| Abstract Detail
Recent Topics Posters Taylor, Hannah [1], Mitchell, Wilsonya [1], Farquharson, Jon’Ayo [1], Zoeller, Madison [1], BAGHAI-RIDING, NINA LUCILLE [2]. Stomatal density and carbon dioxide leaf peel study of four woody plant species in the Mississippi Delta. Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration has increased from 320 ppmv in 1960 to over 400 ppmv. This increase is attributed largely to anthropogenic impacts: deforestation, fossil fuel combustion, livestock, and many other factors. Previous studies in the northern hemisphere suggest there is an inverse relationship of stomatal density to CO2 concentration. Undergraduate students enrolled in Dr. Baghai-Riding’s Material and Methods in Environmental Science (BIO 415), Spring 2017 class wanted to determine whether stomatal density of woody plants that grow in the Mississippi Delta reflect this pattern. Four native C3 angiosperm species were selected: Ampelopsis arborea (L.) J. Wen & Boggan (peppervine), Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall (green ash), Quercus phellos L. (willow oak), and Salix nigra Marshall (black willow). Mature leaves from 25 Delta State University Herbarium sheets were analyzed. Specimens spanned a 52 year interval (1965 – 2016). Fast drying, clear nail polish was applied to mature leaves to make lower leaf epidermal impressions. Stomatal density per cm2, stomatal width, and the length of stomata were tabulated from the different peels. Rainfall and temperature data from NOAA – National Center for Environmental Information and CO2 weekly records from Mauna Loa Station in Hawaii were obtained for this time interval. Results showed that the size and number of stomata per cm2 was variable. Ampelopsis arborea had fewer and more widely spaced stomata per cm2, ranging from 18,460/cm2 in October 2010 to 48,100/cm2 in June 2011 whereas Q. phellos had the highest number of stomata per cm2 ranging from 52,650/cm2 in November 1975 to 85,150/cm2 in September 2006. The lowest mean value of stomata/cm2 for F. pennsylvanica and S. nigra were obtained from specimens collected in 1978 and 1965, whereas the highest values occurred from specimens collected in September 2016 and 2010, respectively. The inverse relationship between the historical rise in atmospheric CO2 levels and stomatal density was not apparent. Rather, all four species had higher stomata density over the past decade compared to specimens collected during the 1960s and 1970s. Rainfall, sunlight, soil type and other environmental parameters, as well as intrinsic genetic factors, may have attributed to this discrepancy. Future BIO 415 classes will continue analyzing other species to determine if this inverse relationship actually conforms to trees growing in the Mississippi Delta. Leaves collected from designated trees growing on campus will be sampled year after year to track stomatal density over time.
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Related Links:
Daily Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels
1 - Delta State University, Biological Sciences, PO Box 3262 DSU, Cleveland, MS, 38733, USA
2 - Delta State University, Biological Sciences, Walters Room 116 A, Cleveland, MS, 38733, USA
Keywords:
Quercus phellos
Ampelopsis arborea
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Salix nigra .
Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P, Recent Topics Posters
Location: Exhibit Hall/Omni Hotel
Date: Monday, June 26th, 2017
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT007
Abstract ID:747
Candidate for Awards:None |
