abundance, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> 3 describes high abundance. 67% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks fit the lowest algalcategory, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> the other 33% were estimated at a category 2 algal abundance. N<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the c<strong>on</strong>troltanks had enough algal growth to fit the high abundance category. 17% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the fertilized tankswere at a level 1 algal abundance, 58% at a level two algal abundance, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> 25% had high enoughalgal growth to be placed in the category 3 <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> high abundance.C<strong>on</strong>trol FertilizedMean 8.38875 7.6425Variance 0.07581 0.31387Observati<strong>on</strong>s 12 12Pooled Variance 0.19484Hypothesized Mean Difference 0df 22t Stat 4.141149P(T
Discussi<strong>on</strong>The results <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> our experiment support our hypothesis that eutrophicati<strong>on</strong> should occur intanks treated with fertilizer, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> that no significant evidence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> eutrophicati<strong>on</strong> should occur inour c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks. Corn grown with fertilizer had a statistically higher biomass (g) than corngrown without fertilizer, suggesting that nitrogen <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> phosphorus are limiting factors <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> corngrowth, as shown by the results displayed in Figure 2, where P is 5.89E-08. The results shown inFigure 3, where P equals 0.025, support our predicti<strong>on</strong> that the optical density (abs) <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the waterin c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks is lower than that in fertilized tanks. This shows that more algae, fungi, bacteria,or plant growth took place in the fertilized tanks than in the c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks. However, ourpredicti<strong>on</strong> that fertilizer should cause the elodea in the experimental group to grow more thanthose in the c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks was not statistically accurate, as revealed by the values in Figure 5where P equals 0.45. Instead, 25% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the fertilized tanks were characterized by high algaldensity, 58% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> had a middle algal density, 67% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks had a low algal density, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>n<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks had a high algal density (Figure 6). Because the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the c<strong>on</strong>troltanks had low algal growth, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> n<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them experienced high algal growth, while <strong>on</strong>e quarter<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the fertilized tanks had a high abundance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> algae, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> the majority had at least a middle levelalgal abundance, we c<strong>on</strong>cluded that algae played a major role in the eutrophicati<strong>on</strong> processthrough raising the optical density (abs) <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the water.As predicted, average nitrogen, phosphorus, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> amm<strong>on</strong>ia c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong>s were higher inthose tanks subjected to inputs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> fertilizer than in the c<strong>on</strong>trol tanks. However, n<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> thesevalues are statistically significant. Instead, Figure 4 shows that nitrate <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> phosphorus are thenutrients used least by the aquatic life, suggesting that in the fertilized tanks, they were the leastlimiting nutrients. This is also supported by the P-value <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Figure 5. In testing the differences in9
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