Transcript Midterm PowerPoint Presentation

The Effects of Intraspecific
Competition among Varying
Groups of Marigolds
Tiffany Landis
Undergraduate Student (Microbiology Concentration)
Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505
Project Summary
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Problem: Does Intraspecific competition affect the
marigolds vitality?
Objective/ Hypothesis: To determine if
Intraspecific competition affects plant growth.
Intraspecific competition foes affect density and
growth of Marigolds.
How I plan to accomplish my goal: Planting
varying densities of Marigolds to determine if
Intraspecfic competition affects their growth.
Expected benefits and Results: This should be
beneficial to farmers and gardeners who will then
know that you cannot plant a bunch of plants
together or they will compete each other and
eventually one will out compete the other and cause
plants to be either stunted in growth or just die.
Introduction
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Problem: Does Intraspecific competition affect the
Marigolds vitality?
“Competition, either among members of the same or
different species may have broad effects on plant
community structure. The more crowded a population the
more competition there is for resources.” (Tansley, 1917)
“Spatial arrangement of plants in a community can be an
important determinant of species coexistence and
biodiversity” (Stoll et al, 2001).
“The data supported the hypothesis that the spatial
distribution of plants profoundly affects competition in
such a way that weaker competitors increase their fitness
while stronger competitors are suppressed when grown in
the neighborhood of co specifics” (Stoll et al, 2001).
Objective/ Hypothesis
Statement
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Objective: To determine if
Intraspecific competition affects
plant growth.
Hypothesis: Intraspecific
competition does affect density
and growth of Marigolds.
Null Hypothesis: Intraspecific
competition has no affect on
density and growth of Marigolds.
Methods and Materials
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I obtained six pots and labeled them according to the
number of seeds in each pot.
The plants were kept in a sunroom and watered regularly.
Each of the six pots was filled with soil until it came to
about one centimeter from the top of the pot.
I obtained Marigold seeds and planted the following
densities of seeds in each pot: 3, 5, 10, 18, 34, or 68
seeds. After germination, the plant populations were
thinned to 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 plants per pot. When then
placed more soil on top of the seeds and watered them.
Each week I measured the number of leaves on each
plant in each pot, heights of the plant stems, and number
of flowers on each plant. I then gathered detailed
information from each pot number of plants, weights of
plant stems, number of leaves and length of stems. I
obtained stem weights of the plants by clipping out the
plants at soil level, clipping off the leaves and placing
them on a scale.
Methods and Materials Cont…
DIVISION OF ECOLOGY
Intraspecific Competition Among Varying Marigold Densities.
# of
survivals
Total
weight
Average
Weight
Total
stem
weight
Average
Stem
weight
Average
Leaf
Weight
Average
stem
length
Average
Growth
Rate
%
survival
2006
(Year)
Putnam
TN
(County)
(State)
Tennessee Tech Biology Department
(Organization)
Density
Report of Facility Operation for the period: February
(Month)
Location: Tennessee Tech University
Cookeville
(Facility name)
(City)
Sample Taken by: Tiffany Landis
Undergraduate Student
(Name)
(Position)
2
4
8
16
32
64
2
4
8
16
32
64
110
270
360
790
1590
3010
55
67.5
45
49.4
50
47
46
90
140
310
490
1070
23
22.5
17.5
19.3
15.3
16.7
32
45
27.5
30
34.3
30.3
3.4
5
3.4
4
3
3
.081
.119
.083
.095
.071
.071
100
100
100
100
100
100
Expected Results and
Benefits
I expect that Intraspecific competition will
affect the growth of plants and that they will
compete with each other for the same shared
resource. This should be beneficial to farmers
and gardeners who will then know that you
cannot plant a bunch of plants together or
they will compete each other and eventually
one will out compete the other and cause
plants to be either stunted in growth or just
die.
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Project Timeline
Research Project
The Effects of Intraspecific Competition on Varying Groups of Marigolds
Planted seeds
and watered
them
Watered plants
and took
measurements
Watered Plants
and took
measurements
Week 1
Week 3
Week 5
Week 2
Week 4
Week 6
Watered plants and
took measurements
Watered plants
and took
measurements
End of Projectcollected
measurements
Budget
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6 flower pots at Target $24.00
Packet of Marigold Seeds Walmart’s Garden Center $2.00
Balance on eBay $31.00
Potting Soil $2.50 Wal-Mart’s
Garden Center
Budget Continued
Budget
Potting Soil
Marigold Seeds
Balance
6 Flower Pots
$2.50
$2.00
$31.00
$24.00