During this research process, I have learned how different it is from doing research and experiments around a classroom setting. This was the first time I was doing my own research project with help from my research advisor. Usually, I have help from my classmates as well as instruction from the lab guide to assist me with my project. However, this time, I was in charge of everything from how I was going to set up my experiment to how I will record the data to the type of materials and equipment I would need and later how I will analyze my data. There were definitely a lot of unknowns that I had to deal with on my own as well as through communication with my advisor. We were both unsure about many things during this research process and we slowly figured it out through trial and error like how to best grow Japanese stiltgrass and how to make recordings of its movement. We adapted some ideas from existing literature and experiments and we discovered some small insights that were never mentioned or studied before. Like the TedTalk I have watched on the research process, it is not a straight line from A to B, where A is the starting point of the project development and B is the ending or the results from the project. There is actually a lot of variables that bring many twists and turns before finding your way back to B and the results might not be what you expected.
From my research, I made a few interesting preliminary findings. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and limited time, I was unable to repeat my experiments to confirm these findings. However, from the experiments that I was able to conduct, I noticed that Japanese stiltgrass grows better in 16-hour light compared to 24-hour light, as mentioned previously. Japanstiltgrass is healthier and more robust with greener leaves in 16-hour light while in 24-hour light the leaves turn yellow earlier and its stems are thinner. And from the data I collected of Japanese stiltgrass growing in 16-hour light, I got measurements of its root growth. I found a positive correlation between root length and the rate of root growth. As the root gets longer, the root grows at a faster rate. I created a graph displaying this data and it is shown below.
Figure 1: The effect of Japanese stiltgrass root length on its root growth.
Additionally, I found that Japanese stiltgrass has a tendency to fall over on its sides and it happens more than once. I originally thought it only falls over once through its growth but after review of my time-lapse videos, I noticed that it falls over multiple times. I do not have enough data to determine the causes that result in the plant to fall over but some possible factors could be to sense other plants nearby, to block other plants from growing in that area, or to take over territory so it can grow both laterally and vertically. Lastly, in my competition studies with Japanese stiltgrass and other plant species: Arabidopsis thaliana, Bachelor’s Button, Cosmos, and Zinnia, I noticed that there were ways in which these other plants were “fighting” with Japanese stiltgrass. The Zinnia grew taller with its leaves fanned out like a tree so Japanese stiltgrass grew a taller stem and grew under the shadows of Zinnia in lower light conditions but there were a few Japanese stiltgrass plants that bent itself to get access to better lighting. For the Bachelor’s Button and Cosmos, they also tried to keep Japanese stiltgrass from growing by growing above Japanese stiltgrass and using its leaves and stems to push down on Japanese stiltgrass or to cover the leaves of Japanese stiltgrass. As for Arabidopsis, it uses its agility and its fast growth rate to move into areas with Japanese stiltgrass to take up space and light resources. There was also one instance where I captured Arabidopsis wrapping itself around the Japanese stiltgrass in my time-lapse video. (This is the link to the video: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18O2Iuo1OlCMAIzJB6KCwOjfJ5UeuCeDs.)