Lab Report for Seed Dispersal Lab- Preston Davis
Introduction:
When a plant is ready to reproduce, it must use a seed dispersal method to allow its seeds to have a better chance of growing in a suitable area away from the parent plant. Different plants have different methods of seed dispersal. For example, the Javan cucumber (Alsomitra macrocarpa) uses glider-shaped wings that are part of the seed to allow the seed to land far away from its origin. The main ways that seeds are dispersed are by water, animals, and wind.
One way that seeds are dispersed is by water. These seeds are protected by a thick outer layer to allow the inner parts of the seed to float through the water without being damaged. An example of seed dispersal by water can be
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In some cases, an animal will eat the seed, and because of a protective layer, the seed will not be damaged during digestion. When the animal then excretes the seed, the seed will have been transported to a location more suitable. Plants that use this method are the raspberry bush and the sea grape. In other cases, the seed will latch on to an animal’s fur, feet, or body, which is showed by many species of burrs.
The first method to seed dispersal is by wind. Common ways that seeds travel through the wind are helicopter shaped seeds, parachute like extrusions, wings, or balls, such as a tumbleweed. Helicopter shaped seeds, such as the whirling nut, use propeller-like protrusions from the seed to slow the falling time and rely on wind to carry them for long distances. The western salsify uses a parachute shaped structure that works like the helicopter method, except the parachute slows the seed down with the wind by catching the air. The Javan cucumber uses wings to glide in circular motions safely down to the forest
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The data for this lab was taken from Table 1. The highest time that was recorded for the glider method was only 4.10 seconds, and the longest distance traveled for the seed was 283 centimeters. Looking at Figure 1, time varied from 2.41 seconds to 4.10 seconds which indicates that 100% of the data for time was greater than the control group but less than five seconds. It can be inferred that using the glider method for seed dispersal increases the time taken for the seed to reach the ground. It can also be inferred that a different design for the glider could have made it possible to reach five seconds. According to Figure 2, there was a great variation in distance, ranging from 27 centimeters from the starting point to 283 centimeters. The variation shows the importance of the variance of the landing spots of the seeds in nature, because if all the seeds landed the same distance away from the point of origin, less seeds would have a chance of growing in a habitable area. About 30.4% of the trials had a greater distance traveled than the control group. A possible reason for the low amount of trials that surpassed the control group in distance was the lack of wind because of the tests being indoors. Also, wind could increase the time that the glider stays in the air, which
Germinating tobacco seeds are a very delicate thing to do. Seeds are spread out on the surface of a seedbed to be nursed until they are strong enough to be out in a field. The “nursery” takes about 2 months of supervising the growth of the plant and to control diseases and pests (Akehurst, 1968). Before replanting in a field, producers have to assess a field site. There needs to be a reliable
technology. When they wanted to plant or to crush the seeds that they have gathered they used a
Find a container for proper storage. This container has to be completely clean and moisture proof. It is best to do away with papers and cotton because these materials can be very absorbent of water. Keeping the seeds in a cool, dry jar will eliminate any risk for the seeds to rot or to develop some molds. The storage place should not be exposed under direct sunlight.
Acer palmatum has many different varieties that have different colors, leaf shapes, and growth habits. The tree openly pollinates, which means that seeds from a specific cultivar will not be an exact clone of the parent tree. For this reason, propagation f...
Dear Cereal Company President- According to our investigations, observations(data) and research from our PBIS textbook we recommend that if you want a slow and stable falling whirligig then the whirligig needs two paper clips on the stem and long blades.
Planting a wicked seed will grow onto become a tree and as the growth progresses, so does the
This gave rise to nonvascular plants like, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. The second period of plant evolution began 425 million years ago was the diversification of plants with vascular tissue allowing plants to grow much taller and rise above the ground. The next period of plant evolution is the origin of seeds, about 360 million years ago. Seeds are embryos packed along with food in a protective covering. Last is flowering plants about 140 million years ago, which is seeds within protective chambers called ovaries. Animal evolution begins when an animals egg and sperm fuse, producing a zygote. The zygote splits by mitosis and forms an blastula, which usually is a hollow ball of cells. One side of the blastula folds in forming a gastrula, which develops into an embryo with a two-layered wall and an opening on one end. After the gastrula stage animals develop into
UXL Encyclopedia of Science (2002), stated that seeds are a part of plant. It can be the cause for a new plant. When plants grow they will produce another set of seeds until the plants spread through the given space to them.
Every student in a lab section planted eight seeds, two in each cell in a quad, to make sure that we had at least one plant for each week for 4 weeks. After planting the seeds we put the plants on a water mat tray to make
To delve into the clockwork of this technology we must start from the beginning. A plant starts its life as a single celled organism; the sperm within pollen fertilizes an egg. This egg (cell) divides to form the tissues and organs of a species. As development proceeds cells grow unique of one another and change. Different cells make up different things (ex cells in the stalk of the plant are much different than those of the piston) and these differences are attributed to the fact the different amounts of proteins in each cell.
There is limited information in the literature on propagation of A. spicata. Dirr and Heuser (2006) found that warm and cold stratification of seeds promoted germination, although associated durations are not available. Softwood stem cuttings of A. spicata have also been successful when rooted in sandy soil, but the types of growth hormones and/or concentrations were not included (Dirr and Heuser,
This lesson is designed to review and reinforce a few important concepts about plants (e.g. Needs, parts, sequence of planting) and to also guide the students through applying a few scientific inquiry (e.g. Making observations, experimentation, discussion, reflection, reporting results etc.). The students have previously planted corn and bean seeds and today’s lesson has provided the students a chance to see the results of the planted corn and bean seeds. Additionally, seeds have been planted under and growing under the following conditions: without water, and without soil. The students see the results of these seeds planted under these conditions for the past week. Two plants in particular have already been grown their growth has been
In seedless watermelons, rudimentary seed structures form but remain small, soft, white, tasteless and undeveloped tiny seed coats that are eaten virtually undetected along with the flesh of the melon. Seed production for these seedless types is an extremely labor intensive process that makes the seeds relatively expensive. Because germination of these types is often less vigorous than normal types, it is recommended that they be started in peat pots or other transplantable containers. Here the germinating conditions can be closely controlled. Once transplanted, cultivation is similar to that for regular watermelons.
Seeds can move in many different in which some are by water, animals, and wind. The most easiest to conduct would be the wind and that is why we are using wind as the type of dispersal for the seed. In animals, seeds can be dispersed by barbs or other structures that can get tangled in the animal fur and the animals take the seed some other place until the seed gets untangled. Another way the animals can disperse seeds is when the seeds is digested and dropped through the anal after digesting the seed. Some animals bury seeds in the ground. Examples of these animals that do these type of seed dispersing include squirrels, birds, snails, and catfish. Water can disperse seeds by
Seed dispersal is the transport or movement of seeds away from the parent plant in order to help prevent the overcrowding (if this happens plants would not have enough food and light to survive in the area) and help to create new colonies. Thus giving the seed the best chance to germinate in a new location away from the parent plant and hopefully start new colonies. Due to the fact plants have limited mobility they rely on a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds via abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) vectors. There are five main methods of seed dispersal, animals, gravity, wind, ballistic and water (1). Fire is also another way for seeds to be dispersed but is not as common as the other methods.