Plant of the day
Statement of Purpose IV. The mission of Campbell University, as a community of Christian scholars, is to A. Provide students with a Christian worldview
Is there a Christian view of botany? Caretakers of the garden –Should we consider how our lifestyles impact the natural plant communities around us? Does Christianity influence our use of plants? –Plant-derived chemicals
Christianity and botany Spiritual symbolism of plants –Identification with Christ – John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing
Christianity and botany Spiritual symbolism of plants –Revelation 22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Why is knowledge of plants important? We are dependent on plants
Plants are producers
Genesis 1: Then God said, “I give you every seed- bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beast of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Plants as a food source
Photosynthesis and sugars
Plants & the carbon cycle
Cacao - chocolatechocolate
Photosynthesis and oxygen
Plants & the nitrogen cycle
Legumes & rhizobium
Beverages
Wines
Cork
Wormwood - absintheabsinthe
Spices
Plants & health Natural compounds –LycopeneLycopene –YohimbineYohimbine –Medicines taxol
Wood products
Landscaping
Paper
Plants and sports
Musical instruments
Textiles
Plants & transportation
Plants as fuel
Coal
Recreational Drugs
Plants & emotions
Personal care products
Plant-related inventions
Velcro – George de Mestral
History of plant use & study Stone Age (prior to 15,000 BC.) –Plants as a source of Fuel Food Medicines
The Dawn of Agriculture
Plant domestication 15,000 – 10,000 BC.
Selection in the Brassica family
Teosinte – ancestor of corn
Plant Science in the Ancient World Egypt (1500 B.C.) – documented herbal uses Greece ( B.C.) –Physicians/botanists –Theophrastus – “Father of Botany” History of Plants Causes of Plants
Age of Herbals ( A.D.) Otto Brunfels
Doctrine of Signatures
Green Revolution ( s) Use of high-yield varieties Altered agricultural practices –Irrigation –Use of synthetic fertilizers Wheat yield quadrupled in 20 yrs. Corn yield: 20bu/ha to bu/ha
Modern Plant Study Agronomy Bryology Economic Botany Ethnobotany Forestry Horticulture Paleobotany Palynology Phycology Plant anatomy Plant breeding Plant ecology Plant genetics Plant geography Plant molecular biology Plant morphology Plant pathology Plant physiology Plant systematics Plant taxonomy
Plants, food and population growth
World population growth link
World food supply 6.3 billion fed a basic vegetarian diet 4.2 billion fed with a 15% meat diet 3.2 billion fed with a 25% meat diet
In the next 50 years, can we double our food supply? Increase land used for agriculture? Increase crop productivity? Convert to vegetarian diet?
Worldwide land resources
Distribution of arable land
Soil salinization
Areas of salinization
Deforestation in the U.S.
Yield increases are declining
What causes reduced crop productivity?
Human activities
Air pollution affects photosynthesis
Human impact on pollination link
Disease Reduce crop yields 10-20% despite control efforts
Wheat rust reduces grain yield
Insects
Insect pests reduce crop productivity Reduce crop yields 15% despite control efforts
Mite damage - eggplant
Mite damage in a bean field
Weeds Reduce crop yields 12% despite control efforts
Foxtail in corn
Drought link
Drought link
Drought increases stress Black shank disease in tobacco
Drought and irrigation
Temperature stress Temperature tolerance Enzymatic activity Quality
Plant biology is essential Crop research needed –Resistance to insects, disease –Tolerance to environmental variablesTolerance to environmental variables –Improved productivity –Improved nutritional qualities
Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”