Alberta is a world-leading energy supplier and exporter of heavy oil for the production of fuel. Gasoline is derived from the distillation of heavy oil and while this resource presents as advantageous for the human population, the displacement of used petroleum into the natural environment has been revealed to be the largest contributor to the pollution in and the destruction of aquatic ecosystems (Ramadass et al. 2014). In this case, gasoline is considered a contaminant or an unwanted substance that has been released into the natural environment, which has disturbed its function or quality. However, petroleum can also be deposited into terrestrial ecosystems, entering the food chain and posing harm to the fitness of both plant and animal life
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However, the objective of this experiment will be to analyze the effects of oil contamination on plant fitness, comparing invasive and native species of plants to determine which plant type would be suitable to use for the restoration of oil-contaminated sites through remediation technology. Plants that can thrive in oil-contaminated environments are those that are able to access large amounts of soil nutrients (Funk and Vitousek 2007) as well as produce efficient microenvironments through extensive root systems. Therefore, it is hypothesized that, in the presence of an increasing concentration gradient of oil contaminant, the superior root structure characteristic of an invasive plant species, Brassica rapa, will allow it to display a less significant decline in plant fitness in comparison to a native plant species, Tagetes patula (marigold). This rationale supports the following predictions: that, in the presence of an increasing concentration gradient of gasoline contaminant, Brassica rapa will display a greater increase in plant height, dry biomass and rate of leaf growth in comparison to Tagetes patula. As Tagetes patula experiences a decrease in these three characteristics with the increase of oil contamination, it will display a decrease in plant fitness, as constituted by these characteristics, and will not be effective in
However, the objective of this experiment will be to analyze the effects of oil contamination on plant fitness, comparing invasive and native species of plants to determine which plant type would be suitable to use for the restoration of oil-contaminated sites through remediation technology. Plants that can thrive in oil-contaminated environments are those that are able to access large amounts of soil nutrients (Funk and Vitousek 2007) as well as produce efficient microenvironments through extensive root systems. Therefore, it is hypothesized that, in the presence of an increasing concentration gradient of oil contaminant, the superior root structure characteristic of an invasive plant species, Brassica rapa, will allow it to display a less significant decline in plant fitness in comparison to a native plant species, Tagetes patula (marigold). This rationale supports the following predictions: that, in the presence of an increasing concentration gradient of gasoline contaminant, Brassica rapa will display a greater increase in plant height, dry biomass and rate of leaf growth in comparison to Tagetes patula. As Tagetes patula experiences a decrease in these three characteristics with the increase of oil contamination, it will display a decrease in plant fitness, as constituted by these characteristics, and will not be effective in