Kyle Smith

1B

Duckweed Background

        Duckweed is an extremely small plant. It has small leaf like structures that have a tiny root on the bottom. Duckweed floats on water in stagnant or slow moving bodies of water, oftentimes ponds. Duckweed reproduces asexually; it splits into separate parts, similar to cells.  Because of this trait, they tend to grow in numbers extremely fast, or exponentially. This means it would be only a small matter of time before they would be able to cover an entire pond. Duckweed gains it’s nutrients by absorbing them from the water. It absorbs a large amount of nitrates and phosphates and is considered a natural water filter because of this absorption. Duckweed is able to survive in a multitude of lighting conditions; it is most prolific in an open and extremely sunny area. It does moderately well in a slightly shaded area, although not as much as a sunny area. The area where it does the worst, but is still able to survive, is with incandescent lighting. To humans, duckweed may seem like a nuisance when it takes over their ponds. But in nature, duckweed provides a hiding place for frogs, fish, and other aquatic animals. Duckweed also provides protein for some water fowl. Duckweed is even able to provide nutrition to some people in certain cultures, primarily in places in Asia. Duckweed is a great candidate for population experiments because it grows fairly rapidly and has many factors that are able to be manipulated, while the others are kept controlled.