Absorption of water by desert-adapted plants vs. non-desert adapted plants

Grade:

7

Teacher:

Kainat Shafi

The title of this project is Absorption of water by desert-adapted plants vs. non-desert adapted plants. The investigative question is, Will desert-adapted plants be able to soak up more water than non-desert adapted plants over a period of twenty four hours? My hypothesis is that I think that desert adapted plants will soak up more water than non-desert adapted plants. Desert plants live in environments where water is scarce, so they have adaptations that maximize water absorption and reduce water loss. They have properties like deep or widespread root systems to reach underground water or collect brief rainfall quickly, thick, fleshy roots or stems that store water (e.g., cactus) and high root absorptivity, allowing rapid uptake of water after rainfall. Also their leaves may be small or no leaves to reduce water loss and have a waxy cuticle that limits evaporation. On the other hand, Non-desert plants grow in environments where water is more regularly available. Their characteristics are Shallow or moderate root systems, thin roots designed for steady water absorption, larger leaves for photosynthesis and less water storage capacity. A similar experiment is an experiment about the relationship between root size, yield, and water efficiency of Maize plants. The researchers were testing the absorption of maize, under both water-sufficient conditions and water-deficient conditions, with two different species of maize. What they found was that the small-rooted species had a higher yield and water absorption efficiency than the larger-root species. It didn’t change under either of the different water conditions. Experts now know that small-rooted maize plants do better in all conditions. They also found that trimming the roots and reducing the root-shoot ratio increases the yield and water absorption, for the large-rooted species.This experiment’s effects on everyday life could help with water conservation. If desert-adapted plants soak up more water, when given the same amount as non-desert adapted plants, it would show that they are better and more efficient. Water is a precious resource, especially during droughts and in the desert, and if desert adapted plants make the most of the water that they are given, non-desert adapted plants may be planted less frequently. They need more water to thrive than desert-adapted plants, and if there aren’t as many of them, the amount of water being used on them will decrease. This will save water that would have had to help those plants survive, and could help water-conservation all across the world. For this experiment, I tested desert adapted dent corn and tepary beans, and non-desert adapted sweet corn and pinto beans. They were sprouted and grown for eleven days. Then, the plants were gently removed from soil, weighed, and suspended in water for twenty four hours. They were weighed again and the average weight change was calculated. In the results, the average weight change for desert-adapted beans was -2.35%, and the non-desert beans was 12.26%. The desert adapted corn was 15.065%, and the non-desert adapted corn was 6.0935%. The desert-adapted corn was better than non-desert adapted corn, but the desert-adapted beans were worse than the non-desert adapted corn. The hypothesis did not work because there was not a clear pattern, and only one of the types of desert-adapted plants gained more weight than the non-desert adapted plants.

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Research paper