User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I am studying how the abundance of Typha latifolia affects the timing of their seed dispersal. First and foremost what I will need to consider in this study is the reproductive behaviour and processes of this species as well as how they behave with each other and with other species in their respective ecosystems. Whether their seeds are resilient and their reproduction is easily achieved will be crucial things to consider as well as whether they live harmoniously among other species both of their own kind and others. This will give me very valuable information in order to properly interpret my data. However, because ecosystems are complex and there are many variables involved, other factors begging to be considered are nutrient availability (because one would assume species with enough nutrients would reproduce more optimally than those malnourished) and environmental factors such as wind, temperature and light (because these are also things that could effect reproductive behaviour). What I aim to do in my research is find out when cattails best like to reproduce and find out if the amount of neighbors of their own species present has anything to do with the timing of their seed dispersal. Some keywords I would include for this study would be invasive species, seed dispersal, reproductive behaviour, and interspecies competition.
