Transplant experiment

Transplant experiment, also known as a common garden experiment (although this term is more plant specific), is an experiment where one or more organisms are moved from one environment to another environment. In a usual common garden experiment, two species of plants growing in their native environments would both be transplanted in a common environment. A reciprocal transplant involves introducing organisms from each of two or more environments into the other(s). Transplant experiments are often performed to test if there is a genetic component to differences in populations. In recent decades the advances of molecular biology have provided researchers with the ability to study genetic variation more directly. However, transplant experiments still have the advantages of being simple and requiring little technology. On the other hand, they may require considerable time and labour, and the number of test organisms is often relatively limited.