ALTERATIONS IN THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES BY

TARAXACUM OFFICINALE INTO THEIR ORGANS IN CONDITIONS

WITH NO MOWING VS REGULAR MOWING
JULIA PROCTOR
Field Ecology (BIOL 480), Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
INTRODUCTION
Taraxacum officinale, commonly known as the dandelion, is a robust weed that is well
adapted to survive both human and environmental disturbances (Sawada 1982). Regular
mowing, a human disturbance, is often used as an artificial disturbance to plant growth in
experimentation (Sawada 1982). However, (Mlgaard 1977) suggests that mowing grasses might
be aiding dandelion growth as increasing grass height shows a trend in decreasing density of
dandelion growth. I decided to analyze the data collected by our class to find out whether growth
of Taraxacum plants was affected by the disturbance of being regularly mowed. I wanted to
know if plants allocated their resources differently when they were in conditions of high
disturbance or stress caused by mowing.
As many gardeners have probably witnessed, dandelions (and other weeds) continue to
re-grow, despite being mowed over. This is because the root remains intact and is a major source
of nutrients and carbohydrate storage for plants, which allows them to re-grow after a major
disturbance (Abu-Dieyeh 2006). Since roots remain relatively undisturbed in conditions of
regular mowing, I expect that their growth will not be significantly different in the two different
conditions.
Leaves and flowers are expected to grow more rapidly, while roots grow at a slower and
steadier pace (Bowes 1970). I expect that dandelion plants put under the stress of regular

mowing would allocate the most resources to re-growing their leaves, which are the loci of
photosynthesis and energy production for the plant (Abu-Dieyeh 2006). Not only are dandelions
able to re-grow their leaves due to nutrients that are stored within their roots, but the mowing of
the leaves encourages new shoot growth (Abu-Dieyeh 2006). I expect that the leaf growth of
mowed plants will be the same or greater than those of un-mowed dandelions.
Taraxacum have their flowering periods during the spring (Honek 2005), which is when
we collected our data, so flower growth should be consistent across both conditions. However, it
might be advantageous for regularly mowed dandelions to produce more flowers so that their
seed production and dispersal are increased (Vavrek 1998). There are other claims that
dandelions in mowed areas need to focus on the balance between their reproductive and
vegetative states (Solbrig 1977). Dandelion plants that are cut continue to produce flowers
although the plant may have limited growth overall (Mlgaard 1977).
I still expect that dandelion flowers will weigh significantly less in mowed areas than
they would be in un-mowed areas. This is because when the plant is mowed over, the upwardgrowing flower is relatively easy to disconnect from the plant. Dandelion leaves, however, grow
prostrate (flat and close to the ground) when in areas that are regularly mowed, making it more
difficult to mow over the plant and cut the leaves off completely (Abu-Dieyeh 2006).
If dandelions didnt grow any differently whether they were mowed or left un-mowed
(growth pattern was consistent), then I would expect to find that dandelion plants would be
significantly smaller in areas where they are regularly mowed than in areas where they are not,
because they would have had less time and freedom to grow to their full capacity in comparison
to un-mowed dandelion plants. If dandelions do have preferential allocation of resources to

certain organs, I would expect to see that the average weights of those organs are the same (or
maybe even larger) in mowed areas than un-mowed areas.
METHODS
The data collected for this study took place over 8 years (ranging from 2008-2015) by
students of Field Ecology (BIOL 480) at the University of Washington. Data on Taraxacum
officinale (dandelions) was collected across the University of Washington campus. We used
garden shovels and spades to dig up the whole dandelion plant, being careful to not disrupt the
root of the dandelion while removing it from the soil. Approximately 60 dandelion plants were
collected each year. 30 plants were collected from areas known to be mowed regularly and 30
plants were collected from areas known to remain un-mowed.
Once the 60 plants were collected and placed into buckets, they were hand washed with
cold water in order to remove any dirt or other critters that may alter the mass measured of each
portion of the plant. We then brought the plants into the lab and used Laboratory Slim Hanging
Scales to measure the weight of different components of the plant. We first attached the entirety
of the plant and measured total weight. Then we removed the leaves of the plant, counted the
number of leaves, measured the length of the longest leaf, and then weighed all of the leaves
together. Next, we removed the flowers (including the stems), counted the number of flowers,
and then weighed all of the flowers together. Lastly, the root of the plant remained. We measured
the length of the taproot and weighed the whole of the root. We recorded all of this data and
added it to the collection of data.
This collection of data was used for analysis via Microsoft Excel 2013. I installed
Analysis ToolPak as an add-in. This tool was used to analyze the data via the T-test (assuming
that the two samples had unequal variances). Assuming that plant growth remained the same

regardless of conditions, I used an estimated mean difference of 0. I did this test four times for:
total flower weight, leaf weight, flower weight, and root weight. I created a bar graph with the
eight means collected.
Categorical values: mowed vs un-mowed; continuous value: weight of plant or plant
organ; I had this comparison for four different categories of plant/plant part as follows: whole
plant, leaves, flowers, or roots. The graph displayed below shows a comparison of the average
weights of the parts of the dandelion plant. The standard error bars were also shown.
I then used the t-test formula on excel to calculate the p-values of the differences in
average weight of dandelion organs between the two different conditions we collected our
dandelion plants from. We used a t-test of p < 0.05 to determine the statistical significance of the
difference between the average values calculated for dandelion plant growth in mowed and unmowed areas.
RESULTS
(Figure 1) clearly shows that the average weight of dandelion plants, both overall and
leaves/flowers/roots individually, are greater in un-mowed plants than mowed plants. The
standard error bars, however, show that these results could potentially be erroneous or not fully
representative of the entire population of dandelions.
In (Table 1) a t-test was conducted to determine the p-values, which gives a level of
significance of the data collected between mowed and un-mowed plants. The overall plant
weight of un-mowed dandelion plants is significantly greater than un-mowed dandelion plants,
with a p < 0.05. However, the t-test determined that the difference in average weight of leaves
and roots was not significant. Both resulted in a p > 0.05. The difference in flowers on mowed

and un-mowed dandelion plants was p < 0.005. The allocation of resources into the dandelions
flowers is significantly lower in mowed plants than those of un-mowed plants.
DISCUSSION
I found that the overall average weight of dandelions and the average flower weight of
dandelions is significantly higher in un-mowed areas than regularly mowed plants. The
difference in allocation of resources to dandelion organs (and thus growth) of mowed and unmowed plants was insignificant in leaves and roots.
The data clearly shows that there is a significant difference for overall weight and flower
weight. However, the time the un-mowed dandelions and regularly mowed dandelions was not
regulated, and if it was (or at least known), then the data that we collected may prove to be more
reliable. Within the context of how our samples were collected, we have determined that unmowed dandelions are significantly larger than mowed dandelions.
Since the weight of the entire plant is significantly greater in un-mowed dandelions than
mowed dandelions, if there was a constant growth rate and pattern, we should that the un-mowed
dandelions are significantly larger in every organ. However, we see that average flower weight
shows the same pattern of having significantly greater weight in un-mowed than mowed. In
leaves and roots, the data shows that they appear larger, but the difference is insignificant. This
data could indicate that Taraxacum plants allocate more resources towards their leaves and roots
when under the stress of being regularly mowed so that the average weight of that organ is not
significantly different in mowed or un-mowed plants. However, it is difficult to tell solely from
this data and analysis whether there is a definite change in the allocation of resources to different
organs of the plant and thus growth patterns.

I would be interested to know if the significant difference between mowed and un-mowed
flower weights was truly due to less resources being allocated towards that organ or if it is
because they are more likely to have been recently mowed off. I would also be interested to test
the effects of grazing independently of mowing to see if there are different affects for each on the
allocation of resources to different organs.
REFERENCES
Abu-Dieyeh, Mohammed, and Alan Watson. "Impact of Mowing and Weed Control on
Broadleaf Weed Population Dynamics in Turf." Journal of Plant Interactions 1.4 (2005):
239-52. Web.
Bowes, B. G. "Preliminary Observations on Organogenesis n Taraxacum officinale Tissue
Culture." E Cultures. Protoplasma, 15 Apr. 1970. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
Hommels, C. H. "Growth Potentials of Taraxacum Microspecies From Different
Habitats." ACTA BOTANICA NEERLANDICA 40.1 (1991): 75-93. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Honek, Alois, Zdenka Martinkova, and Pavel Saska. "Post-dispersal Predation of Taraxacum
officinale (dandelion) Seed." Journal of Ecology 93.2 (2005): 345-52.
Mlgaard, P. "Competitive Effect of Grass on Establishment and Performance
of Taraxacum officinale." Oikos 29.2 (1977): 376.
Sawada, Shinichi, Masashiro Takahashi, and Yoshihiro Kasaishi. "Population Dynamics And
Production Processes of Indigenous and Naturalized Dandelions Subjected to Artificial
Disturbance by Mowings." The Ecological Society of Japan 32nd ser. (1982): 143-50.
Solbrig, Otto T., and Beryl B. Simpson. "A Garden Experiment on Competition Between
Biotypes of the Common Dandelion (Taraxacum Officinale)." The Journal of
Ecology 65.2 (1977): 427.

Vavrek, Milan C. "Within-Popullation Genetic Diversity of Taraxacum Officinale (Asteraceae):

Differential Genotype Response and Effect on Interspecific Competition." American
Journal of Botany 85.7 (1998): 947-54.JSTOR. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Total
Leaf
Flower
Root

Mowed Mean
(g)
19.84
9.42
4.82
5.60

Unmowed
Mean (g)
24.43
10.97
6.91
6.55

p-Values
0.035
0.160
0.002
0.103

(Table 1): Mean values for whole plant, leaves of plant, flowers of plant, and roots of
plant in both mowed and un-mowed regions. The p-values for the significance of the
difference between mowed and un-mowed conditions were calculated by the T-test
and are listed to the right.

30
25
20
Mass (g) 15
10
5
0

Total

Leaf
Mowed Mean

Flower

Taproot

Unmowed Mean

(Figure 1): Shows a comparison of the average masses of the given plant part (total weight of the plant, weight of
the leaves, weight of the flowers, or weight of the roots) in mowed and un-mowed conditions, respectively. Standard
error bars are also included.