Brassica Rapa

Lab Report 1: Pollination and Climate Change

Karly Rumpel
091081

Introduction: In this experiment, the effect of climate change on Brassica Rapa will be tested. The Brassica Rapa plant is a member of the cruciferae family, or mustard family. The flowers on the plant are in the shape of a cross, which is why it is named crucifer (CFIA 2014). The brassica varieties are important to the canola industry, for they contain less fiber and more oil and protein than traditional canola (Stringam et al. 1974). These characteristics are vital for canola to be more competitive in the oil industry (Bell 1993). Brassica species also show their use and importance in that they have been developed accordingly, based on their conditions, for
The dependent variable is the Brassica Rapa and it is depending on the temperature. Before the experiment took place, all plants were in 22 degrees Celsius for three weeks to grow to the preferred maturity. They were then taken out and pollinated. After pollination the plants were set in separate temperatures to mature for another two weeks. After the two weeks were over, the plants were taken out of their temperatures and soil to determine maturity and productivity. To do so, the plants were weighed, the length was measured, the pods were counted, and the amounts of mature seeds were counted as
When observing figure 1.0, the Brassica Rapa is clearly not yet mature as the plants have the most amount of open flowers at 18 degrees Celsius. This graph also shows that the plants at 30 degrees Celsius did not have any open flowers, which would normally be assumed that the flowers matured into seedpods. However, figure 5.0 show that the assumptions made for figure 1.0 are incorrect. The amounts of seedpods for the plants in 18 degrees are lower than those in 22 degrees and 26 degrees, but higher than the plants in 30 degrees. The lack of pods and large amount of flowers that the plants in 18 degrees had indicates that they matured at a slower rate than the other plants. The lack of open flowers and seedpods that the plants in 30 degrees had indicate that the plants suffered from heat blast (N.G. Rumpel, personal communication, October 3, 2015). Heat blast occurs when canola is in its flowering stage or just passed, the plant gets so hot that the petals fall off and the flower aborts. With these results the hypothesis of highest productivity at 22 and 26 degrees, and lowest productivity at 18 and 30 degrees is accepted. With climate change being an increase or decrease in temperature, canola crops in Canada will need to be altered for the climate. If the canola is not adjusted, the yields that are currently being