research project Lasius niger

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon piet piraat » 4. Jan 2007 14:22

Hello,
I need your help for a school project.
The main idea is to keep a few colonies of lasius niger, and change the abiotic factors, and see how their behavior changes.

so far i've already bought two colonies of Lasius Niger from this website, and i've kept them in my home-made antfarms for about 3 weeks now. But I have not tried to change the abiotic factors yet, I'm too scared the values change to much and the entire colony dies.

the question I have left unanswered is which abiotic factors I will change. I need your help because I really don't have a clue which factors I can alter to see changes in the behavior of the ants. I've thought of temperature, or changes in the pH but i'm sure there are more. Can anybody give me some advice on what I should do for this research or maybe think of some other abiotic factors? I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance,
Piet Piraat
piet piraat
newbie
newbie
 
Beiträge: 1
Alter: 34
Registriert: 4. Jan 2007 13:47
Land: Netherlands (nl)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 0 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon mpir » 4. Jan 2007 15:12

Here is what I come up with...

A list of abiotic factors that are important to life

Temperature
Temperature affect all chemical reactions (inorganic. organic or biochemical) (tolerance range -12 °C to >100 °C)

Radiation
Visible light (320-800 nm) for photosynthesis
Ultraviolet light (1-320nm) causes damage because (1) 260 nm coincides with the absorption maximum of DNA, and (2) the wave length of UV also overlaps with most proteins’ absorption max.

Pressure (atmospheric, hydrostatic & Osmotic)
Pressure, in general, does not have much direct effect on life system, but it can be indirectly affecting water, oxygen, and other resources.

Salinity (salt concentration, mainly affect water availability)


Water Availability

pH and [H+]
pH affects enzymes directly and also influence the dissociation and solubility of many chemicals.

Redox Potential
Many enzymatic reactions are oxidation-reduction reactions in which one compound is oxidized and another compound is reduced. The ability of an organism to carry out oxidation-reduction reactions depends on the oxidation-reduction state of the environment, or the Redox potential (Eh)

The redox potential is a relative value measured against the arbitrary 0 point of the normal hydrogen electrode. Any system or environment that accepts electrons from a normal hydrogen electrode is a half-cell that is defined as having a possitive redox potentail; any system donates electrons to this hydrogen electrode is defined as having a negative redox potential. Eh is measured in mV. A high possitive Eh indicates an environment that favors oxidation reaction such as free oxygen. A low negative Eh indicates a strong reducing environment, such as free metals.

So strickly aerobic microorganisms can be active only at positive Eh values, whereas strickly anaerobes can be active only at negative Eh values.

Redox affect the solubility of nutrients especially metal ions.

Oxygen strongly affect redox potential.


Nutrients (Organic and Inorganic)

Have fun and I hope ants survive. :wink:
Benutzeravatar
mpir
member
member
 
Beiträge: 441
Alter: 45
Registriert: 4. Sep 2006 17:38
Wohnort: Tolmin
Land: Slovenia (si)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 0 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon Bud Spencer » 4. Jan 2007 15:17

You could check the influence of red foil in front of the glass panel of your nest (if there is one). This would clarify if there is an need for the foil or not.
This was a matter of discussion in the german forum.
Benutzeravatar
Bud Spencer
member
member
 
Beiträge: 157
Alter: 44
Registriert: 22. Dez 2004 15:56
Wohnort: Heusenstamm
Land: Germany (de)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 0 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon JimmyVe » 4. Jan 2007 16:14

I have done that one Bud Spencer. With my Lasius niger, Lasius flavus and Myrmica rubra.
The Lasius sp. prefer black foil. For the Myrmica sp. it doesn't matter, the like black as much as red foil. ;)

@ Piet: I think mpir has given you a lot to try out so good luck with your project.
JimmyVe
member
member
 
Beiträge: 5369
Alter: 44
Registriert: 12. Dez 2005 17:28
Wohnort: Geel
Land: Belgium (be)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 1 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon mpir » 4. Jan 2007 20:34

@JimmyVe

You write about red and black foil... how about if there was no foil?
Which species actually mind if there is no foil?
Benutzeravatar
mpir
member
member
 
Beiträge: 441
Alter: 45
Registriert: 4. Sep 2006 17:38
Wohnort: Tolmin
Land: Slovenia (si)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 0 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon JimmyVe » 4. Jan 2007 20:58

In my experience any species i keep. The don't like light coming in there nest. I'm not saying that there are no species that mind if there is no folio (covering) over there nest, but i don't now any. ;) (speaking in my experience of course.)
JimmyVe
member
member
 
Beiträge: 5369
Alter: 44
Registriert: 12. Dez 2005 17:28
Wohnort: Geel
Land: Belgium (be)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 1 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon arthurnottheking » 30. Jan 2020 08:28

A couple of months ago I had a college project the task of which was to analyze the soil contrasting properties in 2 different habitats to prove the effects on Lasius niger. You may also check the publications in European Journal of Soil Biology.
Benutzeravatar
arthurnottheking
member
member
 
Beiträge: 16
Alter: 33
Registriert: 17. Dez 2019 09:56
Land: United States (us)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 0 Danke

Re: research project Lasius niger

Beitragvon arthurnottheking » 30. Jan 2020 08:28

arthurnottheking hat geschrieben:Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar science lab group by Kathleen Human and Stuart Weiss
A couple of months ago I had a college project the task of which was to analyze the soil contrasting properties in 2 different habitats to prove the effects on Lasius niger. You may also check the publications in European Journal of Soil Biology.


One more source - High Survival of Lasius niger during Summer Flooding in a European Grassland: Hyperlinks sind nur für registrierte Nutzer sichtbar
Benutzeravatar
arthurnottheking
member
member
 
Beiträge: 16
Alter: 33
Registriert: 17. Dez 2019 09:56
Land: United States (us)
Hat sich bedankt: 0 Danke
Danke bekommen: 0 Danke


  • Vergleichbare Themen
    Antworten
    Zugriffe
    Letzter Beitrag

Zurück zu Research and science

Wer ist online?

Mitglieder in diesem Forum: 0 Mitglieder und 0 Gäste