Invasive Species

The five criteria I chose to judge the different species were:
-Reduces/threatens native species in invaded area
-Interference with agriculture
-Spreads/transmits diseases
-Threatens the invaded habitat
-Rate of reproduction

These characteristics are ones that many invasive species possess and use to affect the environment and people in their native and invaded areas.  Using these characteristics, I can measure the degree of harmfulness of each species.   As I read through the profiles of several invasive species I noticed that these characteristics appeared in many of them and impacted the environment greatly, therefore, I chose these five characteristics to be my criteria.

I first went to www.issg.org and noticed that there was a section containing 100 of the worst invasive species.  Using this list I gathered not all, but several of the invasive species that affected South America and that I used to determine the worst.  As I looked at the profile of each species, I payed more attention to the section "Impact Info," which showed me how the species impacted different parts of the environment and society and in some cases precisely where the environment was affected and how it was affected in that area.  This section helped me compare the five species I found.

As I analyzed the data I collected, it was easy to eliminate the Aedes aegypti, Cervus elaphus, and Herpestes auropunctatus.  Why was it so easy for me to eliminate these species?  These species did not affect each characteristic as negatively and badly as the final two species did.  The two final species that I will be bringing to class are the Cyrprinus carpio and the Bemisia tabaci.  As I read through many sources about the impacts on the environment of these species, I notices that these species greatly affected all the characteristics that I chose easily.  These two species most negatively affected those characteristics as well. These species destructed the environment in many ways, carried diseases, interfered with agriculture, harmed the native species of the invaded area, and reduced/slowed the rate of reproduction.  In the end, I decided to enter Cyrprinus carpio in the competition.  Cyrprinus carpio is also known as common carp.

Is the Indian Embassy Field Biologically Diverse?

I believe that the Indian Embassy Field is biologically diverse based on three pieces of data we acquire last class.  First, the Simpson's Diversity Index for the field we collected our plants from was 0.095.  Knowing what I learned last class,  0 means infinite diversity and 1 means no diversity. Since 0.095 is very close to zero, this shows that the field is very diverse.  Second, the Simpson's Index of Diversity for the field .905  This time, it is a bit different.  0 means no diversity and 1 means infinite diversity. Like the data showed before, .905 is very close to 1, the number representing infinite diversity.  Lastly, the Simpson's Reciprocal Index of Diversity is 10.515. In this case, 1 represents no diversity.  The maximum number in this case is 56, the total number of species.  Even though 10.515 is not that close to 56, there is still some diversity.  Based on the size of the field, 56 species is quite a lot.  I'm sure if our class was to go out and collect plants again, we might be able to find 56 more species. In conclusion, based not the data we collected the Indian Embassy Field is biologically diverse. 

Seconds Looks and Accurate Measurements!

Last Monday, August 29th, we spent most of our class outside.  This time we didn’t just observe the basic characteristics of our plants, but measured many other factors such as height, crown size, and pH of the soil.  While I was sitting by my plant, I observed many basic changes in it since we had last worked with it.  The first measurement I took was the height of my plant, which was 86.8 centimetres.  I then measured the crown of my plant, which was 76.7 centimetres.  For the next measurement, I picked four leaves off my plant.  I made sure these leaves were located at different places on my plant.  I first measured the sunlight at I got 74743. The first leaf I picked was on the top-right of my plant, therefore, most likely receiving more sun.  The amount of sunlight that leaf absorbed was 4062.  This leaf was very dark compared to the others.  I then measured the sunlight again and got 74812.  I found the second leaf on the top-left section of my plant.  The amount of sunlight this leaf had absorbed was 3162.  This leaf was mainly green.  Once again, I measured the sunlight and got 74382.  The third leaf was located in the inside of my plant on the right.  The amount of sunlight this leaf had absorbed was 1777.  This plant was light green with hints of brown.  The fourth and last leaf was located on the bottom of my plant towards the middle.  This time when I measured to sunlight, I got 65990 and the amount of sunlight this leaf had absorbed was 665.  This leaf was completely dark green.  As you see, the measurement for the sunlight decreased as the day progressed and the farther down the leaf was, the lower the amount of sunlight absorbed was.  I then measured the pH of the soil and got 6.82 meaning it is acidic.  This showed that the soil surrounding my plant had high concentrations of Copper, Zinc, Sulphur, Manganese, Potassium, Phosphorous, and Nitrogen.  It was also on the borderline of Calcium and Magnesium.  The sizes of the branches/trunks of my plant varied.  There were some very nutrient-rich, thick branches/trunks and there were some thinner ones as well.  The first branch/trunk I measured had a diameter of 1.204 centimetres.  This was the thinnest branch/trunk of my plant.  The second branch/trunk had a diameter of 2.23 centimetres.  This was the thickest branch/trunk of my plant.  The diameter of the third branch/trunk I measured was 1.31 centimetres and lastly, the diameter of the fourth branch/trunk was 1.66 centimetres.  These measurements would leave me with an average of 1.6 centimetres. 

There were also some basic observations I found quite interesting.  Lots of the flowers had fallen of my plant.  This could be a result of the lack of rain or the lack of pollination.  I also observed that the branches/trunks of my plant had gotten a lot thicker.  This shows that the branches/trunks had gained more nutrients and water, but like I said in my last sentence, there is obviously a lack of rain in Brasilia this time of year.  This would lead me to the conclusion that my plant is being watered quite regularly.  

The real question is, what is the importance of measuring our plants?  As I remember the first few days of school, I remember receiving this assignment.  I remember on of the main goals of this assignments being to observe the changes in our plants throughout the year.  If we do not measure our plants consistently, we will not know the change that has occurred. These measurements will also help us assess what our plant needs, just like a doctor or nurse examines us and then prescribes us with antibiotics.  We would be “prescribing” our plants with water or nutrients. 

*I do have recent pictured of my plant, but blogger would not let me upload them.  I'l try again tomorrow and upload the pictures as soon as I can.

Breeding Bunnies: DIscussion Questions

1.  What was your original hypothesis?

My original hypothesis was, "If the trait is needed to survive, in this case sparse fur, then over generations, the desirable trait will become more common and the non desirable traits will die out."

2. Based on your lab data, do you need to change your hypothesis? Explain.

No, I did not need to change my hypothesis, because my data showed that the rabbits with thick and normal fur died over generations, while the rabbits with sparse fur survived.

3. Compare the number of alleles for the dominant characteristics with the number of alleles for the recessive characteristics.

At first, the benumbed of dominant alleles and recessive alleles was equal, but as generations passed, the number of recessive alleles decreased.  After the first generation, there was always for dominant alleles.

4. Compare the frequencies of dominant alleles to the frequencies of the recessive alleles.

At first, the frequency of the dominant alleles to the frequency of the recessive alleles was equal.  But by the second generation, the frequency of the dominant alleles was always quite a bit higher.

5. In a real rabbit habitat new animals often come into the habitat (immigrate), and others leave the area (emigrate).  How might emigration and immigration affect the gene frequency of F and f in this population of rabbits? How might you simulate this effect if you were to repeat this activity? 
If a new species of rabbits with different fur comes in, the rate of getting more and more sparse -haired rabbits may slow down.  This other species may become dominant over the sparse haired rabbits as well.  i would have to introduces another type of rabbit, meaning in order to simulate this, I would have to introduce another bean (perhaps yellow).  If enough sparse-haired rabbits leave the ares, then another type of rabbit may dominate the area.  If a completely different species of animal comes into the ares, they could possibly be predators and then the rabbit population might die out.

6.How do your results compare with the clss data? If significantly different, why are they different? 
My results were quite alike to the class because even though their dominant characteristic might have been different, the recessive characteristic eventually died out while the dominant characteristic survived.

How are the results of this simulation an example of evolution? 
One factor needed to evolve is variation.  The variation in this case is the type of fur.  Depending on th type of fur the rabbit has, it will or will not survive.  The main factor that drove evolution in this case was fur type.