|
Tahuna benthic microalgae:
here is what happens after we leave the wee things alone for 3 days.... seems to be lots more of them
We can do better than try and count them, we can extract their chlorophyll and measure how many there are that way
|
What about in the water.... what can we find there....
Lets go and tow our plankton net around behind a kayak for a while, thanks boys
Monaco estuary plankton:
Mud Snail Farming investigation
If we change the number of snails in an area will this change the amount of food (algae) in the mud?
Lets find out:
Average snail density in the estuary is 77 / m2 (see previous study)
Our changed densities: 0, 2X normal and 4X normal
ie 0, 50 and 100 in a metal hoop "farm" that is 1/3 m2
Next step collecting mud samples and extracting the chlorophyll to measure the amount of algae.... done!
the pics below show how we did all this:
Lets find out:
Average snail density in the estuary is 77 / m2 (see previous study)
Our changed densities: 0, 2X normal and 4X normal
ie 0, 50 and 100 in a metal hoop "farm" that is 1/3 m2
Next step collecting mud samples and extracting the chlorophyll to measure the amount of algae.... done!
the pics below show how we did all this:
Maybe we are not the first to think about these things.......