Ecological Analysis

The abiotic factors that affect our plant are sunlight, climate/weather, and space. Our plant also is affected by biotic factors. This includes competition, predators and pests. For example, this past week I went our to the garden and found a caterpillar on our plant. I also found evidence of many other bugs eating the leaves. There has also been a kohlrabi plant found in the space where just our plants are supposed to be. This means that our plant will a lot less space than it was supposed to because of the unexpected competition. As for the abiotic factors, it is approaching winter, which means the temperature will drop dramatically, and our plant will have to adapt.

Look at the caterpillar!

I know my plant is engaged in competition because of the kohlrabi plant growing literally right next to our plant. Currently, it is unclear how the kohlrabi seed got to where it is, but it has majorly affected the growth of our plant. Our plant is competing for space and sunlight. Right now the kohlrabi is dominating these categories.

The purple stem is part of the kohlrabi plant, and the green stem is the broccoli

In the struggle of competition, the "winners" and "losers" are chosen by which plants survive. However, sometimes it is hard to determine the winners and losers. Some plants may be able to adapt to the circumstances they are under and survive that way. Even though the plants might not be under the ideal circumstances, they still have the chance to survive. Adaptation is the key aspect in surviving.

Our plants are also in a symbiotic relationship. Unfortunately, it is parasitism. There are some insect in the garden that find our plants food. For instance, the caterpillar mentioned earlier has been found on many plants in the garden, and has been eating away at the leaves of our plant. Our plant does not benefit from this relationship, it only gets hurt.

The garden our plants are in is an example of secondary succession because these gardens were made by people in a "dead" area of campus. Before our plants, there were other plants that were removed after they died. They were moved to make room for our plants. The garden boxes were made in an area that had soil, it just was not the ideal soil for plants, therefore not many plants were growing there until people made a small garden. This rapidly sped up the process of succession, but it still evolved from dirt to a nice garden, now home to many different vegetables from the Brassica oleracea family.