Water Biodiversity Field Work

Aquatic Plant Team

Your descriptions and species numbers will be used to create a more complete picture of the biodiversity of your body of water.

Record a description and number and, if possible, identify the plants. Ideally, take time to draw a sketch. Also note the number of these organisms that you see.

For this field trip, you will not be able to collect many of the organisms that you see. However, it is important to record these observations in your Journal.

Class Cartographers: Your job is to record on a map of the study site exactly where each sample is taken. Remember to keep track of which group is taking the samples from a given location, and the type of sample that is being taken.
 
Note: It is important to contact a local naturalist or wildlife organization to learn of any endangered and/or protected plants growing in or around your body of water. If there are, these plants should not be disturbed!
 

Field Equipment List

protective gloves (preferably to cover up to the elbow)
GL Journals
rake or long pole
pencil
underwater. buckets (1 gallon to 5 3 gallons)

Procedure

 
1 Put on protective gloves and goggles.
 
2 Fill a bucket about 1/4 full of water from your body of the roots and the base of water. Try to avoid scraping the bucket along the bottom. Remove any sticks or large debris.

3 From around the edge of the water, carefully pull up a sample of each type of plentiful aquatic plant. Pick only plants that are abundant in your area! Try to include the roots as you pull up the plants. Place these in the bucket with labels the water. Be sure to take samples of all types of aquatic plants, such as algae, reeds, cattails, floating small pump (optional) plants, irises, lilies, and grasses. Record in your GL Journal and on the class map the exact location and depth that the sample was taken.
 
4 If there are any endangered and/or protected plants in your area, or if there are only one or two specimens of some types of plants, do not pick these. Instead, make careful observations and sketches in your GL Journal, including the location and depth at which these plants are observed. Make a note of their locations on the class map.
 
5 Using the rake or long pole, nowscrape along the bottom of the water and pull the debris to the surface. Wearing gloves, pick through the debris and sort out any plants or plant material that you find. Place these in a second bucket that is 1/4 full of water.
 
6 Record in your GL Journal and on the class map where the sample was taken and at what depth you found them growing.
 
7 Bring the buckets back to the classroom. If at all possible, aerate the samples overnight by placing a water pump into the buckets.

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