Introduction
Competition between individuals is essential, and is one of the driving forces behind evolution. However, competition has different effects depending on the circumstances. Of course, competition between plants is different than between animals (Miller 1995), and interspecific competition has different effects than intraspecific competition. Plants compere by trying to gather as many resources as possible, as they cannot get up and go somewhere more plentiful. Some expand their root systems to collect more water and nutrients, and other grow taller to collect more sunlight. Either way, increasing competition will lower fitness and variation (Jones 2016) due to the plants having to share the same resources. In this experiment, we are using a protocol based around one developed by Miller and Schemske (1990) to determine the effects of intraspecific competition in Brassica rapa. Brassica rapa, a variety of the mustard plant, was used for food as far back as the Roman Empire; however, it is difficult to distinguish where the plant originated, as it is spread across much of Eurasia (Guo, Chen, Li, Crowling 2014). This plant is used in many experiments due to its short life cycle, which hovers around six weeks, and is thus considered a ‘fast plant’. We are using Brassica rapa because of its relatively small size and short life
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If intraspecific competition will affect the number of flowers and the height of each plant in Brassica rapa in 2, 5, and 10 seed treatments, then plants in the high density treatment will be shorter and have less flowers. We kept track of the number of flowers on each plant throughout the duration of the experiment, as well as the height of each surviving plant to support our prediction, and the plants with the highest fitness will be taller and have more
Wise, M. J., Abrahamson, W. G., & Cole, J. A. (2010).The role of nodding stems in the goldenrod–gall–fly interaction: A test of the “ducking” hypothesis. Manuscript submitted for publication, Available from American Journal of Botany. (0900227)Retrieved from http://www.amjbot.org/content/97/3/525.full
Reproduction and passing on genetic and behavioral traits to an offspring is a common fundamental to all the species on this planet. When studying forest ecology, it is crucial to study the proportion of individuals surviving at each stage of their growth as the lives and mortality experienced in a species population describes a characteristic of the species in question. In the case of American beech and sugar maple, their attempt to produce seeds is analogous to entering lottery, where every seedling has a potential chance of becoming a canopy but only some will survive and reach the canopy size; thus, becoming the fit ‘winners’. Our information shows that together, based on size class distribution, both the species display a ‘winner takes all’ pattern, which supports our hypothesis. The results showed a greater count for seedlings and short saplings than for tall saplings, sub-canopies and canopies. This is evident for a Type III survivorship curve. In Type III curve all individuals initially having a very low chance of survival. However, once the individuals pass their threshold age and survive, they live an advanced age. Only some individuals out the mast seeding production mature to become fully fit canopy trees. On the other hand, our hypothesis of canopy trees representing the bulk of the biomass was supported as the basal areas decreased going from growth stages of canopy to seedlings. This is evidence that once the individuals survive the bottleneck where there is high mortality of young individuals (seedlings), who are then considered as ‘losers’, will allow for the other larger size class individuals to flourish. Here, having considerable amount of dbh (diameter at breast height) accounts for greater surfac...
The purpose of our experiment was to test whether or not the Wisconsin Fast Plants, or Brassica rapa, followed the Mendelian genetics and its law of inheritance. First, after we crossed the heterozygous F1 generation, we created an F2 generation which we used to analyze. After analyzing our results, we conducted a chi-square test for for both the F1 and F2 generations to test their “goodness of fit”. For the F1 generation we calculated an x2 value of 6.97, which was greater than the value on the chi-square table at a p-value of 0.05 and 1 degree of freedom (6.97 > 3.84). This meant that we had to reject our hypothesis that stated there would be no difference between the observed and expected values. This showed us that the F1
The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis by planting an increasing number of genus Helianthus (sunflower) seeds in pots to see how they respond to increased density in limited space. Two replicates each of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 seeds were planted in similar size pots containing an equal mix of potting soil and perlite. All plants were kept in greenhouse conditions exposed to similar light and temperatures settings and were watered at equivalent intervals. At the end of the time period each pot was evaluated for number of seeds that had germinated as well as number of stems with blooms. Stems and blooms were cut and weighed.
For a species to survive and flourish within a given environment, it not only needs to replace itself but also all the other species around it exclusively. Hence, if one species completely replaces another species, the result is a single dominant species, a monoculture (source 2). According to Gause’s law, every species in a given environment occupies different niches for survival. Therefore, two separate species competing for similar resources cannot fundamentally coexist (source Gause). This is known as the competitive exclusion principle. When comparing animal niche’s to that of different autotrophic plants, one can rather easily differentiate adequate ecological niches for the animal species merely based on food-requirements (P.J. Grubb). On the contrary, many autotrophic plants contradict the competitive exclusion principle by sharing similar ecological niches such as sunlight, carbon dioxide, water, and alike mineral nutrients (p.j. grubb).
Some individuals have developed different traits to help them in the process of intra-sexual competition. The organisms with more distinctive traits have greater reproductive success. More genes of those traits are then ‘selected’ and are passed onto the offspring of the organisms. Throughout time variability in these traits becomes
Comparing the Growth of Pea Plants Grown in the Light and in the Dark Aim: To compare the vertical growth and weight gain of pea plants grown in the light and in the dark. Background Knowledge: Photosynthesis forms the basis for this experiment. This is the process by which a plant makes food for itself from the raw materials around it. The energy needed for photosynthesis comes from sunlight, which is the variable for this experiment.
Although considered faster and cheaper, this approach to providing other alternative resources to food is slowly but significantly drying up our plant and is compromising human health. Because of the increa...
Through millions of years of evolution, well-balanced habitats have co-evolved to provide for the wide variety of species and their needs. Trees have adapted to weeds, weeds have adapted to the predation from herbivores, and so on up the food chain. Similar scenarios are seen throughout the world. Through the process of natural selection, specific species or broad species families will go extinct. However, these occurrences have largely been due to the natural flow and evolution of time. It wasn’t until recently that dominant species, such as humans, have taken the course of nature into their own hands.
The Brassica rapa plants were bred to live in the colder states of America, such as Michigan and Wisconsin. Up there they have very few times it is actually warm enough for plant growth. So to take advantage of those few short moments, Dr. Williams bred a ...
Two members of the group were instructed to visit the laboratory each day of the experiment to water and measure the plants (Handout 1). The measurements that were preformed were to be precise and accurate by the group by organizing a standardized way to measure the plants. The plants were measured from the level of the soil, which was flat throughout all the cups, to the tip of the apical meristems. The leaves were not considered. The watering of the plants took place nearly everyday, except for the times the lab was closed. Respective of cup label, the appropriate drop of solution was added to the plant, at the very tip of the apical meristems.
The “Fast Plant” experiment is an observation of a plants growth over the span of twenty-eight days. The objective is to observe how plants grow and use their resources throughout the span of their life. In our lab we observed the Brassica rapa, a herbaceous plant in the mustard family which has a short cycle which makes it a perfect plant to observe in this experiment. Like other plants the Brassica rapa must use the resources in the environment to create energy to complete itʻs life cycle and reproduce. By observing the plant it is easy to see in what organ or function the plant is using itʻs energy and resources and if overtime the resources switch to other part of the plants. By conducting this experiment we are able to observe where and how plants allocate their resources throughout their life by harvesting plants at different points in their life.
Annual meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences. Volume 1195, 3 May 2010, Pages 169 – 197. 8. What is the difference between a.. Willmer, P.. Ecology: Pollinators – Plant Synchrony Tested by Climate Change. Current Biology.
ANOVAs were calculated using the IASRI website portal (online analysis of data; http://iasri.res.in/analysis/online_analysis.htm) for all the quantitative and qualitative traits. Among the quantitative trait test weight, days to 50% flowering, flag leaf length, panicle exertion, plant height and yield per plant were showing highly significant variation (Table 1). Among the qualitative traits apical sterility and inflorescence lobe, inflorescence compactness, inflorescence shape, lobe compactness, leaf senescence, degree of lodging at maturity and sheath pubescence (Table 2) was highly significant variation, this is showing that core comprising accessions were highly diverse and truly representing the variation of whole collection.
Asexual propagation is the process through which reproduction without passage through the seed cycle occurs. The advantages of asexual propagation are that it preserves genetic makeup, propagates seedless plants, disease control, rapid production, the plants are identical, cheaper, faster and easier reducing or avoiding juvenility. The disadvantages of asexual propagation are that it increases disease and insect susceptibility, plants are bulky, and the mother plants could become contaminated. The goal of this experiment was to determine the development of adventitious roots and shoots, and observe these plants over a period of five weeks. Due to auxin being produced in the tip, tip cuttings should root faster than any other cuttings. Auxin is a plant hormone that is responsible for cell elongation and enlargement, root formation, and growth. There are two forms of auxins; phototropism, which is produced in the tip and moves downward on the side away from the light and gravitropism, which is where plant roots grow downward and plant shoots grow upward.(Plant Auxin 201...