Question

An ecology student noticed that Big Moose Lake has a higher nitrogen level than Brant Lake, but has lower algae growth. This data surprised her, because algae often flourish in water with high nitrogen level. Develop a hypothesis to explain the surprisingly low algae growth in Big Moose Lake.

Answer 1

Explanation:

A student of ecology researched about the low growth of algae in the Big Moose lake as compared to the Brant lake, though Big Moose lake has higher  level of nitrogen and nutrients in it.

Nitrogen and phosphorous are an important element for the growth of algae in water bodies but in presence of pollutants in  the water bodies and low oxygen content, the algae grows in slower rate. Besides, slower growth of algae may also affected by the acid rain that happens near Moose lake, which is harmful for algae growth due ti the presence of sulphur.