Blog Post Assignment #4 - Haely Guerrero

Our plants depend on a few abiotic factors for survival. Some of these are sunlight, carbon dioxide, water, soil, and other things. These factors are important because without one or the other, our plants would surely die. Though, i wouldn't say our plants depend on any biotic factors, they don't really depend on other producers, consumers, or decomposers.

Our plants are most definetly engaged in competition right now. Our plants are competing for sunlight and water. They compete with the weeds and other plants of the class for it (though we don't kill anyone elses plant.)

Well, i guess the ''winners'' would be the ones who survive and the ''losers'' would be those who die. Except, to tell who is a winner or loser is quite hard because if a bug took a bite out of your plant it doesn't mean its game over. It also makes it complicated because the plants might be doing better off than the others and you wouldn't be able to tell.

All our plants take part in atleast more than one interaction. Besides competition, we also have mutualism with our plants and the worms living in the soil. The worms bring more water and air into the soil, where the plants live, and they in return get a meal by decomposing other dead plants.
I suppose in a way there might be succession in our garden, seeing how we brought in new plants to it. If it is succession, i believe it would be secondary succession because there is already soil. It would also be a secondary succession because we had grasses growing in the garden before we had planted our own plants for the project. So, in a way, i guess there is succession in the garden.

Blog Post Assignment #3 - Haely Guerrero

This week I've noticed quite a change in our plants. They've grown back some leaves back, and are much bigger now. The red hue in their leaves is also much more noticeable now. Though, there is a hole in one of the leaves which has grown much bigger now.
There was recently rain this week, giving our plants lots of water. Plants participate in the Water Cycle by using their roots to draw water to the stems and leaves. This means our plants have gotten a lot of nutrients since then! Some of the water is returned through a process called transpiration. Transpiration is where water is carried out through the stems and leaves of a plant and returned to the Water Cycle as vapor.
Our plants also have a role in the Carbon Cycle. Plants use a process called photosynthesis which let them take carbon dioxide and add it to water. This is combined with sunlight to create sugars and oxygen, so our plants have made lots of sugars and Oxygen!
There is just one more cycle our plants have taken part in- and thats the Nitrogen Cycle! Plants take part in the cycle by using a process called Assimilation, which is how plants get Nitrogen! Plants absorb nirates through their roots which is used in amino acids, chlorophyll, and nucleic acids. They also take part by Ammonification. This happens when a plant or animal dies. Decomposers turn the nitrogen from them back into ammonium so it may re-enter the Nitrogen cycle, So our plant has taken part in many processes during this time!