The Eucalyptus Leaf Characteristics and Habitat Complexity Change in Response to Climate - Term Paper Example

The Eucalyptus leaf characteristics and habitat complexity change in response to climate Name Institution Introduction Eucalyptus leaves have some changing characteristics when exposed to different types of climate (Pinkard, Battaglia, Roxburgh, & O'Grady, 2011). Moreover, exposure of the habitat complexity to the climate makes it to change. During the field trip, some eucalyptus leaves were collected and exposed to different attitude levels and rainfall. The leaves collected wee of different width and length. Ten leaves were collected for the conduct of the test. Then the attitude of the surrounding was varied to identify the differences in their characteristics. Different students were grouped in sixteen groups through which they were supposed to give their report. The students measured their leaves and the measurements were; recorded. Soil as the habitat was identified and tested for the changes in the exposure to varied attitude. The attitude was varied at six different levels. Do eucalyptus leaf characteristics and habitat complexity change because of climate? The paper aims at identifying the changes realized during the field trip study in relation to the eucalyptus leaf characteristics and habitat complexity. The paper aims at reporting these changes due to increase in rainfall, decrease in temperature, and increase in attitude. The paper focuses on testing two research hypothesis: 1. Eucalyptus leaf size and area changes with increasing rainfall and altitude 2. Habitat complexity changes with increasing rainfall and altitude Thus, testing two testable variables; leaf characteristics and habitat complexity. The findings are important in enhancing the understanding of the manner through which climate change leads to changes in the leaf characteristics and how the habitat complexity change as well because of climate change. The paper contains the method followed in collection of data, the findings, discussion, and limitations of the study, conclusion, and recommendations. Research questions: 1. How do Eucalyptus leaf characteristics change in response to climate (e.g. increasing rainfall, decreasing temperature and increasing altitude)? 2. How does habitat complexity change in response to climate (e.g. increasing rainfall, decreasing temperature and increasing altitude)? Methods Study design The study was done through a field trip study conducted by students as the participants grouped in groups. The study was done using eucalyptus leafs and holes with soils as the habitats as well as other habitats. Sample size and sampling technique: 48 students were randomly selected as the researchers to the study grouped in sixteen groups comprising of eight students per group. Three holes with soil were generated for testing of the habitat complexity to different attitudes. Ten eucalyptus leaves were collected from three different trees. Thirteen groups would be involved in the testing of the leaves characteristics while the remaining groups would test the habitat complexity through soil sampling interchangeably. The trees were randomly selected and leaves were randomly plucked. Data collection: The study instruments used include ruler thermometer to measure the length and width of the leaf and measure the attitude level. The holes, habitats, and the leaves were measure initially before being exposed to varying attitude, temperature, and rainfall. The students are required to observe in case of any changes identified in different leaves and habitats as they not their findings down. Different measurements were recorded for different number of observations to help in the calculation of the mean. The collected measurements would be recorded in a form to enhance the calculation of mean, standard error, number, the maximum, and the minimum. A table was used to record the results after the conduct of the measurement of the leaf characteristics changes resulting from different attitude levels. The table also contains the standard error and the number. There is also the computation of the area and the ratio between the width and length of the particular leaf after being exposed to some increasing attitude. The mean and standard errors calculations were done using the automatic excel method where figure from different cells are selected for simple calculations. Ultimately the appropriate formula are used for the calculations. A table was used to fill in the identified changes in the eucalyptus leaf traits and habitat complexity. The table was prepared in excel sheet for easier understanding of the interested reader. The field trip data master file contains the sheets for different results as identified during the test for different attitude levels, the summary of the leaf characteristics for all the attitude levels, the habitat complexity score for different habitats, the soil, and the file control with the combination of the results. Scoring For the increasing attitude, the mean width of the eucalyptus leaves increased with the increment in the attitude level. The higher the rainfall and minimal temperature, the bigger the eucalyptus leaf. The habitat complexities were noted and recorded in the form against different habitats used during the field trip study. The habitats during the high attitude and minimal temperature, as well as increasing rainfall tend to increase their complexity. Data analysis: During data collection process, the measurements were taken and recorded varying from leaf to another and from attitude level to the other. The measurements for widths and those of the lengths were compared as per the recordings. The complexity of the habitats was identified at different attitude levels. Excel spreadsheet was used to analyse the data whereby the collected measurements were recorded at different rows and columns at varying attitude levels. The mean, standard, error, and numbers are computed for all the leaves and habitats as per the results recorded by all groups during different measurement intervals. The soil complexity was identified according to the depth of the hole and the attitude; hence, the testing of the complexity and computation of the mean and standard error, as well as the counts or numbers Results The eucalyptus leaves characteristics and habitat complexity changes identified due to increasing rainfall, decreasing temperature, and increasing attitude. The eucalyptus leaves characteristics Six different attitude levels were used to test the changes of the eucalyptus leaf characteristics. The changes were identified by measuring the width and length of the leaves at different attitudes. The attitudes were in m; 239, 290, 424, 539, 1062, 1562. The mean width of the leaves at the highest attitude is moderate compared to the mean width at the lowest attitude, which s also moderate. The mean width of the leaves when the attitude is moderate is high. The lengths of the leaves are not consistent but vary and are mixed up. At different attitude levels, different groups give different habitats different scores with others not giving some habitats some score. MEAN altitude (m) Width Length area ratio (w:L) 1562 3.33 8.11 19.41 0.43 1062 3.23 11.68 29.22 0.3 539 4.71 7.54 23.95 0.68 424 4.65 7.78 24.58 0.66 290 3.18 8.49 17.2 1.01 239 2.92 9.4 17.97 0.33 The standard error and numbers or counts are computed as follows se n Width Length area ratio (w:L) Width Length area ratio(w:L) 0.05 0.12 0.49 0.01 296 296 294 296 0.07 0.23 0.95 0.01 350 350 342 348 348348 0.1 0.13 0.64 0.02 355 355 356 352 352 0.09 0.13 0.7 0.02 339 339 339 339 0.12 0.28 0.81 0.1 180 180 180 180 0.07 0.17 0.52 0.01 218 218 218 218 The habitat complexity Six habitats were tested for their complexity during the climate change. The complexity was tested against the three varying attitude levels. Every group was able to give a score to every habitat in different attitude levels. Habitat Complexity Score Dead Horse Leather barrel Tom Groggin Geehi The Rock Mate's gully TSR Student Group Name 1562 1026 539 424 239 290 Snow Fungus (eg) 8 7 8 7 9 LMJ 7 10 7 MEP 9 8 9 8 SBC 12 12 4 Group 2 7 10 8 craig`s hat 8 7 6 8 group haramleaf 8 8 8 8 10 Backseat Bandito's 7 6 6 6 7 8 The Girls 8 8 9 7 14 10 XD 6 10.5 8 10 11 Ursies 7 10 11 6 6 10 The B Team 11 12 13 Eucoolypts 8 11 5 team shù :) 5 7 9 4 11 12 Unbe-leaf-able 5 11 10 10 12 Leaf Green 11 7 10 4 mean 7.33 9.04 9 7.25 8.5 9.14 se 0.48 0.55 0.6 0.57 1.19 1.35 n 12 13 12 12 4 7 The soil Three holes were prepared and tested under the six different attitude levels to identify their acidity and complexity. At the highest attitude, the holes seemed to have higher complexity compared to the results when exposed to low attitude levels. The holes were of different depths. Discussion The findings indicate that the eucalyptus leaves change their characteristics as per the changes in the levels of attitudes (Jordan, 2011). The increased rainfall, reduced temperature, and increased attitude leads to the reduced size of the leaf and the opposite is the same (Zhou, Ge, Kellomäki, Wang, Peltola, & Martikainen, 2011). It is clear that when the attitude is moderate, the width of the leaves is high and when the attitude is low and high, the width of the leaves is low (Booth, 2013). This means that the eucalyptus leaves lose more water when the attitude is average. The length of the same leaves change though at a mixed way (Ayub, Smith, Tissue, & Atkin, 2011). It is evident that if leaves can change their characteristics because of the changes in attitude, the same leaves lose and retain water at different attitude levels (Xu, Salih, Ghannoum, & Tissue, 2012). From the findings of this study, the overall size of the leaf reduced because of increased temperature and reduces during the increased rainfall and increased attitude (Crous, Quentin, Lin, Medlyn, Williams, Barton, & Ellsworth, 2013). It is clear that people eucalyptus leaves are vulnerable to climate changes and they respond to different attitudes, humidity, and temperature (Searle, Thomas, Griffin, Horton, Kornfeld, Yakir, & Turnbull, 2011). Apparently, there have been frequent characteristic changes because of frequent increase of the attitude (Lewis, Phillips, Logan, Hricko, & Tissue, 2011). Changing rainfall changing temperature, and changing attitude leads to the changes in the traits of the eucalyptus leaves (Ghini, Bettiol, & Hamada, 2011). The concentration of carbon dioxide in a leaf changes because of the climate change. It is observable that the changes continue becoming critical as the attitude increases (Leonard, Parsons, Olawsky, & Kofod, 2013). This leads to the conclusion that high climate rise is a probable factor leading vigorous leaf characteristic and habitat complexity changes (Berthrong, PIneiro, Jobbágy, & Jackson, 2012). When it is raining the leaf characteristics and habitat complexity are different compared to when the attitude is high (Franks, Adams, Amthor, Barbour, Berry, Ellsworth, & Norby, 2013). When the attitude is high, the leaf width tends to be more compared to when the attitude is low. Changes in rainfall, temperature, and attitude influence the leaf behaviour and habitat complexity (Breed, Stead, Ottewell, Gardner, & Lowe, 2013). The study results also identified that the habitat complexity increased due to increased attitude. The similar findings were identified by Keppel, Van Niel, Wardell‐Johnson, Yates, Byrne, Mucina, and Franklin, (2012) that climate change leads to increased complexity of the diverse habitats. According to the study, it is evident that the six habitats scored high when the attitude was high. This means that their complexity increased because of the increased attitude. The increased rainfall, increased attitude, and reduced temperature results to more complex habitat (Chen, Han, Tang, Tang, & Fang, 2013). The study experienced some limitations associated with the sample size. Having ten leaves as the sample in the study and three holes, as well as six habitats are inefficient in making the general conclusion about the particular changes. This would lead to bias of the general conclusion. The calculations require a trained person or educated person whom would be able to follow the appropriate formula for the realization of the correct answer. The numbers of counts are very many, thus confusing in the computation of the mean because one had to add all the results for every observation made and then compute the mean. The issue led to hurried process of making the study conclusion. Conclusion The study sought to explore the changes in the eucalyptus leaf characteristics and the changes in the habitat complexity as a result of the climate change. It was possible to prove the eucalyptus leaf change their characteristics because of the changes in the level of attitude. Moreover, the habitats change their complexity because of the changes in the climate especially during the attitude adjustments. It is evident that climate change especially increased rainfall, increased attitude, and decreased temperature have great impact to the environment. The findings and discussion are significant in enhancing taking of more actions towards the issue of environmental management. The research aims have been successful because it was possible to test the variables and make the necessary calculations to enhance comping up with a conclusion. From the findings, it is recommendable that more studies and tests to be conducted to identify the specific factors leading to the changes in the leaf characteristics and habitat complexity when the attitude is varied. It is also necessary to conduct a study to know the specific leaf characteristics and leaf components leading to the particular changes. This would help in conducting more efficient environmental management irrespective of the climate changes. The researchers should conduct more investigation to understand the reason why leaf width increases when the attitude is moderate and reduces when it is low and also when it is very high. References Ayub, G., Smith, R. A., Tissue, D. T., & Atkin, O. K. (2011). Impacts of drought on leaf respiration in darkness and light in Eucalyptus saligna exposed to industrial‐age atmospheric CO2 and growth temperature. New Phytologist, 190(4), 1003-1018. Berthrong, S. T., PIneiro, G. E. R. V. A. S. I. O., Jobbágy, E. G., & Jackson, R. B. (2012). Soil C and N changes with afforestation of grasslands across gradients of precipitation and plantation age. Ecological Applications, 22(1), 76-86. Booth, T. H. (2013). Eucalypt plantations and climate change. 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Leaf structural characteristics are less important than leaf chemical properties in determining the response of leaf mass per area and photosynthesis of Eucalyptus saligna to industrial-age changes in [CO2] and temperature. Journal of experimental botany, ers231. Zhou, X., GE, Z. M., KELLOMÄKI, S., WANG, K. Y., Peltola, H., & Martikainen, P. (2011). Effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on leaf characteristics, photosynthesis and carbon storage in aboveground biomass of a boreal bioenergy crop (Phalaris arundinacea L.) under varying water regimes. GCB Bioenergy, 3(3), 223-234. Read More