Graphs Tropical Ecology Class

Three different types of graphs.

Lab #5 Tropical Ecology

Seed Germination and Productivity


Question: Can Plants germinate in the dark?
Hypotheses: Seeds can not germinate in the dark.
Treatments: Seeds germination in the light, and seeds germinate in the dark.
Control: Dark Germination.

Methods:

Get 6*6 tray
Radish seeds 
Dark soil
Add soil in the tray almost to the top
water the soil
plant for seeds of radish in each spot
Let one in the light,and other in the dark

Results

Seeds germination in the dark have a percent of 34.7% in this experiment (50/144*100=34.7%) 

Seeds germination in the light gave a percent of 38.19% (55/144*100=38.19%)

The difference between seed that germinated in the dark, and the seed that germinated in the light were the yellow color given for dark treatment, long, some of them without tip, and skinny seedlings, while the seeds in the light were green, in good shape, and ready to keep growing.

Why do the seeds germinate in the dark?

•  The seed germinates, because it is compost for an embryo which a plant produce with one leaf named monocotyledon, or two leaves named dicotyledon. The embryo have good amount of energy to make the seed open the shell, and germinate making at the same time the leaves go up looking for sun while the roots goes down reaching water, and soil nutrients. After the germination process the plant have utilized the sugar that was store in the little leaves of the embryo. It means that now the plant need to do photosynthesis to keep growing, if the plant stay in the dark it won't work the chloroplasts which have in it the chlorophyll, (the one that look green for us, or which we see green). [Tropical Ecology Shadia Duery. year 2014.]  

• The next graph shows the differences of the seedlings height, and clearly showing how much impact does the photosynthesis have in the growth of plants. At the same time this graph shows that our theory was wrong, because the seeds can germinate in the dark.

Seedlings Treatment and Height Comparison

This Graph represent the seedlings growth in comparison with treatment in the dark and light, showing that the dark treatment have the most growth.

The weight of the plants is very important when they are wet, and dry. It's a way to compared the net of a plant. The next graph shows the variation in weight for this experiment.

The seedlings weight was a little different, letting us know that seeds have the potential to germinated with light or without light, just with some differences.

• Color, the treatment in the dark was yellow, and the light treatment green.
• Size and shape, Dark treatment did have problems with tip of the seedlings or thinness, the light treatment was in good shape.

Lab #4 Tropical Ecology Sandy River(Marmot Dam Removal)

  Tropical Ecology (Field Trip to Sandy River, OR)                                                Jan 28, 2014

Around the Sandy river was the industry of logs for hundred years. Then PGE bout the land  and they build a dam called: Marmot Dam in 1930's. In 2007 the dam was destroyed, also the buildings. After that the Western River Conservation (non-profit organization) bought the land to give it to the government, which the purpose to make it public, and conserve the nature. Now in days, next to the river is a flat place where the buildings were, in which just some pieces of concrete remains from the dam. It is also a fact that make the soil compact, to plant trees the soil need a preparation process.

                                                                     

PGE people sell the place because, the license for the dam was almost expired, and they have to pay a lot money for it. At this time maybe they will have the request to build a pass for the salmon fish, thing that also will charge them millions of dollars. The demolition of the dam let amount about three years of sediments, because even that the dam was old some sediments were washed during that time through it. The Sandy river is called like that for the sediments that it always get from Mt. Hood, and the snow that melted up there. The people that was working in the removal of the dam inspect the area, and they didn't take any sediment out, they wait for the rain and the river do his work.   

Marmot dam Video 

The engineers knew that the river can handle it, because the studies that they did demonstrated that the river operated with a natural power. When the rain came they were amazing by the power of the water, in a day it was almost gone letting they see the button of the river, by the next rain the sediment was gone. It didn't have a big impact in the fish, because they travel river up to lay their eggs. The sediment that was left was found three miles downstream with little level of toxicity. Everything come to normal again, just the breech that was build to manage the dam stay in place, now it serve to cross the river and get to the old growth forest. 

   

The government, and Sandy Watershed Council  are developing a project in which the main goal is to build camp kiosks  information, bathrooms, tables, and the rich vegetation. Other people will build all of this things first, but in this case they are doing it backwards. The first step was prepare the soil, and plant mix of evergreen trees, to see which ones will survive at there. The answer to this is that the cedar are doing well while the others had die. Other people maybe will start the bathrooms and tables for people to come and stay there, but in this case the forest is important for this people to come.