Inch by inch, row by row: some botanical information to help your garden grow

These slides are from my talk for the Royal Canadian Institute for Science, on April 6, 2017, at Mississauga Public Library, main branch: http://rciscience.ca/lectures/winter-2017-rcitalks/

Here is the summary:
'The Nobel prizewinner, Albert Szent-Györgi, reminded us that photosynthesis is “what drives life”, and “is a little current, kept up by the sunshine”. Every plant can take in carbon dioxide and water, and make simple sugars, while giving off oxygen. We will discuss some botany basics to enhance your appreciation of flowers, fungi, seaweed and bacteria, and this information will help you to plan your garden better. Dawn’s husband grew okra, ladies’ fingers, in their Toronto garden in 2016.

Dawn is a professor of Biology in the Faculty of Science at York University in Toronto, where she has taught since 1990. She was Director of IRIS, the university-wide Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability (2006-11 and 2012-14). At IRIS, Dawn’s mission was to develop, lead and support interdisciplinary research on diverse fronts. The Globe and Mail’s 2014 Canadian University Report singled her out as York University’s HotShot Professor. Dawn trained as an ecologist in the field of plant-herbivore interactions, and has carried out extensive field research in grasslands and forests, from temperate to Arctic regions. She holds a B.Sc. (Biogeography and Environmental Studies) and M.Sc. (Botany) from the University of Toronto. Her D.Phil. in Zoology, from Oxford University’s Edward Grey Institute in Field Ornithology, looked at sheep grazing behaviour. She is a grass biologist who urges people to think about digging up their lawns!'

1. Inch by Inch, Row by Row
Some botanical information to
help your garden grow !!
Dawn Bazely
Biology Department, York University, Toronto

2. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Biomes & Ecozones
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Our Landscape

3. Most Canadians live within 100 km of the US border
Map – Government of Canada
Our Landscape

4. Southwestern Ontario:

the most densely settled part of Canada
Intense urban, industrial &
agricultural land use
5-15% Natural Habitat
cover
The Mixed Wood Ecozone
Our Landscape

5. Not the view from a plane
leaving Pearson Airport!
Not Our Landscape

6. Our Landscape

7. Our Landscape

8. York University Fall Scene
Our Landscape

9. https://caroliniancanada.ca/

10. “
Nature, Humboldt (1769-1859)
realized, was a web of life and a
global force.
Later, in Mexico, he would find
pines, cypresses and oaks that
were similar to those that grew
in Canada.
Any questions about Landscapes
before we talk Biomes?
-Andrea Wulf

11. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Biomes & Ecozones
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Biomes & Ecozones

12. WHAT IS A GRADIENT?
"
#
$
A. von Humboldt et al. 1807
Biomes & Ecozones

13. By Jwratner1 at Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by FastilyClone using MTC!., CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49654949
%
☔
%
⛄
(
)
)

14. Biomes & Ecozones
Temperate Forest
Gulf Stream
Toronto
Tromsø

15. Tromsø Botanic Garden is above the arctic circle. Warm currents modify
climates allowing forests to reach further north than in Greenland & Canada.
Biomes & Ecozones

16. Ontario forest Trillium grows well in Tromsø Botanic Garden
Biomes & Ecozones

18. A Landscape Assessment for the Ontario Mixedwood Plains: Terrestrial Biodiversity of Federal Interest in the Mixedwood Plains
Ecozone of Ontario – 2015
http://ec.gc.ca/nature/default.asp?lang=En&n=3B824EDF-1#_Toc409436375 Biomes & Ecozones

19. Our Mixedwood Plains Ecozone of the Temperate Forest
Biome has many native species that are not doing well
Biomes & Ecozones

20. “
A biome is a formation of plants and
animals that have common
characteristics due to similar
climates, and can be found over a
range of continents”
Any questions about Biomes & Ecozones?
-Wikipedia

21. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Biomes & Ecozones
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Gardening Zones

22. Gardening Zones

24. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Ecozones & Biomes
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis

25. “
What drives life is… a little current,
kept up by the sunshine”
-Albert Szent-Györgi
1937 Nobel Prize in Physiology

26. Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Autotrophs make their own food
Photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide
CO2 and water H2O to make sugars
6 CO2 + 6 H2O ➡ C6 H12O6 + 6 O2
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis

27. Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
By Kristian Peters -- Fabelfroh (photographed by myself) [GFDL (http://
www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Kelvinsong (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Mnolf (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://
www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
palisade parenchyma
cell wall
cuticle
upper epidermis
spongy parenchyma

28. Photosynthesis
+Leaves are little factories
producing sugar, starch,
proteins, amino acids and
nucleic acids
These primary metabolites
are found in all plant cells
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=wj8TGhcCnxs
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Page (right) from Moon & Mann 1941 Biology
Henry Holt, NY.

29. Photosynthesis
A clear 1 minute overview
https://youtu.be/prFaSe3s9e0Autotrophs & Photosynthesis

30. Chloropyll is green
But, chloroplasts have other photosynthetic pigments

32. The water vs. CO2 trade-off
Autotrophs & PhotosynthesisWilting leaves (1) may (2) or may not (3) recover

33. Plants have evolved ways to
reduce water loss
•At high temperatures, plants
lose water through open
stomata, so 2 other kinds of
photosynthesis have evolved to
save water
•C4 and CAM photosynthesis,
are found in plants from warmer
biomes (deserts)
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis

34. From Carleton CERC
Autotrophs &
Photosynthesis
Dinosaur extinction
was 65 M yrs BP
,at 125 M yrs BP
Vascular plant land
colonizers emerged in
the Ordovician 510-439
m yrs BP

35. A vascular plant
Has special cells, xylem and
phloem, that move water &
nutrients through the plant
body
The oldest known vascular
plant, Cooksonia, dates to
414-408 Million yrs ago
Autotrophs & PhotosynthesisDinosaur extinction was 65 M yrs BP

36. Wood
Evolving wood allowed
plants to grow taller
By 359 million years ago
wood-like tissue had
evolved
eg progymnosperms, like
Archaeopteris (right), 290 M
yrs BP
By Retallack (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Autotrophs & PhotosynthesisDinosaur extinction was 65 M yrs BP

37. Seeds
Seed plants arose in
the Late Devonian,
about 365 million years
ago
By Verisimilus - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3554317
Autotrophs & PhotosynthesisDinosaur extinction was 65 M yrs BP

38. Early Devonian Landscape
Panel by Rob Evans at Smith College Botanic Garden
Dinosaur extinction was 65 M yrs BP
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis

39. -.,Flowering/Fruit Plants /01
The most recently evolved
plant kingdom members
A younger lineage than seed
plants
Archaefructus sinensis,
earliest flowering plant fossil,
from China (Sun et al. 2002)
125 million years old
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Dinosaur extinction
was 65 m yrs BP

40. Archaefructus sinensis
•Had simple roots, herbaceous
stems, dissected leaves,
stamens and carpels
•No petals or sepals
•Probably lived in shallow
water
•Diagram by Simons & Dilcher (Sun et al 2002)
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Dinosaur extinction
was 65 m yrs BP

41. “
It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will
make the difference. My little thing is planting
trees.
Any questions about photosynthesis?
-Wangari Maathai
2004 Nobel Peace Prize

42. Fossil Fuels
Carboniferous swamp
(362-290 m yrs BP)
Figure from Book 15 of the 4th
edition of Meyers
Konversationslexikon
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Dinosaur extinction
was 65 m yrs BP

43. What did coal-forming plants look like?

44. Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Boreal

45. “
What has become clear from the science is that we
cannot burn all of the fossil fuels without creating
a very different planet.
Any questions about fossil fuels?
-James Hansen

46. Climate Change means more carbon dioxide
& higher temperatures
•Joker’s Hill field station, University of
Toronto, north of Toronto
•Infra-red arrays warm plots and
arrays that spray CO2 over plots
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis

47. Hardiness Zone Shifts
https://
www.arborday.org/
media/
mapchanges.cfm
Autotrophs & PhotosynthesisGardening Zones

48. “
Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain
from ecosystems. These include provisioning
services such as food and water; regulating
services such as flood and disease control; cultural
services such as spiritual, recreational, and
cultural benefits; and supporting services, such as
nutrient cycling, that maintain the conditions for
life on Earth.
-Millenium Ecosystem Assessment Board

49. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Ecozones & Biomes
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Ecosystem Services

50. Agriculture & Horticulture are mobile
Human civilization as we know it today is built on the
back of introduced species
14 main plant species make up the global food supply
Ecosystem Services

51. Agriculture is Global
6 high carbohydrate food
plants provide >80% of total
calories consumed directly
or indirectly, by all people
Wheat, Rice, Maize,
Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes,
Manioc
They are the direct and
indirect basis of these
calories i.e. eaten directly or
fed to animals
Ecosystem Services

52. Other 8 main global crops
Sugarcane, Sugarbeet,
Common beans, Soybeans,
Barley, Sorghum, Coconuts, and
Bananas
Carbs are eaten with protein-rich
legumes - beans, peas, lentils,
soybeans and peanuts
Leafy green veggies (lettuce,
cabbage, spinach and chard),
provide essential vitamins and
minerals
Sunflower seeds and olives
provide fats
Ecosystem Services

53. c.3000 plants ever cultivated for food
Only 150 plants widely cultivated
Introduced plants are
everywhere
They bring other species with
them
Some non-indigenous species
cause economic & ecological
problems
What are the benefits of Local
Food & Native Biodiversity?
Ecosystem Services

54. $19.29 in Mittimatalik/
Pond Inlet, Nunavut
$2.37 in Parkdale,
Toronto, Ontario
Food Security

55. “
The quest for food security can be the common
thread that links the different challenges we face
and helps build a sustainable future.”
Any questions about Ecosystem
Services?
-José Graziano da Silva, United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General

56. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Ecozones & Biomes
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Local Food

57. Local Food

58. Local Food

59. Jerusalem Artichokes in my Toronto garden

60. Native Crops
Along with wild rice, Jerusalem
artichoke, Helianthus
tuberosus, is the only
indigenous crop plant in the
Great Lakes region
J-chokes were introduced to
Europe, where they became a
survival food
Digging up the lawnLocal Food

61. Digging up the lawn
for Local Food
30-60 lbs of Jerusalem
Artichokes per year
In Toronto, tuberous sunflowers
(common name) are now a
gourmet veggie that makes a
great Bisque

62. From TG Rouf’s Biography of Paul Peter Buffalo
http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/Buffalo/PB14.html

63. Local Food
Heirloom Varieties

64. Local FoodRhubarb, Okra, Carrots
From easy to more challenging

65. Where to find seeds & bulbs/roots
Local Food

66. Local Garden Open Houses

67. “
If you want to be happy for a short
time, get drunk; happy for a long
time, fall in love; happy for ever, take
up gardening.
Any questions?

68. Map of my talk
Our Landscape: Past & Present
Ecozones & Biomes
Gardening Zones
Autotrophs & Photosynthesis
Ecosystem Services
Digging up your lawn for:
Local Food
Native Biodiversity
Native Biodiversity

69. Native Biodiversity

70. Native Biodiversity
These native plants will do better than your lawn grass

71. Native Biodiversity
Where to find plants and seeds

72. Native Biodiversity
Native vs. non-native plants

73. Native Biodiversity
Native vs. non-native plants

74. Native Biodiversity
Native trees and shrubs

75. Native Biodiversity
Battling non-native garden pests

76. Get Connected
local libraries
botanic gardens
conservation authorities
local shows
Learn More about Growing Food & Native Biodiversity

77. #InTheZone
Sign up to get help with
growing native species in
your garden with Carolinian
Canada & WWF Canada
http://
www.inthezonegardens.ca/

79. Royal Botanic Gardens & Toronto Botanic Gardens
Hold open houses & workshops

80. “
The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is
that our relationship to the planet need not be
zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines
and people still can plan and plant, think and do,
we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for
ourselves without diminishing the world.
Thank you. Any questions?
-Michael Pollan

81. These Keele Campus students from York University,
discovered the Glendon Campus Gardens last Fall 2016
Southern Ontario has lots of gardens featuring native
plants and local food to help you plan yours