Plant Defenses (Daphnia) Experiment

Topic: Plant Defenses (Daphnia) Experiment
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Abstract
The experiment was carried out to determine the effect of plant defenses on Daphnia magna which is a small herbivore. The plant defense that was used in this experiment was black and green tea. The Daphnia Magna was placed in on a microscope and the HR (heart rate) per minute was recorded. After the introduction of black and green tea to the small herbivore, the heart rate was recorded again. After the trials, T-test calculation was performed and Green tea was found to increase the Daphnia magna’s heart rate while black tea was established to decrease the flea’s heart rate. The result proved the alternative hypothesis, …show more content…
They are often used for experimentation because they are numerous and transparent over light. This allows the experimenter to fully view the internal organs without having to dissect and thus killing thus flea. Therefore, this is ideal for this experiment so we can record heart beats (Villegas-Navarro et al., 2003).
Black tea and green tea, as well as coffee, contain caffeine. Caffeine can be found in other plants but it is commonly known to come from coffee beans. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. When daphnia is placed in a medium containing black tea and green tea, caffeine diffuses into the circulatory system of daphnia (Treble & Krauter, 2010). Caffeine mimics adrenaline and noradrenaline effects in the heart but doesn't involve beta-1 adrenoreceptors. It increases cyclic AMP levels in the Sinoatrial node. Increase in CAMP levels increases the electrical activity of sinoatrial node making it depolarize and beat faster. Caffeine can also increase the rate of ventricle contraction and relaxation (Karch, 2009). Increased heartbeat translates to increased cardiac

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