While taking this class, I’ve thought a lot about how plants play a role in my majors and how much more I’m noticing plants when I walk or travel places. We talked some about how plants can have a cultural importance in religions or everyday lives. I’m double majoring in history and comparative religion, both of which have been impacted by botany. In history, plants are used as clues to many different aspects of lives in the past and overall as an important part in determining the history of the world. Sometimes historians must determine what a plant was used for in a certain culture. An example would be finding a small pot with some plant residue, the historians could then aim to determine whether or not the plant was used medicinally or as food. Fossils of plants can also provide historians and scientists evidence about how the world developed, what species were around at certain times and how they could have impacted the environment. I’ve even talked about the importance of plants for development in the early United States in my HST 111 class.  We talked about the importance of indigo and how it was grown along with sugar since they were harvested at different times. This allowed slave owners to get more work out of their slaves and make more profit. Plants can also be important in the study of religion because some religions place importance on certain plants for religious rituals or consumption. For example, Christianity uses palm ashes and palm leaves for rituals before Easter.

I didn’t realize how much plant blindness I had before this class. I knew that plants were important but never thought about how they often go unnoticed. I’ve noticed how this class has made an impact on my everyday life when I’m walking around campus to my classes. I’ll usually point out certain plants to my friends and tell them the common name, scientific name, family, and important characteristics. I’ve also began to show them and explain certain characteristics. For example, pointing out entire, serrate, and doubly leaf margins. This class has helped my plant blindness decrease, which I have used to impact other people. I’ve encouraged my friends to take this class because it helped my awareness of plants increase and made me appreciate them more than I did before.

Walking through Ruder Preserve, anyone could see how much honeysuckle had already been removed, but also how much there was still to remove. We went and helped remove honeysuckle from Ruder Preserve because it is an invasive species, but also because removing it helps other plants be able to thrive. We could see from where honeysuckle had already been removed that plants were growing and taking back over the land, an example being sycamores. By removing honeysuckle, we are helping remove an invasive species and making environments for plants to come back. I’ve never done a service project like this, I knew that people did environment service projects but not like this. This definitely changed my view of a community service project because we could see the impact that we were making as we did it. Even though there wasn’t that many of us and we only worked for a couple of hours, we cleared out a lot of honeysuckle that will help Ruder Preserve.

This experience did change my view of invasive species. I knew that honeysuckle was bad and since I live near Oxford, I’ve always known how invasive it is. However, after seeing how much better Ruder Preserve looked after it was gone made me realize what a negative impact invasive species could have. Also seeing how if it wasn’t painted with herbicide after to kill the honeysuckle, it could make it even more invasive. The honeysuckle that hadn’t been painted over made it harder to remove because there were so many more branches.

I thought that this was a great class experience for BIO 155. It showed all of us just how invasive species impact the environment that they are in and how damaging they can be. It was also a really good experience because it was something different than what we normally do in class. We got to see in person what we had actually learned about. A suggestion that I have that might improve this service learning project would be to maybe learn about invasive species with the other classes than do the service project together. It would be a fun experience to meet kids in the other class and remove honeysuckle with them.

The fact that corn production could be down 50% at the end of the 21^st Century really surprised me. I knew that production of crops would decrease as climate change worsened, but that loses a lot of food source and supply for humans. Many food products contain corn, so as production goes down, we are going to have to find ways to replace corn in the food products and learn how to produce food products differently. I was also really surprised to learn in the same article on Scientific American that scientists haven’t been very successful in creating high temperature GMO seeds. This surprises me because they have been able to create GMO crops resistant to certain diseases and pesticides, so I figured that heat resistant GMO crop would be able to be easily created.[1]

One type of evidence for climate change is more extreme events taking place. The evidence shows that extreme events that are at lower temperatures have been decreasing, while extreme events that occur at higher temperatures have been increasing. Since less events are happening at lower temperatures and more at higher, it shows that climate change is affecting extreme weather events. Another type of evidence for climate change is declining Arctic Sea ice. The ice in the Artic Sea has become less widespread over the area and has become thinner. This shows that climate change is affecting the ice in the Artic Sea by melting it so there is not as much as there used to be.[2]

When I read articles about climate change, I always try to carefully read the information that the article is conveying and try to figure out what the author’s opinion is to look how they might be twisting evidence to support their argument. The articles that I usually don’t trust are the ones that don’t cite information. It is hard to know what to believe, but we can look at the studies and facts that the author uses when they cite them to actually figure out what we trust.

One effect that climate change might have on plants is that crop yield may decrease for plants that can only grow in certain climates. This could become a problem for humans and other organisms because if the crops make up a large proportion of food supply, then new sources of food will have to be found and there might be less food and cause food prices to rise.[3] Another effect that climate change might have on plants is that native plants to one area might have to spread to another area to survive or learn how to adapt. This could have an effect on organisms if certain plants are consumed by wild animals and the plants start to leave, the animal population might decrease. It could also affect humans because the areas they live in might not be as diverse and plants that they grow in gardens might not be able to survive.[4]

One question I have about climate change is: Will people living in certain areas have to move due to climate change within the next Century?

[1] Balaraman, “U.S. Crop Harvests Could Suffer with Climate Change.”

[2] https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

[3] Balaraman, “U.S. Crop Harvests Could Suffer with Climate Change.”

[4] Upton, “Climate Change Is Leaving Native Plants Behind.”

Bibliography

Balaraman, Kavya. “U.S. Crop Harvests Could Suffer with Climate Change.” Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-crop-harvests-could-suffer-with-climate-change/ (accessed October 13, 2018).

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Upton, John. “Climate Change Is Leaving Native Plants Behind.” Climate Central, http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-is-leaving-native-plants-behind-19992 (accessed October 13, 2018).

The rare plant that I chose to research is the Autumn buttercup, or Ranunculus aestivalis. The Autumn buttercup is a short-lived herbaceous plant. It is part of the Ranunculaceae or Buttercup family. One characteristic of this plant is that it is very short, usually less than two feet. The flower on the Autumn buttercup is very small, less than 1 cm, and is made up of 5 yellow petals. Another characteristic is that the leaf arrangement is basal. The leaves on the plants have three large lobes with palmate veins. One characteristic about the plant is that it has only been found to grow in wet saline meadows. [1] The Autumn buttercup flowers also usually bloom during the later summer or early fall. It is found currently only in Utah. The Autumn buttercup’s range prior to being endangered was only along the Sevier River Valley in Utah. They are still currently near where they were originally found and still in the Sevier River Valley, so their population size is very small.[2]

At first the Autumn buttercup was predicted to be extinct after they couldn’t find any, but eventually some more of the plant was found separated from the original population that was found. The plant became endangered in 1989 when the size of the population decreased by about ninety percent. The size of Autumn buttercup population decreased so much because livestock were allowed to graze on the only location where they were located in Utah.[3] Another cause that could have made the Autumn buttercup endangered is change in climate that the plant is not used to and more water going into the areas that they are located.[4] The Autumn buttercup needs to be conserved because it is a very rare plant and is only known to exist in one area, so it needs to be studied so it can be figured out why it only grows in a certain area. Also, if the Autumn buttercup is found in another place, the plants in the different climates can be compared. By allowing the plant to be conserved, the population can be able to increase.[5] The Cincinnati Zoo is helping to conserve the species by sending some of the younger plants to be grown in a controlled environment at the Arboretum at Flagstaff. Once the plants were healthy, they would be planted near the location that they were originally found. They also stopped the livestock from eating the plants to preserve them.[6]

[1] Tilley and Ogle and St. John, “Plant guide for autumn buttercup (Ranunculus aestivalis).”

[2] Hotze, “Autumn Buttercup.”

[3] Tilley and Ogle, “Plant guide for autumn buttercup (Ranunculus aestivalis).

[4] “Autumn Buttercup.”

[5] Pence, “Buttercups Return Home.”

[6] “Retuning Plants to the Wild.” 

Bibliography

“Autumn Buttercup.” Encyclopedia.com, https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/science-magazines/autumn-buttercup (accessed September 30, 2018).

Hotze, Bekee. “Autumn Buttercup.” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/factsheets/Autumn%20Buttercup%20FactSheet_061913l.pdf (accessed September 30, 2018).

Pence, Valerie. “Buttercups Return Home,” Cincinnati Zoo Blog, February 13. 2013, http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2013/06/13/buttercups-return-home/ (accessed September 30, 2018).

“Returning Plants to the Wild.” Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, http://cincinnatizoo.org/conservation/field-projects/returning-plants-to-wild/ (accessed September 30, 2018).

Tilley, D., St.John L., and D. Ogle. “Plant guide for autumn buttercup (Ranunculus aestivalis).” USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Idaho Plant Materials Center, https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_raae.pdf (accessed September 30, 2018).

Before reading the articles, I had learned and researched some information about GMO’s. I had learned about them in my AP Human Geography Class during senior year where we had talked about how GMO’s were food that had been modified to increase crop yields since they can withstand certain weed killers and be less prone to certain diseases that crops can get. We talked about some of the pros of GMO’s in the class, but we also talked about the negativity surrounding them. My family also had stopped eating most foods that contained GMO’s a couple years ago after hearing that they weren’t safe to eat on the news. I’ve had a negative connotation of GMO’s ever since my family stopped eating them and talking about them in my APHG class solidified my negative feelings.

I felt like the response to the article was definitely biased because it was written by Robert Fraley, who is an executive at Monsanto Company, which promotes use of GMO’s through their seeds.[1] In the opinion, Fraley doesn’t talk very much about how people view GMO’s as negative and give facts about why he believes they are good, instead he mostly talked about why he believes they are important using facts.[2] This is a biased argument to me because since his company encourages the use of GMO’s, he wouldn’t want to talk negatively about GMO’s because this could discourage people from buying their products. I also felt like that the article by Hakim could have been influenced by his opinion because he wrote about how GMO’s were not as good for crop production as they are advertised as.[3] Even though he didn’t insert his opinion in the article, it could have influenced why he wrote about a negative side of GMO’s.

We have GMO’s to increase our crop yield in order to feed more people and create more food by making them be able to have certain capabilities.[4] One of the capabilities that GMO’s have is the ability to be sprayed by herbicides or have bugs on them and not be harmed.[5] One thing that I found to be surprising in Hakim’s article was that more dangerous chemicals are being used in weed killers, like dicamba and 2,4-D from Agent Orange.[6] This was so surprising to me because I feel like the food industry shouldn’t be using potentially harmful chemicals on food that millions of people are going to eat. If the use of the chemical goes wrong, it could put lots of lives in danger. One question that I have about GMO’s is: How many studies have actually been done to test the effects of them and how long-term have the studies been?

[1] Fraley, “Monsanto, on Genetically Modified Crops.”

[2] Fraley, “Monsanto, on Genetically Modified Crops.”

[3] Hakim, “Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops.”

[4] Hakim, “Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops.”

[5] Hakim, “Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops.”

[6]  Hakim, “Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops.”

Bibliography

Fraley, Robert T. “Monsanto, on Genetically Modified Crops.” The New York Times Company, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/opinion/monsanto-on-genetically-modified-crops.html (accessed September 23, 2018).

Hakim, Danny. “Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops.” The New York Times Company, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/business/gmo-promise-falls-short.html?_r=0&mtrref=undefined (accessed September 23, 2018).

Ethnobotany is the study of the historical use of plants as medicine and how that applies to modern medicine.[1] It is important to retain knowledge of ancient remedies in order to continue to pass down the knowledge to future generations.[2] Also, it can be important to retain knowledge of ancient remedies in certain areas around the world to prevent loss about certain types of medicine that can be made from that area and the information can continue to stay relevant, in case of an emergency.[3] The central issue that Dr. Balick was trying to solve by creating the manuals in order to have written down information about plant use in areas so that no information will be lost, to keep a record of what has orally been communicated, and to help certain species survive. [4]

One thing that I commonly use that is made by plants is lavender oil for my essential oil diffuser. Most commonly, lavender essential oils are used to alleviate stress, relax, to flavor food, help with pain, use in household products, and use as a pleasant scent in houses.[5] The lavender oil that I use has Lavandula angustifolia, or English lavender.[6] The most common place that English Lavender grows is Europe, specifically France, Italy, and Spain, but it can also be found outside areas of Europe and doesn’t have a problem growing other places.[7]As long as the soil is alkaline and very dry, English lavender is able to grow.[8] English lavender should be harvested before the flowers are blooming by cutting the stems off at the base.[9] English lavender can be harvested if it is found in the wild or if it is being grown for a specific purpose.[10] After cutting the lavender, it should be left out to dry.[11] To create lavender essential oil, the lavender buds must be steam distilled, which is a very lengthy process.[12] The lavender buds are made into steam in order to be turned into an oil, which is liquid.[13] I had never thought about the actual process to make lavender oil before and how complicated it is. There is no real threat to English lavender currently.[14]

[1] Nuwer, “Ancestral Remedies to the Rescue.”

[2] Nuwer, “Ancestral Remedies to the Rescue.”

[3] Nuwer, “Ancestral Remedies to the Rescue.”

[4] Nuwer, “Ancestral Remedies to the Rescue.”

[5]  Patterson, “The Total Guide To Growing, Harvesting, & Using Lavender.”

[6] Aronsson and Turonova, “Lavandula angustifolia.”

[7] Aronsson and Turonova, “Lavandula angustifolia.”

[8] Patterson, “The Total Guide To Growing, Harvesting, & Using Lavender.”

[9] Patterson, “The Total Guide To Growing, Harvesting, & Using Lavender.”

[10] Aronsson and Turonova, “Lavandula angustifolia.”

[11] Patterson, “The Total Guide To Growing, Harvesting, & Using Lavender.”

[12] Forney, “Making Lavender Oil.”

[13] Forney, “Making Lavender Oil.”

[14] Aronsson and Turonova, “Lavandula angustifolia.”

Bibliography

Aronsson, M., and D. Turonova. “Lavandula angustifolia.” International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/203244/0 (accessed September 16, 2018).

Forney, Julie Martens. “Making Lavender Oil.” Scripps Networks, LLC, https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/herbs/making-lavender-oil (accessed September 16, 2018).

Nuwer, Rachel. “Ancestral Remedies to the Rescue.” The New York Times Company, https://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/ancestral-remedies-to-the-rescue/?mtrref=undefined (accessed September 16, 2018).

Patterson, Susan. “The Total Guide To Growing, Harvesting, & Using Lavender.” Natural Living Ideas, https://www.naturallivingideas.com/the-total-guide-to-growing-harvesting-using-lavender/ (accessed September 16, 2018).

In my biology class in high school, we rarely talked about plants and the importance of them in our environment. In the class, we only talked about them when learning about photosynthesis, in comparing plant cells to animal cells, and we talked a little bit on how plants affect our ecosystem. This was the only time during high school that I actually talked about plants, so the time I have spent in my life talking about plants is very little. However, I learned a ton of information about animals and their role in our life and the environment. Since I have not ever learned much about plants, I think I had Plant Blindness before starting this class. The extent of my knowledge about plants is what I have learned from walking in forests, photosynthesis takes place in plants, they are a huge source of food, and they have rigid cell walls.

I thought it was super interesting when the paper talked about how some of the causes for Plant Blindness was that we don’t necessarily look out or know much about plants because we don’t think they are going to hurt us.[1]I think this is a cause of plant blindness because I know that I personally am not concerned about plants putting me in danger if I’m going on a hike. However, if someone tells me about how they saw poison ivy or I spot some in the middle of the hike, I immediately become paranoid about getting poison ivy. I also thought it was interesting when the paper listed a possible cause of Plant Blindness could be that plants don’t come in many colors, are usually found in certain places, and we aren’t usually surprised by the time it takes them to grow.[2] I do think that plants being very similar is a reason for Plant Blindness. I have never thought about it before, but usually when I notice plants, I notice them because they are surprising in the way that they are growing or how they look. I usually don’t notice plants that seem similar to one another.

This paper is still relevant today, even though it was published in 1998. The reason that I took this class was to learn more about plants because I’ve never learned that much about them. Reading this paper convinced me that people need to learn about plants because they are such a big part of human life, yet we barely take time to think about them. Taking this class will allow me and other students to get to stop our Plant Blindness by learning about different plants, understanding the different types, and allowing us to develop and appreciation for plants.

[1] Schussler and Wandersee, “Preventing Plant Blindness,” 86.

[2] Schussler and Wandersee, “Preventing Plant Blindness,” 86.

Bibliography

Wandersee, James H., and Elisabeth E. Schussler, “Preventing Plant Blindness,”   The American Biology Teacher 61, no.2 (1998): 82-86. Accessed September 9, 2018.doi:10.2307/4450624.

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