Chandler Manusky

Group: Bio Cougars

Introduction:

Title: Impact of Salinity Concentration on Plant Mass

In this experiment testing salinity concentration on plant mass, it will be able to

determine if high salinity does in fact dehydrate the plant in the same way water levels do and

result in a decrease of mass. The lack of water causes dehydration and a decreased

photosynthetic rate in the resurrection fern. This same reaction will occur with too much salt

concentration as it will dry out the plant and result in a decreased mass of the plant. As such

saltwater will not allow for osmosis to properly occur or allow for a hypertonic situation to occur

and therefore draw water out of the plant, dehydrating it and lessening its overall mass. “Osmotic

stress symptoms are very similar to those of drought stress, and include stunted growth, poor

germination, leaf burn, wilting and possibly death” (McCauley and Jones, 2005). It can be

hypothesized that if lack of water causes a plant to shrivel up and decrease in mass, then the

overexposure to a higher salinity solution will trigger the same dehydration reaction and decrease

the mass (g). The cutoff of water to plants will cause such plant to shrivel up and lead to a

decrease in mass is already shown in how the resurrection fern works. Water weight works the

same in humans as it does in plants. If there is a buildup of excess water in a plant or human, the

mass in grams of a human or plant automatically increases as a result. Therefore, if a plant were

to be exposed to an overexposure to an environment with a higher salinity then such a concept

similar to hypertonic environment will occur. This hypertonic environment will occur from the

increased solute concentration on the outside of the plant to draw the water out using the process

of osmosis. Osmosis occurs because the cell walls in plants are semi-permeable membranes and
allow for water to easily diffuse, but not large molecules like sodium and chlorine ions when salt

dissolves. Therefore water travels and diffuses in order to create an equilibrium. However, the

more salt there is in the outer environment, the higher the osmotic pressure, and the faster the

lose of water resulting in a shriveling and decrease in mass (Deziel, 2019). This means the cells

and plant overall would shrivel up and therefore mass would be decreased as the plant becomes

dehydrated and loses its water from the environment present.

Key:
Yellow: Research Question
Red: Biological Justification
Purple: Hypothesis
Light Blue: Hypothesis Justification

Procedure:

Obtain two resurrection ferns of close size. Record observations of the qualitative measurements

of the plants. Measure the plant's mass on a scale and record such measurements. Place one in a

concentration of pure water with a pH of 7 and one plant in a pH of 2 which is much more acidic

than the plant’s environment. Let the plants sit in the water for 24 hours. After 24 hours, remove

the plants from both solutions and record observations of the qualitative status of the plants.

Lightly and delicately dry the plants with a paper towel. Zero out both scales and measure the

mass of both plants in grams. Record the observations and repeat trials 3 times with new plants

and new water. The control group is the plants which are placed in pH of pure water, while the

sampling size is two plant per trial, but eight plants in total for all trials. The independent

variable is the pH variation, while the dependent variable is the mass (g) of the plants. Sampling

bias here is very limited as there is no way for one of us to skew it towards another side or favor

one side, it is all equal.

Research:
Deziel, C. (2019, March 2). Why does drinking salt water dehydrate you? Sciencing. Retrieved

September 26, 2021, from https://sciencing.com/drinking-salt-water-dehydrate-you-

6454208.html.

McCauley, A., & Jones, C. (2005). SALINITY & SODICITY MANAGEMENT. Soil and Water

Management . Retrieved September 26, 2021, from

https://landresources.montana.edu/swm/documents/Final_Proof_SW2.pdf.