Concept explainers
To review:
The effect on the plant species on its exposure to the garlic mustard and its dependency on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; whether the relationship is consistent with the fact that plant growth gets reduced because of the interference of garlic mustard on the fungal partner of the plant.
Introduction:
When the plant species belonging to a particular place, is planted at a foreign place then it might outcompete the indigenous species of that region because of the absence of the organisms that feed on the foreign plants. The mechanism by which foreign plant species outcompetes the native species is called as the invasion. A similar case happened with the garlic mustard. The Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) is the native plant of Eurasia. It has caused a severe damage to the native plants of North America.
Explanation of Solution
A highly invasive plant species, garlic mustard belongs to Eurasian. It has invaded the plants of North America and caused a severe damage to them. The mechanism by which the garlic mustard plants outcompetes the native plants is very unique. The chemicals secreted by the garlic mustard interfere with the symbiotic relationships of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the native plants. The arbuscular fungi provide the nutrients to the plants by absorbing them from the soil. The plants provide shelter to the fungal partner.
Some plants are unable to survive without their fungal partner and die due to lack of nutrients. The effect of garlic mustard on the native plant species was checked by the researchers and found that a strong linear relationship exists between the presence of garlic mustard and the death of plants. The negative effect of the garlic mustard is consistent with the fact that the mycorrhizal fungal partner gets severely affected by the chemicals secreted by the garlic mustard.
Thus, it can be concluded that a strong linear relationship exists between the bad effects of garlic mustard and survival of the native plants. The relationship is consistent with the fact that the chemicals secreted by the garlic mustard damage the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal partner of the plants.
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Chapter 29 Solutions
Life: The Science of Biology
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