The Effect Of Different Levels Of Fertilizing Nutrients On The Oil Bioremediation Properties Of Planktonic Marine Bacteria
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Environmental Science
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Written Paper Award
3rd Place
Abstract
Oil spills can be extremely hazardous and pose a significant threat to the marine environment (McKew et al., 2007). Bioremediation is the process of using living microorganisms to clean up contaminated environments, like oil spills.. The purpose of this study was to determine what levels of nutrients would enhance the growth of bacteria, thereby increasing the bioremediation of oil. This will provide a better understanding of how to enhance bioremediation, without altering the natural process of bioremediation and the indigenous bacterial community dynamic. It was hypothesized that the addition of nutrients would increase the remediation of oil and the greater the nutrients, the greater the biodegradation of the oil. In this study, different levels of three specific elements, nitrogen, phosphate and phosphorous, were added to natural seawater containing marine bacteria and observed over a period of time. The amount of remediated oil was calculated and a one-way ANOVA F-test was conducted to analyze the data. None of the nutrient levels lead to a significant difference of oil remediation, as the one-way ANOVA revealed a p-value of 1.07, which is greater than the alpha at 0.05. As the amount of remediation of the bacteria getting additional nutrients and the bacteria not receiving any nutrients was not significantly different, it was concluded that bioremediation is not a viable method for cleaning up oil spills over short periods of time. /
Recommended Citation
Ashroff, Zahida, "The Effect Of Different Levels Of Fertilizing Nutrients On The Oil Bioremediation Properties Of Planktonic Marine Bacteria" (2016). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 240.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2016/all/240
Location
Owens 210
Start Date
4-16-2016 8:30 AM
The Effect Of Different Levels Of Fertilizing Nutrients On The Oil Bioremediation Properties Of Planktonic Marine Bacteria
Owens 210
Oil spills can be extremely hazardous and pose a significant threat to the marine environment (McKew et al., 2007). Bioremediation is the process of using living microorganisms to clean up contaminated environments, like oil spills.. The purpose of this study was to determine what levels of nutrients would enhance the growth of bacteria, thereby increasing the bioremediation of oil. This will provide a better understanding of how to enhance bioremediation, without altering the natural process of bioremediation and the indigenous bacterial community dynamic. It was hypothesized that the addition of nutrients would increase the remediation of oil and the greater the nutrients, the greater the biodegradation of the oil. In this study, different levels of three specific elements, nitrogen, phosphate and phosphorous, were added to natural seawater containing marine bacteria and observed over a period of time. The amount of remediated oil was calculated and a one-way ANOVA F-test was conducted to analyze the data. None of the nutrient levels lead to a significant difference of oil remediation, as the one-way ANOVA revealed a p-value of 1.07, which is greater than the alpha at 0.05. As the amount of remediation of the bacteria getting additional nutrients and the bacteria not receiving any nutrients was not significantly different, it was concluded that bioremediation is not a viable method for cleaning up oil spills over short periods of time. /
