Chemical ecology is the study of the chemicals involved in the interactions of l

Question

Chemical ecology is the study of the chemicals involved in the interactions of living organisms. This pertains to medicinal botany because plants produce certain secondary metabolites (phytochemicals) in response to various ecological factors. Some examples include interactions between plants and animals (i.e. herbivory), bacteria or fungi (i.e. plant pathogens), and other plants (i.e. competitors for resources like water, sun, soil, and etc.). Other ecological factors that can affect plant chemistry include factors like altitude, sun/shade and rainfall. In some medicinal plant traditions, the time of collection (season or even time of day) is crucial to the bioactivity of the plant drug. This is because plant chemistry can change even throughout the span of a day. A solid understanding of the role of chemical ecology in plant chemistry is necessary for work in this field.

For this lab, you will design an experiment to test a hypothesis in chemical ecology. You will not actually be carrying out the experiment, just designing it in a thoughtful way that would provide the necessary data to answer your question. After completing your reading assignment, choose a question in chemical ecology (related to medicinal plants) that you wish to answer. Design a hypothesis, alternative hypothesis and create a detailed experiment. You may design the experiment under the controlled environment of a greenhouse, or collect data in the field in the natural ecosystem. See the instructions below for specific areas to cover:

Chemical Ecology Experiment Proposal Format (10 points)

I.   Introduction

A.   General research question/interest

B.   Brief background about why this is an interesting problem and how it relates to chemical ecology and medical ethnobotany. What type of chemical ecology relationship are you exploring?

II.   Formal Research Question

III.    Hypotheses

A.      Null Hypothesis

B.      Alternative Hypotheses

IV.    Methods/Research Design Proposal

A.      Include a drawing of your experimental design.  

B.      Be specific about details such as replication, what type of data you will take and how frequently

C.      Materials and resources needed and estimated budget and timeline

D.      Address potential confounding factors and biases and how you will minimize them.

E.       Optional: How will you analyze your data?

Explanation / Answer

Introduction

Research question

TO STUDY THE MEDICINAL POTENTIAL OF PLANTS IN THE TROPICAL REGIONS

Background Informtion

Proposed Research

Methods

Results

Conclusion

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