Equipment for Teaching and Student Research in Plant Ecologyand Evolutionary Biology

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The equipment purchased through this project is to improve laboratory instruction and enhance opportunities for undergraduate student research in plant ecology and evolutionary biology. Several functionally related items being installed include plant growth chambers, balances, a portable photosynthesis system, a portable leaf area meter, a datalogger, and equipment for extracting biochemical compounds from plant tissues. This new equipment responds to increased student interest in ecology and evolutionary biology by assisting the faculty to (1) introduce new courses in Aquatic Biology and Population Biology, (2) add a new laboratory component to the existing Evolutionary Biology course, (3) improve laboratory instruction in five other existing courses, and (4) increase the kinds of projects that students may conduct as independent research. In the instructional laboratories, the new equipment is being used in a variety of exercises that include investigations of the effects of environmental parameters on plant growth, development, and metabolism in both natural environments and under controlled conditions; experimental studies of plant competition under controlled environmental conditions; and studies of the inheritance of traits affected by many genes (quantitative traits). The grantee institution is matching the NSF award with an equal sum obtained from non-Federal sources.