Conclusion
Our results show,
along with the “Lake Wingra Exclosure Project” which was conducted in December,
2007, found that the water clarity was better inside the carp exclosure than in
Lake Wingra. The first thing which we had issues with occurred while using
the Schindler Plankton Trap. Some of our results may have contained more
water than others which may have altered the drying out process. Another source
of error could have come while using the secchi disk. The secchi disk
readings may have had human error and done with the naked eye, however, this
percent of error would have been very small and the same for both measurements.
Another source of error was caused by the filter paper we used for the algae
samples. After removing the samples from the oven, several of the samples
lost weight due to the different weights of the filter paper to start with.
High chloride levels can cause harmful outcomes to plant life, wild life, and
aquatic life because of the presence of sodium chloride. The chloride
samples may have been inaccurate because it was only our second time conducting
the test and we could have left it in the refrigerator too long in the ethanol
alcohol. The implications of our results are that removing carp from the
entire lake would increase the water clarity, but not much else would be
significantly different. Future studies should pay more attention to
detail when conducting chloride and algae samples to see whether or not the
exclosure does more to Lake Wingra’s health besides making the water more clear.
We speculate that if more attention to detail during such experiments as algae
and chloride content was done, that they would find results concluding that
indeed the carp exclosure does help in these two areas as well. In doing
so, would conclude the carp exclosure as a healthier source of water than the
entire lake itself.