Ecoclogical analysis of the garden

What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors
Some abiotic factors our plant depended on to survive were soil, sunlight, water, temperature/climate. Some biotic factors are other plants competing for nutrients, sunlight, space, water, as well as other abiotic factors and also if the plants are receiving enough nutrients.
How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition?
Yes, my plant is engaged in competition. I know this because the space in which it was planted was a tightly constructed planter box. It was also planted with many other plants, so they are all competing for the abiotic factors i stated above against the other plants with them.
How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes?
It is not always definite which plants lose or win, since some plants have a life cycle shorter than that of another plant in competition of them. Ususally the plants that are the healthiest and grow the tallest or widest are the "winners" of the competition. Those who look malnourished, shorter or smaller are are the "losers" of the competition.
Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved.
Some plant and animals both benefit from being with each other, which is mutualism. An example of that happening with the plants in our garden is the bees taking the pollen from the plants, so the plants can more easily produce pollen quicker.  However, sometimes plants are harmed when working with another organism, because one organism is benefiting while the other is negatively affected. An example of this is aphids feeding on a plant. They are weakening the plant and take away the nutrients the plant needs to survive.
What evidence is there in the garden that succession (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession?
Succession can be noticed in an environment when new organisms grow on a land that had been previously housing other living plants that gt destroyed. Our plants are more secondary succession, because gardens had been planted where they are now previously and the plats had died or been transported somewhere else. It would not have been primary succession because that would mean that our plants started on fresh, brand new ground.

Analysis of garden JT

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factor
Factors our plant depends on are rocks, dirt, and sunlight and most important water. Some plants are better placed as others. Like so a desert but lucky for our plants they are in a rose bin but it sill has abiotic and biotic factors. Some biotic factors that affect our plant are others plants, insects and birds and the chicken, they are in there coop next to our project. our plants are always engaged in different types of interaction.
2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition?
Our plant is almost always in competition. We know by Different plants in the garden have the same biological niche as ours, and their are limited resources in the garden. The plants are competing for many things, including water, sunlight, and space. Space is very limited in the rose box, so it is one of the resources that is most competed for. The limited space also has an affect amount of sunlight available to our plants, because taller, more spread out plants could block other plants from getting any sunlight.
3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes?
Almost all plants can be a winner or a loser. Winners can be determined by which plant grows fully for as long as it can. Losers would be smaller plants that can’t get the resources they need, and therefore die first. It is not always clear cut as to who wins and who loses. It can be complicated because some plants naturally die faster than others. Other plants don’t grow very big, but are still winning against much bigger plants.
4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved.
One other interaction is pollination from bees. This is mutualism because the bees help the plants reproduce by pollinating them, and the plants produce nectar for the bees to eat. Another example could be insects including wormss that feed off of the plants. This relationship would be parasitic.
5. What evidence is there in the garden that succession (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession?
the plants are adapting to the garden ecosystem and growing where there was a existing garden. It seems more like secondary succession because primary succession starts on freash/new land. Secondary succession happens when there was already a community that was destroyed, like in the garden.

Biochemical cycles by JT

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant.  Our plants very spread out leaves; 38 cm tall and is 34 cm wide, with the leaves having a sort of dark mint green color. What I also noticed was that we have the biggest and tallest plant in the garden, therefore it tells us that it is getting enough of water and sunshine. Something else we observed was that some of the leaves have been munched on by our neighboring pests. We don't think they will have any affect knowing that our plant is growing very well and healthy and it will find a way to regenerate.

     2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do               your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants           this week?Our plant has to absorbs the water, then it releases it back into the atmosphere                 from the small pores in the underside of it's leaves. It is called transpiration. This is           letting the plant release the water it doesn't need so it doesn't drown or get too soggy           if that's a thing. Also, it may be the reason why it's leaves aren't a bright green like                 most plants. The amount of water it releases is sufficient for the plant to stay healthy             but not enough to give it that bright green other plants.  
   
     3.How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do  your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants         this week? They do this process called photosynthesis. This is where they absorb the carbon dioxide from the           atmosphere and mix it with water. Using the energy of the sun of course. During this             process, they also make their own food, this is why we have the biggest plant because  our plant is doing more of the photosynthesis 

     4.How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do          your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your                plants this week? The bacteria from our plant forms into  nitrogen in the soil into ammonia, this is                    called fixation. Then they go through the process of nitrification which lets the bacteria          turn the ammonium into nitrates which the plants can absorb through their roots.                    Plants need certain minerals for healthy and one of them being nitrate. Nitrates help              the plant make amino acids which are needed to make proteins.

Ecological Analysis of the Garden

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors

Some abiotic factors our plant depends on are soil, sunlight, and climate. Different plants are better suited for different climates because they need more water or cooler temperatures to survive. The amount of wind on a plant also has an affect on its growth, as shown in our initial experiment. Some biotic factors that affect our plant are others plants, insects and birds. They are engaged in different types of interaction.

2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition?

We know our plant is engaged in competition because other plants in the garden have the same biological niche as ours, and their are limited resources in the garden. The plants are competing for many things, including water, sunlight, and space. Space is very limited in the small garden box, so it is one of the resources that is most fiercely competed for. The limited space also has an affect amount of sunlight available to our plants, because taller, more spread out plants could block other plants from getting sunlight.

3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes?

Winners can be determined by which plant grows fully for as long as it can. Losers would be smaller plants that can’t get the resources they need, and therefore die first. It is not always clear cut as to who wins and who loses. It can be complicated because some plants naturally die faster than others. Other plants don’t grow very big, but are still winning against much bigger plants.

4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved.

Competition is just one of the different types of interaction that our plants are involved in. One other interaction is pollination from bees. This is mutualism because the bees help the plants reproduce by pollinating them, and the plants produce nectar for the bees to eat. Another example could be insects including aphids that feed off of the plants. This relationship would be parasitic.

5. What evidence is there in the garden that succession (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession?

The evidence that succession could be occurring in the garden is that the plants are adapting to the garden ecosystem and growing where there was a previously existing garden. It seems more like secondary succession because primary succession starts on new land. Secondary succession happens when there was already a community that was destroyed, like in the garden.

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant.  Our plant has grown very big and has very spread out leaves; 38 cm tall and is 34 cm wide, with the leaves having a sort of dark mint green color. What I also noticed was that we have the biggest and tallest plant in the garden, therefore it tells us that it is getting plenty of water and sunshine. Something else we observed was that some of the leaves have been munched on by our neighboring pests(insects). We don't think they will have any affect knowing that our plant is growing very well and healthy and it will find a way to regenerate.

     2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do               your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants           this week?Our plant absorbs the water, then releases it back into the atmosphere                 from the small pores in the underside of it's leaves. This is called transpiration. This is           letting the plant release the water it doesn't need so it doesn't drown or get too soggy           if that's a thing. Also, it may be the reason why it's leaves aren't a bright green like                 most plants. The amount of water it releases is sufficient for the plant to stay healthy             but not enough to give it that bright green other plants.  
   
     3.How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do           your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants         this week?  Plants are pretty much the starting point of the carbon cycle. They do this           process called photosynthesis. This is where they absorb the carbon dioxide from the           atmosphere and mix it with water. Using the energy of the sun of course. During this             process, they also make their own food, so I'm guessing that our plant is                               photosynthesizing exceptionally and that explains how it has grown so big. 

     4.How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do          your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your                plants this week? The bacteria turns the nitrogen in the soil into ammonia, this is                    called fixation. Then they go through the process of nitrification which lets the bacteria          turn the ammonium into nitrates which the plants can absorb through their roots.                    Plants need certain minerals for healthy and one of them being nitrate. Nitrates help              the plant make amino acids which are needed to make proteins. This must mean that            our plant has plenty of nitrogen in it's soil and enough bacteria to make these two                  processes which keeps it healthy and growing wonderfully.