An Investigation of the differences in Ascophylum Nodosum

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AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DIFFERENCES IN ASCOPHYLUM NODOSUM

 ON TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF SHORES, EXPOSED AND SHELTERED, BY LOOKING AT: THE DIFFERENCES IN FROND LENGTH, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND BLADDERS AND THE NUMBER OF BLADDERS FOUND ON THE FRONDS.

INTRODUCTION (CONT.)

This is a brown seaweed, often called rock-weed. It grows in the mid-to-lower intertidal zone, is varied in colour from deep chocolate brown to golden. The characteristic form of the plant is a group of fleshy tendrils emanating from a single stem. These tendrils are bloated with a series of bladders or ‘nodes’, filled with air, along their length – hence ‘Nodosum’- which ensure that the plant floats on or near the surface when submerged. This ensures a better rate of photosynthesis, and thus faster rate of growth for the seaweed. It is the fast growing nature of Ascophyllum, which makes it a very potent source of natural plant growth hormones. These hormones are also very important in the physiology of land plants, hence the particular use of this seaweed to gardeners, horticulturists and organic farmers. The plant is also very rich in natural minerals, as it absorbs these, which are abundant in the sea. The secrets of releasing the potency of this seaweed, are the freshness of the plant, the care in harvesting and most of all the care in extraction and preparation.

The phylum of the plant is Chromophycota (brown algae) and its class is Phaeophyceae (Brown foliose or filamentous seaweed e.g. kelps and wracks.

My hypothesis is that there will be a significant variation in the appearance of the A.Nodosum on the two different shores, differences in terms of frond length, number of bladders on the fronds and the distances between the first and second bladders along the frond of the seaweed.

My null hypothesis is that there will be no clear differentiation of the A.Nodosum on the two different types of shores.

ANALYSING EVIDENCE AND DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

For my results it was realised that for the sheltered shore, the number of bladders ranged from two to eight.  The number of bladders on each frond varied from six for the first two readings to eight and varied right through to 3 for the sixth. Four for the tenth and back to six for the twentieth reading which was the last one. The mean was given as 4.70 hence a variation of 3.27 and a standard deviation of 1.81.

The distance between the first and the second bladders also vary over a range of values, from 9cm to 26cm. The first measurement gave a value of 19cm, the fifth 25cm, the tenth was 9cm through to the fifteenth which was measured to be 22cm and the last reading was measured as 9cm. Thus a mean of 15.6, variation of 28.83 and a standard deviation of 5.37 were obtained.

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The measurements for the lengths of the fronds did show some variation. The figures ranged from 70cm to 154cm.  The first measurement was 113cm the tenth was 99cm, the fifteenth 143cm and the final measurement made was 103. These values gave a mean of 109.55, a variation of 604.05, and a standard deviation of 24.58.

The figures obtained from the rocky shore (the exposed shore) gave very much different ranges of values. The number of bladders ranged from two to six and varied from six for the first reading obtained to four for the fifth, three for the tenth, ...

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