Uses of Plants in the Future

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• Uses of Plants in the Future
• How will we use plants in the future?
• Food
• Medicine
• Landscape
• ______________?

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World population, estimated by US Census Bureau,
Nov. 12 2005 6.47 Billion
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First billion 1850 Second billion
1930 Ultimately? 8 9 billion people
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Carrying capacity? 20 of people currently
malnourished Majority of population increase to
take place in areas where malnutrition is already
a great problem
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• How will we feed these extra 3 billion people?
• Boost yield of crops
• Boost nutritional value of crops we grow
• Introduce new crops that have higher yield,
  nutritional value

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• How will we feed these extra 3 billion people?
• Boost yield of crops
• Yield?
• For example, more bushels of corn per acre corn
  planted
• What determines yield?
• Nutrients
• Water
• CO2

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Projected increase in demand by 2020 (pink bars)
and 2050 (blue bars)
from Townsend et al. (2003) Essentials of Ecology
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• How will we feed these extra 3 billion people?
• Boost nutritional value
• Breeding
• Higher lysine content in wheat
• Genetic engineering
• Golden rice
• Adopting different varieties
• Potatoes 4,000 species in Peru, but we
  eat very few.

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• How will we feed these extra 3 billion people?
• Adopting new crops
• Dominant carbohydrate sources (grains and tubers)
• Wheat Corn
• Rice Potatoes
• Other types with high yield, good protein content
• Quinoa
• Amaranth

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Amaranth
Traditional staples in the Andean diet
Quinoa
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• How will we feed these extra 3 billion people?
• Adopting new crops
• We only eat a few crops
• Dominant carbohydrate sources (grains and tubers)
• Wheat Corn
• Rice Potatoes
• Also important to consider historical (heirloom)
  strains of our dominant crops

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Energy costs of agriculture in the future At
present, we use 6 calories of energy to produce 1
calorie of food Could you survive at such a
deficit? How is it possible that we
do? Substitute petroleum energy for physical
labor
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Where is this energy used? Preparing the soil
for planting Planting Watering Fertilizing Control
ling pests Harvesting Driving to market Driving
to distribution center refrigeration? Driving
to the store Driving it home Preparation Which
stages employ fossil fuels as a labor-saving
device?
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Increased cost of fossil fuels Leads to cost
increases in those stages dependent on fossil
fuels. Cost to the buyer? An example
avocadoes Local California avocadoes at the
farmers market 1 each Chilean avocadoes at
the grocery store 67 cents each What
percentage of the 67 cents is fuel, rather than
labor?
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Summary current agricultural system is
supported by inputs of petroleum. Your food
travels an average of 1400 miles to get to your
plate, according to government research in US and
UK. FOOD MILES
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1400 MILES Should we (as a society) attempt to
save money and energy by trying to reduce the
average distance food travels? I.e., eat more
locally grown foods? What other benefits could
come from this reduction?
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• We might eat foods grown for taste, rather than
  the ability to ship long distances
• Food security better to depend on food closer
  to home
• Money stays closer to home support local
  economy
• Have a voice in how the crop is raised
• Preservation of topsoil
• Fair labor practices

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The slow food movement preserving and
supporting local agriculture? Slow Food
Movement Officially begun in Italy in the
1980s by Carlo Petrini Catalyst opening of a
local McDonalds perceived as a threat to local
traditions, producers, etc.
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The slow food movement preserving and
supporting local agriculture? Slow Food
Movement Officially begun in Italy in the
1980s by Carlo Petrini Initial goal preserve
small-scale growers and producers of food, local
culture of long family meals with high quality
food
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The slow food movement preserving and
supporting local agriculture Slow Food
Movement Slow Food as the opposite to Fast
Food Current membership 83,000 worldwide
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What is the slow food movement about? Not
necessarily a call to eat only local
foods www.gustiamo.com - can purchase a variety
of specialty Italian foods Olive oils from
different regions, different flavors Tomato
sauces, cheeses, native breeds of
cattle Common theme small farming
operations Slow Food is focused on preserving
diversity in agriculture and traditional
manufacturing
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Other community-based agriculture
initiatives Community supported
agriculture Buy shares in the production
from local farms Labor and/or
cash Farmers get a guaranteed source of
income Shareholders get periodic deliveries of
boxes of seasonal fruits and vegetables. A
diversity of crops, perhaps some things you
wouldnt normally eat.
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Agriculture in the schoolyard Chez Panisse
Foundation Edible Schoolyard School Lunch
Initiative Schoolchildren grow crops on school
grounds. Children plant, tend, and harvest the
plants as part of daily activity. May also
prepare food in the kitchen. Children
involved in agriculture Assures healthy,
nutritious meals.
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Farmers markets Athens farmers market, every
Saturday, Wednesdays much of the year
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Bioprospecting/ Plants as medicines Goal -
Search for new chemical compounds that can cure
disease Success stories? Aspirin Digitalis Qu
inine Taxol Others?
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Ethnobotany How do you find the next successful
chemical compound? Where do you find
it? Tropical regions Temperate zones?
What are the ethical issues involved?
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• Ethnobotany
• Focus developing relationships with local
  practitioners
• Steps in discovery (from text)
• Determine indigenous uses by interviewing
  multiple local healers
• Identify the plant
• Screen the plant for bioactive compounds (prepare
  the same way)

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Ethnobotany Focus developing relationships
with local practitioners Steps in discovery
(from text) 4. Isolate the potential
compound(s) 5. Test each compound
(combinations?) for effectiveness 6. Evaluate
compound for uniqueness, structure
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• Ethnobotany
• Focus developing relationships with local
  practitioners
• Steps in discovery (from text)
• Apply for a patent
• Submit request for clinical trials
• Obtain a royalty contract with indigenous peoples

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• Ethnobotany
• What can go wrong?
• Trust and ethics issues
• History of unethical behavior
• Attempts to patent local plants
• Benefits to governments, or to the peoples?

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Ethnobotany What can go wrong? Foundation of
these relationships need to be mutual trust,
empowerment of the local communities.
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Ethnobotany Potential for medicinal use of
temperate plants? Echinacea Ginseng G
oldenseal Asclepias (milkweed) Many
(thousands?) of temperate, medicinal herbs
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Zoopharmacognasy Definition use of medicinal
plants by animals Observation sick animal eats
a plant and gets better. Is this medicinal use,
or luck? How do you tell the difference?
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Zoopharmacognasy Does the animal typically eat
the plant? Did the animal appear sick before
eating the plant? Did it appear to improve
afterwards? Evidence of parasites Sample
feces before and after eating the plant?
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Zoopharmacognasy Examples
Chimpanzees and Vernonia amygdalina Relief of
intestinal parasites? Reported by Michael
Huffman, Kyoto University of Japan Huffman, M.
A. and M. Seifu, 1989. Observations on the
illness and consumption of a medicinal plant
Vernonia amygdalina by a wild chimpanzee in the
Mahale Mountains, Tanzania. Primates 30(1)
51-63.
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Zoopharmacognasy Examples
Chimpanzees and Aspilia spp. Relief of
intestinal parasites from swallowing whole
(unchewed) leaves Reported by Richard
Wrangham, Harvard Univ. Wrangham, R. W. (1995).
Relationship of chimpanzee leaf swallowing to a
tapeworm infection. Amer. J. Primatol.,
37(4)297-303.
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Zoopharmacognasy Examples
Control of reproduction? Elephants Induction of
labor? H. Dublin, World Wildlife Fund Howler
monkeys Sex selection of offspring? K. Glander,
Duke Univ.
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Plants in the human landscape Fuel, lumber and
paper Forest harvests 55 for fuel, 45 for
lumber (incl. paper) We are not becoming a
paperless society Consumption of paper
projected to triple by 2010, most use in
developed countries.
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Plants in the human landscape Where does this
wood come from? Global supply 90 from the
tropics. Largest domestic supplier pine
forests of the southeastern US (board feet) Can
we reduce need for paper by recycling? Can we
shift the burden to tree farms?
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Plants in the human landscape Green building
use of plants in architecture A few
examples Cordwood masonry Low-tech housing
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Plants in the human landscape Green building
use of plants in architecture A few
examples Cordwood masonry
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Plants in the human landscape Green building
use of plants in architecture A few
examples Cordwood masonry Green roofs
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Green roofs
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• Green roofs
• Uses
• Residential,
• Industrial
• Public buildings
• Benefits?
• Stormwater management
• Reduction and filtration
• Energy savings
• Protect roofing material by blocking UV light
• Improved quality of life

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Phytoremediation Definition use of plants to
remove or reduce environmental contaminants Storm
water runoff Green roofs can capture 75 of
rainfall events less than one inch
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Phytoremediation Definition use of plants to
remove or reduce environmental contaminants Biosw
ales Reduce runoff from parking lots,
roads,etc. Generally runoff heads to either the
closest body of water or the treatment
plant.
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Phytoremediation Definition use of plants to
remove or reduce environmental contaminants Biosw
ales Planting swales leads to Reduced
erosion Increased infiltration of rainfall to
groundwater Can slow/reduce flow of water to
streams, reduce flash flooding More appealing
than concrete alternatives
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• Phytoremediation
• Heavy metals and hydrocarbons classic
  pollution
• Process plants remove toxin from soil, burn
  the plant, deal with the ash
• Example
• Ferns and arsenic

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Phytoremediation Other heavy metals nickel,
zinc, lead Can take advantage of naturally
occurring plants on these sites, or
genetically engineer the plants to be better
accumulators
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Other uses of plants in the future?
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Green roofs
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How will these new crops become part of our
diet? Likely at the local scale first
produced for locals, imported by
immigrants. Movement from there? Potatoes
primarily a livestock food in 1800s