How Light Intensity Effects Transpiration Rate in Mangrove Shoots Biology Eei Task

Year 10 EEI – Plant Investigation

The following assignment presented is based on the information and outcomes of an experiment conducted by Claire Dunne, Eilis Brien and myself about the effects of light intensity, representing the three seasons of summer, spring, autumn and winter, on the transpiration rate of mangrove shoots.

Abstract:
The overall aim of this report was the conduct an experiment based how different light intensity levels, representing the four seasons in a year: summer, spring, autumn and winter, affects the transpiration rate in a mangrove plant. To do this we had to set the 4 different beakers at different lengths apart, each beaker (from beaker 1 representing summer) placed further and further away from the desk lamp, beaker 4 representing winter. The weight of the plant was then measured to evaluate the transpiration levels and which season of the year fluctuates in transpiration levels.
Introduction:
The experiment conducted between the members of my group and I can be applied in a legitimate scenario regarding seasonal weather patterns within Australia, but in a less intense and more structured way. The aim of the experiment was to choose a variable, light intensity, and record the change of the transpiration rate in a mangrove plant when different intensities of light were used as the plants light source for two hours/test. The investigation showed what intensity, and essentially what season, of light increased and decreased the transpiration rate in mangrove plants. The variable we had chosen was hypothesised to provoke, in summer patterns, the transpiration rate of the mangrove shoot as an increase in light intensity means an increase in transpiration rates due to the opening of the stomata (WizzNotes 2011) – the process of transpiration is the evaporation of water from leaf faces in plants produced from water sources soaked up by the roots of the plant (U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 2013). The plants used throughout the experiment,

Bibliography: The website the United Nations University is an educational website operated around the university and has possession of many documents and reports written by professors at the university. The webpage 3.3 Biology of Mangroves was written by Professor Kathiresan on an unknown date but was last updated at the beginning of 2013. The information on the website is orientated around the topic on Mangrove plants and their growth, habitat, genetic variation, anatomy etc. The information on the website is cited by a bibliography at the end of the document and there appears to be no grammatical or spelling errors within the information whatsoever. The author has used scientific terminology and backed up his information with sources and there is a link on the home page of the website where you can contact the website and additionally the author has left his contact details. This meaning that the information throughout has a high level of reliability and accuracy within the information. There are neither biased views displayed throughout the information nor any commercial advertising at all throughout the paper written about the biology of mangroves and is written in third person – this meaning that the article was written without any biased intent. Although there is no evidence of peer viewing of the page, the author has a large background in that field of research and has already published many books and websites on the biology of different plants. This really emphasises that the information written was constructed by a reliable author with much experience in biology. The USGS (United States Geological Survey) website is a government based website providing information within in the website about worldly environmental issues e.g. agriculture, transport pollution and waste. The webpage sourced Transpiration is only a short document providing four different definitions behind the word transpiration. Below the information there are references provided and the information written is correctly sourced. The document has been updated within at least twelve months of its original publishing date and the author and contact details are provided, this meaning that the information is reliable and shows no copy write within. There is no spelling or grammatical errors within the page and all the given links work properly, meaning the page has a very high level or accuracy. Although the page only provides a limited amount of information, there are no biased or persuasive views neither there being any advertisements or pop ups at all through the website. The information provided on the page can be trusted and interoperated into my own words despite there being no given information of the page being peer viewed by a professional in the field of plant transpiration.