Plant Science September 14

What trend has the population of earth had over the last century?

The population has had spikes, but after 2000 it has been slowly declining

What is a plant?

Any of Various photosynthetic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms of the kingdom Plantae characteristically producing embryos that contain chloroplasts, having cellulose cell walls-and lacking loco motion

What inorganic chemicals do autotrophic organisms get from soil?

Need H2O, CO2, essential inorganic chemicals from soil O2

What do autotrophic organisms use products of photosynthesis for?

They use sugar, water, and inorganic nutrients to synthesize all the complex organic molecules needed to grow and reproduce

All life on earth is dependent on what?

photosynthesis

What pigment in plants captures light?

Chlorophyll

How does chlorophyll work with light?

It captures light energy and converts it into chemical energy

Called the green blood of the plant?

Chlorophyll

What else is released from photosynthesis?

02

What are some reasons plants are important?

Feed organisms, Replenish air, cure sickness, provide raw materials for industry, and improve aesthetics

These come from the Latin word for field,deals with crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, foreages

Agronomists

From the Latin word for garden and are concerned with fruit, vegetables, woody ornamentals, and floriculture crops

Horticulturists

Plant scientists interested in wood and pulp product along with recreation, wildlife and watershed managementin forested areas

Forester

What are fiber crops?

Cotton, flax, and hemp

What byproducts of plants aid in recreation?

Timber, fuel, pulp

Where are plants used for aesthetics?

Egypt and China

What's a common use of plants in aesthetics?

Turf grass

Some plants are used for these purposes:

Medicinal

Describe the food chain:

A pattern of flow of energy rich consumables through a biological system

First vital link in food chains?

Photosythesizing plants

What percentage of energy do photosynthetic plants use from the sun?

Only 1-2% of solar energy received by a place on earths surface is fixed by plants.

What is the loss after plant material goes into the herbivore?

99% loss

Plants produce:

Sugar. Oxygen is a byproduct

What amino acids are needed by humans?

Isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine,threonine, tryptophan, valine

What amino acids do infant humans need?

Arginine

These organisms must ingest energy rich organic compounds to sustain life

Heterotrophic organisms

Heterotrophic organisms depend on

Plants!

Humans require this for their nutrition:

10/20 amino acids, linoleic acid from fats, and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D,E,K, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid

What are crop plants?

any plant used by man for any purpose

How many plant species worldwide?

10K - 20K

How many plant species in na?

5500

How many plants in Na take part in trade?

1K - 2K

How many plants of Major importance in world trade?

100-200

What are some of the Big 15? Name 5

Rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, Barley,Sugar cane,sugar beet, potato, sweet potato, cassava, bean, soybean, peanut, coconut, banana

What was man 4 million yrs ago?

Hunter gatherer

When was Ag invented?

About 10K years ago in several places. This corresponds with the end of the last ice age and a changing global climate

The dollar prices of agricultural commodities appear to be much too:

Cheap

Natural ecosystems with little or no cash value have:

High em dollar value in terms of services such as flood and pollution control

Many u.5 agricultural commodity prices rose or fell inter last quarter of the 20th century

Fell

As yields increased, there was a:

Decline in per acre income

It has been impossible to break a system of price supports for some commodities, and in 2000 amounted to what percent of farm income

50%

These payments encourage consolidation-meaning larger farms are more likely to benefit from this

Subsidy

Number of farms increased as individual holdings got larger in the second half of the century,True OR FALSE

False

Toward the end of the century number of farms has:

Stabilized

Cost effective crop growing has been shown to have a positive or negative effect on the environment?

Negative

Plant scientists have to find a way to meet needs without?

Negatively affecting the environment

In calculating cost effectiveness of production, costs can no longer include just material and labor costs

Cost to repair environmental damage must also be considered

GMOs can significantly reduce need for

Pesticides and field tillage

People fear that GMOs will escape into nature, why is this bad?

They tear their traits will have a negative impact on the ecosystem

What has been proposed instead of GMO?

Organic farming

While organic farming is good, Can it produce the plants to feed the world?

It is not known

Some organic farming practices could have a good/bad impact

Negative environmental impact

What plants depend on humans to survive?

Ornamentals

Do we depend on ornamentals?

Yes, we need them to survive, and that is why we solve their survival problems

How many people depend on cultivated plants for nourishment and quality in their lives?

6.5 billion are estimated, as we cannot all survive as hunter gatherers

Why does malnutrition/starvation exist?

Social/political issues prevent the distribution of food to those who need it

If social issues cannot be resolved, scientists and growers need to do what?

Find creative ways to produce food crops

High oil bred corn to replace petrochemicals could?

Replace some food crops

How does no or low till farming affect us negatively?

Although its less detrimental to soil, it uses herbicides to control weeds

Tomato herbicides more effective and reduce use, what was developed?

GMOs resistant to roundup were developed

Genetically modified corn synthesizes naturally occurring protein lethal to

Species cf Lepidoptera

Production of a natural larval toxin has reduced the need to

Spray insecticides for control

Rice has been genetically modified to produce what?

Beta carotene (vitamin A) in grain golden rice

What will GMO rice do?

Predicted to save the eyesight of children in areas where vitamin-A deficiences causes blindness

Public view on GMO?

Negative bc of Roundup escape fear

What species was threatened by bt corn?

Lepidoptera species - monarch butterfly

Golden rice cannot be grown in certain areas due to?

Fear beta-carotene gene will escape into traditional crop

Why did flavor saver tomatoes go away?

Fear of what the gene would do if consumed

Model for including ecological paradigm of agriculture in all scientific studies uses which 4 areas of focus?

Production efficiency, economic viability, environmental compatibility, and social responsibility

If you disregard any 1 dimension, what would happen?

Weaken structure significantly. If you disregard two it will collapse the structure

What does scientific inquiry start with?

Identify problem, and make hypothesis

Most certain way to obtain reliable information for basing decisions?

Controlled experimentation

What is used to avoid unintentional bias resulting from lack of uniformity?

Replication and randomization

This means that we base our conclusions on more than one observations on a single experimental unit

Replication

This takes into account that no two plants are exactly alike

Randomization

Even cuttings from the same plant many come from different sized branches or have other differences:

Such as mutations

What's another way to reduce variation?

Blocking

What's a disadvantage of controlled experiment?

Treatment effects on factors other than the defined dependent variable are often not considered

For accurate experiments, understanding what is critical?

Various units of measure

Si unit for length

meter (m)

Si unit for area

m^2 and km^2

Si unit for mass

kilogram

Si unit for force

Newton

Si unit for pressure

Pascal (Pa)

Si (energy)

Joule (J)

Si (power)

Watt (W)

Si (temperature)

K

Typically, plants of uniform characteristics are planted in?

Compacted soil or in not compact soil

Depends on the changing surroundings around it

Dependent variable

What is a disadvantage of controlled experiments?

- may not reflect real-life circumstances

What does the complexity of ecological research require?

Use of different methods than experimental research that has one

Or only a few variables

Example of ecological research may be the study of the effects of:

Farm runoff on the aquatic life in a single creek that feeds a larger river

How does a scientist arrive at conclusions from a set of. experimental data?

Data must be analyzed statistically to see if the original hypothesis is supported or not

What is one reason for having as much replication of experimental units as possible?

Get a better estimation of natural variation

Is any statistical method I is completely reliable?

No because there is always a risk of saying that there was an effect when there really was not.

Is it important when reporting experiments to describe in detail how they were done?

Yes so that future researchers can compare their results and methods to yours

Collection of organisms above and within the soil

Terrestrial ecosystems

Terrestrial ecosystems can develop

Intricate relationships over time

What do terrestrial ecosystems share?

Energy and resources

Primary energy source for ecosystems?

Photosynthesis