Let’s Grow An Air Pollution Garden Together
(DANICA LOMBARDOZZI)
There’s a whole list of ozone sensitive species, including different types of trees, potatoes, flowers, and beans that, when exposed to the pollutant, show damage. They’re called bioindicators in that they clearly tell you if there’s an air quality problem.
By Jacob Margolis
LAist
Apr 23, 2021
Excerpt:
This concept of ozone gardens has been promoted as an educational tool by NASA for a while, as well as by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Shoutout to scientist Danica Lombardozzi at UCAR, an expert on ozone gardens who spent quite a bit of time explaining to me how these projects should work.
Whereas Danica has a whole bunch of different plants that she uses in her projects, we’re going to use one type of bioindicator: phaseolus vulgaris. AKA green beans.
But these aren’t just any green beans you can pick up in the store. They’re special beans that’ve been bred to show ozone damage.
For our experiment we’ll be planting two types of beans that are identical, except for the fact that one shows ozone damage and one doesn’t.
This’ll be useful, because if it’s just the ozone sensitive bean having problems, then it’s a pretty good indication that ozone is the issue. If both beans are showing damage then it might be a problem with the soil or some other factor. The ozone tolerant bean acts as a sort of control.
They have fantastically creative names: S-156 (ozone sensitive) and R-123 (ozone tolerant). And they were bred back in the 1990s by Richard Reinert at the USDA who crossed a whole bunch of beans until he got the two stable varieties. They’re designed specifically for farmers who want to know if they have ozone issues.
Ozone can reduce crop yields, making them less productive and causing plants to die earlier than they otherwise would. It can also stress them out, making them more susceptible to pathogen and insect attacks. Since not everyone around the world has access to expensive ozone monitors, these beans can act as an important tool.
