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DATA & analysis

Data tables

Protozoa levels/ g of soil for the positive control
Degree		Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Averages
1	0 - 10 cm	492190	366030	307100	388440
2	0 - 10 cm	375990	442390	1011770	610050
3	0 - 10 cm	424960	660680	619927	568522.3
4	0 - 10 cm	603722.1	460988.6	458375.8	507695.5
5	0 - 10 cm	767750	527720.6	545310	613593.5
Protozoa levels/ g of soil for the positive control
Degree		Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Averages
1	10 - 20 cm	972760	366860	419067	586229
2	10 - 20 cm	543650	408360	343620	431876.7
3	10 - 20 cm	2139740	1661926	781860	1527842
4	10 - 20 cm	1569530	290964.8	424960	761818.3
5	10 - 20 cm	1575340	370180	360220	768580

Protozoa levels/ g of soil for the controlled soil
Degree		Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Averages
1	0 - 10 cm	273070	738140	146910	382706.7
2	0 - 10 cm	914660	620840	209160	581553.3
3	0 - 10 cm	551120	813400	580170	648230
4	0 - 10 cm	524560	389270	730400	548076.7
5	0 - 10 cm	451520	530370	1021730	667873.3
Protozoa levels/ g of soil for the controlled soil
Degree		Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Averages
1	10 - 20 cm	537010	259790	438240	411680
2	10 - 20 cm	759450	934580	260620	651550
3	10 - 20 cm	461480	698860	332000	497446.7
4	10 - 20 cm	581000	529540	915490	675343.3
5	10 - 20 cm	307930	677280	518750	501320

Analysis

Our data for the positive controls proves our hypothesis correct. The population density of protozoa in the 0 – 10cm was 537,660 and in the 10 – 20cm were 815,269. We can be 89% sure that the difference in the levels was significant because of the p – value of .11. Thus the protozoa do migrate vertically when exposed to UV radiation.

This graph shows the relation between the protozoa levels and exposure to the UV radiation in the first 10 cm of the soil. The protozoa densities follow a general trend of increasing as the exposure to UV rays decreases. However the trend is not consistent and when compared to the negative controls, the lowest p – value is 0.28. Therefore while the graph implies that there is a relationship between UV rays and protozoa levels in the soil, the relationship is not statistically significant.

This graph shows the relation between the protozoa levels and exposure to the UV radiation in the second 10 - 20 cm of the soil. The protozoa densities do not follow any trend and are completely incoherent and therefore UV radiation can not be the reason for the decrease in the protozoa levels. The protozoa levels in the positive control were 815,269 and the controlled samples were 547,468. Thus the p value - .13 implies there was something else that affected the protozoa populations dramatically beside the UV radiation.