This study aims to explore the long-term benefits of home gardening if every student at Pepperdine were to hypothetically sustain their own home garden in the state of California and the effect that this would have on state carbon absorption as a means of decreasing atmospheric CO2 and reducing further climate change

Brody, Jacqueline N.

Elson, Paige L.

New, Brittany V.

English

Pepperdine Digital Commons

Pepperdine UniversityPepperdine Digital CommonsAll Undergraduate Student Research Undergraduate Student Research2014Effects of Personal Gardens on the Reduction ofAtmospheric CO2 and Climate ChangeJacqueline N. BrodyPepperdine UniversityPaige L. ElsonPepperdine UniversityBrittany V. NewPepperdine UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/sturesearchPart of the Biology CommonsThis Research Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Student Research at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in All Undergraduate Student Research by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information,please contact Kevin.Miller3@pepperdine.edu.Recommended CitationBrody, Jacqueline N.; Elson, Paige L.; and New, Brittany V., "Effects of Personal Gardens on the Reduction of Atmospheric CO2 andClimate Change" (2014). Pepperdine University, All Undergraduate Student Research. Paper 98.http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/sturesearch/98Eﬀects	  of	  Personal	  Gardens	  on	  the	  Reduc4on	  of	  Atmospheric	  CO2	  and	  Climate	  Change	  Jacqueline	  N.	  Brody,	  Paige	  L.	  Elson,	  and	  Bri8any	  V.	  New	  Professor	  Stephen	  D.	  Davis	  Pepperdine	  University	  24255	  Paciﬁc	  Coast	  Highway,	  Malibu,	  CA	  90263	  	  Abstract	  Introduc4on	  Results	   Discussion	  Conclusion	  Literature	  Cited	  This	  study	  aims	  to	  explore	  the	  long-­‐term	  beneﬁts	  of	  home	  gardening	  if	  every	  student	  at	  Pepperdine	  University	  were	  to	  hypotheTcally	  sustain	  their	  own	  home	  garden	  in	  the	  state	  of	  California	  and	  the	  eﬀect	  that	  this	  would	  have	  on	  state	  carbon	  absorpTon	  as	  a	  means	  of	  decreasing	  atmospheric	  CO2	  and	  reducing	  further	  climate	  change.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  In	  order	  to	  test	  the	  eﬀects	  of	  home	  gardens	  on	  CO2	  absorpTon,	  we	  measured	  two	  garden	  plant	  species:	  Solanum	  lycopersicum	  (tomato)	  and	  Rubus	  idaeus	  (rasberry)	  from	  the	  Pepperdine	  on-­‐campus	  garden	  (Figure	  1).	  We	  took	  note	  of	  each	  leaf's	  photosyntheTc	  rate,	  conductance,	  and	  CO2	  Internal	  (Ci)	  in	  order	  to	  deduce	  the	  amount	  of	  CO2	  that	  is	  absorbed	  by	  each	  plant,	  focusing	  on	  the	  photosyntheTc	  rate.	  We	  then	  mulTplied	  this	  value	  by	  the	  number	  of	  average-­‐sized	  leaves	  on	  the	  plant	  and	  converted	  the	  units	  into	  tons	  of	  carbon	  absorbed	  per	  year.	  In	  order	  to	  demonstrate	  the	  eﬀect	  this	  would	  have	  if	  every	  Pepperdine	  undergraduate	  student	  were	  to	  hypotheTcally	  sustain	  their	  own	  home	  garden	  with	  one	  of	  each	  plant,	  we	  mulTplied	  this	  annual	  rate	  by	  3,000	  students	  (Figure	  2),	  and	  this	  value	  is	  a	  very	  signiﬁcant	  impact	  on	  annual	  CO2	  absorpTon,	  proving	  our	  hypothesis	  correct.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Due	  to	  the	  nature	  of	  our	  study,	  there	  were	  several	  variables	  involved	  in	  a8empTng	  to	  calculate	  the	  signiﬁcance	  that	  3,000	  addiTonal	  small	  home	  gardens	  would	  have	  on	  our	  environment,	  such	  as	  types	  of	  plants,	  leaf	  sizes,	  numbers	  of	  leaves,	  weather	  condiTons,	  and	  each	  plants'	  relaTve	  photosyntheTc	  rates.	  During	  our	  calculaTons	  we	  a8empted	  to	  be	  as	  precise	  as	  possible	  using	  the	  sample	  garden	  and	  its	  values	  that	  we	  conducted	  the	  tests	  on	  and	  mulTplied	  those	  esTmated	  values	  by	  3,000	  undergraduate	  students	  for	  our	  total	  carbon	  absorpTon	  in	  tons	  per	  year.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  AddiTonally,	  there	  has	  been	  ample	  research	  conducted	  regarding	  atmospheric	  CO2	  throughout	  the	  recent	  past	  years	  due	  to	  climate	  change	  concerns.	  One	  of	  the	  most	  notable	  examples	  of	  CO2	  research	  is	  the	  "Keeling	  Curve"	  by	  Charles	  David	  Keeling	  that	  illustrates	  the	  signiﬁcant	  increase	  in	  atmospheric	  CO2	  from	  1956	  to	  his	  death	  in	  2005.	  As	  you	  can	  see	  in	  Figure	  3,	  the	  amount	  of	  CO2	  in	  the	  atmosphere	  in	  Mauna	  Loa,	  Hawaii	  has	  been	  increasing	  at	  a	  steady	  rate	  for	  over	  the	  past	  ﬁdy	  years.	  This	  is	  a	  result	  of	  less	  plants	  on	  earth	  to	  absorb	  atmospheric	  CO2	  as	  well	  as	  the	  increasing	  excreTon	  of	  greenhouse	  gases.	  Both	  of	  those	  detrimental	  acTons	  is	  human-­‐	  induced.	  The	  reason	  for	  the	  ﬂuctuaTon	  on	  the	  graph	  is	  due	  to	  the	  seasonal	  change	  every	  year.	  The	  graph	  hits	  a	  relaTve	  low-­‐point	  on	  the	  graph	  in	  the	  spring	  when	  plants	  are	  more	  prevalent,	  and	  inversely	  the	  value	  increases	  relaTvely	  in	  the	  winter	  when	  vegetaTon	  is	  less	  perverse.	  This	  research	  indicates	  that	  an	  increase	  in	  vegetaTon	  will	  directly	  correlate	  to	  a	  decrease	  in	  atmospheric	  CO2	  and	  thus	  slow	  the	  process	  of	  climate	  change.	  This	  led	  us	  to	  conduct	  this	  study	  on	  a	  pracTcal	  method	  of	  decreasing	  atmospheric	  CO2	  in	  order	  to	  prevent	  further	  climate	  change.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  In	  conjuncTon	  with	  the	  increased	  CO2	  levels	  in	  general,	  California	  itself	  hold	  a	  signiﬁcant	  amount	  of	  the	  United	  States'	  CO2	  as	  seen	  in	  Figure	  4,	  but	  also	  manages	  to	  eliminate	  that	  CO2	  at	  an	  above-­‐average	  rate.	  This	  rate	  can	  be	  a	  result	  of	  California's	  above	  average	  surface	  area	  and	  relaTve	  greenness	  in	  Northern	  California.	  Although	  California	  is	  a	  relaTvely	  green	  state,	  the	  "greenness"	  is,	  in	  fact,	  decreasing	  annually.	  The	  reducTon	  of	  greenness	  can	  be	  seen	  according	  to	  the	  NDVI	  map	  in	  Figure	  5.	  This	  shows	  that	  California	  is	  less	  green	  than	  the	  previous	  year	  by	  .01%,	  which	  may	  not	  sound	  like	  much	  of	  a	  diﬀerence,	  but	  over	  Tme,	  this	  is	  creaTng	  a	  signiﬁcant	  and	  exponenTal	  negaTve	  impact	  on	  our	  environment.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Climate	  change	  is	  currently	  an	  immense	  global	  issue	  that	  people	  are	  not	  taking	  the	  Tme	  to	  address.	  Many	  people	  do	  not	  realize	  that	  there	  are	  simple	  ways	  to	  help	  stop	  or	  reduce	  global	  warming.	  We	  believe	  that	  if	  more	  people	  chose	  to	  grow	  a	  home	  garden,	  it	  would	  aide	  in	  ﬁghTng	  global	  warming	  because	  of	  the	  carbon	  dioxide	  that	  the	  plants	  would	  use	  to	  turn	  into	  oxygen.	  Excess	  carbon	  emissions	  are	  a	  huge	  contribuTon	  to	  global	  warming.	  With	  more	  plants	  on	  the	  earth,	  we	  could	  decrease	  the	  carbon	  in	  the	  atmosphere.	  We	  hypothesize	  that	  if	  every	  student	  at	  Pepperdine	  were	  to	  have	  a	  6d	  square	  home	  garden,	  then	  it	  would	  signiﬁcantly	  aide	  in	  ﬁghTng	  global	  warming	  and	  climate	  change.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Lynn	  Ellen	  Doxon	  in	  her	  arTcle	  about	  sustainable	  horTculture	  states	  that	  these	  high	  carbon	  dioxide	  levels	  are	  caused	  by	  our	  system	  of	  food	  producTon,	  development,	  transportaTon,	  and	  populaTon	  concentraTon;	  we	  must	  now	  look	  for	  ways	  to	  re-­‐create	  the	  carbon	  dioxide	  ﬁxing	  eﬀect	  that	  natural	  systems	  once	  had.	  Since	  there	  is	  an	  abundance	  of	  carbon	  dioxide	  in	  the	  air,	  we	  need	  to	  ﬁnd	  ways	  to	  reduce	  that	  and	  planTng	  more	  plants	  is	  the	  perfect	  way	  to	  start.	  The	  amount	  of	  carbon	  dioxide	  an	  individual	  plant	  will	  ﬁx	  depends	  on	  the	  type,	  condiTon,	  size,	  and	  the	  environment.	  In	  brighter	  and	  warmer	  condiTons	  a	  plant	  that	  photosynthesizes	  during	  part	  of	  the	  day,	  otherwise	  known	  as	  a	  C-­‐4	  plant,	  will	  be	  able	  to	  ﬁx	  more	  carbon.	  C-­‐4	  plants	  include	  various	  ﬂowers	  and	  grasses,	  but	  not	  trees	  (Doxon).	  Therefore,	  a	  home	  garden	  is	  a	  very	  pracTcal	  way	  to	  reduce	  carbon	  dioxide	  in	  the	  environment.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Michael	  G.	  Ryan’s	  experiment	  on	  eﬀects	  of	  climate	  change	  on	  plant	  respiraTon	  states	  that	  “plant	  respiraTon	  is	  a	  large	  and	  sensiTve	  component	  of	  ecosystem	  carbon	  balance.”	  The	  net	  ecosystem	  carbon	  ﬂux	  will	  change	  as	  the	  balance	  between	  photosynthesis	  and	  respiraTon	  changes.	  RespiraTon	  is	  especially	  sensiTve	  to	  high	  temperatures	  and	  global	  warming	  has	  increased	  those	  temperatures,	  causing	  forest	  ecosystems	  to	  die	  younger.	  Also	  the	  lack	  of	  biodiversity	  in	  forests	  is	  making	  it	  harder	  for	  the	  plants	  to	  try	  to	  adjust	  to	  the	  rise	  in	  temperature.	  We	  tested	  to	  see	  if	  having	  a	  home	  garden	  would	  decrease	  carbon	  dioxide	  levels	  in	  the	  atmosphere.	  To	  test	  this	  we	  tested	  the	  photosynthesis,	  conductance,	  and	  internal	  carbon	  dioxide	  in	  two	  leaves	  of	  a	  tomato	  plant	  and	  a	  raspberry	  plant.	  We	  also	  measured	  the	  average	  size	  and	  amount	  of	  leaves	  on	  those	  plants.	  This	  allowed	  for	  us	  to	  see	  how	  much	  carbon	  typical	  home	  garden	  plants	  would	  remove	  for	  the	  atmosphere	  and	  from	  there	  we	  can	  calculate	  how	  much	  carbon	  would	  be	  removed	  if	  every	  student	  at	  Pepperdine	  were	  to	  have	  a	  home	  garden.	  Because	  California's	  vegetaTon	  is	  gradually	  decreasing,	  and	  greenhouse	  gas	  emissions	  are	  exponenTally	  increasing,	  there	  is	  an	  environmental	  need	  for	  deliberate	  increased	  vegetaTon,	  which	  can	  be	  done	  easily	  and	  eﬀecTvely	  by	  planTng	  a	  home	  garden.	  According	  to	  our	  empirical	  data,	  the	  quanTtaTve	  carbon	  absorpTon	  from	  a	  home	  garden	  creates	  a	  substanTal	  impact	  on	  atmospheric	  CO2	  reducTon	  over	  a	  year,	  especially	  if	  every	  single	  Pepperdine	  student	  parTcipated	  in	  this	  meaningful	  movement.	  	  Doxon,	  L.	  (1991).	  Sustainable	  HorTculture.	  HortScience,	  26(12),	  1454-­‐1454.	  Keeling,	  C.D.	  1956-­‐2005.	  	  Nowak,	  D.	  J.,	  Crane,	  D.	  E.	  2001.	  Carbon	  storage	  and	  sequestraTon	  by	  urban	  trees	  in	  the	  USA.	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  USDA	  Forrest	  Service,	  Northeastern	  Research	  Sta5on.	  Ryan,	  M.	  (1991).	  Eﬀects	  of	  Climate	  change	  on	  plant	  respiraTon.	  Ecological	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  ApplicaTons,	  1(2),	  157-­‐167.	  USDA	  Foreign	  Agricultural	  Service.	  2013.	  Retrieved	  October	  22,	  2014.	  Web.	  	  	  	  	  EsTmated	  carbon	  storage	  and	  gross	  annual	  sequestraTon,	  including	  percent	  urban	  tree	  cover,	  amount	  of	  urban	  land,	  and	  proporTon	  of	  state	  in	  urban	  land,	  by	  state	  (from	  Dwyer	  et	  al.,	  2000;	  Nowak	  et	  al.,	  2001).	  Map	  displays	  California’s	  Normalized	  Diﬀerence	  VegetaTon	  Index	  (NDVI)	  from	  7/21/13	  to	  7/31/13.	  The	  yellow	  indicated	  that	  the	  relaTve	  “greenness”	  of	  the	  state	  of	  California	  has	  decreased	  .1%	  to	  .025%	  relaTve	  to	  the	  previous	  year,	  while	  green	  indicates	  that	  vegetaTon	  levels	  have	  increased	  (USDA	  Website).	  Figure	  4	  Figure	  3	  Figure	  1	   Figure	  2	  Figure	  5	  Keeling,	  C.D.	  1956-­‐2005.	  	  Keeling,	  C.D.	  1956-­‐2005.	  

Effects of Personal Gardens on the Reduction of Atmospheric CO2 and Climate Change

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Effects of Personal Gardens on the Reduction of Atmospheric CO2 and Climate Change

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