Week Two

With the help of Dr. McFarland I was able to identify a bunch of interseting things I had over looked:


In the soil:

- Several nematodes appeared. The are the most numerous multicellular organisms on earth and belong to the Phylum Nemata. The nematodes I saw were feeding on both bacteria as well as other nematodes. I was unable to get a detailed enough view of the actual nematodes so I can't determine what species they were.











In the unoccupied water:

- Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae). Found just outside of the soil it belongs to a phylum of bacteria and obtain their food through photosynthesis. The are an important primary porducer in many areas of large bodies of water and are also a key componet to the nitrogen cycle.



Information from:

Freshwater Algae: The Microscopic World Explored pages 397-398, Botany text book

- There was also and assortment of diatoms. They are a major group of eukaryotic algae and from what I saw are unicellular. The are producers and have a unique cell wall composed of silica. There are over 200 genera of diatoms. Here are some of the ones I spotted...

Information:

Freeliving Freshwater Protozoa
By: D.J. Patterson
Page 125