Interspecific and Intraspecific Competition of Carrots and Lawn Grass in the Ecosystem (Essay Sample)

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Interspecific and Intraspecific Competition of Carrots and Lawn Grass in the Ecosystem
Abstract
This paper revolves around the investigation on the importance and the effects of both intraspecific and interspecific competition among different plants. The plants used in this experiment were the carrot and the lawn grass in a mixed population. Indeed the resources in the ecosystem are in limited supply. The paper is divided into several sections with the introduction, methods, results discussion and the conclusion section. The introduction has the aims and objectives plus a short historical background. The methods will provide the materials and the procedure used while the results section contains the data collected and a few descriptions to the data. Finally the discussion section will answer the discussion questions of the paper. The conclusion gives the end product remarks on the viability of the experimental procedure in general. The issue in the paper eventually calls for a stiff competition for the limited resources by the organisms that inhabit such ecosystems. From this, competition therefore, is defined as the interaction that is always very detrimental to both the participants. This is as much as the competition escalates will there be very limited supply of these resources into the same ecosystem. In most natural habitats, the population of such animals is usually regulated by the limited supply of resources in the same habitats or ecosystems.
Introduction
Most resources in the ecosystem are in limited supply. This thus calls for a stiff competition for the limited resources by the organisms that inhabit such ecosystems. From this, competition therefore, is defined as the interaction that is always very detrimental to both the participants. This is as much as the competition escalates will there be very limited supply of these resources into the same ecosystem. In most natural habitats, the population of such animals is usually regulated by the limited supply of resources in the same habitats or ecosystems. It is not a must that the competition between individuals of an ecosystem is always present, but this phenomenon usually crop up once the resources in these areas lie in limited supply as compared to the number and size of the population that really require them (Batra 67).
Two types of competition are present in the ecology field. These are intraspecific competition and the interspecific competition. The intraspecific competition occurs between members of the same species and in close proximity in an ecosystem while the interspecific competition occurs between different members of specie in a population in close proximity. The interspecific competition clarifies that should two competing members of a population co exist together, yet they are not interbreeding, then one population must be wiped away. However, this will only take place if the two species share a common ecological niche and resources are shared among the very species in a very competitive way as expected. All in all, these two opposing populations may partition this same environment and co exists together without wiping out one of the species in the ecosystem. The reverse only happens when such competitive situations are taken to the extreme.
Under the peaceful co existence of such organisms, each one will simply specialize in a way to take part just a portion of the environment in a rather competitive environment where all of the organisms would rush in order to compete for the limited resources in the ecosystem. An example would when plants tend to compete for the same resources like light, carbon dioxide and water plus the limited resources in soil, then they adopt mechanisms like deep roots or different maturity times in season in order to avoid such unnecessary competitions. Competition among the higher plants look much easier to study in most ecological niches as these plants are always stationery and may not move to other places or ecosystems should competition in such areas grow to some unimaginable heights. Therefore, there is the need for better adaptation survival during competitions from plants as opposed to the animals that will merely migrate to other ecosystems should competition grow rife (Batra 60).
There have great strides in the development of the agricultural sector owing to both the interspecific and intraspecific competition among different plants. Indeed most biotechnology researches are purely based on this phenomenon and a number of new survival tactics are yearly being invented as a result of the competition among different plant species. This is because most plants are grown in a way that they have to maximize the limited available resources in the environment in one way or the other depending on the locality and environment in which the plant is localized.
Biotechnologists use this mechanism to use the limited resources at their disposal for the best economic gain so far. This is what evidently yields the so called Genetically Modified Organisms (The GMOs). It is however, important to be very cautious in such activities in order to avoid any mishaps or overexploitation of these plant reserves in the ecosystem. Overexploitation would great reduce the yields in the near future. The limited availability of the ground resources on the surface of the earth leads to the increased biomass allocation to the roots of these plants and at the same time the shades lead to the biomass allocations in the leaves. This explains the reasons as to why the competition of the allocation of biomass tends to be equal for both below the ground and above the ground (Batra 98).
Aims and Objectives of the Study
The paper aims at the understanding and underscoring the effects of both interspecific and intraspecific competition in the plant ecosystems. It seeks to address the reasons behind the intraspecific competition in plants where these plants are influenced by their mode of feeding in the growth and the biomass allocation in each and every plant in an ecosystem. Hypothetically, one would imagine that if the resources in an ecosystem are limited, then with the number and size of organisms outweighing this ecosystem; probably an imbalance in the feeding relationship between these plants would inevitable. This is because as much as the plants are growing in number does their competition increases especially to the underground biomass of the soil on the surface of the earth.
This takes a different twist from what is believed to existing in the animals kingdom as the animals are never stationery at a specific ecosystem, but could from ecosystem to ecosystem to counteract the effects of the great competition poised by the increase in the number of competing species in the same environment. This implies the below biomass allocation on the roots would be greater in order for the plants to compete better in this ecosystem if these plants are competing for the resources that are underground like minerals, water and other important ions in the ground. The same would be echoed for the plants that compete for the resources allocation above underground as they would be expected to have a larger and weird biomass allocation in the shoots of the plants. These two major issues form the hypothesis to this paper.
The other important aim of the paper is to evaluate and investigate the effect of the intraspecific competition among plants especially in terms of the population number and size of these plants. Could this take the same phenomenon taken by the animals in one way or another? Specifically for this practical, we will use two plant species that are the grass and the carrot. These plants would be grown in the same pot that would act the as the main ecosystem or habitat to these plants. The plants will utilize their total productivity from the same pot.
The pot acts as an ecosystem with very limited resources and the plants have to compete for the same limited resources just as it would happen in a normal natural ecosystem. This tries to investigate the fact as to whether the population in an ecosystem with limited resources will hold a population whether just one big plant in the pot or a number of smaller plants in the same pot. Finally the paper aims at investigating the effect of the interspecific competition. It tries to investigate as to whether the presence of another plant in the ecosystem will adversely affect the production of a species in the same ecosystem. Could this same effect be dependent on the density of the other population in this same ecosystem?
Materials and Methods
The materials and requirements for this practical study comprised of the main target plant species in the experiment that was the domestic carrot (Daucus Carota). The growth and behaviour of this carrot plant concentrated on the study on the population changes in the ecosystem that was the pot. The interspecific competition existed between the carrot and the lawn grass. This lawn grass is a cross breed between the perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and the blue grass Kentucky (Poa pratensis).
Experimental Procedure
Six treatments were set up just at the begging of the month of June. These consisted of one, four or sixteen carrot plants per pot. They were either combined with or without grass. This is illustrated in the diagrams on figure 1. The grasses consisted of 2 mg premium seed lawn grass mixture which was made from the mixture or cross breed between perennial ryegrass and that of blue grass Kentucky. Each of the treatments was replicated about four times giving a total of twenty four pots of the treatments. To maintain reliability and accuracy in the results, the pots were all of the same size and shape. The trials were collected and the values of measurement provided in tables that were used in the calculations of the measures of central ...