My Research Project is on Duckweed, Lemna minor, and it's ability to filter excess nutrients (Nitrate and Phosphate) from fresh water. This tiny and I mean tiny plant can do big things.
This is what is known: For centuries, in Asia, small scale farmers have used this plant to filter out excess nutrients from their "sludge" ponds. A sludge pond is where waste is kept, it can be animal or plant waste, and turned into fertilizer. Duckweed also purifies the water so that it can be reclaimed for watering crops and livestock. Because Duckweed can double it's mass in 48 hours it is also used as a high protein food source for humans, animals and fish, it has become a multi purpose plant. Yes, the plant is rinsed and dried before being used. Recently the University of North Carolina has been conducting research on this subject. Many other countries have been using this plant for the above purpose as well. It has been particularly useful in the Middle East and Africa.
What is not known: Is Lemna minor a possible answer for the bioremediation of excess nutrients from fresh water?
My scientific question: Is there a concentration level that is lethal to the Duckweed?
Distilled Water, LaMotte Nitrate/Phosphate test kit #3119, 4 1/2 inch Culture Dishes, Miracle Gro 8-7-6 Liquid Fertilizer, Biotronette Mark III Environmental Chamber
Methods:
Using
the above materials, 4
culture dishes will be prepared with 150 ml of
DI water and liquid fertilizer, 1 as a
control, 3 with duckweed.
Culture
dishes will be
placed under
plant light in the chamber with 12 hours
of
daylight.
Every
48 hours the liquid will be checked for evaporation/transpiration loss
and
adjusted accordingly using the fertilizer/ DI water mixture.
The
DI water/fertilizer mixture in the dishes will be tested for Nitrate levels.
References:
Ansari, A. A., & Khan, F. A. (2008). Remediation of
eutrophic water using Lemna minor in a controlled environment. African
Journal Of Aquatic Science, 33(3), 275-278.
doi:10.2989/AJAS.2008.33.3.11.623
Burkholder, J., Libra, B., Weyer, P., Heathcote, S., Kolpin,
D., Thorne, P. S., & Wichman, M. (2007). Impacts of Waste from Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality. Environmental Health
Perspectives, 115(2), 308–312. http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.8839
“Wildflower Preserve
Water Quality Initiatives.” Lemon Bay Conservancy,
lemonbayconservancy.org/wildflower-preserve/wildflower-preserve-water-quality-initiatives/.
Sarah sec. 101. I saw a really cool article about higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere causing poison ivy to get bigger leaves (and stronger poisons). Do you think the same thing would happen to your duckweed? that it will be supersized and actually result in more CO2 being removed from the atmosphere? could duckweed save us from climate change impacts? and maybe produce bigger and better food? just wondering. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah (sec. 101)
ReplyDeleteGreat question !! I did a little research last night, you got me thinking !! The research on the poison ivy was really interesting. Thankfully, I don't have a reaction to it, cause it was a little scary :-) So to answer your question: No, duckweed will not grow bigger leaves due to CO2 concentrations being higher. It will reproduce at a faster rate when excess nutrients are introduced to its environment. This is not a bad thing as duckweed is a high protein food source. Maybe, duckweed can help us defer some of the impacts from climate change, that's something to look into in the future.
I have to say I think Sarah might onto something. If you recall, we learned that back in the Carboniferous Period when oxygen levels were significantly higher than today--these higher levels caused insects to be supersized...e.g., dragonflies the size of eagles. So why not cause any/all vegetation to grow more if they have more CO2 to feed upon? Just wondering...rather cool thought I think! In fact--I think I recall a study conducted on trees where they pumped the area with much higher CO2 and the trees responded with greater growth...might want to look that up. Regardless--I think this might be a great idea for 'future research'.
DeleteHello Karen,
ReplyDeleteI read about your research project and thought it was an interesting and useful choice because of how impactful duckweed is in some areas. My question is, when analyzing how nutrients added to the duckweed affect it, have you considered how it would be exposed to the additional nutrients in the natural world? What I mean is- what would have to change in the surrounding environment for the duckweed to really feel the affect of nitrate and phosphate?
Whoops, I'm sorry.
ReplyDeleteThe comment that was just submitted was mine, Veronika Goncharova. I'm in your 301W. I forgot to include this information in the question.
How does the duckweed filter nitrate and phosphate the freshwater? What gives it that ability? How well do we already understand its process?
ReplyDelete-Emma, 21WG