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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Using A High-Altitude Balloon Platform To Observe And Measure Ozone Uptake Over Agricultural Landscapes In Central Illinois, Cody Sabo Jul 2016

Using A High-Altitude Balloon Platform To Observe And Measure Ozone Uptake Over Agricultural Landscapes In Central Illinois, Cody Sabo

DePaul Discoveries

An increase in the amount of factories and machines that emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) has caused the concentration of GHGs to rise steeply since the industrial era. These emissions create compounds that react with sunlight to form ozone, a GHG. Ozone not only traps heat in the atmosphere causing long-term global issues, but it also causes direct harm to both plants and animals. The damage that ozone causes to plants is due to plants taking the gas up through their stomata. Measuring ozone uptake has traditionally been a difficult and expensive process. This study proposes a novel approach towards measuring …


Combinatory Effect Of Changing Co2, Temperature, And Long-Term Growth Temperature On Isoprene Emissions, Michael Cole Jul 2016

Combinatory Effect Of Changing Co2, Temperature, And Long-Term Growth Temperature On Isoprene Emissions, Michael Cole

DePaul Discoveries

Isoprene, the most abundant hydrocarbon in the atmosphere, plays a significant role in atmospheric chemistry. Its reactions with NOx lead to the formation of ozone in the lower troposphere, which is harmful to plants and detrimental to human health. As air temperatures and CO2 concentrations increase with climate change, it is uncertain how isoprene emissions from plants will respond. We hypothesized that isoprene emissions will increase with the combination of increasing temperature and CO­2 concentrations. We predict that oaks grown at a higher temperature will exhibit an increase in isoprene emissions with combined short-term increases in temperature …


Implications Of Manipulations Of Soil Quality On The Growth Of European Buckthorn (Rhamnus Cathartica) In A Greenhouse, Sam L. Pepper, Liam Heneghan Jul 2016

Implications Of Manipulations Of Soil Quality On The Growth Of European Buckthorn (Rhamnus Cathartica) In A Greenhouse, Sam L. Pepper, Liam Heneghan

DePaul Discoveries

European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica L.) is an invasive shrub that is capable of changing the nitrogen content of a soil through the deposition of its nitrogen rich leaf litter. This change creates conditions that may favor recolonizing by buckthorn and negatively affect the growth of native plants. In this greenhouse experiment, we examined the effect of altering soil quality by adding mulch comprised of buckthorn wood on above and belowground biomass, stem length and leaf production of buckthorn saplings. We found that buckthorn saplings planted in buckthorn mulch had reduced stem length and leaf production compared to growth in …