeszewski, and Elizabeth Rhoad.

4. Does Bacterial Density Increase in Areas of Low Water Quality in Ridley Creek? Jason Mitchell and Karen Stauffer.

5. Fish - What's Wrong with Them?: Indirect Effects of Water Quality on Rates of Infection of Stream Minnows by Nematode Parasites in Ridley Creek, Southeastern PA. Jason Bottoms and John Ginis.

6. Urban Impacts on Water Quality and Biodversity in Darby Creek, Southeastern PA. Jeffrey Fallon, Penelope Lucky, and Bradley String.

7. Follow the Lead [Pb]: Effects of Campus Water Pipes on Lead Concentrations in Drinking Water at Widener University, Chester, PA. Jessica A. Addeo, Jennifer J. Noce, and Carey A. Romig.

Effects of Old Clay vs. New Plastic Municipal Sewage Pipes on Water Quality in Little Crum Creek, Swarthmore, PA. Catherine L'Armand and Jennifer Piesvaux.

ABSTRACT:
The leakage of sanitary sewer pipes can result in fecal contamination in creeks which may cause a threat to public health. It has been found that sanitary sewer pipes in Swarthmore, PA are likely contributors to elevated E. coli levels in Little Crum Creek, a small creek that runs throughout the borough. As a result of this finding, various sections of clay pipes running close to the creek have been replaced or rehabilitated with plastic piping. We investigated whether these repairs have been effective in reducing the amount of fecal contamination in the creek. We hypothesized that water quality would be worse in areas near the old piping as compared to areas near new piping.
Various chemical tests, including oxygen, pH, nitrate, phosphate, and coliform levels, and the presence or absence of E. coli, were performed on water samples taken from areas of the creek near old and new piping. The results of statistical analyses revealed that there was no significant difference in water quality between old and new sites. However, the presence of E. coli, low levels of oxygen, and high levels of coliform at some points along the creek indicate that the water was polluted in these areas. We believe that there are many possible sources of error in our research, the elimination of which could improve our design. Future investigations could take this error into account as well as focus on the possible alternative sources of contamination. Some possibilities include bird and pet wastes, pesticide and fertilizer run-off, or leakage of small lateral lines.

The Effects of Water Quality on Plankton Biodiversity in Areas of New vs. Old Municipal Sewage Piping in Little Crum Creek, Swarthmore, PA. Margaret M. Sadoff and Courtney Siegel.

ABSTRACT:
The importance of biodiversity in maintaining a stable, balanced ecosystem cannot be overemphasized. Many scientists utilize measures of biodiversity to understand the complex interactions within an ecosystem. In addition, changes in biodiversity can be used as a bioindicator. Our study investigates the correlation between poor water quality and low plankton biodiversity in Little Crum Creek, Swarthmore PA. Four sites were chosen where old clay sewer pipes had been replaced with plastic piping and four sites were areas where the old clay pipes had not been replaced. We hypothesized that poor water quality would result in low biodiversity and that water quality would be lowest where pipes were not replaced. The plankton biodiversity sampling methods included placing two glass slides in the flow of each site for two weeks. A total of at least 100 specimens were counted from each site. The Shannon Diversity Index and the Kolmogorov- Smirnov tests were used to assess differences. Data show little to no correlation between biodiversity and overall water quality. However, an investigation of organism type at each site may be a worthwhile future endeavor.

Variations of Aquatic Microorganism Biodiversity in the Brandywine River from Surrounding Industrialization. Taryn Kindred, Tricia Kojeszewski, and Elizabeth Rhoad.

ABSTRACT:
       Water quality can be severely affected by increasing industrialization. The results of industrialization may include pollution entering the surrounding environment and affecting biodiversity. This study attempts to explain any possible correlation between poor water quality and biodiversity of microorganisms in an industrialized area. Our research was conducted near the DuPont Experimental Station located directly on the banks of the Brandywine River in Wilmington, DE. We hypothesized that manufacturing in this area might negatively affect the water quality. Not only does the Brandywine River serve as a habitat to an abundant number of microorganisms, but some areas bordering the river are also used for recreation, such as the Brandywine Picnic Park. We hypothesized that in areas of poor water quality, we would find a lower diversity of microorganisms than at areas having better water quality. Therefore, sites that were sampled at DuPont and downstream from the station would have poor water quality and low biodiversity as compared to the upstream sites and areas that were not yet affected.
       Water and sediment samples were collected from five sites along the Brandywine River. Sites were chosen to represent areas upstream, downstream, and in front of DuPont. In each of the bottles from the sites, we incubated glass microscope slides for one week. After the incubation period, we analyzed the water slides and composed sediment slides for observation. With the remaining sample water, we performed chemical tests. Our analysis was designed to count the diversity of microorganisms on the slides and then calculate the Shannon Diversity Index on each of our data sets. Next, we studied whether a correlation was evident between the Shannon Diversity Indices for the sediment and incubated slides and the water quality properties.
       Our hypothesis was rejected due to several factors. For both incubated and sediment slide data, we found significant differences in the biodiversity of microorganisms between the five sites; however the differences were not as originally predicted. We were also unable to identify the exact aspect of water quality that caused these variations. In the future, we would like to determine the precise source for the biodiversity differences found at our five sites, and determine if DuPont and/or some other industrial activity has had negative effects on the Brandywine River.

Does Bacterial Density Increase in Areas of Low Water Quality in Ridley Creek? Jason Mitchell and Karen Stauffer.

ABSTRACT:
Our project investigated the connection between water quality and bacterial density in Ridley Creek. When water is exposed to pollution, certain chemical and physical properties become affected. Generally, oxygen levels and pH decrease while carbon dioxide levels increase. We wanted to determine if there were higher levels of bacteria in areas of Ridley Creek that had poorer water quality. We hypothesized that as water flowed down the creek from suburban areas towards more industrialized areas, the water quality would decrease and bacteria levels would increase as a result of pollution. We tested many properties of the water, but we focused on pH, dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide. To perform these tests, we used the LaMotte Water Quality kit. We collected water samples in sterile bottles from each site at the same time the water tests were performed. Each creek sample was serially diluted and plated on to nutrient agar to determine the density of bacteria at the site. After 24 and 48 hours of incubation at 37oC, the colonies on the plates were counted.
Our data do not show any correlation between oxygen, carbon dioxide, and pH with bacteria density, therefore not supporting our hypothesis. In contrast, we did notice a direct correlation between the location of each site and bacteria density. Our hypothesis was supported by these results because as the sites got closer towards industry, such as the Chester waterfront, the density of bacteria increased. As a result of our preliminary findings, further investigations should be made to gather more data, specifically about water quality, to support our hypothesis that poor water quality resulting from pollution causes an increase in bacteria.

Fish - What's Wrong with Them?: Indirect Effects of Water Quality on Rates of Infection of Stream Minnows by Nematode Parasites in Ridley Creek, Southeastern PA. Jason Bottoms and John Ginis.

ABSTRACT:
We investigated the effects of water quality on rates of parasitic infection of minnows by a nematode sealworm (Ascaridoidea, Anisakidae) at five sites along Ridley Creek, in southeastern, PA. The sites were, in order from north to south; Ridley Creek State Park at Gradyville Road, Ridley Creek State Park at Bishop Hollow and Chapel Hill Roads, Brookhaven Road, Taylor Arboretum, and Schwartz Center at Widener University. We assumed that as water quality diminished, the minnow physiological stress levels would increase and they would not be able to defend themselves against parasitism as well as they could in areas of higher water quality. This would lead to parasitic attacks being more successful upon the minnows at downstream sites. If this occurred then cysts would be observed in higher concentrations on minnows located downstream in waters of lower quality. On the other hand as water quality increased, not only would minnow health increase but so would the health of the parasites which could cause the parasites to proliferate. This could lead to an increased prevalence of parasitic cysts upstream in areas of higher water quality.
Water quality was estimated chemically using a LaMott kit and microbiologically by counting bacteria from serial dilutions. We captured ten minnows per site. Parasitism rates were estimated by counting small cysts on minnow body walls typical of an encysted sealworm larvae. Data indicate that rates of parasitism increased for upstream minnows with higher water quality. This supported the latter hypothesis and suggests that sealworm larvae, which require pollution-sensitive arthropods as intermediate hosts, may be more sensitive to water quality than are their minnow hosts.

Urban Impacts on Water Quality and Biodversity in Darby Creek, Southeastern PA. Jeffrey Fallon, Penelope Lucky, and Bradley String.

ABSTRACT:
Great interest in biodiversity has arisen because of rapid deterioration of biodiversity and our environment. Biodiversity is a crucial component of ecosystems and it can be a marker of environmental health. One reason for this decline is the fact that our world is becoming increasingly urbanized. To examine the extent of the negative effects of urbanization, water quality and biodiversity levels were investigated along the Darby Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania As the creek flows towards Philadelphia, there is an increase in urbanization around the creek. Our hypothesis was that as sites approached the Delaware River, water quality and biodiversity of macroinvertebrates would decrease. Four sites were chosen along Darby Creek to represent this urbanization gradient, with site one being the least developed and site four being the most developed. Methods included collecting macroinvertebrate and phytoplankton samples to investigate biodiversity, and examining the chemical properties of the water. Samples were collected at each site where there were common physical characteristics, such as flow rate and water depth. The water chemical tests did not show much variation in pH, hardness, silica, and ammonia-nitrate, but there were some differences in carbon dioxide and oxygen levels. Upstream, site one had the most diversity (exp H'= 7.86). The least diversity was shown at sites two (exp H'= 3.78) and three (exp H'= 3.77). From our findings, our hypothesis was essentially supported. Biodiversity was high in our first site and was significantly lower at the other sites. In future studies, other sites along Darby Creek could be selected which may show cyclical changes if researched for a long period. Seasonal and water quality fluctuations are factors in biodiversity that we did not study. Therefore, future studies could test biodiversity levels during different seasons of the year.

Follow the Lead [Pb]: Effects of Campus Water Pipes on Lead Concentrations in Drinking Water at Widener University, Chester, PA. Jessica A. Addeo, Jennifer J. Noce, and Carey A. Romig.

ABSTRACT:
       Everywhere you look there are posters, bulletins, and advertisements asking, "Are you and your children safe from the effects of lead?" "Have you had your drinking water tested?" These questions are what triggered our interest to look into the quality of the water we drink every day. Widener University has many old buildings, which were constructed before 1940, when it became illegal to use lead piping. Lead piping is the primary source of lead found in drinking water. In addition, some plumbers continue to use lead solder in piping which often leads to lead contamination. Our objective was to determine from where the lead is coming and if in fact older buildings, with the possibility of containing lead plumbing materials, would have higher lead concentrations in drinking water.
       A main portion of our study required a detailed understanding of where Widener University obtains its water, and the pipelines that bring it to our sinks and fountains. With help from the Chester Water Authority and Widener University's plumber, Al Conrad, we were able to begin. We chose to take samples from three buildings: an old, an intermediate and a newer building. Our one liter samples were obtained after the water had been sitting for at least six hours with the exception of one flushed sample and one sample which was run through a Brita water filter. The samples were then entrusted to Philadelphia Water Department where they were analyzed using EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) certified methods.
       After reviewing the water analysis results and speaking with the lab consultant, we decided to omit the first sample taken from each building. These samples contained too many contaminants to obtain reliable results.
       Our results remained somewhat consistent with our hypothesis in that as the water travels further through the pipelines of Widener University's system it picks up lead. The data showed that the middle-aged building had increased concentrations of lead, but in contradiction to our hypothesis the oldest building had relatively low concentrations of lead. In order for us to draw significant conclusions from these results, we would need to repeat the experiment several times taking samples from many sites as the water traveled further within the pipe system.