Intraspecific Competition of Mung Beans
Investigating the effect of intraspecific competition on the growth of mung beans
Introduction
When plants reproduce, size is highly correlated with reproductive. The struggle for reproductive survival among plants is the struggle to grow in the face of competition from neighbours. So the question this experiment asks is how competition affects the growth of plants. A plant growing in a nutrient-abundant environment free from competition will exhibit maximum growth.
One way to address this question is to grow the organism alone in controlled environment and grow organisms in another controlled environment in the laboratory. Such laboratory experiments can manipulate population density as well as environmental factors such as nutrients and light.
In the experiment, density (ie. no. of organisms) will be varied. We will use mung beans, as the experimental units. In the experiment, plants will be grown in monospecific plots.
Growth and development of plants occurring in soil habitats may be determined by a combination of abiotic and biotic factors. Competition affects biomass production mung beans in soil. Increases in plant density may lead to an asymmetric frequency distribution of plants in which there are a few large individuals and numerous small plants or to a symmetrical competitive response in which all individuals have an equal decline in biomass production. In the case of asymmetric distribution, size variation among plants generally increases when there is competition for light because larger individuals may reduce light available to smaller individuals and thus suppress their growth. Smaller individuals might be lost due to high density-dependent mortality, because mung beans have relatively high light requirements.
Intraspecific competition is reported to reduce biomass production in mung bean plant in both field and laboratory investigations. Although much is known about the whole plant response to intraspecific competition, little is known about the
Introduction
When plants reproduce, size is highly correlated with reproductive. The struggle for reproductive survival among plants is the struggle to grow in the face of competition from neighbours. So the question this experiment asks is how competition affects the growth of plants. A plant growing in a nutrient-abundant environment free from competition will exhibit maximum growth.
One way to address this question is to grow the organism alone in controlled environment and grow organisms in another controlled environment in the laboratory. Such laboratory experiments can manipulate population density as well as environmental factors such as nutrients and light.
In the experiment, density (ie. no. of organisms) will be varied. We will use mung beans, as the experimental units. In the experiment, plants will be grown in monospecific plots.
Growth and development of plants occurring in soil habitats may be determined by a combination of abiotic and biotic factors. Competition affects biomass production mung beans in soil. Increases in plant density may lead to an asymmetric frequency distribution of plants in which there are a few large individuals and numerous small plants or to a symmetrical competitive response in which all individuals have an equal decline in biomass production. In the case of asymmetric distribution, size variation among plants generally increases when there is competition for light because larger individuals may reduce light available to smaller individuals and thus suppress their growth. Smaller individuals might be lost due to high density-dependent mortality, because mung beans have relatively high light requirements.
Intraspecific competition is reported to reduce biomass production in mung bean plant in both field and laboratory investigations. Although much is known about the whole plant response to intraspecific competition, little is known about the