Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/27/2012 - 15:47

Hello, this Joshua Duquette from period four.

I beleive that the leeward side of the fence is called that because the snow is actually trapping heat and acting like an insulator therfore raising the tempretur below it.

I have a another question, plant matter that has frozen in the permafrost and has formed all the excess carbon in the tundra is probably not alive but just preserved right? Or is there actual biological material that had lived. I know that some frogs have a "antifreeze" that allows them to go into a type of suspended animation. I thought that the plants might have adapted in a way that would allow the seeds to be preserved for the future in which the ice might thaw. I'm not talking about when the plant is forced into the growing or in this case shrinking permafrost but instead the regular freezing and thawing of winter and summer.

-thanks

John Wood

Hello. Good idea. The leeward side refers to the side down wind, but that is where the snow gets dropped. The plant material in the permafrost is generally not viable. However, there is an "active layer" that may freeze and thaw where the plants do sit or hibernate under the snow and wait for the next growing season. This is a pretty good adaptation for a plant. Many plants on the tundra do not produce seeds.I received your registration information for the OCSEF, and have confirmed your project. Let me know what else I can do for you. Remember, make the title flashy on your board, and be prepared to talk to the judge about what you have learned from this experience, not what you knew already. You have done a good job! Good luck.
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Awesome I should be starting the poster soon. About the plants though, if they don't produce seeds I would they reproduce differently then? Also, the plants that are capable of being dormaint in the ice must have some way to keep from induing an enviroment that will cause there cells to expand and rupture. Is it a form of antifreeeze or is there another way to protect itself.

John Wood

A lot of the mosses on the tundra produce spores, these are non-vascular plants. Cotton Grass has adapted a tussock shape that helps it not to freeze. I don't think this is an area where anti-freeze is used much. If the plants do freeze they will die. Good questions! I'm sure we could both learn a lot about this topic.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

What are spores, and what makes them different from a seed? Are they a adapted specifically for the polar climate or are they common in other areas?

John Wood

Spores are very common. Look it up!Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Okay, spores should be a fun research project, i'll get back to you on what I find out. I would also like to know if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can damage the O3 layer.

Anonymous

I did some research and found out that spores are commonly produced by bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. I also learned that the main difference between a seed and a spore is dispersal units. The spores have little food storage compared with seeds.

John Wood

Good job! The ozone layer is not measurably affected by the CO2 levels as far as we know.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

John Wood

Good information. So why would a plant, or whatever, use spores instead of seeds? What is the advantage?Mr. Wood

Anonymous

The spores might be supplemented instead of seeds because of it's ability to disperse, spores do not begin growing until the conditions are favorable. This would let the seed have a head start in maturing before unfavorable conditions occur. It's ability to disperse would allow it to get away from the area which it was produced which has drain on nutrients from the plants living and possibly go to an area which is higher in nutrients.

Anonymous

Is the ozone layer in danger from any after effects from global warming due to carbon?

Anonymous

This is Joshua Duquette from period 4. I believe that the warmer winters will affect the growing of plants in the spring because with higher tempretures, snow won't freeze as fast. With less snow, the summer solar radation will take less time to melt the fallen snow aallowing the plants to grow earlier. The plants will grow larger and probably have more time to reproduce. This would lead to an increase in populace and could upset the ecolohical balance.Also, the video you posted on your journal keeps saying that the video is private and I can't watch it. Can you help me fix that?
-Thanks

Anonymous

This is Joshua Duquette from period 4. I believe that the warmer winters will affect the growing of plants in the spring because with higher tempretures, snow won't freeze as fast. With less snow, the summer solar radation will take less time to melt the fallen snow allowing the plants to grow earlier. The plants will grow larger and probably have more time to reproduce. This would lead to an increase in populace and could upset the ecological balance.Also, the video you posted on your journal keeps saying that the video is private and I can't watch it. Can you help me fix that?
-Thanks

John Wood

Good thinking. Dispersal is very important for plants. It helps them reduce the amount of competition for all of the resources in an area.Mr. Wood

John Wood

I don't think so at any high rate. Chlorofluorocarbons were banned mostly because of the Cl reacting with the ozone. There is carbon there but I'm not sure it reacts.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

John Wood

You are right, but don't forget about the respiration in the soil as the temps go up. It may catch up and pass what the plants can do in the long run.I will check on the video for you.
Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Thank You for checking the video. You said that the soil resperates. I'm going to assume that it does not respirate all year long, just when there is not snow covering it. If that is the case than the organisms in the soil will get a head start in respirating just like the plants. But my question is, how would they actually produce more CO2 than the plants can consume.-Thanks

John Wood

Good question. However, first off the soil respires, and it respires all year long. In the winter respiration is low but releasing CO2 while photosynthesis is at 0. During the summer the respiration is much higher, and photosynthesis has really taken off also. At this time, the tundra is a CO2 sink during the summer. The respiration does not overtake the photosynthesis, but the active layer in the permafrost is relatively thin. In a warmer world that layer will go deeper and respiration will increase. And remember that stored in the frozen permafrost is twice the amount of CO2 than there is in all of the atmosphere. If that all comes out will the plants be able to keep up?
Thanks.
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

How can the soil respirate all year long? Does the organisms have some type of immunity to the cold?

John Wood

The soil around here gets down to about 16 F (-9 C), which is not that extreme. In most cases, the activity if the organisms is enough to keep things moving. At times there is even liquid water deeper in the ground that may be because of this activity. And remember, that the ground does warm up for at least half of the year. I will ask Dr. Natali about this when we speak with her on the phone. We also have a researcher coming in a couple of weeks that does work on soil microbes. I will ask him about all of this when he gets here. I'm sure we will both learn some cool things. In the meantime, you would say that the soil respires, not respirates.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

I think the Co2 is probably going out. With less light, the plants must have less time to respire and the organisms in the soil will produce more 02..

John Wood

You are correct. I'm not sure what you mean by the plants will have less time to respire. And thank you for saying respire!How is your OCSEF project and board coming? Set up this weekend and pick a judging time. Get there as early as you can.
Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

I'm really sorry, I submitted everything but I haven't had any time to get my poster board ready and I'm at my grandma's that weekend. I was really looking forward to going but I couldn't get everything ready in time. Also, as I said above plans got in the way. I'm going to try for next year though.Really Sorry
-Josh

John Wood

I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help more. We could have worked on the board and I could have arranged to get it to the fair. You put in a lot of work and I think your project would be a winner.Good effort,
Mr. Wood