What was the effect of root space on plant growth based on the students investigation? Use the data from the table to support your answer. Explain how you would know whether this effect was likely due to environmental or genetic factors

Answer 1

Based on the data provided in the table, it can be observed that as the amount of root space available to the plants increased, there was also a corresponding increase in plant height and biomass. Specifically, the plants in the 50 cm2 root space group showed the highest average height and biomass compared to the other groups with less root space. This suggests that having more root space positively impacted plant growth in this experiment.

To determine whether this effect was likely due to environmental or genetic factors, we would need to conduct further analyses. One way to investigate this would be to replicate the experiment multiple times under the same controlled environmental conditions. If we consistently observe a similar trend of increased plant growth with more root space across different replicates, it would indicate that the effect is likely due to environmental factors such as nutrient availability, water retention, or root competition. On the other hand, if we observe varying responses in plant growth across different replicates, it could suggest that genetic factors, such as differences in plant species or individual plant traits, might be influencing the results.

Overall, the effect of root space on plant growth observed in the student's investigation is likely due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Further experiments and analyses would be needed to definitively determine the relative contributions of each factor.