Winter Twig

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Results The tree of this study was chosen, and winter twig was identified using key given in lab. Initial properties of the winter twig were the brown sharp buds. It was determined to be an aspen tree by the coloration of the buds, along with the shape and texture. The twig had multiple buds along the branch and had three on the branch that was selected initially. The tree in the study was located outside of Beck hall and has access to sunlight, with partial cover from the building’s overhang. The tree was located next to multiple aspen trees that were also used as a comparison point to one another. The bud first starting to swell at the April 20th point and the length and width of the buds leveled out. Following the reaching of this threshold …show more content…

Specifically, we hypothesized that rates of development and growth would be affected by temperature and humidity because of alteration of growing conditions. To test this hypothesis, we monitored one tree and observed changes in growth compared to environmental variables over a six-week time period. Tree was measured once weekly to determine bud/leaf length in inches. Temperature, Wind, Humidity, and cloud cover data were recovered for every day of the six-week period. Aspen trees are known as fast growing trees when there is an increasing temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration (Tulles et al 2012). Growth of the tree occurred more substantially during times of higher temperature while remained stagnant in periods of moderate temperatures. Aspens roots can be damaged by severe cold, and early thaws and this would explain the delayed growth of the tree until there was a consistent temperature. The spring alternated between being mild and having snowstorms, and this made growth conditions for the tree inadequate. (Tyler 2013). This result of strengthened growth during periods of higher temperature supported our initial prediction. Sunlight was observed more during days of higher temperature than lower temperature. Sunlight is a component of the photosynthesis formula. With more sunlight, the trees are able to have more energy, which would also explain the expansive growth once there was a consistently higher temperature. This is likely due to the availability of sunlight to the tree during these times as higher temperature generally results in more sunlight. Root respiration is higher in areas of higher soil and air temperature, while radial growth is correlated with air temperature (Du and Fang

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