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.