Student Blog Post Assignment #4: An Ecological Analysis of the Garden and your Plants by Kela Moore

Kela Moore Period 1

Student Blog Post Assignment #4: An Ecological Analysis of the Garden and your Plants 

1.) Some abiotic factors that affect the plant's survival are the soil that it grows in (mainly the quality of it), the amount of sunlight. Temperature can also affect the plant's growth rate. Temperature can be affected by elevation and also the location of the plant. The amount of water is another abiotic factor, since it is one of, if not the most important thing for a plants growth. Worms and snails are examples of biotic factors, since they are living. They are still very important, as worms churn the soil, and snails might come along and eat the leaves. Believe it or not, snails can actually be a very large problem when it comes to gardening.

2.) I know that our plant is competing, since there are many, many other growing plants right near ours, including "ripgut", common grass, and mallow. These are actually very common weeds, and can take over a garden in a very small area of time. These weeds being present actually means that our plants are not getting "first dibs" on all of the water and nutrients in the soil.

3.) In a way, both our plants and the weeds are winners in this struggle for health. Seeing as both of them are thriving, there is no clear cut loser. In the natural world, most situations see both sides being benefited in one way or another, this is just another example of that. One could argue both sides, saying that our plants are winning, since they're holding out against the weeds, or saying the weeds are winning because of the sheer area they cover.

4.) Our plants interact with the environment (aside from circling carbon, water, and nitrogen through their respective systems) by having worms turn the soil around their roots, always bringing up new nutrients, and the chickens, who also turn the soil. Turning soil, small an action as is, helps tremendously in the growth of these plants.

5.) There is evidence of secondary succession in the garden, seeing as there is soil already present. The primary example would be when tiny organisms  and other plants die off, they decompose in the soil, leading to more nutrients for our plants. It is like a whole ecosystem in our backyards!