Student Instructions

For each assignment, you will use the M.U.S.E. link to complete the lab. Access the M.U.S.E. by clicking on Learning Materials.

In this lab, you will determine how an invasive species—the zebra and quagga mussel—affects other species in the freshwater lake. Use the animation to help you come up with an answer to the following:

The Effects of Zebra and Quagga Mussels Introduced into a Freshwater Lake

As you have learned, population dynamics are caused by the biotic potential of the population and the effects of environmental resistance. When there is minimal environmental resistance impacting a population, it will exhibit a population explosion. One reason for minimal resistance could be factors that no longer regulate a population (e.g., predator decline or resource increases). Another reason for a population explosion is the introduction of an invasive species. Invasive species are species foreign to an ecosystem and are not immediately regulated by the environmental restraints of the particular ecosystem that they invade. This in turn allows their populations to grow seemingly uncontrolled and to displace other indigenous populations. Examples of such an invasive species into North America are dreissenid mussels, commonly known as zebra and quagga mussels. Their introduction into the Great Lakes has caused economic hardship and a reorganization of the ecosystem. This has led, in part, to pollution-causing effects that can be linked to an alga known as Cladophora.

Ecosystems are webs of intricately balanced interactions, what happens when a new species is introduced that uses a disproportionate share of the ecosystem’s resources?

Using the M.U.S.E. link, review the background information and animation to complete your report.

Use the Lab 5 worksheet for assignment instructions and data collection.

Please submit your completed assignment.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

Instructions: You will write a 1-page lab report using the scientific method to answer the following questions:

Why do you see increases and decreases in the invasive species population?

What are the implications associated with these alterations to the ecosystem as a whole?

When your lab report is complete, post it in Submitted Assignment files.

Part I: Using the lab animation, fill in the data table below to help you generate your hypothesis, outcomes, and analysis.

Part II: Write a 1-page lab report using the following scientific method sections:

Provide references in APA format. This includes a reference list and in-text citations for references used in the Introduction section.

Give your paper a title and number, and identify each section as specified above. Although the hypothesis will be a 1-sentence answer, the other sections will need to be paragraphs to adequately explain your experiment.

      When your lab report is complete, post it in Submitted Assignment files.

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