Lemna Lab Report

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Population Growth: Effects of Lemna under numerous light and nutrient conditions Biology 1011-002 October 27, 2011 Introduction: One of the most important factors in population growth is resources. In most cases, population growth is limited and plant populations do not grow exponentially for very long (ETSU Dept. Bio, 2008). Limiting resources for a given population may include space for growth, nutrients, sunlight, weather conditions, pollinators, or hiding places from predators (ETSU Dept. Bio, 2008). The availability of these resources will determine the carrying capacity, the number of individuals that an environment can sustain (Campbell et al 2009). The amount of resources available and the population size are likely to be influenced when other species are present. With limited resources being available and having more than two species sharing those same limited resources population growth and size are more than likely going to be low. Plants that are grown under crowded conditions tend to be smaller and less likely to survive (Campbell et al 2009). In our class experiment, we observed the effects of nutrient and light availability on plant growth under four different nutrient and light conditions with Lemna sp. Lemna sp is also commonly known as duckweed. Lemna sp is a free-floating aquatic plant that undergoes continuous growth, therefore making it a perfect plant to model population growth (ETSU Dept. Bio, 2008). These plants have no stem and has anywhere from one to four leaf life structures called thallus (plural = thalli). It can reproduce by flowering and setting seed. When a new thallus has grown large enough and has roots, it then breaks of from the parent plant and grows separately (ETSU Dept. Bio, 2008). Its appearance can vary

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