Causes of Eutrophication and its Effects of on Aquatic Ecosystems

Figure 4: Comparative bar graph <strong>of</strong> average nutrientt concentrations (mg/L) <strong>of</strong> waterwithin tanks with <strong>and</strong> without potential fertilizer inputs.Figure 4 illustrates a comparison between the average concentrations <strong>of</strong> phosphate,ammonium, nitrate, <strong>and</strong> nitrite measured in mg/L found in both the experimentalfertilized tanks<strong>and</strong> the control tanks. Though these values are not statistically significant when individualcompounds are compared with a t-test, the bar graph <strong>of</strong> figure 4 shows the differences betweenthe average values <strong>of</strong>the four compounds when compared to one another. As shown, nitrate hasthe highest concentration <strong>of</strong> any <strong>of</strong> the other nutrients, especially when measuredin tanks withfertilizer input, reaching a peak average concentration <strong>of</strong>f 4.17 mg/L while only reaching 1.67mg/L in our control tanks. The second most common compound found in the water samples isphosphate, which is relatively constant between our fertilized <strong>and</strong> control groups, showing only a0.02 mg/ /L differencee between the higher 0.82 mg/L <strong>of</strong> fertilized tanks <strong>and</strong> the 0. .80 mg/L <strong>of</strong> non-anfertilizedtanks. Ammonium is the third highest compound measuredin our tankwater, havingaverage concentration <strong>of</strong> .2 mg/Lfor fertilized tanks <strong>and</strong>d a .1 mg/L for tanks not experiencing6