Allelopathy Lab Report Final

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San Joaquin Delta College *

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Biology

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Feb 20, 2024

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Aliyya Zareen Lab Report 1 Allelopathy Lab Report Introduction: Allelopathy refers to the ability of plants to inhibit competing species growth or germination. An example of this is walnut plant, it can suppress the growth of most weeds using its chemical properties through its root system (Welsh). The plant that I tested for allelopathic compounds in this experiment is radish seeds and sycamore fruit. Sycamore fruits are allelopathic although they are not as strong as other plants. According to Pat’s Garden Forum sycamore fruits are prone to disease which can turn leaves brown and create the plant to weaken (Welsh). It was also found that the chemicals in sycamore leaves will cause seed growth but will eventually break down in the composting process (Welsh). This lab took about a week to see results. Over the course of the week, I hypothesized that I would expect to see the plant tissue sycamore fruit with the radish seeds to have a lesser growth rate compared to the unaffected radish seeds. I also hypothesized that the toxic allelopathic properties in sycamore fruit would affect the overall growth of the radish seed. Materials and Methods: After obtaining three petri dishes I cut out nine circles that were the same size as the petri dish and placed them at the bottom. I then placed 10 radish seeds in a circle. I placed 10 in the control, experimental, and placebo groups. After placing the radish seeds in a circle, I added 20 milliliters of distilled water into all three petri dishes. I added enough water so that there was an excess amount at the bottom of the petri dish. I did this purposely because I was unsure about how much water these plants would need to last

Aliyya Zareen Lab Report 1 throughout the rest of the week. After doing this I crushed two sycamore fruit into tiny, small pieces and then placed them into one of the petri dishes. I placed these fruits all over the dish and made sure that each seed was close to a few pieces of the radish seeds. For the placebo I cut several pieces of paper and placed them near the radish seeds. After a week of waiting, I retrieved my petri dishes and collected my results. During this experiment I observed the germination of these seeds by looking to see if the root had successfully grown out of the seed and its length. A way to tell how the germinated seeds were measured was by first counting the roots of the seeds. I also recorded the growth of the radish seed from the root to the seed. If the seed shell came off, I used the natural bend to make my measurements. I took my measurement in centimeters and then later converted it into millimeters. An observation that I noted to determine whether the plants germinated was how saturated the paper towel was before and after. I checked the bottom of the petri dish underneath the paper towel to confirm the saturation level of the experimental, control, and placebo groups. I first analyzed the data by making a chart of the experimental, control, and placebo groups. This table will show how many plants have germinated in all the groups. (table 1) The next table has the measurements of the seedlings in all groups and the mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the groups. (table 2) I will also show the germination success rate and provide the t- test results that determine whether both hypotheses are significant or not in (table 3). I will also be

Aliyya Zareen Lab Report 1 determining whether the allelopathic properties in the sycamore fruit would affect overall growth. In addition to these tables there is also a bar graph that shows the average length of root for control, experimental, and placebo groups with error lines. This figure will also show the total average of the control, experimental, and placebo group and the standard error. Results: As I collected my results for this experiment, I noticed the change in all the experimental, control, and placebo groups. The results of this include changes in the amount of water. When I started the experiment, I added 20 milliliters of water to the experimental, control, and placebo groups. This amount fully saturated the petri dishes and left some excess. While gathering my results I noticed that not all 30 plants had germinated. 9 plants from each group germinated. The experimental groups’ paper towel was more dried compared to the control group. The paper towel had some interesting color shifts going on. The edges were all dried up and white, while the middle part around the seedlings had this earthy brown tone and looked kind of tan and parched. This brownish color came from the leaves because of their allelopathic properties, this confirmed that the plants absorbed most of the water as they grew. The color changes I saw matched what I thought would happen. I spotted this because there were darker patches in the petri dish, showing there was still some water left. I could have also figured this out by noticing that the water did not evaporate as the seedlings grew. If either of these had happened, the spots would have looked drier and lighter in color. For the placebo group the radish seeds did well the paper towel was still saturated, and the seeds germinated. The small pieces of cut paper did not have a negative effect on the radish

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