aprisby's blog

I am the most driven by animal studies, whether that be animal behavior, the interactions between each other and the environment, and the evolution of different species. Personally I am keeping my options open after college in which area I work in, however I plan to work with animals in some aspect of research or rehabilitation. For research I am primarily interested in birds, especially raptor species, so would find it fascinating to study how birds are able to stand such extreme temperatures or how certain species are able to spot another member of its own species from a quarter of a mile way and know it is a female. Every part of this field relates to ecology because in order to understand these wild animals species, for instance why they migrate annually from location A to location B, we need to first understand the behavior or the animal itself and also the balance between the abiotic factors and the biotic factors. Perhaps it is migrating because there are not enough available resources in location A for a mother to nurse her young. We would need to understand what resources the animal needs in order to survive in a particular environment, as well as the climates it is able to withstand. Different environmental pressures may cause the individuals to move. And then this migration itself may also prove to be essential for other species to exist. It is a balance. However if some human activity disrupts this migration, is it essential we understand these interactions between species so that we may take the proper actions to counter it. I also feel that personally if I go into a wildlife rehabilitation field, I would need knowledge in ecology to be able to release a particular species into the correct environment, and also understand if the individual is fit to be released into its natural ecosystem.

Control Factors: Photos taken mid-day, around 11am. Cloudy.

My destination was the Durfee Conservatory and Garden on the UMass Amherst campus. I began by walking towards the side of the conservatory facing the library. This side contained an entrance with the “Durfee Conservatory” “Visitors Welcome” brown sign and a small garden with benches and trees in front. The door was labeled “Durfee Conservatory”. I walked through this door and closed the door behind me, as to not allow cold air to enter the building.

As I entered, I was in a room filled with many plants, primarily various tree species. Looking directly forward, there was a small stone path leading forward towards a green door. There were clusters of trees and vines on either side, about four trees in a row to my left. I walked forward on the stone path until I was in line with the last tree on my left. The base of this tree contained the largest amount of vines. There was also a label on the tree that said “Sweet Olive”.

I turned left to face this tree. For the first picture (P1) I focused on the vines. There were several species of vines wound around the base of the tree trunk, but my photo focused on the upper vines closest to the center of the tree. More specifically, focused on the strand of ivy vines with a slightly lighter green color than the ones around it (about two feet below the label). I walked closer towards the tree and held my phone about a foot away from the base of the tree, facing the camera slightly downwards towards these vines and took a picture.

The second picture (P2) focused on the tree. I stood about four feet away from the tree. This time I stood closer to the green door so I was at an angle looking at the tree. I held my camera so that the entire tree was in the frame, with only a small fragment of the vines included in the shot. I took the picture.

The third picture (P3) was of the two species together. For this I took two more steps back from the second photo so that my back almost touched the wall. When I held my camera I made sure to include the entire tree and as much of the vines as I could. I took the picture, and left the conservatory.

It is quite sad what happened to the passenger pigeons as such a plentiful and full species was annihilated entirely purely for our own needs and sport. One of the largest species that lived for nearly six million years was killed off in a few decades. As the direct cause of several species extinctions in our existence, I do believe it is our responsibility and moral obligation to repair some of the damage. As far as bringing back a species that has been gone for a long time, this raises question because ecosystems and species are constantly evolving, especially when a certain organism goes extinct, the environment must adapt. So bringing back say, the passenger pigeons, especially when they were at one point a dominant species, in such a short segment of time may prove to cause damage to ecosystems and further challenges than there already are. Our best option now is to protect the species that exist now, that we do now have the technology and the willpower to protect. It is not really up to us whether or not a species be resurrected.

The data compares the absorbance levels of the experimental group exposed to purple light and the control group exposed to natural light over the course of 30 minutes, samples taken at 10 minutes intervals. Looking at the data collected, usually the samples exposed to purple light have higher absorbance levels. In Table 1, which displays all control group data, the control group contains lower averages of absorbance levels at 0 minutes as compared to Table 2, which displays experimental data under purple light, containing higher averages of absorbance levels at 0 minutes. For example, in the sample containing chloroplasts plus light for both groups, the experimental group average at 0 minutes was 0.827 AU, which is higher than the control group average at 0 minutes which was 0.67 AU. However as time reaches 30 minutes, these results seem to flip, where at 30 minutes, the control group absorbance levels are higher on average among all samples than the experimental group. This is displayed in Tables 1 and 2, where for instance in the sample containing chloroplasts plus light for both groups, the absorbance level of the control group at 30 minutes was 0.67 AU, which is significantly higher than the experimental group at 30 minutes which yielded an absorbance of 0.055 AU. These results coincide with the graphs, as in Figures 1, 2, and 4, the experimental group starts off with a higher absorbance level at 0 minutes than the control group, then is shown to decrease over the course of 30 minutes, while the control group increases in absorbance levels over time.

Figure 1. Dumbo Octopus. Dumbo Octopuses (Grimpoteuthis) live deep in the open ocean, remarkably making this group one of the deepest living of all octopuses. Surviving in these extreme conditions requires an intense tolerance to cold water and a complete lack of light. They have been known to survive in depths of 13,000 feet and deeper, foraging along the ocean floor. Photo by NOAA Ocean Exploration & Research available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/oceanexplorergov/14142089822 CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Hill Reaction, used in the 1930s, used Spinacia oleracea to discover that chloroplasts separated from plants containing their thylakoid membranes will still continue to create oxygen, so long as they are given light and an appropriate electron acceptor in place of NADP+. Normally chloroplasts need to use NADP+ as an electron acceptor, but using a centrifuge to separate the chloroplast from the thylakoid membrane, NADP+ is lost.  In our Hill Reaction experiment we chose to compare the effects of using purple light vs. normal light on the effect of photosynthesis. Plants absorb both red and purple light waves, however because purple wavelengths are shorter, they emit a higher frequency and contain more energy (Different Wavelengths of Light Affect on Photosynthesis Rates in Tomato Plants). Light is normally at 600 nm, while purple is at 400 nm and has higher absorbance. Using purple light rather than normal light should mean the absorbance process will take longer. The presence of purple light will cause there to be a higher absorbance level in the chloroplasts in experimental group in comparison to the control group which will have lower absorbance levels exposed to natural light. If correct, then the spectrometer will detect that the solution in the cuvette will reach 0 absorbance at a slower pace than it did with natural light, but not by a large margin. If incorrect, the spectrometer will show the solution reach 0 absorbance at either a quicker pace than our control group or a much more elongated rate.

Spinacia oleracea is a hardy leafy annual of the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), a commonly used vegetable in the world, commonly referred to as spinach. Deep within the cells of these spinach leaves lies chloroplasts, a type of organelle characterized by its two membranes and a high concentration of chlorophyll. They are structures by which photosynthesis, the process by which carbohydrates are made from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll, use energy captured from sunlight by chlorophyll. This results in the production of oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. Chloroplasts contain thylakoids, flattened sacs. Light energy (sunlight) reaching the thylakoids excites the chlorophyll pigments, causing them to drive electrons and hydrogen from water to NADP+, an electron acceptor. The electrons enter the electron transport chain, resulting in the products of ATP and NADPH (converted from NADP+). These are then used in the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis, where carbon dioxide and water are used to make organic compounds.

Spinacia oleracea is a hardy leafy annual of the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae), a commonly used vegetable in the world, more commonly known as just spinach. Deep within the cells of these spinach leaves lies chloroplasts,  structures by which photosynthesis, the process by which carbohydrates are made from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll, using energy captured from sunlight by chlorophyll, resulting in the production of oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds, occurs. Chloroplasts contain thylakoids, flattened sacs. Light energy (sunlight) reaching the thylakoids excites the chlorophyll pigments, causing them to drive electrons and hydrogen from water to NADP+, an electron acceptor. The electrons enter the electron transport chain, the products being ATP and NADPH (converted from NADP+). These are then used in the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis, where carbon dioxide and water are used to make organic compounds.

In such a short segment of time, now 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, and global warming. Our time may only appear as a small slither of time at the moment, but this is exactly why it is so disturbing; especially since this is the first mass extinction to be caused alone by one species and create such a detrimental effect. Humans have literally “chewed a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, doubled the amount of methane in the atmosphere and driven up carbon dioxide concentrations by 30%, to a level not seen in 400,000 years”  (Anthropocene, Monastersky, 2015). As a species now, we have no bounds to where we can travel and spread across the earth, as well as we have the ability to alter environments and ecosystems purely to suit our needs. A species that very recently reached extinction is the Pinta Island Tortoise. La Pinta Island was being visited frequently by passing whalers as it was a spot for giant tortoises. Once it was discovered that these creatures could go long periods of time without food or water and their meat was delicious, the tortoises did not stand a chance. The population was slaughtered by the hundreds, throw aboard ships of explorers as well as whalers as a popular food source. For many years it was thought this was the end of these giant tortoises. However in 1971, one last member named Lonesome George was found roaming the island. Shortly after George was taken into captivity up until 2012, when his death marked the tragic end of the La Pinta line of tortoises.

A keystone species is defined as an organism that helps to define an entire ecosystem. No other species can fill its ecological niche, and without it the ecosystem would be very different or cease to exist. Passenger pigeons are an example of one keystone species that once filled the skies. They once made up about 25-40 percent of the total bird population when Europeans first discovered America. This would be nearly half, if not more than the current human population. Passenger pigeons were a keystone species because they influenced forests by both enriching them, and also by acting as  a dominating force which must have manipulated their ecosystem with their vast and sky-blackening migrations. I think that we should prioritize keystone species above other conservation to a certain degree because it can be argued that every species has an important role. Sadly, it is usually hard to tell what species are keystone species until it is too late, which is why we should conserve as many species as possible because any of these could be keystone species.