Reduced Ability of Drought-Effected Plants to Assimilate Carbon Dioxide

Adrian Alvarado, Pepperdine University
Francisco De Mendiola, Pepperdine University
Julia Namkoong, Pepperdine University
Yunni Zhai, Pepperdine University

Abstract

As a group, we hypothesized that plants affected by the drought will absorb less CO2 compared to those that are irrigated regularly by Pepperdine University. In order to test this out we used the Carbon Dioxide CO2 transmitter which analyzed the carbon dioxide levels and conduction of three leaves that are under the drought and three leaves that are fully irrigated. The results were outstanding. As we hypothesized, the irrigated leaves had significantly higher CO2 and photosynthesis values than the leaves that were in the drought. The results are clearly reflected in the data, and consistent with the initial hypothesis. The only surprising aspect was the size of difference of CO2 levels between two types of plants (irrigated and dried).