Berlese Funnel

Procedure:

• The top of a two liter bottle was cut off and placed inside of the remaining bottle to create a funnel leading to the inside of the bottle.
• 20 mL of ethanol was poured at the bottom of the soda bottle.
• A Piece of mesh was cut out and put at the bottom of the funnel.
• Soil was,put into the funnel with 2-3 centimeter left until full.
• The bottle was put under a heat lamp for 4 days.
• The funnel was removed from the lamp and the organisms were counted at the bottom of the bottle.

Observations:

• Almost no soil leaked though the filter.
• As the days went on the soil became dryer and dryer.
• No living things were in the funnel by the last day.
• The higher up you went in the funnel (the closer to the light) the less moist the soil became.

Organisms:

We found two total organisms of different species. The first was a red millipede that was curled up in a ball in the ethanol. This millipede breaks down all the clumps and dead matter in the soil. the decomposed Dead matter into organic material. The second was a small earthworm that was only about 1 inch long. These worms add nutrients to the soil. They eat the soil and decompose it. There feces give out nutrients to the soil, letting plants survive.

Our population was a lot smaller than others. The soil that had more nutrients carried more organisms  while the drier soils did not hold as much. Worms, centipedes, and millipedes were among the most common organisms living in the class soils.