Does biodiversity affect the growth in length of Elodea and the population size of Daphnia when pollutants like salt are present?

This project investigates whether increased biodiversity influences growth of Elodea and the population of daphnia when exposed to salt. The increase in biodiversity was achieved by introducing E. coli to environments with Elodea and daphnia. E. Coli is a species of rod-shaped bacteria belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. It is commonly found in agricultural runoff, leaking septic systems, and improperly treated wastewater. Four experimental treatments were tested over six weeks. Results show that the increase in biodiversity positively influences Elodea growth. In the environments that contained E. Coli, there was more branching of the Elodea and these branches grew faster than the parental branch. The branching of Elodea is an indicator of reproduction. On the other hand, Daphnia exhibited rapid reproduction in an environment that contained salt. The rapid reproduction of Daphnia is an indicator of stress. However, the tank that contained a higher biodiversity (E. coli and salt), experienced less daphnia reproduction.