• Presentation about Plant competition

experiment (Simon)
Practical • Includes a video of the practical steps
• Questions are provided to make you think and
Class – provoke some feedback via ‘chat’ – this is not a
Wednesday Quiz.
• Instructions about writing up the experiment
27th January, and results for assessment

2-3.30
• Walk through the Unit handbook and
description of the Assessments (Paul)
Population Ecology:

Intra-specific
competition in plants
Ecology 6F4Z1104

January – February 2021

Background
Intra-specific competition
‘a biological interaction between two or more individuals of the
same species with a shared requirement for a resource in short
supply’
distinguish from
Inter-specific competition - occurs between individuals of
different species
Background ii
• The growth of plants is very ‘plastic’ in that the size a plant reaches is
largely determined by environmental factors such as: Nutrients, Water,
Light within limits set by its genotype.
• Competition affects a plant’s access to consumable resources and the
conditions in which it is growing. The spatial density of plants
determines the level of competition. The focus of this activity is on
plant population density as a factor affecting plant growth.
• Here we grow a common salad herb, radish, at different population
densities and we measure the size of the plants and the plant organs
that result.
• Since competition affects individuals, we will concentrate on the
effect of competition on the size of individual radish plants.
THIS document (and presentation) is the
Radish Experiment Worksheet to accompany
Clare’s Video
https://mmutube.mmu.ac.uk/media/Intrasp
ecific+competition+in+plants+-+Ecology+6F4
Z1104/1_ev34q3a0

The video is a few minutes long. The timings (e.g.

1:20) refer to the time on the video
(minutes:seconds) that the comment/question
refers to.
Introduction (0:8)

• What is the difference between Intra and Inter-specific competition?

• Latin name for radish?

• Name one crop plant family relative of radish crops and one wild plant
relative
Aim of lab (0:12)
How will increased planting density affect individual plant growth?
Which is more likely to happen? 1, 2 or 3?

• Write this as a hypothesis:

1
• Re-write a null hypothesis:
2
Mass per plant

Planting density
 Experimental design (0:26)
• Planting density is seeds per pot. As the pot surface area is 143 cm2
(= 0.0143 m2) calculate the six planting densities in seed per m2
Seeds/pot 1 2 4 8 16 32
Seeds/m2 70 140 280 560 1120 2240

• What is the reason for replicating the experiment?

• What is a good number of replicates?
•2
•3
• As many as possible (within reason) ?
Sowing the seed (0:50)

• What conditions and resources do seeds need for germination?

• What is peat-free compost?

• What is peat?
• Why is it important to not use peat?
• A.
• B.
• What materials can replace peat in peat free compost?
Greenhouse growing environment (1:17)
• Why is it important to arrange plants in a spatially random
manner?
• Often, we use either:
• (i) completely randomized design or
• (ii) randomized block design
• Find out what is the difference between (i) and (ii)
north
1 2 32 2 8 2 2 8 1 2
4 8 1 16 1 16 32 4 4 8
16 32 4 8 4 32 16 1 16 32

32 2
1 16
Greenhouse pot layout 4 8
using a
Randomised block design 2 8
32 1
16 4

Door
2 8
32 1
2 8 2 32 32 2 1 2 16 4
32 4 8 4 1 16 4 8
16 1 16 1 4 8 16 32
Greenhouse growing environment (1:17)
• According to the book Ecology* plants grow under certain conditions
and consume certain resources.
• Name some conditions in this environment

• Name some resources in this environment

• How might an increase in plant density influence

(i) the conditions, and
(ii) the availability of resources?

* (by Begon, Townsend and Harper, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, see book resource on Moodle)
 Greenhouse growing environment (1:17)
• Plants in the greenhouse received
natural light plus supplementary
light from electric lamps.
• The most important form of light
energy that plants receive is called
photosynthetically active radiation
(PAR).
• What is the range of wavelengths of
PAR?
• And the unit of wavelength
measurement?
Harvest of the radish plants (1:55)
• What is the botanical name of the part of the plant that is
commercially harvested?
• In the natural world (in the wild) what would be function of
this organ?

• What are the main functions of the leaves?

• List 4 functions of the roots in a typical plant?

 Health and Safety – Risk Assessment
• Each time we do an experiment
we must consider the hazards
involved. Then we must think of
what measures we can take to
control and reduce the risk that
we will be harmed.
• Having watched the video and
• This is always written down on a
risk assessment form and agreed thought about the experiment
by experienced staff and you can do the following:
explained to the students in class • List some potential (but realistic)
hazards of doing this experiment
• List the likely control measures
The Results (- what happened?) (2:00)
• In the video, Clare observed that the individual plant size appeared to
change as the density increased. How did it change – were they
getting large or smaller? (We will examine this in detail when you
analyse the data)

• Let’s look at the results from last year (2020) in MS-EXCEL and draw
some graphs to get an idea about what has happened.
 Results: table of data for shoot growth
Mean
Actual Shoot
Number Shoot Total shoot Fresh
Number Plant Per Length fresh mass Mass From Rahul’s data, increasing density
Group ID Sown Pot mm g/pot g/plant appeared to result in:
Rahul 1 1 203 12.5 12.5
Rahul 2 2 190 18.3 9.15 • lower germination
Rahul 4 3 265 17.67 5.89
Rahul 8 7 189 39.2 5.6 • decrease in shoot mass
Rahul 16 11 160 54.01 4.91
Rahul 32 21 292 74.55 3.55 • shoot length not clearly
affected

Divide shoot mass in

the pot by actual the
number of plants
 Table of data for all plant parts
(just for Rahul’s group)

Shoot Root Radish Total Plant

Actual Total Mean
Number Total Shoot Mean Shoot Total Root Mean Root Hypocotyl Hypocotyl Total Plant Total Plant
Number Plant Per Shoot fresh mass Fresh Mass Fresh Mass Fresh Mass Fresh Mass Fresh Mass Fresh Mass Fresh Mass
Group ID Sown Pot Length mm g/pot g/plant g/pot g/plant g/pot g/plant g/pot g/plant

Rahul 1 1 203 12.5 12.5 0.27 0.27 35.2 35.2 47.97 47.97

Rahul 2 2 190 18.3 9.15 1.44 0.72 18.78 9.39 38.52 19.26

Rahul 4 3 265 17.67 5.89 1.71 0.57 8.1 2.7 27.48 9.16

Rahul 8 7 189 39.2 5.6 1.68 0.24 37.8 5.4 78.68 11.24

Rahul 16 11 160 54.01 4.91 6.38 0.58 25.3 2.3 85.58 7.78

Rahul 32 21 292 74.55 3.55 11.34 0.54 18.9 0.9 104.79 4.99
 Draw a Scatter graph in Excel
Mean Mean
Actual Shoot Mean Root Hypocotyl
Number Fresh Fresh Fresh Total Fresh
Number Plant Per Shoot Mass Mass Mass Mass
Group ID
Rahul
Sown
1
Pot
1
Length mm g/plant
203 12.5
g/plant
0.27
g/plant
35.2
g/plant
47.97 Effect of plant density on mean shoot mass
Rahul 2 2 190 9.15 0.72 9.39 19.26
Rahul 4 3 265 5.89 0.57 2.7 9.16 35
Rahul 8 7 189 5.6 0.24 5.4 11.24
Rahul 16 11 160 4.91 0.58 2.3 7.78
Rahul 32 21 292 3.55 0.54 0.9 4.99
30
LEGS 1 1 250 16.27 3.8 27.2 47.27
LEGS 2 2 230 14.3 6.8 13.8 34.89
LEGS 4 4 235 10.61 2.04 3.81 16.46
25

Shoot mass (g/plant)

LEGS 16 15 213 3.23 1.21 2.86 7.3
LEGS 32 23 235 2.77 0.34 0.61 3.72
From F 1 1 21 12.23 1.48 1.37 15.08
From F 2 2 28.9 20.75 3.14 14.51 38.39
20
From F 8 8 22.3 8.14 2.01 0.91 11.06
From F 16 12 18.6 1.22 1.24 0.48 2.94
From F 32 24 18 3.94 0.64 0.98 5.56
15
George, Nadia, Hafsah,
Gabi 2 1 126 2.85 0.4 0.17 3.42
George, Nadia, Hafsah, 10
Gabi 4 2 200 6.44 0.93 19.58 26.95
George, Nadia, Hafsah,
Gabi 8 7 198 7.78 0.51 1.29 9.58 5
George, Nadia, Hafsah,
Gabi 16 13 189 4.85 0.85 1.54 7.24
George, Nadia, Hafsah, 0
Gabi 32 29 215 2.48 0.4 0.3 3.19 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
ben cari chloe julianne 1 1 300 12.99 2.54 59.39 74.92
ben cari chloe julianne 2 2 277 13.47 2.86 1 17.33
ben cari chloe julianne 4 4 272 13.33 3.65 14.08 31.05
Density (plants/pot)
ben cari chloe julianne 8 8 175 7.58 2.1 6.11 15.79
ben cari chloe julianne 16 13 194 7.18 1.54 3.88 12.59
ben cari chloe julianne 32 23 110 5.57 0.46 0.64 6.67

Part of the raw data set...

Using a scatter graph to explore the data, we get an idea
There were 12 groups – i.e. 12 replicates of the result and can identify odd/strange data points
 Effect of planting density on radish plant growth
Mean Shoot Fresh Mass g/plant Mean Hypocotyl Fresh Mass g/plant
35 70

30 60

radish mass (g/plant)

Shoot mass (g/plant)
25 50

20 40

15 30

10 20

5 10

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Density (plants/pot) Density (plants/pot)

Mean Root Fresh Mass g/plant Total Fresh Mass g/plant

9 80
8 70

Total plant mass (g/plant)

7 60
Root mass (g/plant)

6
50
5
40
4
30
3
2 20

1 10
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Density (plants/pot) Density (plants/pot)
Discussion: interpreting the Results
• Did the results agree with the hypothesis?
• Was this true for all plant parts? :
• Shoots
• Roots
• Hypocotyl (radish)
• Total plant

• How can we explain the change in plant mass with increasing competition?
• Think about the changes in resources and conditions caused by competition
• Do plants (or animals and microbes) interact and compete in other ways?
The written report
The report should be in the format of a short paper of between 800 to 1200 words of text plus tables and
figures as appropriate (word count excludes words in the references and the captions of tables and
figures). The sections are:
 
1. Introduction: Background information with some supporting academic references (author, date)
2. Aim and Objectives
3. Method: A short but detailed description of the method
4. Results: A description of the results of the class data. Include some graphs and tables of the results
and statistical analysis.
5. Discussion: discuss the results and use the statistical analysis to decide if the plant growth changed
with sowing density. Describe the changes in size of the plant parts (positive or negative or no change)
and suggest the mechanism that may be the cause of any such change. Relate your results and
discussion to previously published results of similar experiments in the literature.
6. Reference list

For general instructions on reporting Lab practical classes, please see Unit Handbook.
Please attend the data analysis workshop next week.
 Aim and Objectives
Aim: to make a carrot cake

Objectives (these are the tasks

needed to achieve the aim):

1. Find a recipe
2. Assemble ingredients and tools
and equipment
3. Mix and bake cake
4. Make and add icing & nuts
5. Evaluate the quality of the cake
 How do you use published literature in your
scientific report?

a. In the introduction – show previous research on this topic (not only with radish!);
what is the current state of knowledge and what are the gaps in knowledge?

b. In the discussion, compare your results with similar published experiments (again
not just about radish), use previous research to help explain your results

c. If in doubt about how to use the literature, read any scientific paper and see how it
is done!
Also: Consult: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/library/referencing
 Examples of use of referencing in scientific papers
Use of references in an Introduction:

“For example, little is known about how plants change biomass allocation patterns in response to
below‐ground competition. Many plants respond to shading by other plants by changing shoot
architecture and biomass allocation (Schmitt & Wulff 1993; Aphalo et al. 1999), and can alter
root : shoot ratios (Reynolds & Antonio 1996), root architecture (Fitter & Stickland 1991) or
uptake capacity (Jackson & Caldwell 1991) in response to low soil resource availability. Plants can
also alter fine root growth in response to the presence of neighbouring plants (Gersani et al. 2001
), and competition in general can alter plant rooting depths (Wardle & Peltzer 2003). Studies
describing changes in root allocation specifically in response to below ‐ground competition are
rare.”
Use of references in a Discussion:

“When neighbouring roots altered target plant growth, their effects were generally negative (Fig. 1b).
Four of the 10 target species showed a significant effect of below ‐ground competition on plant
growth, and 9 of the 10 species had a trend in that direction (Fig. 1b). These results are consistent
with prior studies, with Gerry & Wilson (1995) and Cahill (2002a) finding no evidence of facilitation
through root interactions for any of their 10 species, and Wilson & Tilman (1995), who found only
trends towards facilitative effects and even then for only two of the eight species in their undisturbed
plots.”
Cahill, J.F. (2003) Lack of relationship between below-ground competition and allocation to roots in 10 grassland species. Journal of Ecology, 91, 532–540.
 References – how to list them at the end of the
References
report
(do not include URL – web address - for journals and books, only for web pages)

Cahill, J.F. (2003) Lack of relationship between below-ground competition and allocation to roots in 10 grassland species. Journal of
Ecology, 91, 532–540.

Enquist, B., Brown, J. & West, G. (1998) Allometric scaling of plant energetics and population density. Nature 395, 163–165.

Hodgson, G. L. & Blackman, G. E. (1956) An Analysis of the Influence of Plant Density on the Growth of Vicia faba: I. The influence of
density on the pattern of development. Journal of Experimental Botany, 7(2) pp. 147-165.

Schmitt, J., Ehrhardt, D.W. & Cheo, M. (1986) Light-Dependent Dominance and Suppression in Experimental Radish Populations. Ecology,
67, 1502-1507.

Smith, F.R. (2011)  A rapid demonstration of the self-thinning rule using radish, South African Journal of Plant and Soil, 28, 134-135.

Wang, P., Weiner, J., Cahill, J.F., Jr, Zhou, D.W., Bian, H.F., Song, Y.T. and Sheng, L.X. (2014) Shoot competition, root competition and
reproductive allocation in Chenopodium acuminatum. Journal of Ecology, 102, 1688-1696. 

Weiner, J. (1990) Asymmetric competition in plant populations. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 5, 360-364.

Xiao-zhou Yang, Wen-hui Zhang & Qiu-yue He (2019) Effects of intraspecific competition on growth, architecture and biomass allocation
of Quercus Liaotungensis, Journal of Plant Interactions, 14, 284-294.