Plantago Lanceolate: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Ribwort_600.jpg
Article: University of Queensland. "'Rule breaking' plants may be climate change survivors." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 February 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200210091157.htm>.
When studying this species, the research team found that it simply does not follow the rules of ecology. One of the specific rules they mentioned was that "genetic diversity or variation in genes embedded in DNA are produced by changes in population size." It describes that small populations have little genetic diversity, and large populations have more genetic diversity. With this species though they found that the genetic diversity depended on the climate it was found in, and not the size of the population of the species. They also found that in new environments this species was thriving much more than any other species was. The study concluded that this was due to the species' spread around the world, and so it knew how to adapt. This species was found to have a very high genetic diversity and a very high level of adaptability.
This article relates to class because we are studying ecology, or the study of how organisms interact with one another and their environments. This species is "rule breaking" in these ecologist's study. It is interesting to read about and learn alongside this course because it shows that not everything will follow the rules or theories ecologist's have made just like any other science. The ecologists discussed that this study is important to help us understand how invasive species could be affected and possibly could apply to climate change, so in general it is a really important study.
I enjoyed reading this article because, as I said before, it shows that not everything is black and white. These theories that ecologists have come up with have taken years of studying and researching, but they still don't always apply. The world is so diverse and species are all so different that it is incredible to even understand a fraction of it. This article was very well developed, and the study is really important to help us better understand the world we live in, and how different factors can change even the smallest things.
I find it fascinating that a plant like the Plantain can be so versatile and break the traditional rules of ecology. Rather than a diversity being caused by population size, it is instead caused by the variety of climates that plantains can survive in. This was very informative, as I did not know much about plantains before reading this article (aside from the fact that fried plantains taste amazing).
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting topic that I did not know anything about.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that even though there seem to be general ecological rules, there can be outliers. I also like how this example shows how some plants depend very heavily on the climate of the environments that they live in. I wonder if climate change will make this more apparent in the future.
I enjoy how this plant defies all laws of ecology. Very interesting to now know that the small populations do not have as much diversity as the bigger populations. It's cool to see a different angle other than the black and white angle scientists normally give.
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting that plant doesn't follow the traditional "rules of ecology". It's interesting to learn about species that work differently than what we learned in class, and to further emphasize how important a role genetic diversity plays in our environment.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this plant or the properties it has in regards to the environment. I breaks the rules of ecology and the population size of it species changes.
ReplyDeleteThis was something I didn't know was possible before reading this, and I think that it's interesting there is a species out there that defies the rules of ecology that we all know. This just goes to show how we are always discovering and learning more about the species that make up our environments.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this was a really cool topic to talk about because it is something that no one has ever heard about. It was super interesting to learn about how this species defies the laws of ecology.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read. I had no idea plants could change their genetic variations. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTHis was an very interesting topic to read and it's very interesting to learn about how some species are defining the rules of ecology.
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting that this species of plant can act so differently in various locations. It really shows how well this plant can adapt to its environment. Hopefully this plant is not detrimental to other plants or animals, because it seems like it could be a good invasive species.
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