Drafts

One of the easiest things to grow in your garden are potatoes. Potatoes grow best in full sun in lightly loose well drained soil. They prefer a pH of about 5-7. Once you find a location, you simply pick the type of potato you would like to grow and leave them out in the sun for a few days. Since planting is generally done in the spring you should not have to worry about overheating your potatoes. After being exposed to the light they should start sprouting. You then make trenches in rows about 6-8” deep. You can cut the potatoes in half and lay them in the trench about 12-15” apart. It is best to only cover the potatoes with about 4” of soil at first to allow them to grow and establish, then as they grow fill in more soil until eventually you have a mound over the potatoes. This will generally happen over the course of a week or more. In most cases, if you just plant the potato halves and just mound them over, they will still grow. You should keep your potatoes well-watered, usually about 1-2 inches of watering a week. The foliage should grow and flower, then in the fall the leaves will start to yellow. Once they start to yellow, discontinue watering. The potatoes can be harvested about 2 weeks after the leaves yellow and die back. To harvest the potatoes, you can use a shovel, pitchfork, etc to dig them up. Be careful not to damage the potatoes when digging.

Today in my genetics class, the professor allowed us to work on practice problems similar to the ones that will be on the exam on Thursday. The topics on the exam include Mendelian genetics, determing chi-square and P values, and finding the probability the offspring or specific offspring will have a specific phenotype. I worked with my friend on the problems today and I have a very good understanding of the material so I should do well. I have been studying this past weekend and today. I also plan on studying up until the exam on Thursday, while having to do other assignments due Tuesday and Wednesday. This exam will be my first of the semester.

Homeostasis is one of those important phenomena that everyone takes for granted. It ensures that several of the conditions in our body are strictly regulated without us realizing. One of the prime examples is the regulation of our body temperature. When our internal temperature rises above the normal, our blood vessels undergo vasodilation, where they dilate so that the blood flows closer to the skin surface. This allows heat from the blood to escape through the skin. Another way to reduce the heat is through sweating. The sweat glands produce sweat, which reaches the surface of the skin and evaporates, taking the latent heat with it. Conversely, a drop in our body temperature causes our blood vessels to undergo vasoconstriction, which is the narrowing of the blood vessels to keep the blood from losing its heat. We also shiver, which generates heat in our body. 

Biome 2

    From the temperature - precipitation data collected by the probe in location 2, I believe the biome to be a temperate shrubland. The average annual temperature is 14.4 °C (even though the line is plotted entirely between 16 °C - 18 °C) and the total annual precipitation is 51.8 cm. Throughout the course of 1 year, the temperature stays steady while the precipitation changes seasonally. The dry seasons are short, span the end-of-March to June and mid-April to the end-of-September, and cause droughts in both occasions. On earth, temperate shrublands, such as Gerona, Spain, tend to have a ~15 °C range of temperatures with one dry season during the summer months. Although there is no temperature variation and two dry seasons this biome still matches a temperate shrubland. One such example on earth is Gerona, Spain. The average yearly temperature is 16.7 °C and the average rainfall is 74.7cm. Only 2 °C and 20 cm away from the novel biome. Similar peaks of high rainfall on both the novel biome and Gerona, Spain are observed throughout the year. For these reasons, I believe this is a temperate shrubland.

    Temperate shrublands have unique characteristics that set them apart from other biomes. The latitude on earth where they are found tends to be between 30 ° - 40 ° North and South of the equator, which is where I would expect this novel biome to be. At this latitude, Ferrell cells are most likely the air pattern present which drives tropical air masses toward the poles and polar air masses towards the equator. These assumptions are based on earth's biomes and climate and therefore may not perfectly describe a novel biome. Two dry seasons are not commonly found. It may be that for this planet revolving around its sun happens quicker and therefore seasonal change could happen more frequently in a years time. This could explain multiple dry seasons. As for plants found here, there are a few possibilities. Sclerophyllous shrubs are most likely present. They thrive in dry/wet climates due to their tough leathery leaves and ability to grow in dry soils. During droughts, they continue to photosynthesize at lower rates in order to preserve water. Evergreen trees may also be found in this biome. They also rely on wet/dry climates and can specifically grow in infertile soils produced by the drought. Their use of evergreen leaves reduces water loss, lowering the nutrient cost of living. Grasses could possibly grow in this region as well. Although they may require a greater amount of rain, water-retentive adaptations could allow them to inhabit this biome. Fires often take place every 30 - 40 years in the shrublands and many kinds of grass could survive this event because of their underground nutrient stores. Sclerophyllous shrubs and evergreens will most definitely be found in this region, with the possibility of grasses.

Vertebrate hearing has been the subject of much study. The anatomy of the vertebrate ear is complex, but can be subdivided into three general regions, the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of the pinna and a duct that leads to the middle ear. The pinna’s primary function is amplification, allowing for sounds dispersed over the large surface area of the ear to be channeled into a small air duct towards the middle ear. The middle ear converts this sound energy into mechanical energy via the tympanic membrane. The distance this membrane is stretched is a function of the sound’s amplitude, the number of times per second the membrane is stretched from crest to trough is a function of the sound’s frequency. The shifts in the tympanic membrane are translated into three ear ossicles that function like a lever, amplifying the sound as it travels to the entrance of the inner ear, the oval window. The oval window is a membrane on the cochlea that vibrates in response to the last ossicle’s movement and translates this mechanical energy into hydraulic energy. The frequency of the sound is translated by how quickly the liquid revolves through the cochlea and sound amplitude is translated by the amount of compression applied to the fluid. Translation of this movement into sound perception is done through the organ of Corti, a series of membranes and special nerve cells called hair cells. The organ of Corti is composed of two membranes, the lower basilar membrane which is flexible, and the upper tectorial membrane which is more rigid. Lodged into the basilar membrane are the bottom ends of the hair cells, whose namesake hair-like protrusions stick out at the top and into the tectorial membrane. The basilar membrane will resonate based on the movement of the fluid, which is passed on to the hair cells through their axonal projections. Sound amplitude is translated by the amount these hair cells move, and hence the amount of neurotransmitter they release into the tectorial membrane, the more neurotransmitter, the louder we perceive that sound. Sound frequency is more complicated. The stiffness of the basilar membrane differs at its base and at its apex. The basilar fibres are shorter and stiffer at the base, while longer and more flexible at the apex. Higher frequency sounds cause the shorter fibres to vibrate and lower frequency sounds cause the longer fibres to vibrate. An animal’s hearing range increases as the difference between basal and apical fibre length increases. The shorter the fibre, the higher the frequency that can be heard, the longer the fibre, the lower the frequency that can be heard.

Based on the temperature - precipitation graph collected in this location I interpret the biome to be most similar to a desert. The probe's measurements report the average annual temperature to be 28.1 °C ranging from 26 °C - 30 °C monthly and the annual precipitation to be 27.8 cm ranging between 2.0 cm - 2.5 cm monthly. Both temp. And precip. show little change throughout the year. My reasoning for this classification has to do with the major drought present year-round. I can infer this because the temperature is consistently higher than the precipitation, which is low and therefore produces a drought. These key factor set a desert apart from all the other biomes. Also, a classic desert on earth would typically experience a large temperature difference from 10 °C - 30+ °C during the year and on average less than a centimeter of rain every month. Although this new biome may seem different, when plotted on the triangle graph containing all 9 biomes, it still falls under the desert section.

     A desert classification narrows the possible latitude and plants of this biome. On earth, deserts are normally found near the 30 ° North and South latitudes from the equator. Assuming the planet is similar to earth the location of this biome should be near or on this coordinate. With little to no water and intense heat, the types of plants that could survive in this environment must be specialized to retain water. Therefore, plants found here are likely succulents, such as cacti and desert shrubs. These plants are able to live off of little water due to their water storage abilities and withstand heat. Succulents on earth are accustomed to hot/cold seasonal shifts and even lesser rain, so the plants found in this biome may have evolutionary differences when compared to earths’ plants. They may transpire more in order to deal with the constant high temperatures throughout the year.

I entered the John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst located at 551 N. Pleasant St. Amherst, MA 01003-2901. Upon entering through the front entrance, I used the wooden, exposed stairs on the left side of the first floor to reach the third floor. After reaching the third floor, I walked straight until the hallway splits to left and right. I took that left and a rooftop garden became visible through windows on my left. A few steps down the hall, I used a door to access the garden. Once inside the rooftop patio, I walked to the back of the left side of the patio till I reached the bench located in the back. After turning around, I spotted a small tree in the planter that is flush to the right side of a garden wall that shows signs of phytophagy. With feet against the bench, I captured the first picture of the figure to display the size of the small tree. Walking directly towards the small tree, a leaf the bares extreme signs of phytophagy becomes evident. This leaf composes the second photo of the figure.

Last Wednesday, I walked out of the main entrance of Morrill I N375 and took a right down the stairs, through the set of doors, and walked down the hallway. After passing the bathrooms, which were on my left, I took a left at the first door after and walked down the stairs to go outsdie. Taking a right, I went down a flight of stairs and that's where I found plenty evidence of phytophagy on campus. After reaching the bottom of the stairs, I took a look to my right and found a big plant on the ground with several leaves with holes and brown streaks on it. Since these leaves were on the ground, it is safe to say that the holes were caused by plant-eating insects. There were at least 4-5 holes in most of the leaves on the plant. I took a picture of the plant from right above, on the walkway above looking down on the plant, and from the little brick wall closer to the street. 

There are 7 types of popular edible seaweed: Wakame, Kombu, Nori, Dulse, Hijiki, Irish Moss, and Sea Lettuce. Seaweed is a part of the diets of many cultures which border the sea, and is especially popular in Japan. Seaweed has a salty, rich, and savory taste due both to the environment it grows in and amino acids called glutamates which greatly enhance its unique flavors. Often labeled as a super food, seaweed contains a wide variety of minerals (sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, iodine, and iron to name a few) and important vitamins including A, C, E, and B12. Seaweed is not only a relatively easy and abundant food to grow, but one which will offer excellent nutritional benefits to those who consume it. 

From an agricultural perspective, the cultivation of edible seaweed is far more environmentally conscious than traditional farming and traditional foods. It can either be maintained and harvested from naturally occurring clusters, or grown in isolated areas specifically for cultivation. No deforestation and fertilization of land is needed to successfully grow seaweed crops. The plant itself is excellent at absorbing CO2, which has continued to build up in the ocean along with increasing acidity. Since seaweed absorbs so much carbon, it can also be used as a carbon donor to other environments which are very carbon poor. Seaweed also has great potential to be used as a biofuel and if brought into the energy industry could provide an extremely environmentally conscious alternative to traditional fuels. 

Currently, Asian-Pacific countries lead the world in agricultural seaweed production, with countries including Australia joining in on the process. If the coastal countries of the would invest in commercial seaweed production, the impact could be drastic. The problem is that not every culture has accepted seaweed into its diet. For most of the eastern world, seaweed is not considered a particularly valuable food source. If cultures and societies could accept seaweed, production would increase dramatically. 

Over the past few years, scientists and farmers alike have become more aware of the positive effect seaweed cultivation has on the environment. As the planet continues to change both on land and in the sea, it is important to do all we can as a species to try and reverse the damage we have caused. Agricultural production of seaweed is just one step in the process.