Effect of Acid Rain on Wisconsin Fast Plants
Introduction
Acid rain has become a large environmental problem around the world. This chemically potent precipitation is incredibly common in large metropolitan cities where pollution and smog are prevalent. Acid rain has been known to diminish plant growth or completely kill off populations within the contracted areas of these large cities. In addition to effecting plants, it has also been determined that the pollutants in acid rain, such as heavy metals and aluminum, are then stored in the soil and water supplies (Ohanti et al. 2000) Acid rain is a growing problem with the increasing number of motor vehicles within a confined area as well as large factories and plants that emit pollutants. Acid …show more content…
At the end of the five-week experiment, there was an obvious trend in comparing the plant heights of each group, but the difference was not significant enough to support our alternative hypothesis.
Figure 1. Mean plant height in centimeters of the control group of plants (blue) compared with the experimental group of plants watered with simulated acid rain (red) over five weeks.
Plants watered with the simulated acid rain containing a pH of 5.5 did not exhibit a significant decrease in total leaves overtime compared to the control group (t = 1.416, p < 0.05). At the end of the five-week experiment there was a trend in the comparisons of the experimental and control group, but the results were not significant enough to support our alternative …show more content…
The differences in the experimental group in mean plant height, mean number of leaves, and mean number of flowers over the five-week experiment were not significantly different from the control group. There was absolutely no significance in flower count (Figure 3), but a trend in the values for plant height (Figure 1) and leaf count (Figure 2) was observable. However, none of the values were significant. In fact, contrary to the findings of Wang et al. (2008), the control group of plants did not appear to be inhibited at all. The results do not support our hypothesis that acid rain leads to diminished plant growth and productivity. Overall, there were no significant differences in the experimental group that was watered with acid rain in comparison to the control group, so we support the null
Introduction
Acid rain has become a large environmental problem around the world. This chemically potent precipitation is incredibly common in large metropolitan cities where pollution and smog are prevalent. Acid rain has been known to diminish plant growth or completely kill off populations within the contracted areas of these large cities. In addition to effecting plants, it has also been determined that the pollutants in acid rain, such as heavy metals and aluminum, are then stored in the soil and water supplies (Ohanti et al. 2000) Acid rain is a growing problem with the increasing number of motor vehicles within a confined area as well as large factories and plants that emit pollutants. Acid …show more content…
At the end of the five-week experiment, there was an obvious trend in comparing the plant heights of each group, but the difference was not significant enough to support our alternative hypothesis.
Figure 1. Mean plant height in centimeters of the control group of plants (blue) compared with the experimental group of plants watered with simulated acid rain (red) over five weeks.
Plants watered with the simulated acid rain containing a pH of 5.5 did not exhibit a significant decrease in total leaves overtime compared to the control group (t = 1.416, p < 0.05). At the end of the five-week experiment there was a trend in the comparisons of the experimental and control group, but the results were not significant enough to support our alternative …show more content…
The differences in the experimental group in mean plant height, mean number of leaves, and mean number of flowers over the five-week experiment were not significantly different from the control group. There was absolutely no significance in flower count (Figure 3), but a trend in the values for plant height (Figure 1) and leaf count (Figure 2) was observable. However, none of the values were significant. In fact, contrary to the findings of Wang et al. (2008), the control group of plants did not appear to be inhibited at all. The results do not support our hypothesis that acid rain leads to diminished plant growth and productivity. Overall, there were no significant differences in the experimental group that was watered with acid rain in comparison to the control group, so we support the null