These data sets were meticulously collected by Dr. Paul Williams in an investigation in which we were interested in learning about how nutrient limitations effect a variety of easily observable and measureable Fast Plant traits. Observations were made and recorded at different points in the plants' growth and development. We were interested to look for traits that are minimally influenced by environment AND have a wide range of variation, so that we can potentially select for an extreme expression of that trait (and hopefully effect the expression of that trait in the offspring). This investigation was done using Standard, or wild type, Fast Plants so there was a lot of genetic diversity. Fast Plants rarely self pollinate, so these "populations" were diverse and could be assumed to exhibit a lot of variation. Although our sample size was relatively small, this experiment has been replicated at least 5 times with consistent results. For more information about how this experiment was conducted, see the Fast Plants Program resource: "Is more food better?"